Religion

I recently saw the movie Religulous, and I have to say I wasn't that impressed. I respect Bill Maher's best efforts to raise an important issue, but he lacked the eloquence and presentation style of Richard Dawkins. I thought that the questions he asked were good but not great. He argued the rationality of biblical text without arguing the underarching philosophy of religion. Furthermore, the movie was designed almost as a rallying cry for atheists to unite, but offered no ideas on how to get atheists to unite. It clearly, by its almost condescending nature, was not designed to sway the opinions of the religious. But this movie isn't really my point.

The problem in our country isn't so much religion but the dangerous combination of religion and public policy. This isn't a culture war between atheists and christians as Bill O'Reilly would have us believe. This is a philosophical argument between a group of people who believe that religion should not be used to promote a political cause and people who don't hold that belief. It is important to realize this because, while atheists and christians do not agree on some important issues, there are MANY christians who agree with atheists on this issue. I think that by attacking christians, atheists sometimes repel these secularist christians and divide their base of support on this issue.

It is time for atheists to say, "Look, we can agree on this: if god exists, he certainly doesn't care about what politicians think. Jesus stood up against the pharisees, remember? Regarding homosexuality, can we not relate the story of the prostitute that Jesus rescued? 'Let the person among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.', 'Love your enemies', 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself'. And that last one was the second greatest commandment of all. Wouldn't god want us to protect the Earth he created? Doesn't the Bible say that ensoulment takes place 40 days after conception, thus allowing, at least, for stem cell research? Can we agree that the death penalty is not a pro-life position? Isn't Jesus for helping the poor, as is Medicaid and Welfare?

My point isn't to say that Christians should be democrats. My point is that religion can support any political position. God is not republican. He is not democrat. If he exists, then he probably likes some policies of both parties and hates some policies of both parties. Unfortunately for Christians, god is not running for political office, and until he does, let's leave him out of political discussions. I'm not saying that your religious beliefs should not affect your political views. I am saying that you cannot ignore passages of the bible that endorse one political party while embracing passages that endorse another party. That is distorting the word of the lord.

Perhaps the best option for Christians is to weigh the arguments of both parties, and make the decision that would be best for the country, and pray that the candidate who wins will do as god wills.

We can have a philosophical argument over the existance of god later, but for now, can't we agree that if god exists, he sure as hell isn't a scumbag politician?

-Please Heed the Call