Yesterday I talked about the rise of Christian nationalism and the religious right and how, at its heart, it is really about power and control more so than religion. The people behind these movements are hell bent on undermining democracy and replacing it with a biblically based government – based upon their interpretation of the bible which is more favorable to wealth and power than to charity and tolerance. I also made the point that many of the foot soldiers in this war have been convinced they are carrying out ‘God’s will’ when in fact they are carrying out the will of a few wealthy, power hungry people.
I once read an interview with someone whose name I cannot recall right now but who said something that stuck with me. I will be paraphrasing but this person said that they didn’t understand why people without tattoos were so judgmental and concerned about people who did have tattoos. They said that almost everyone who sports tattoos, doesn’t really care if anyone else has a tattoo or not. And I found that to be quite true. (I do have a couple of tattoos in the spirit of full disclosure.)
It struck me yesterday that many of these culture wars being waged today by the religious right are remarkably similar. They seem to embrace a philosophy that if they simply don’t like something, it gives them the license to judge others who engage in such behavior, and it also gives them the right to try to restrict those behaviors or beliefs. I would argue that women who have abortions do not proselytize to other women to have abortions. Gay people do not try to convince other people to engage in a gay lifestyle. Atheists, in general, do not try to convince ‘believers’ to abandon their beliefs.
The religious right often hides behind the argument that they want to ‘protect children’ but that is a smoke screen. There is virtually no credible scientific or medical evidence to support those arguments. The foot soldiers in this religious war have been convinced and taught to be against all of these things based upon a few people’s interpretation of the bible. They are simply being used as political pawns in a great game of political and religious chess.
The irony is that under the guise of ‘protecting religion freedom’ they are intent on restricting the freedoms of everyone who disagrees with their beliefs. It doesn’t have to be this hard or this divisive. If there is something on the TV you don’t like, you can change the channel. If you object to tattoos, don’t get a tattoo. If you don’t believe in abortion, don’t get an abortion. If you are against gay marriage, don’t marry someone of the same sex.
And if these religious people genuinely believe all of the behaviors they don’t like and disagree with are sins according to the bible and they will lead people to damnation, then so be it. They should all be able to go to sleep at night resting peacefully knowing that their god will punish all of those sinners on judgment day. The fact is, God does not need their help. After all, if God, as they believe, is responsible for creating the entire universe and everything in it, he (or she) can certainly handle the mundane task of punishing a few million sinners here on the speck of dust we call earth. However, many of the wealthy industrialists and powerful politicians do, in fact, need their help to get elected and continue to fill their coffers! That is the simple truth which is why we are where we are today.
The Christian Nationalist movement might wave the flag of religion and claim to their foot soldiers they march under the banner of God, but the real motivation is power, control, and greed for the plutocrats at the top of the food chain.
