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Printer-Friendly ModeLack of organized religion should be seen as positive
January 16, 2006 —
In one of my weaker moments, I recently picked up a copy of USA Today. Perhaps I was enticed by the pretty graphics on the front page that inhibited my brain's functions like a child on Ritalin. Or maybe I got it simply because the Detroit Free Press was out, and papers designed for idiots often have good sports sections. Inside, one of their commentators, James P. Gannon, bemoans the lack of substantial organized religion in Europe, and warns of similar results should godless liberals in the U.S. get their way. Apparently, the U.S. is moving toward the dark forces of anti-Christendom, since the banning of school-sponsored prayer, the elimination of nativity scenes from public displays, and the disallowance of displaying the Ten Commandments.
Excuse me while I go throw up.
To say that the United States is hostile to Christians is quite possibly the most asinine comment ever uttered in public. Yet we hear it all the time - in fact, I'm likely to get struck by a bolt of lightning for even penning this article. If you think the U.S. is anti-Christian, explain it to the Jew who lives in a country where "to Jew someone" is synonymous with stinginess and deceit. Explain it to the people who point and stare at the bindi (dot on the forehead) of Hindu women, wondering aloud, like Bart Simpson did in the memorable episode of The Simpsons, where Apu "married" Marge, if you could see out of the dot (you can't). I'm not even going to delve into contemporary thoughts on Islam.
Yet Gannon has the insight of someone who discovers that a cigarette has the capability of burning skin. Yes, Europe's religiosity (or lack thereof) is an anachronism - we visit the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris to witness a half-empty Mass surrounded by the flashing cameras of gawking tourists interested in old-school religion. But try as they might, Paris is not going to relive 14th century religious fantasies. Inherently, this is the crux of the argument relative to the U.S., that only turning back the clock will protect the nation's institutions.
Only one nation has seriously been able to turn back the clock with religious vengeance: Afghanistan. Unfortunately, their 8th century Islamic zeal was no match against the United States' stealth bombers. The pen may be mightier than the sword, but the fighting abilities of the Qur'an didn't hold up well against a barrage of depleted-uranium, bunker-busting bombs.
Maybe it was the two millennia of internecine bloodshed that ravaged populations; maybe it was the governmental-sanctioned murder of religious opponents, maybe it was a continent waking up to generations of liars and hypocrites dressed up as clergy; whichever of these you believe, Europe seems to have forsaken organized religion. With everything they've endured in the name of God, how can we say they are wrong?
The march of time ensures that reactionary forces will directly conflict with the newly established beliefs of the society. If abortion is ever criminalized in the United States again, I'm content to sit back and watch millions of pissed-off women make the life of every politician in America a living hell. Sure, many people envision the "simpler times" in the past, but when they hear preachers espouse a return to simplicity, they often don't hear the same preacher force their beliefs into guiding foreign policy in the Middle East. Pat Robertson said two weeks ago that Isreali Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke may have been caused by a furious God unhappy that 10,000 Jewish settlers were forced to abdicate their land. Normally it's easy to brush off televangelists - except when they were a top contender for the presidency in 1988.
Is God really dead? If we view God as the vengeful patriarch who enjoys little more than smiting His political opponents (namely liberals), allowing the rape of women and children in his name, and being used as justification for the subjugation of entire continents, then maybe God shouldn't exist. We sugarcoat the past, forgetting that in the grand scheme of things, each generation has it better than its successors.
Does it matter if a society even believes in God's existence? If God does exist, then surely He wouldn't need our validation. Maybe society's rejection of the God we've come to know will force God to change His ways.
Having a lack of organized religion doesn't mean society is doomed; on the contrary, it shows society is evolving. If people start to think for themselves, then right-wing bigots like Pat Robertson and James Gannon will eventually fade into oblivion.
God isn't dead. But hopefully some of the thoughts about him will soon be.