The One Where I Get Political

With the recent and justified outrage against "personhood," contraception, abortion rights and jackass radio host Rush Limbaugh, I find myself being increasingly aware of my own political tendencies.  I remember well the first day of World History at McIntosh High school, 10th grade, 1993.  My teacher was the enthusiastic Joseph Jarrell, a name revered through the halls of McIntosh as either the best or worst thing that could appear on your 10th grade class schedule. When we came in, he seated us in neat rows alphabetically according to last name and pointed out a quote he'd written on the chalkboard.

"Those who do not learn from history are often doomed to repeat it."

   Nearly 20 years later, I believe I can tell the people who learned from history and those who did not, and the difference is startling and frightening in the political arena.  Now, let me make one thing perfectly clear: I think most people, individually, are reasonably intelligent.  I think that people as a whole are easily led lemmings looking for someone to tell them what to think, do, feel, and buy because they are too lazy or scared to decide that for themselves.  And that's where religion comes in.

    As I get older, I consider myself less and less religious and more and more simply spiritual.  I believe there's a God- the chaos is too defined for there not to be, I think, and I believe that there was a man named Jesus who lived about 2,000 years ago and preached a message of being nice to each other and taking care of those whom we can help.   When I look at history, I look at the history of the influence of religion, politics and economics on the lives of the people of this planet.  In truth, we studied the whole history of Europe through the lens of the effects of the influence of the Catholic (Catholic-with-a-big-c, Mr. Jarrell would remind us) church.  The history of America is studied through the lens of religion, economics and politics.  When you go to a dinner party what are the three things you're not supposed to discuss? Money, religion and politics.  As Kostas Portokalos in My Big Fat Greek Wedding would say, "And there you have it."

    Those are contentious subjects, sure, because everyone believes that whatever he or she think is the right thing to think.  And what I believe has become dangerous to our country is that increasingly the people who are telling the mob how to think are a group of Fundamentalist Evangelical Christians who don't actually represent the actual opinions or feelings of most of America, just the ones that seem to shout the loudest and catch the attention of the Media.

   I 100% believe that our forefathers were 100% in the right when they included in the Constitution that Congress shall make no law respecting religion.  And I'm fearful that religion has become the number one driving force behind legislation and election happening in this country, and when religion takes control of legislation and election, you have one of two outcomes : The Dark Ages and/or The Taliban.  BOTH of those things spring directly from allowing religious leaders to be the people who are making laws.  During the Dark Ages, the Church was amassing huge wealth, building grand cathedrals that people still marvel at today and letting the believers live in fear, disease and filth.  The Taliban failed pretty miserably at the amassing wealth and building cathedrals part,but they certainly slapped the Afghan people down into living in fear, disease and filth. Not the same sort, but nonetheless.

    People like to argue with me that they don't have the opinions they do because of what they hear in church, and I say that's completely untrue.  One of the things I like best about the churches that I've attended in my life with regularity is that they kept the polarizing issues from the media out of the pulpit.  I've never had a pastor preach against voting for any one candidate or another.  I've never heard a sermon on abortion or the sinfulness of birth control.  So you don't think your opinions come from a preacher, eh?  Well, in my mind there are 2 places where one can get their "truths:" their church (or the effect that religion has on their family and community, even indirectly) and science or mathematics.  Morality and often political sentiment are taught to the masses by preachers, or those who are influenced by them. 


     So I don't know what the answer is.  I'm not anti-religion, I'm not anti-government or even anti-politics.  I think differences of opinion are necessary to inspire people to think.  But I think the danger of the current hyper-religious political game is that it's taking one opinion, stamping "God Approved" on it, and running off with a smug sense of self-righteousness.