To paraphrase our fearless (and presumably clueless) leader, "Atheism is on the march!" And it would appear it has plenty to march against. Militant, right-wing Christianity in the West and radical Islam in the East have been gathering strength and exerting influence over politics and matters of war and peace for many years now. American culture is saturated with references to evangelical Christianity to the extent that suburban "churches" now resemble the shape and size of mega-stores like Wal-Mart, where Christian music, literature and other goods are offered at low, low prices. Always low prices.
For those who believe in God, human beings were made in God's image. Yet the world's myriad religious faiths and religions reflect a host of variant images. Which one should a given society reflect in order to perfectly capture the image of God him or herself? Here in the United States, the "Christian" Right is happy to supply that answer, as is the Taliban of Afghanistan and militant Hindus in India. This is all very comforting if you happen to be an American Evangelical Christian, a conservative male Afghan Muslim or an Indian Hindu. It is anything but if you happen not to subscribe to the respective state religions of any of these places, or any other country where one religion predominates the national discourse over policy and culture.
In my view, a religion ceases to serve its own inherent purpose, to even be a religion, when it crosses the line separating worship and service to proselytizing and imposition. In any pluralistic democratic society, no religion or faith-based organization can demand anything more reasonable than to be free to practice according to its traditions and rites. Insisting that public policy and common culture reflect these is beyond the pale, and it should come as no surprise that non-believers are becoming more vocal in opposition to the "Christian" Right's imposition of its values and beliefs upon all Americans.
There are some atheists or nontheists who have abandoned belief in God because they have lost faith in their given religious traditions. I personally don't see a direct correlation between losing faith in a given church or religion and abandoning my belief in God. Nonetheless, for my part I am happy to see nontheists and free thinkers banding together to counter the influence of the "Religious" Right. I have seen moderate and progressive Christian churches react in similar fashion, and encourage this as well. The Catholic Church for its part has remained dishearteningly quiet in the face of the growing influence of radical "Christianity" here in America. I fear this is due to the fact that the Church's agenda currently shares more in common with evangelicals than it does with its more progressive Protestant brethren. The Vatican remained silent in 2004 when American Catholic bishops refused to give communion to pro-choice Catholic legislators, most famously Democratic presidential nominee Senator John Kerry. I've been straining my hears waiting to hear a peep of protest from these same bishops against Republican legislators who have supported the war in Iraq, who support the Bush tax cuts, who vote in support of gutting environmental and workplace safety regulations.
This is all to say that I wish to offer the "Christian" Right and radical "religious" extremists of all faiths a hearty and well-deserved congratulations and job well done. Your efforts have served to sully the name of religious faith and to galvanize a growing number of people in opposition to faith/belief in God. The societies where you strive to exert your influence are more divided for your efforts, while social problems such as poverty, crime and violence and environmental degradation continue to persist unabated. One closing question for you to reflect upon is: Do you honestly believe that this is what God wants from you? Have your efforts contributed in any way to the "peace and justice" that your faith presumably teaches and preaches?
- Doug L.
FOR FURTHER REFERENCE:
"In Europe and U.S., Nonbelievers Are Increasingly Vocal." (Washington Post, September 15, 2007)
"In America, Nonbelievers Find Strength in Numbers." (Washington Post, September 15, 2007)
Rabbi Sherman T. Wine, 1928 - 2007 (Society for Humanistic Judaism.org)
"Time to Become Pre-Emptive Peacemakers." (Washington Post On Faith, September 14, 2007
"No Atheists (Still) Need Apply." (Washington Post On Faith, December 28, 2006)
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Equal and Opposite Reactions
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3 comments:
Unifaith,
The thing is though that even if the Conservative Christian Right is gaining "power" in the government it can never make any one denomination (and that's key) to be the national church or really any one religion. The whole reason for freedom of religion wasn't to exclude God from our laws, but to separate Church (e.g. Church of England, Church of Scotland, or other national churches) and State.
Also I feel that if what you say is true about Kerry that is a good thing. Pelosi, and other pro-abortion catholics (why are you using the word pro-choice in regards to a baby created in the image and likeness of God as the Church has stated?) should be excommunicated as well. They are working towards an evil cause, and opposing the Church. Why shouldn't she excommunicate them? Millions of Children have died without baptism because of the abortion lobby.
As for the Bishops excommunicating the Republican legislators who "have supported the war in Iraq, who support the Bush tax cuts, who vote in support of gutting environmental and workplace regulations" I'd like you to show me where any of those things have been called a mortal sin by the Catholic Church, because I don't believe any of them are. While Pope John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI spoke out against the war in Iraq they never said that it was a mortal sin to support it. Just as, while Pope Benedict opposes the death penalty, he never said that it was a mortal sin - in fact he said that catholics could hold a different view. As for the Bush tax cuts - how would that be a mortal sin? I mean I'm for low taxes, but I can hardly imagine, nor would I call for the Bishops to excommunicate Democrats who support raising taxes. It simply isn't a moral issue.
Catholig
The Author Responds:
Catholig,
As you are increasingly in the habit of posting comments in response to my blog entries, let me welcome you back and thank you for reading. I would point out one thing that should be obvious by now, namely that I do not look to the Catholic Church for moral or spiritual leadership. As such, questions that you have posed such as, "why are you using the word pro-choice in regards to a baby created in the image and likeness of God as the Church has stated?" are pointless. We have different points of view on questions of politics, morality, ethics, etc. I respect the fact that you are a devout Catholic, but I must ask that in turn you respect the fact that I have my own frame of reference.
While we're on the topic, you have also stated that tax policy is not a moral issue. Do you seriously contend that how a government raises revenue and what it chooses to spend this on are not matters that are at least tangentially moral in nature? I would invite you to expand your thinking on this matter, and look beyond whether or not the Church has designated this or that policy as a mortal sin before deciding that it is or isn't a moral issue. Anyhow, maybe you can't get the Times of London where you are, so you might have missed the following: "Pope set to declare income tax evasion 'socially unjust'" (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article2237625.ece). Or maybe you haven't read the following report: "An Evaluation of Federal Tax Policy Based on Judeo-Christian Ethics" (http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=824907).
Bottom Line: Taxation, like all matters of public policy, inherently speaks to questions of morality, justice and equity. As a follower of Jesus Christ, are you not called to speak out on such matters, regardless of whether the Church has labled any given policy as a mortal sin?
Oneblogger,
It is truly sad that you don't "look to the Catholic Church for moral or spiritual leadership." Exactly what do you, as the Catholic half of an interfaith marriage, look to the Church for then? It seems ludicrous that you would call yourself a Catholic and not care what she says concerning moral matters.
I don't know what you do if you don't trust the Church concerning morality - hopefully nothing that the Church would consider a mortal sin, and if you do...well then at the very least I hope that you don't receive Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
Catholig
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