There's a subject I've been wanting to rant about for a long time, and have avoided doing so. But yesterday, on the way home from Olympia, I was given the inspiration to finally take it on. So brace yourselves...this is going to be a long one, and will probably offend a few people.
The issue here is the way that politics and religion have been mixing. This has always pissed me off to some degree. Here's what happened yesterday. On the drive home from Olympia, I wanted to listen to my iPod, but the frequency that I have it set to was being taken up by Olympia's Christian radio station. So, it being Sunday and all, I decided to listen for a while until the frequency ran out and I could turn the iPod on. As I hope you all know, I am a Christian, and despite my personal sins and hypocrisies, I hold strongly to my faith. I try to be a Christian who doesn't behave obnoxiously, or pushes my religion onto people. I try to not be afraid to discuss it when I want to, and not cower away from admitting to my faith at all times, whenever it's relevant and appropriate. I try to be available for a diplomatic and open-minded discussion about religion. It's a hard line to walk. Most people who aren't Christians, hate Christians, and have an assumption (whether arrived at legitimately or not) that we will behave a certain way. So those of you who know me, may or may not know that very seldomly, I do listen to Christian radio. And I mean very seldomly. I prefer to go to church for spiritual guidance, being very choosy about the people I let guide my religious ideas.
So here's what happened. During one of the commercial breaks, there was an ad that was sponsored by the military, and it was a thanks for supporting the troops. The longer I thought about this, the angrier I got. I support the troops. That's not my problem with the ad. Sure, my notion of supporting them is to not send them to die frivolously, and to want to bring them home and out of harm's way as quickly as possible, but I have no hatred of our children in the armed services. What I have a problem with is the fact that the government for a long time now has been underhandedly working to get into the good graces of America's Christians. They have been using us, and it really, really angers me to see the effect of this on the people who share my faith, and on the direction the country takes politically.
I know that there are people who say that it's really working the other way...that Christians are somehow infiltrating the government and causing it to do immoral things. This may be true of some people in specific, but in my opinion, this is not what is happening on the larger scale.
Here's how I see it:
Political parties know that they need the Christian vote. We do make up a significant portion of this country, whether it seems that way to us or not, and we all want to live in a place where the government behaves ethically. Most Christians don't believe the government acts ethically; at least, that's how it was when I was in high school and Clinton was president. All I ever heard about was that it would be great if there were more Christians in office. I think that the republican party latched onto that idea, and decided to find a way to solidify themselves in the Christians' favor. That way was to tell us that they care about issues that are important to most Christians. Issues like abortion. It's my personal opinion that no matter what, abortion will never be illegal again in this country. Christians who want it to be illegal and try to make a difference are kidding themselves. I know that that's a jaded opinion, and that it doesn't give the democratic process much credit, but it's just how I feel. So President Bush decided to use issues like abortion to make a stand on, knowing that it doesn't matter if he supports it or not...nothing will ever come of it. Now I know that the republican party has been aligned with Christianity for much longer than the last decade, but it's recent times I'm talking about. Once GW got our vote due to his loud proclamation of Christian faith and stated desire to support traditionally Christian causes, he was free to do whatever he wanted, and in the eyes of American Christians, it doesn't matter, because at least he supports their issues.
Well, my issue is not abortion. My issue is war. Sure, I'm pro-life. To me, being pro-life means being pro-fetus life, pro-arab life, pro-prisoner life, and pro-eighteen-year-old-enlisted-American life. I get so mad when politicians try to own my religion, because I don't buy the idea that they have faith at all. If the president really had faith, he would stand up for the principles that Jesus taught...things like forgiveness, loving thine enemy, and turning the other cheek. Non-violence in general. Jesus never said that we should forgive people until it was time to bomb them. I don't understand what part of loving my enemies involves bombing them. There are people in this world that I consider my enemies...it's a tough personal struggle of mine to forgive. That's why on my fridge, I have printed a verse:
Matthew 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. [44] But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; (KJV)
To me, that counts for Mr. Crazy Ahmadinejad, and anyone else who may hate me and wish harm on me. It's tough...because there are people who are much closer to me than the Iranian president that hate me and curse me, but I've got to work past the angry reaction and learn to not only forgive, but also love. It's not easy, but I expect my president to follow through. If he can actually act like a Christian, then he could have my support and my vote. Until then, I'll look to Jesus' example. Jesus could have sought political support and gained public attention through the support of world leaders, but he didn't. He had nothing to do with the government, and I think that it's a lesson that the government should have nothing to do with the church, and the church should have nothing to do with the government. Sure, Christians can serve in the government, and it's important that we make our voices heard on important issues. But even though it can sometimes be a difficult issue, I pretty much support the seperation of church and state like I never have before in my life. It's sad that it took a "Christian" president to make me see that.
