Recently in Politics Category

Many signs point to a growing consciousness among the American people. I trust that this is so. It is useful to remember that history is to the nation as memory is to the individual. As persons deprived of memory become disoriented and lost, not knowing where they have been and where they are going, so a nation denied a conception of the past will be disabled in dealing with its present and its future.

Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., quoted in this month's Harper's Magazine.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution. 

The privacy of ordinary Americans is fiercely protected in all our activities. We're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans. Our efforts are focused on links to Al Qaeda and their known affiliates.

President George W. Bush, May 11, 2006, quoted by PBS' Frontline.

General warrants was part of the reason for the American Revolution. It was that the king's agent could go in and search a house everywhere, search a whole neighborhood with one warrant. And the Boston people said: "We don't like that. We'll have a tea party. We'll fight you." We said no.

Peter Swire, former White House Chief Counsel for Privacy, quoted by PBS' Frontline.

The [PBS] documentary is a straightforward indictment of the Bush administration's decision to sacrifice individual liberties for collective defense ... Big Brother is not, as once feared, a giant centralized supercomputer with a massive amount of information about every American; rather, it is a cherry-picking operation in which the government goes looking for what it wants among gargantuan corporate databanks.

Washington Post, May 15.

Apocalypse now. Just in time for the holidays. Take your pick of the following:

• Mel Gibson's latest movie, where America's conquered are fodder for Gibson's latest historically inaccurate depiction of evil,
• Left Behind: Eternal Forces, a so-called 'Christian' video game where you engage in apocalyptic warfare and win points by converting or killing atheists, Catholics, Muslims and Jews, or
• This report on where Western civilization is heading under the enlightened ethical leadership of Chairman Bush and co.
  

Today's readings from the daily office include Revelation 17. This passage and chapter 18 describe the punishment and fall of mystical Babylon, the mother of abominations who rules over all the nations of the earth:

Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries. (17:1-2)

To the first or second century readers of Revelation, Babylon of course was imperial Rome. But what interests me more than a historical-critical interpretation of this imagery is the idea of the embodiment of idolatry. Babylon is incomparably wealthy, riding upon the beast of imperial military and political power, drenched in the blood of the innocent, with all the nations are under her spell.

What particularly potent imagery for what Walter Wink refers to as the Domination System — an idolatrous system of power and privilege based on imperial culture and the myth of redemptive violence. In The Powers That Be (which I started reading a few days ago), Wink interprets the Babylonian creation story Enuma Elish as the archetypal narrative of the myth that social order and cohesion must be maintained and reinforced through repeated sacrificial violence.

The Romans were the first century inheritors, through the Pax Romana, of the myth of redemptive violence. The Domination System ruled through Roman imperial power and through its descendants in Christendom and later the modern nation state.

One does not have to look too far to see Babylon's modern sons, who continue to insist it is necessary to destroy entire societies through suffering and bloodshed in order to save them. These days however, redemptive violence is waged under euphemisms like 'structural adjustment', 'collateral damage' and 'staying the course'.

They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers. (17:14)

The great promise of Revelation is that such oppression and violence will be overturned, ultimately and nonviolently, by the Lamb. Might is not right, and ultimately will not prevail.

In the current issue of Newsweek there is a series of articles on 'The Politics of Jesus.'

In a lead article that dissects the growing rifts within evangelical ranks, Newsweek writer Lisa Miller parses evangelicals into the classic categories of conservative, moderate and progressive. She asks, 'How much do they have to show for the decades of activism? And if they are to turn from what Roger Williams called "the garden of Christ's church" to fight the battles of "the wilderness of the world," what should those battles be?'

In my view, there is no real 'politics of Jesus'. The issue is not whether God votes Republican, Democrat or Green. Nothing in Jesus' life, ministry or death suggests support for specific political parties or partisan positions. Jesus was not apolitical but anti-political (in the sense that the things of Caesar were definitely not the Kingdom of God).

There is much to be said for Greg Boyd's position that while Christians should engage vigorously in the public and political spheres, Jesus Christ transcends democratic politics — and it cheapens the gospel to suggest that there is a 'politics of Jesus' or a distinctly Christian political position.

Miller compares the culture war scaremongering of religious leaders like James Dobson to a much different message from suburban Kansas megachurch pastor, Adam Hamilton:

He was helping his 14,000 members parse the parables in Matthew 13—the wheat and the weeds, the good fish and bad. "Our task is not to go around judging people—Jesus didn't do that," he tells NEWSWEEK. He encourages his congregation to vote, he says, but when they do they're neither predictably Republican nor Democratic. On the issues, many are increasingly frustrated with the war in Iraq; they're conservative on abortion, but they "express compassion" for homosexuals. The religious right has "gone too far," says Hamilton. "They've lost their focus on the spirit of Jesus and have separated the world into black and white, when the world is much more gray." He adds: "I can't see Jesus standing with signs at an anti-gay rally. It's hard to picture that."

