Fundamentally Scary
So it's looking more and more like tomorrow (Tuesday) night, the filibuster showdown will come to a head in the Senate. On some level, I'm OK with this, because I'm sick of hearing about this pissing match. And I also happen to think that if the GOP succeeds in doing away with the filibuster, it will come back to bite them. Of course, I've been waiting five years for something to come back and bite them: No Child Left Behind, the Iraq war, Abu Ghraib, the economy, tax cuts for the rich...I could continue on, probably forever.
My real fear in all of this is giving yet more power to the religious right. I mean, when you have former Senator John Danforth, a staunchly conservative Republican from Missouri, saying that the religious right is going too far, we know we're at a critical point. Danforth puts it so well: "The problem is not with people or churches that are politically active. It is with a party that has gone so far in adopting a sectarian agenda that it has become the political extension of a religious movement.
Religion is such a crazy thing to me. I couldn't give meaning to my life without it, but it's been used as a source of oppression and a justification for violence for thousands of years. I get the feeling like God is up in the sky, shaking his/her head and going, "WTF is wrong with you people?"
I was reading a fantastic book by Sr. Joan Chittister, who writes a regular column called "From Where I Stand." The book is called Called to Question: A Spiritual Memoir, and in it she offers a great paragraph on when religion starts to get scary:
The Sufi tell of disciples who, when the death of their master was clearly imminent, became totally bereft. "If you leave us, master," they pleaded, "how will we know what to do?" And the master replied, "I am nothing but a finger pointing at the moon. Perhaps when I am gone you will see the moon."
The meaning is clear: It is God that religion must be about, not itself. When religion makes itself God, it ceases to be religion.
Is that where we're at in this country? Perhaps we'll find out tomorrow night after the filibuster showdown. But if the past few months are any indication - given everything from Terri Schiavo to evolution in schools and beyond - I'd say we're at a point where religion has ceased being about God's love and the well-being of humanity, and has since become a political litmus test to stifle and oppress rather than to liberate and fulfill.
As Chittister writes, "What forms us lives in us forever. The important thing is that it not be allowed to stunt our growth."
My real fear in all of this is giving yet more power to the religious right. I mean, when you have former Senator John Danforth, a staunchly conservative Republican from Missouri, saying that the religious right is going too far, we know we're at a critical point. Danforth puts it so well: "The problem is not with people or churches that are politically active. It is with a party that has gone so far in adopting a sectarian agenda that it has become the political extension of a religious movement.
Religion is such a crazy thing to me. I couldn't give meaning to my life without it, but it's been used as a source of oppression and a justification for violence for thousands of years. I get the feeling like God is up in the sky, shaking his/her head and going, "WTF is wrong with you people?"
I was reading a fantastic book by Sr. Joan Chittister, who writes a regular column called "From Where I Stand." The book is called Called to Question: A Spiritual Memoir, and in it she offers a great paragraph on when religion starts to get scary:
The Sufi tell of disciples who, when the death of their master was clearly imminent, became totally bereft. "If you leave us, master," they pleaded, "how will we know what to do?" And the master replied, "I am nothing but a finger pointing at the moon. Perhaps when I am gone you will see the moon."
The meaning is clear: It is God that religion must be about, not itself. When religion makes itself God, it ceases to be religion.
Is that where we're at in this country? Perhaps we'll find out tomorrow night after the filibuster showdown. But if the past few months are any indication - given everything from Terri Schiavo to evolution in schools and beyond - I'd say we're at a point where religion has ceased being about God's love and the well-being of humanity, and has since become a political litmus test to stifle and oppress rather than to liberate and fulfill.
As Chittister writes, "What forms us lives in us forever. The important thing is that it not be allowed to stunt our growth."
posted by MikeJ at
5:00 PM
2 Comments:
Mike, again, such a wonderful and beautiful post. And I couldn't agree with you more. Yeah, we came to a compromise with the filibuster thing, but really, I'm not walking away from it thinking this is a good thing. I don't know. And I love the sufi quote. Where do you get this stuff? I had no idea you were so worldly. I'm loving it. :D I'm also loving that you are still non-vegetarian, eating the occasional pulled pork sandwich. I feel directly responsible for that. *sniff*
By
Mags, at 1:25 AM
I can't get enough of pulled pork, which offends so many people. Alas, you and my lack of willpower are completely responsible for that...
And thanks for the compliments! A lot of this stuff just comes from some of the progressive spiritual folk I like to read...Sr. Joan is truly amazing. Her books and columns really rock, and they aren't focused on just one particular religion, but rather the common elements that seem to bind all religions together.
By
MikeJ, at 12:08 PM
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