Moral of the story: the government has no business supporting Christian radio, Christian radio has no business accepting the monetary support of government agencies, and the church should never endorse the government in any way, except to state that we are commanded to obey the law when it does not conflict with God's law.
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9 comments:
You should listen to this.
A great hour of radio programming.
Ira Glass has a great radio show.
I'll listen when I have an hour's worth of time. Not tonight, that's for sure.
On a somewhat related note, strong religious beliefs are apparently on the decline in Europe, to the point of some countries having less than 20% of the population (based on sampling, of course) not really believing in a God or anything else.
I did note that the Greeks are still highly religious. I might be able to scan the map fromt the paper and send it to you, if you want it.
Sure!
Christina, please accept this from an old (53) leftwing hippie agnostic: Your post gives me hope for the future of our country. The thing that the radical Christian Right doesn't understand, but that you seem to, is that we on the other side do NOT wish to eliminate Christianity from the public forum. We just don't want to have ANYONE's religious beliefs enshrined in our government's policies or leadership, and we don't want anyone else's beliefs shoved down our throats.
Just as an example, take sexual content on TV and in films. I believe that such programs should not be shown when children are likely to see them, but other than that, I say, go for it. Why do the radical Christians wish to deny everyone the right to CHOOSE anything? Why can't they just change the channel? Why must they insist that, because they don't want to see it, NO ONE can?
That, in a nutshell and with only this one example, is why people like me are so vehemently opposed to people like the radical Christians. And this doesn't even get into the topic of the hypocrisy of banning abortion, when there is indisputable evidence that a) the rate of unwed births AND abortions has gone UP since Bush became president, and b) people in the so-called Red States have far more abortions on average than people in Blue States.
And your post lets me see that there are indeed some thinkers on the Christian side of the issues. I wish there were more like you. If you'd like to see what someone from the "other side" has to say on these sorts of topics, look at my post from November 2004 called Memo to: Red States http://logicalnegativism.blogspot.com
/2004/11/memo-to-red-states-11504.html
There are some facts in it that I'll bet will surprise you. I wrote it before I learned how to do embedded links, but everything I say can be found with a search engine.
Thanks for being a reasoning Christian.
LN
Thanks for posting, and for not hating me based on my faith. Thanks for giving me a chance to be reasonable and peaceable.
Hey, I just want you to know that I respect your faith. I also agree with the hippie. It is not the real christians that are making it hard for everyone else just like it is not the real Muslems its the radical anything that makes it harder on everyone that does not share the ideal. I am worried also about the current state of radical christians laying claim to the government. It is not a new concept and history will show that there are always other motives, although hidden in the begining they always come out eventually. No one that truely thinks or has a mind of their own beleive that all this crap/war is in the name of God. It is the non thinkers that worry me. It is them that prevent me from living in peace and prevent me from filling prescriptions for birth control and prevent me from feeling comfortable and safe in my own government. It is them that make me think that this country is going to hell in a handbasket by their lead. It is people like you that are not the problem but part of the solution. Real Christians/Baptists/Jews/Muslems/etc know that this is wrong. What easier way though to lead the people to war? You get them at what they think is their beliefs and twist them to fit the agenda. As Flint said, religion may be on the decline in other countires as well as our own but I figure that to be organized religion. I think that people still want to have faith no matter how sarcastic and negative we get. Their is danger in organized religion as we have seen. You don't have to participate in that to beleive and have dialog with whatever higher power you have. Ok, off to the park for some sun and pic-nic.
I am glad that you brought it up. That alone shows your character and proves that you do have faith.
Thanks guys.
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