The fact that evanglicals are finding more nuanced positions on social issues and returning to the core of Jesus' social justice teachings should not come as a surprise. It should also not be seen as some sort of 'swing' to the left, as some commentators seem to posit. As Miller points out:

Some Christians, exhausted by divisive wedge politics, are going back to the Bible and embracing a wider-ranging agenda, one that emphasizes reaching out to the poor and disenfranchised.

I see this more as a spiritual issue than a political one. Evangelicals are coming out from under the shadows of a fundamentalism they have been unrighteously shackled to for the past two to three decades. As the Moral Majority and Christian Coalition flounder, as Focus on The Family and minsitries like it become more and more extreme and single-issue obsessed, people are beginning to ask what any of that has to do with the gospel.

My favorite personal Bible is my faux-leather bound version of Eugene Peterson's The Message. Embossed on the front cover is a small bird-like face, underneath which is one word: THINK. The emergence of intelligent thought in a young person is a sign of a maturing outlook. I'm sure it's the same with today's evangelicals.

I am not Episcopal, but I find the Episcopal daily office lectionary a wonderful resource for reading and meditating on scripture. Lowell Grisham's blog provides each day's readings together with his personal commentary. Lowell is an astute observer of religion and public life and I highly recommend his insights.

Yesterday's and today's Hebrew scripture readings are from Micah 1 and 2. The prophet Micah warns here of God's impending judgment upon the cities of Jerusalem and Samaria, the twin political and religious centers of ancient Judah and Israel. Like many modern centers of power both cities had become, in Micah's eyes, corrupted at the core through their political and religious 'prostitution' and their abuse of wealth and power.

He rails against powerful interests who snatch property from the poor and evict families from their homes, against political leaders who raise extortionate taxes on the poor whilst inflicting unnecessary wars upon their people.

As Lowell observes,

Much of the complaint of the prophets was directed at the abuse of power by the wealthy and the politically connected. The prophets accuse the powerful of using their power to expand their own economic interests, often at the expense of the peasants and smaller landowners. There was lying, arrogance and corruption in the high places, particularly the seat of government. God detests such behavior, says Micah and the prophets. Such behavior brings God's judgment.

This stuff reads like today's headlines. When you read the 8th century prophets it is like reading a contemporary newspaper or watching TV news -- just substitute Washington for Samaria and Jerusalem. The 8th century BCE was a time when Israel was wealthy and politically powerful. It was also a time of increasing economic contrasts. The wealthy were concentrating much of the wealth and power into the hands of the elite, a circumstance guaranteed to draw the ire of the prophetic tradition.

Lowell goes on to note that the prescription against such abuse is summed up in Micah's famous prophetic demans, that the Israelites learn again 'to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.'

Such an injunction is appropriate given the times we live in. We may not be facing fire and brimstone from heaven, but there is plenty of evidence to suggest a callousness in public and private life equivalent to that prophesied against by Micah.

Given that an election is looming in the US, the Christian Alliance for Progress is timely in releasing its Christian Voters Values Guide 2006, a welcome counterpoint to the almost deafening posturing on 'values' by the religious right.

On several key points, the Voters Values Guide echos the concerns of Micah:

• Forsaking brute power - seeking peace, not war
• Caring for the earth - responsible environmental stewardship
• Rejectig bigotry, embracing dignity - equality for all
  
• Extending healing to all - health care for all

These concerns are reflected in the Gospels through the teaching and example of Christ. My prayer is that more of those who claim Jesus as savior of the world will actually begin to support and work for the things Jesus cared (and still cares) about.

Chip Berlet has an excellent piece on Talk To Action concerning the frightening direction culture war scapegoating is taking these days with the religious right. He is discussing the recent 'Value Voters Summit' orchestrated by the Family Research Council:

The Christian Right has regrouped and launched a new offensive in the ongoing Christian Right Culture War. Gay marriage and the "homosexual agenda" are the primary tactical scapegoats ...

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins suggested the nation was under attack from without and within, which was a theme throughout the conference. The domestic forces of Satan--secularists, liberals, homosexuals, feminists, abortionists, p o r nographers--are the subversives within; while the barbaric terrorist Islamic fascists are the external enemy. Godly "values voters" should remember how they felt on 9/11, and then go into the voting booth and vote to prevent the Democrats from having the opportunity to appoint more activist judges who are wittingly or unwittingly in league with the evil forces of darkness.

