Test of Faith

This country, once thought to embody freedom for all citizens, regardless of color, origin, or belief, has turned into a religious oligarchy with Christianity at the zenith. Other faiths are tolerated as long as they are led by some supernatural being. Actually, that may have been an a myth which we were all encouraged to accept as true.

Those who do not believe in such a myth, whatever they think, are both suspicious and unacceptable to membership in this “democracy.” Regardless of their education, experience, intelligence, and just plain goodness, nonbelievers somehow just don’t fit in if they are “known” for what they are.

And so it has come to pass that the main theme of this election has become religion. And as the myth continues to grow, those with education, experience, intelligence, and just plain goodness who find solid ground without the necessity of the certitude of salvation by God take on a malevolent cast. They are comingled with but unwelcomed by many who worship their God in the hope of receiving their own personal salvation. And many of the believers, especially those known as evangelical Christians, and their crusade, like Sen. McCain’s, must be military, with enemies who must be conquered and destroyed in order to satisfy the Word of God.

It is not a welcoming, accepting form of worship; there is an onslaught of evil which must be conquered and converted by the forces of good, or utterly destroyed if it cannot be convinced or converted to the Will of God. Thus, the lives of our soldiers are sacred and surrendered to the Christian God, while those of the enemy (also created by God) are as nothing. (Incidentally, long before the two years during which I have had a computer and have become an old-lady geek, I read a magazine article, and possibly wrote about it, I read a horrifying description of Bush One’s armies moving across the Sahara(?) Desert, digging ditches in the sand with bulldozers to bury the dead enemy (with the same bulldozers), among them many who were still alive but injured and unable to help themselves. I’ll try to find it for you in the days to follow.) Oh, God, I love religion!

Now that the election is over, I rejoice in the election of Barack Obama with millions
of other people, and place all of my trust in his education, experience, intelligence, and just plain goodness to lead us into a century of great of intellectual and spiritual growth
which does not require membership in any specific belief other than caring for the earth and all of its inhabitants, whether animal or mineral.

What worries me, however, is the continuing involvement of religion, especially the evangelical Christians, who will allow no belief in any philosophy other than theirs, and insist that the rest of the nation be governed accordingly. The rights of women to deal with their own bodies as they see fit, and the right of other humans to end their own lives as they near death, with the help of supporters if necessary. But the attempt to refuse gays who love each other very much, and are devoted to their own God the right to dignify their union in their own church, is probably the meanest intervention of all. If their pastor is also your pastor, and he is willing to perform the ceremony, then you might want to change pastors. In most cases, you do not even know the people involved. If their marriage would sully your church, it would seem best to try another church, or even another religion.

The attempts across the country to codify these various attacks on the rights of others is what I would call heresy. Even if none of these legal attempts by others make it into (or out of existing) law, you should kneel and pray to your God for forgiveness for even considering them.