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It's a Post-Election World (or) The New Republican Relgion by: Paul N. Dion |
I can’t possibly be the only person who thinks that the Republican Party has hijacked religion. However, I entered the words: “republicans hijack religion” into Google and got unexpected results. I saw a few references to the Republican Party itself being hijacked by religion but no reference to religion being hijacked by the Republican Party. To me, this is totally backwards. If the Republican Party is being hijacked by religion where are all the non-religious Republicans? They’re not on TV, radio or on the ballot. Exactly what would a non-religious Republican be like, anyway? I bet you can’t even imagine. I know I can’t. No, as far as I can tell, the Republicans have stolen religion outright. As far as I am concerned, religion was problematic enough, but now it’s even worse. Oddly enough, politics and religion seem to be paired together in a remarkable dance of improbability and legal impropriety. In a country in which the very first amendment to the Constitution includes the words “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…” we find ourselves being forced into government sponsored religious activities more and more frequently. Just look at the coins in your pocket or the legal tender in your billfold if you don’t believe religion is married to the government of the United States of America. Prior to 1955, you didn’t have to swear allegiance to the country without also acknowledging your belief and allegiance to a God. That’s right, the McCarthyism of the mid-fifties (and a campaign by the Knights of Columbus) added the words “under God” to the pledge of the allegiance. It wasn’t there originally. Now it is a political oath AND a public prayer, whether you like it or not. Many people have difficulty being against anything labeled religious. Too often, religion and morality are confused. Religion and ethics can be confused as well. Most religions are not moral or ethical strongholds. In fact, most of them encourage blind faith and adherence to whatever dogma has been brewed up to keep the people pacified, contained and part of a self-sustaining renewable source of power and finance. Quick! Name three religions that don’t accept donations: 1) ________________________________ 2) ________________________________ 3) ________________________________ I think it is important to use our intellect occasionally and not be afraid that God will strike us down dead for questioning current popular sociological constructs. Religion is not spirituality. Religion is big business. If you are going to believe in religion, you would do well to understand exactly what it is you “believe” in. Again, let your mind read this article and stop thinking with your heart. Let your fear go and see if your head actually agrees with your heart in the end. But back to the Republicans… how is it that they have managed to take religion and make it their own? Some say this is a new trend and that it started a few years ago. I don’t think that is true. I think it started much earlier. No matter when it began, it is now a powerful movement and isn’t likely to end abruptly. At least not without some sort of intervention occurring. How smart are Republicans? VERY SMART. If history has taught us anything at all, it is that religion is the most powerful force ever invented by humans. The greatest advances in organization and power have all been created by religious zealots or through the change, destruction or conversion of the existing religious environment. Aha! You say, if religion has been so prevalent and important, then it must be valid and have merit! I can see the initial logic behind that concept. Unfortunately, the religions that have flourished to date have been disappointing. Although they have been responsible for large power shifts and the very creation of entire civilizations, they haven’t exactly been benevolent and spiritually supportive experiences for the masses. Remember, religion is and has always been big business. All the significant religions expressed throughout history have supported those at the top of the pyramid, not the gentle masses. Religion has used force, fear and conformity to accomplish its goals. There aren’t a lot of consistent examples of love, understanding and communal support for the “little people” in the major religions of the world today. Disagree? Name a major world religion today in which the individual spiritual path is the single most important component of its founding principles or dogma: 1) ________________________________________________ So here we are in the present. We have a major political party of the wealthiest, most powerful nation on the planet married to religion. Anyone nervous yet? Are we kidding ourselves that the Republicans will somehow emerge as the first organization or political movement in history to use religion for benevolent purposes? Do we really want the leaders of our country behaving as though a magical religious super event is about to become reality? If you are unaware of this concept, it is called Armageddon and it means we don’t have to plan too far into the future anymore because, well, there is no future coming for non-believers of the new Republican Religion. So when I say that the Republicans have hijacked religion, I mean it. They took it at gunpoint. If it weren’t dangerous, I would say, let them have it. I personally have no use for religion, anyway. However, I don’t think anything as powerful as religion should be given to the Republicans. Don’t worry, I wouldn’t give it to the Democrats either, but that’s another story. I would give religion to a major political party right after handing a loaded pistol to an overtired, starved and irrational three year old child with a high fever (in a stuck-between-floors elevator). So, what should be done? How about using our thinking heads to govern the country and let intellectualism replace mysticism in politics for a start? I say we leave spirituality to the individual and relegate religion to the back burner (at the very least). What do we have to lose? In a free society, one in which the constitution guarantees freedom of religion, why be afraid of those who wish to be protected from religion? If the law of the land guarantees that you may worship your God freely, where is the danger of keeping religion separate from government? If spirituality is a part of religion, then why not guarantee a choice of spiritual path for all citizens? A quick test: 1) How many times does the word “God” appear in the Constitution of the United States of America? Answer: zero 2) How many times does the word “God” appear in the Declaration of Independence? Answer: you guessed it, zero times. What were our Godless forefathers thinking? |