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Something that annoys me.
Aug. 26th, 2005 01:26 amOne of a large subset, obviously.
But in this case, it's this. Why is somebody as "having faith" or "being faithful" always presented as a good thing? Like they're somehow better than other people, just because they say they're religious. Like, oh, say, Pat Robertson, who's manifestly batshit insane, and yet, the media tiptoes around it because he's a minister. Or how Bush is presented as "faithful" while he's lying to the country and bombing thousands of Iraqi civilians.
Why can lying, corrupt, weasly assholes get free points for being "faithful"? If there's anything we should have learned from the Godfather movies, it's that going through the motions of religion doesn't make somebody nice. And if there's something we should have learned from, oh, I dunno, the Inquisition, terrorists, and so on, it's that even when people really believe religion, they can STILL be batshit insane, and they can make the religion encourage them to be batshit insane.
I imagine a lot of it's usually due to the fact that the people making the loudest protestations of faith are making sure they do it in the faith of the biggest group of the area. Which gives them the dual benefit of "see, he's like us," and the reverence usually inspired by being brought up in that religion. And often, the people who'd notice that the person's really an asshole, and not vote for them aren't going to go out and start saying "X isn't really a (whatever)." Because that's a bad idea in general, and usually plays into the hands of people who like to divide people. And the people who really follow the religion tend to try to live up to things like "judge not, lest ye be judged" and so on, I guess.
But it's really annoying. And doesn't help the country. So, just to repeat, Pat Robertson is a dangerous fundamentalist Republican leader.
Of course, if you listen to the "news", you'll get the impression that wherever you go, Christianity is under attack in the US. Right. With what, 75% of the country self-identifying as Christian? Sure. Uh huh. Right.
And, last but not least in this rambling stream of consciousness, a link. Polls on American Religious Tolerance at www.religioustolerance.org. The important poll is about halfway down, the Gallup one about whether or not people would vote for a President who was X. Last poll was in 1999, and is broadly good news (though I suspect that at least some people would answer differently to a poll taker than they would at the voting box) In last place though, are atheists. With, admittedly, 49%, a lot better than in 1959.
Technorati Tags: Politics, Religion, Mindscribbles, Rants
But in this case, it's this. Why is somebody as "having faith" or "being faithful" always presented as a good thing? Like they're somehow better than other people, just because they say they're religious. Like, oh, say, Pat Robertson, who's manifestly batshit insane, and yet, the media tiptoes around it because he's a minister. Or how Bush is presented as "faithful" while he's lying to the country and bombing thousands of Iraqi civilians.
Why can lying, corrupt, weasly assholes get free points for being "faithful"? If there's anything we should have learned from the Godfather movies, it's that going through the motions of religion doesn't make somebody nice. And if there's something we should have learned from, oh, I dunno, the Inquisition, terrorists, and so on, it's that even when people really believe religion, they can STILL be batshit insane, and they can make the religion encourage them to be batshit insane.
I imagine a lot of it's usually due to the fact that the people making the loudest protestations of faith are making sure they do it in the faith of the biggest group of the area. Which gives them the dual benefit of "see, he's like us," and the reverence usually inspired by being brought up in that religion. And often, the people who'd notice that the person's really an asshole, and not vote for them aren't going to go out and start saying "X isn't really a (whatever)." Because that's a bad idea in general, and usually plays into the hands of people who like to divide people. And the people who really follow the religion tend to try to live up to things like "judge not, lest ye be judged" and so on, I guess.
But it's really annoying. And doesn't help the country. So, just to repeat, Pat Robertson is a dangerous fundamentalist Republican leader.
Of course, if you listen to the "news", you'll get the impression that wherever you go, Christianity is under attack in the US. Right. With what, 75% of the country self-identifying as Christian? Sure. Uh huh. Right.
And, last but not least in this rambling stream of consciousness, a link. Polls on American Religious Tolerance at www.religioustolerance.org. The important poll is about halfway down, the Gallup one about whether or not people would vote for a President who was X. Last poll was in 1999, and is broadly good news (though I suspect that at least some people would answer differently to a poll taker than they would at the voting box) In last place though, are atheists. With, admittedly, 49%, a lot better than in 1959.
Technorati Tags: Politics, Religion, Mindscribbles, Rants
