Friday, July 13, 2007

Love Thy Neighbor....

This cartoon is to remind us of the Fatwa Rev. Pat Robertson issued.... in the name of God, of course.

This is this kind of "Christian" activism that bred the God-awful Iraq war, the dismantling of the protective wall of separation between Church and State and the White House's faith-based social agenda.

For those who whine that the Washington Post is a left-wing mouthpiece, that argument fades to a whimper by example of today's opinion piece by their columnist Michael Gerson (more about him in a minute).... "What Atheists Can't Answer."

This religious pap by Gerson basically asserts.... well, he actually says.... "We long for love, harmony and sympathy because we are intended by a Creator to find them. In a world without God, however, this desire for love and purpose is a cruel joke of nature.... "

Gerson, meet the religious right's cruel joke, their premier evangelist, loving Pat Robertson.

Gerson actually argues that without belief in God, humans would say, "I'm going to do whatever I please."

Gerson, please meet your former boss, the religious-fanatic and headstrong "My Way or the Highway" George W. Bush... who does whatever he pleases.

Yes, that's right. Gerson was a key aide and speechwriter for The Decider from 1999 until the summer of 2006 after which he joined the Washington Post where his twice-a-week column is syndicated.

Gerson, who was mentored by Watergate's preacher Colson, says he was attracted to Bush because he "understood that biblical faith has a lot to say about morality."

You mean like the quick-trigger morality of the bloody Iraq war?

Since Gerson used America's Founders to fortify his argument, we feel free to turn to the wisdom of good ol' Abe Lincoln on the subject:

"When I do good, I feel good.
When I do bad, I feel bad.
That's my religion!"

4 comments:

Pumps said...

Goodbye to this political blog...
I am sorry that life has not been
good to you.....Pumps

Nancy Tyrrel said...

Pumps, I'm sorry that I obviously offended you, but I must call it as I see it.

It's really past time to get politics out of religion, and religion out of government. Each has its place in our lives, but when combined you get the Bush administration abuses.

Life could be beautiful for everyone if they lived up to the simple plea: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Hellfireblogs said...

I was a F.I.A. coordinator in NY and actually the program did a lot of good. We got mostly religious organizations, including the local Mormons and smaller churches to provide volunteers for programs that were otherwise underfunded in a long term care facility. These other programs, like at home care for elderly surgery patients who needed someone to temporarily look in on them, had little chance of getting either private or local government grants to pay for the high prices of direct care workers.

You may not like Bush, but don't throw the baby out with the bath water. Faith in Action grants have helped started dozens of good programs, from afterschool programs to soup kitchens, that have succeded by using the Libertarian theory of encouraging religious organizations of all stripes to do more work in the community. It's a good program, no matter what President started it.

Nancy Tyrrel said...

Hellfireblogs.... If it's all volunteerism, Churches need the Federal government because.....?

I'm sure there are some worthwhile programs.... but it's a slippery slope when the government starts giving taxpayer money to religious organizations.

For example, a faith-based prison program required joining the church and attending meetings, in exchange for which inmates got special privileges.

Seems to me instead of underfunding programs and then giving the money to private, and unaccountable, organizations, the government should use the monies to beef up the existing medicare, fix the loopholes, etc.

Faith-based initiatives seem like just another privatization of our health care and social services that will eventually line the wrong pockets and benefit the few....