To BELIEVE or NOT BELIEVE — That is the question
By Loren Adams, 11 October 2009
What a person believes determines which path one takes.
The same may be said of a collective body of individuals. Democracy
or no, what most persons believe, whether myth or matter, determines which path
the state or nation chooses.
Therefore, to believe or not believe, that is the question.
In that sense, realism pales in comparison. Mindsets are built on faith rather
than facts for those predisposed toward religion, and when a significant
portion is so predisposed, then the whole is forced to go with the flow, though
kicking and screaming in some instances.
What is America’s complexion of beliefs if faith determines
our future? European ancestors of contemporary Americans primarily escaped the
old country to practice religious freedom, not simply to seek homesteading
opportunities. These pioneers were Puritans, Quakers, Amish, Baptists,
Methodists, Reformed and a wide array of fundamentalists. The mass migration,
based on religion, became the foundation of our politics today and is why our
views, in general, vary so much from cousins across the pond.
The intense infighting and rancor we witness today are
products of our religious background.
But one issue particularly contradicts the modern
fundamentalists’ creed – one that calls into question why they must so
militantly oppose science, fresh discoveries, diversity tolerance, and the
pursuit of rational thought. It comes from their own sacred writings: “You
shall seek the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” (John 8.32)
Truth-seeking is one of the fundamentals established by
Jesus Christ. Yet, today fundamentalists reject truth in favor of false
pillars. For example, the myth that earth is a mere 6,000 years old does not
originate from the Bible, nor from the Jesus Christ of the New Testament.
Rather it comes from modern-era speculators who discard whole passages to
arrive at such a conclusion. Thus, interpretation carries more weight with
religious mythmakers than sound doctrine.
Other glaring contradictions include the verses: “Blessed
are the peacemakers,” “Do good to those that curse you and do all manner of
evil against you,” “Blessed are the poor,” and “Easier is it for a camel to
pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of
Heaven.” Supplanting Jesus’ core principles, fundamentalists serve the gospel
of prosperity where the elite are admired, the poor disdained. Aristocracy and
health are signs of God’s favor; poverty and illness are symptoms of God’s
disfavor.
Hence, Christ’s basic teachings are reversed, up is down,
and black is white. The Republican platform is thus ratified, determined by the
“base” – social conservatives and fundamentalists who’ve subverted
Christ’s gospel for their own. How easy, then, does the “base” join hands with
crooked crony capitalists of the secular order, an element most condemned by
Christ but now revered by the sheep. The Republican portrait is complete. It’s
the cult from Hell.
“Fascism will come to America wrapped in the flag and
carrying a cross.” – Sinclair Lewis, 1935
Given the rising tide of fundamentalism afore depicted (despite
Obama’s 2008 win), the nation’s health gets progressively worse. The age of
invention, innovation, and exploration is evaporated in place of division and
debate over the petty; vision is dimmed to distortion. The Twin Towers can’t be
rebuilt after a decade when it only took eight years to land on the moon during
the brighter, less “faith-based” era.
Americans come to two opposing conclusions about the
direction this nation should go based on their “faith.” This is the source of
political conflict holding our country back and actually leading to its decline.
If one accepts the social conservatives’ (Republican)
premises, political views are molded by that “faith,” and the core is proudly canonized
“faith-based.” Basic premises are: (1) God created the planet 6,000 years ago,
dinosaurs co-existed with man, and the creation was a 6-day, 24-hour process based
on current time; (2) homosexuality is a choice, not genetic; (3) Climate change
is natural (if occurring at all) and is not man-made; (4) the spiritual warfare
between good and evil may be summed up as conservatives (good) vs. liberals
(evil), Republicans (good) vs. Democrats (evil), wealthy (good) vs. poor (evil),
and evangelicals (good) vs. all others (evil); (5) “Christians” must become
“partners” with God by engaging in spiritual warfare against evil (as defined
above) – as if God requires humans to battle for Him; (6) Jesus Christ is
returning to Earth soon to catch His bride (the chosen) away and to leave the sinners
behind to be punished; and (7) The antichrist world dictator is alive today, is
a non-Christian and will attempt to make peace in the Middle East.
Thus, Barack Obama becomes the Antichrist to millions of
fundamentalist Republicans – deserving of death or assassination; and
Democrats are to be rejected and defeated at any cost. Why? It’s a matter of
“FAITH.” A shocking 21%
of Republicans in New Jersey – a Northern blue state – believe
Obama is the Antichrist, and thus should be targeted for assassination by the
“righteous.” (Imagine the higher percentages in the Red States?)
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/09/16/nj-obama-poll/
One prominent question relating to the Afghan-Iraq conflicts
unilaterally initiated by Bush is: Do you believe America is engaged in a
spiritual war of “good vs. evil” – as believed by most Republicans?
If you answer YES, then you believe it’s okay to attack
another nation that hasn’t attacked us based on “spiritual” premonition rather
than actual provocation. You probably believe the Bush-Cheney administration
was concealing WMD intelligence to protect America, not for personal
absolvement. You have FAITH in Bush because he claimed to be “born-again”;
therefore, anything he decided was okay with you.
If you answered NO, then you believed there was something suspicious
about this whole charade and you attempted to investigate outside normal media
channels to understand what was actually transpiring.
If you believe Bush is a MAN OF GOD, then he could do no
wrong as president and every American should have supported him unconditionally
and any lack of support exposed both anti-American and anti-God sentiments.
If you believe that Bush is NOT a MAN OF GOD, but has major
skeletons in his closet like so many others in politics, then one questions the
motives for committing this nation to such wars lacking justifiable rationale.
You discovered deliberate lies in the process and absolute treason.
If you believe Bush told the truth when he claimed he flew as
a TANG pilot during Viet Nam and never was on unapproved AWOL for 18 months,
then why should there ever be need to investigate? CBS and Dan Rather’s attempt
was purely a hoax. Bush’s word was enough.
If you believe Bush was lying about his TANG experience,
then you would have looked into his records to discover his 18-month AWOL gap,
his refusal to take a physical, his father’s pulling strings for Junior to nudge
ahead of 500 other applicants more qualified for Texas Air National Guard, and
that his military history was nothing like Karl Rove advertised. You'd not
only discover the 18-month AWOL gap, but the family influence that protected
him from a cocaine sentence, girlfriend’s abortion, and numerous DWI arrests.
It all boils down to a matter of faith in America. Your
decisions are based on what you believe, not insignificant details, such as
history, science, current events, and facts. Thus, the decline of a great
nation.
(“Matter of Faith” to be continued in next article.) 