Introductory Post

Sometimes I just don’t know where to begin when it comes to criticizing religion and politics. Every day another example of the madness of faith in an ancient book of tribal laws rears its ugly head. Take the fanatic known as Pastor John Hagee: He recently endorsed John McCain and the mainstream media — which is constantly accused of being a leftist tool — has not held McCain to the same standard as the Democratic candidates, especially Barack Obama. McCain said in a Feb. 29 statement: "Well I think it's important to note that pastor John Hagee who has supported and endorsed my candidacy supports what I stand for and believe in. When he endorses me, it does not mean that I embrace everything that he stands for and believes. And I am very proud of the Pastor John Hagee's spiritual leadership to thousands of people and I am proud of his commitment to the independence and the freedom of the state of Israel. That does not mean that I support or endorse or agree with some of the things that Pastor John Hagee might have said or positions that he may have taken on other issues." Talk about having your cake and eating it too! Barack Obama was cajoled to renounce and reject the statements of Louis Farrakhan. He is now having his feet held to the fire over the controversial statements by the pastor of the church he attends in Chicago. Meanwhile, McCain has not rejected the endorsement of a man who has made statements such as calling the Catholic church “the great whore of Babylon” and “a cult.” He also believes that Hurricane Katrina was punishment by God, because there was a Gay Pride parade scheduled for the day the storm hit. In 2006 on NPR's Fresh Air he said, "The newspaper carried the story in our local area that was not carried nationally that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was that it was going to reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other Gay Pride parades. So I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing. I know that there are people who demur from that, but I believe that the Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the day of judgment." He also believes we should waste no time bombing Iran. Well, there’s something that he and John “Bomb, bomb, bomb…bomb, bomb Iran” McCain can agree on.

Tomorrow night I’ll be attending another in a series of lectures by Professor David Domke of the University of Washington entitled Playing the God Card: Religion and Politics in the 2008 Presidential Campaign. There never ceases to be something for David Domke to examine when it comes to the volatile mixing of religion and politics. It’s not as if David Domke was an atheist. He’s a believer and his wife is a pastor, but he has taken on this topic because he sincerely believes that it’s harmful to our democracy to allow religion to play such an influential role in our government and its policies. Maybe someday he’ll start to see that being a moderate Christian is just as dangerous as being a fundamentalist Christian. Allowing others to believe as they see fit may be a moderate outlook, but it lends credence to the wacky beliefs of those readers of the Left Behind series. Extremists like John Hagee are slobbering at the mouth with the prospect that when their god brings on the end times they will be lifted up into heaven with its streets paved of gold. I’m sure it’ll be like the scene in Monty Python’s Meaning of Life when all of the guests at a dinner party are felled by bad fish and they insist on taking their cars to the afterlife. What’s the use of having streets paved with gold if you cannot drive your Cadillacs and Humvees on them?

I received a couple of books today to add to my library on critical thinking: Why I Am Not a Muslim by Ibn Warraq and The Jefferson Bible by Thomas Jefferson. The Jefferson Bible is Thomas Jefferson’s attempt at excising the parts of the gospel of Jesus Christ that he felt were false and didn’t fit in with the teachings. Ibn Warraq is a pen name for a Pakistani ex-zealot, who left his faith behind during the Salmon Rushdie situation. If he hadn’t used a pen name he would have most likely have been stoned to death already.

I’ll end my first post with a couple of quotes from one of my literary heroes, Ed Abbey:

“Whatever we cannot easily understand we call God; this saves much wear and tear on the brain tissues…Belief in the supernatural reflects a failure of the imagination.”

“Fantastic doctrines (like Christianity or Islam or Marxism) require unanimity of belief. One dissenter casts doubt on the creed of millions. Thus the fear and hate; thus the torture chamber, the iron stake, the gallows, the labor camp, the psychiatric ward.”