Saturday, August 9, 2008

The Spiritual Arms Race















There is a spiritual arms race afoot.

A knock-down-drag-out steel cage match for the title of Most Religious.

Whoever wins ... becomes president.

Seriously.

John McCain is so desperate that he's claimed to be a Baptist while stumping in Baptist country. For the record, the dude's an Episcopalian.

For now.

Barack Obama trumpets his Christianity at every turn. And consistently touts the necessity of spirituality and religious insight for successful governance and the healing of our country.

Both are simply trying to get elected. And sound like teenagers trying to convince Dad to give them the keys to the Buick for the weekend.

The Republican Party has been trading on fire and brimstone for ages, so, ya know, whatever.

But now, the Democratic Party — tired of God-Squad dominance and presidential election defeats at the hands of dolts like our current Prayer-in-Chief — has decided to drink the Jesus juice and roll the ideological dice.

And the newest face of this effort — Leah Daughtry — is a case study in everything that is wrong with over-heated religiosity.

Early on in the recent New York Times Magazine profile of her, Leah Daughtry reveals herself as another in a long line of prominent political frauds, using her ideology to convince us that she -- and those who share her point of view — are Holier Than Thou.

Well ... Holier Than Me at least.

Daughtry is Howard Dean's Chief of Staff and she is in charge of the Democratic National Convention — and she's a Pentecostal minister.

In the article, she is preaching at her father's House of the Lord Church in Brooklyn and celebrating a congregant's triumph over breast cancer.

Daughtry gives credit for this medical victory to the exceptional quality of prayer supplied by the women members of the church, saying:

"The eggheads will say her chemotherapy worked, but everyone who uses chemotherapy isn’t cured.”

First, I'm not sure who the "eggheads" are. I can only assume she's referring to sane people.

Second — my mother died of cancer. She underwent chemotherapy. She prayed for a cure. Her family prayed for a cure. All her friends prayed for a cure.

Does this mean the Catholic prayers in Southeastern Pennsylvania weren't as potent as those in Brooklyn? Did God give the faithful from St. Denis in suburban Philadelphia a big holy raspberry — and decide that my mother was not spiritually committed enough to live?

Leah Daughtry's remark exposes religious ideology for what it is — "Our God is better than your god."

A less sophisticated writer than myself might — at this point — say something inflammatory like "Leah Daughtry can go fuck herself" but I'm cut from a finer cloth.

Instead, I submit that it is time to form a new political party — the "Fuck Ideologies."

Who's with me?

Is it necessary for me to pick on Leah Daughtry?

I think so.

Why?

Because she will soon have the ear of Barack Obama. Because everyone is racing to claim the Most Religious crown for their party, their candidate, their government. Because religious ideology is hypocritical at best and murderous at worst.

And because Leah Daughtry says that, for her, "the Bible is history."

Please ...

Let's clear one thing up right now — the Bible is not literal history for anyone. There are no people following the dictates of the Bible word for word. And anyone who says they are is lying. And any political figure who says they are is not only lying but dangerous.

Everyone — and by "everyone" I tend to mean, well, all people currently living — everyone who consults the Bible picks and chooses from the Good Book. They select what serves their needs. A spiritual 7-11 if you will.

Ideology is the proud father of hypocrisy. And when ideology and hypocrisy hook up with ambition — the worst kind of family reunion takes place ... one that ends with guns going off, tanks rolling in, RPGs whizzing by, rights disappearing, tolerance evaporating and young men and women being memoralized in the local newspaper.

President Bush said that he consulted with God about the war in Iraq — and that has sustained him and kept him steadfast.

Talk about covering your ass.

But of course Bush didn't talk with God — he talked with Cheney, who we all know fell from Heaven and now battles God for the souls of mankind.

Okay, yes, spirituality is the centerpiece of many people's lives.

And, yes, that spirituality helps shape one's point of view of the world.

But when you get in a spiritual arms race and you openly compete to prove you are God's favorite — the canary in the coal mine starts to experience shortness of breath.

Leah Daughtry says a bunch of other nutty things in the article — like her experiences speaking in tongues (brilliant actually — its unassailable because its supposed to be gibberish) and that she was a reluctant participant in the public arena (hence the splashy New York Times Magazine article).

I'm sure its not all Leah Daughtry's fault.

I'm sure she's a good friend and a loving daughter.

But do we really need religious ideology to know that we should be decent to one another? Or keep our country's citizens safe? Or have our trash picked up?

Leah Daughtry thinks God prefers the Pentecostal way. A born-again former co-worker of mine believes that Jews and Muslims have no shot at heaven. Many devout Catholic are closet racists.

What does that even mean?

It means that — ultimately — organized, ambitious religious ideology will divide us.

Our common humanity is what will unite us.

Swear to God.

3 comments:

Scott McClatchy said...

<<….A less sophisticated writer than myself might — at this point — say something inflammatory like "Leah Daughtry can go fuck herself" but I'm cut from a finer cloth….>>

Well, as it has been proven many times in the past, usually over a few pints, that I am most definitely a less sophisticated writer that you – so I’ll say it:

Leah Daughtry can go fuck herself.

