Recently in Religion Category

It has been a month since the presidential election, and I am still shocked that California voters passed Prop 8. What the fuck, California?!? I am still waiting to see how gay marriage is going to destroy my marriage, as is hysterically prognosticated by the Religious Right. How, exactly? Can someone please tell me how two people who love one another and only want to commit to a life together threatens my marriage, which, according to the divorce calculator on divorce360.com, has a 10% chance of failing in the next five years anyway?

There is not a fiber in my being that believes, let alone comprehends, the "sanctity of marriage" bullshit. Sorry. I ain't buying it. Marriage is complicated and beautiful and for everyone who actually wants to make that commitment, it should be an available option. Taking that right away from any individual is to spit on the principles of freedom, liberty, and justice.

Because I am now fuming, I pass along some musical theater to cut the rancor.

The level to which the current presidential campaign has descended should surprise no one. After all, we are a nation that incubated two of the greatest manipulative, mean spirited, hate-mongers in contemporary history, Lee Atwater and Karl Rove. These two men innately understood the power in tweaking bigotry, xenophobia, and visceral fear. Lee Atwater himself acknowledged that the more uneducated the target audience, the easier it was to incite anger and moral outrage. Atwater may have renounced his life's actions on his deathbed, but he had already opened Pandora's Box for a new generation of political strategists. Interesting, then, that the only value to remain within said box was hope.

I have been working for two days on a separate post regarding Sarah Palin's recent injection of racism and hate-mongering into the campaign (including her apparent glee in inciting an audience member at a recent campaign stop to cheer "Kill Him!" in regards to Obama). In the meantime, I thought I would post a recently aired "Special Comment" from MSNBC's Keith Olbermann.

As my nutty mother loves to say, "Those in glass houses should not throw stones!" Someone should mention to Ms. Palin, that when she skillfully nudges her audiences to chant "terrorist" in response to Obama and demands "truthfulness" from her opponent, she is throwing open her own closet doors and inviting the bright light of inquiry. Or perhaps Ms. Palin thinks that as long as she refuses to give a press conference, she is above public reproach. That must be it.

Recently on Facebook, a polite debate took place regarding the definition of marriage, which quickly progressed into a discussion of God and "his" place at the American political table. While I have little interest in what the founding fathers whispered before bed and whether or not those intimate principles should define this nation, I do feel it's important to question the relevance of "god" in regards to marriage, which is a civil filing with your resident state. My husband and I were married at city hall. Never once while we were signing the paperwork was the word "god" uttered, nor is it mentioned in our contract with the State of Colorado (aka: our marriage license). I have not found in the federal Constitution justification for the accouterment that accompany religion holding dominion over a civil, legal procedure.

According to the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS), by Barry A. Kosmin, Egon Mayer, and Ariela Keysar at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (2001), the religious demographic within this country includes, along with mainstream Christian denominations, the following: Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Unitarian Universalist, Pagan, Wiccan, Spiritualist, Native American, Baha'I, New Age, Sikh, Scientologist, Taoist, Deity, Druid, Eckankar, Santaria, Rastafarian. Also represented are self described agnostics, atheists, and those who stated "no religion what so ever".

Regardless what the Evangelical community cries about the true Christian nature of America, regardless that Bill Gothard and his evangelical Institute in Basic Life Principles would love to fundamentally change this country one town at a time, and regardless of the Pledge of Allegience (written, btw, in 1892 not during the Revolution), we are not actually One Nation Under One God. We are a nation of many gods and none at all. That's the beauty of it.