She, and those like her, (Do I actually need to list them all?) are most of the reasons that I hate religion. Don’t get me wrong – this is not like the Republican bullshit spin mantra of; ‘If you hate the President you hate the troops.’

(Side Note About Our Current President): I think that President George W. Bush has surpassed Warren G. Harding as the worst President that this country has ever had to suffer. And, I feel the same way about Bush that William Gibbs McAdoo felt about Harding: William Gibbs McAdoo, called Harding's speeches "an army of pompous phrases moving across the landscape in search of an idea."

To recap:
Bush = Bad Man
US Troops = the bravest men and women currently on this planet

But I’ve run off the track – let me do my best Rosie Ruiz and jump in at the end of Kevin’s brilliant marathon; Let’s get back to religion and Leah Daughtry.

I believe in God – I hate religion. And, for the record: I love reading The Bible – but then again I love reading Nelson DeMille fiction as well. And so far neither of them have been turned in to a movie that I am completely happy with.

Also, for the record, in my humble opinion:
Spirituality is one man’s relationship with his God.
Religion is when a group of folks agree that their God is better than everyone else’s God.

To recap:
Spirituality brings peace
Religion has brought us a lot of wars

Is God with us?
Is God on our side?

I leave you with some great words by a fine US poet:

Oh my name it is nothing
My age it means less
The country I come from
Is called the Midwest
I was taught and brought up there
The laws to abide
And that land that I live in
Has God on its side.

Oh the history books tell it
They tell it so well
The cavalries charged
The Indians fell
The cavalries charged
The Indians died
Oh the country was young
With God on its side.

I've learned to hate others
All through my whole life
If another war starts
It's them we must fight
To hate them and fear them
To run and to hide
And except it all bravely
With God on my side

Oh the First World War, boys
It closed out its fate
The reason for fighting
I never got straight
But I learned to accept it
Accept it with pride
For you don't count the dead
When God's on your side.

When the Second World War
Came to an end
We forgave the Germans
And now we are friends
Though they murdered six million
In the ovens they died
The Germans now too
Have God on their side.

But now we got weapons
Of chemical dust
If fight them we're forced to
Then fight them we must
One push of the button
It shocked the world wide
And you never ask questions
When God's on your side.

In a many dark hour
I've been thinking about this
That Jesus Christ
Was betrayed by a kiss
But I can't think for you
You'll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot
Had God on his side.

So now as I'm leaving
I'm weary as Hell
The confusion I'm feeling
Ain't no tongue can tell
My words fill they air
They fall to the floor
That if God's on our side
He'll stop the next war.

“With God On Our Side”
by Bob Dylan

Unknown said...

Kevin said:

A less sophisticated writer than myself might — at this point — say something inflammatory like "Leah Daughtry can go fuck herself" but I'm cut from a finer cloth….

Then Scott said:

Well, as it has been proven many times in the past, usually over a few pints, that I am most definitely a less sophisticated writer that you – so I’ll say it:

Leah Daughtry can go fuck herself.

I’ll say it too. Leah Daughtry can go fuck herself. And I never heard of her before reading Kevin’s post.

The thing that most pisses me off is her belief that her and her church’s power of prayer is somehow stronger than others. It’s not that I don’t believe in the power of prayer, because I do, but I also believe in the power of medicine. It was Mom’s personal strength, along with the strength she received from all the prayers of those around her, and the medicines (of which there were many) that allowed her to live as long as she did.

I am a Catholic…it’s how I was raised, it’s what I believe in, it’s ingrained in me and, since having Nick, we have returned to weekly Mass which, I admit, is as much a quiet time for reflection and thanks for my family, friends and life as it is actual worship of God…but it helps me focus a little more on the positives of my life rather than negatives. Plus, the happiness of a 4 year old getting to pick out a donut (or 2!) on Sunday morning after church will always make me smile. There are many things about the Catholic religion I don’t agree with or like and many people involved in it that are just as “holier than thou” as Ms. Daughtry appears to be. That said, what religion you are or aren’t has no bearing on what I do or do not think of you… as always, actions speak louder than words. From what I’ve heard and read, most politicians will say nearly anything in order to get elected. This is just another example.

I can’t believe I’m agreeing with Kevin & Scott on ANY political point, but this is one. “Our common humanity will unite us”, if given the chance.

R. Pettigrew 3 said...

To quote a pretty good actor and exceptional teacher: "Fair Enough". You know it's time to move on when the dogma you signed on for is a measure of how poorly you're doing. I got a fundamentalist brother who knows heaven is not part of my future because I feel a great spiritual guy who turned BC into AD was one of many with greatness and because I feel God in in us and not lurking "out there". It pisses him off when I tell him I don't need faith because faith indicates some doubt and I don't have any. I once wrote:
We seek in each other
What we ourselves lack
So why slander your brother
Or stab your own back?
Mankind has its faults
Mankind always shall.
Sow a seed of insult
Reap a crop of hell

To me that's "Fair Enough"