As I have said before on this blog, gay is the new Jew as far as the radical religious right is concerned. Gays have come to epitomize all that is evil, representing a threat to Godly sanctity that must not only be resisted, but eliminated altogether.

Time and again speakers at the conference made it clear that gay marriage was the key battle in the campaign to protect religion, (and thwart the plans of the Devil). Gay marriage, we were told, will spread like a disease across America from the source of the infection--Massachusetts and its cabal of activist judges.

But the fight against gay marriage and civil unions should be viewed for what it is: the thin end of a wedge, merely a starting point for drawing battle lines and testing the water to see what the citizenry will accept.

If the theocrats succeed in having enough 'Godly men' (i.e. fundamentalist or fundamentalist-controlled Republicans) elected to positions of power throughout the country, a Federal Marriage Amendment will be the least of our problems. The rhetoric will continue to ratchet up and the consequences will become ever more grave.

Will the true confessing church please stand up and be heard?

Today I was browsing through the exhibits at the conference when I stumbled upon an interesting new product called Layered Voice Analysis (LVA).

LVA is software that analyzes 129 frequency parameters found in the human voice and provides an emotional/psychological profile of the speaker. It shows, for example, when a subject is being deceptive, excited or stressed.

To illustrate LVA's capabilities, the vendor had set up a large plasma screen showing the software running alongside a clip of Bill Clinton's now famous debate with Mike Wallace on Faux News.

As Clinton was speaking, the word "Truthful" continually flashed on the screen, punctuated occasionally by "High Levels of Stress". Who said telling the truth was easy? On several occasions when Wallace interjected or responded, the word "Inaccuracy" would flash on the screen.

I'm not making this up. I only watched a couple of minutes but found the demonstration fascinating. Now when can I buy a set-top box version to attach to my TV?

Of course, for watchers of Faux News, you wouldn't need to invest in this technology. Just place a sign on top of your set that says, "Lies, Damned Lies and Lying Liars" and you'll be set.

More on the very real similarities between fundamentalisms — Christian and Islamic.

The current issue of The Christian Century has an article by United Methodist minister Paul Jeffrey on the difficulties faced by NGOs providing earthquake relief in Pakistan. The local director of Church World Service (CWS) describes some of the measures that have had to be adopted by western aid agencies in order to avoid showing disrespect to local tradition and culture, while still providing urgently needed relief.

Interestingly, the foreign influence that causes the most trouble with the locals is not western secularism or feminism, but conservative evangelical Christianity. Operations such as Samaritan's Purse, whose leader Franklin Graham has attacked Islam as a "very wicked and evil religion", seem all to ready to exploit the earthquake victims and their suffering as an opportunity to evangelize.

Blatant proselytizing mixed with religious intolerance can be volatile for all involved. Such an approach to aid is not only inflammatory, but can well endanger other Christian and western aid groups and damage good relations NGOs have taken years to build with local communities.

In the article, Jeffrey observes two interesting parallels between fundamentalist Islam and fundamentalist Christianity.

Firstly, both types of groups have flourished under US taxpayer funding. Islamist extremists got their headstart under Reagan with billions in US funding channeled through the Pakistan security forces. Based on what I learned this weekend on terrorist funding, such groups still manage to draw funding (albeit limited) through USAID by posing as legitimate charities. On the other hand, Christian fundamentalist organizations have in recent years been the primary recipients of hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to "faith-based" initiatives. In both cases much of the funding was and is diverted to proselytizing, political activity and other questionable ends.

Secondly, in troubled theaters like Pakistan and Iraq, both groups of extremists continue to foster discord among the ordinary people, posing a challenge to real relief efforts. Jeffrey quotes Marvin Pervez of CWS commenting how you hear the same type of shrill jeremiad coming from both the local church and the mosque, "as if the clergy and the mullahs exchange notes."

Another parallel is how fundamentalists of both persuasions will try to appear reasonable and compassionate in their efforts to win hearts and minds to the cause. For instance, Hezbollah is known for its charity and welfare work in Palestine. Various groups affiliated with al-Qaeda are known for the support for widows and families of suicide bomb 'martyrs'.

Likewise, on the Christian right you see furious opposition to women's reproductive choice and gay civil rights dressed up for the media and general public as compassionate "concern for the unborn" and for the "protection of marriage". But behind closed doors the real agendas of keeping women "in their place" and eliminating the homosexual 'problem' are openly discussed.

Ralph Reed does the same thing in his recent debate with Jim Wallis on God's Politics Blog. Among various other misrepresentations, he even manages to characterize the fundamentalist obsession with Israel (based on its belief in the end-times, which culminates in Israel's ultimate and horrific annihilation at Armageddon, as foretold by fundamentalist eschatology) as a social justice issue.

Pam Spauling noted a similar trend on her blog today, where she discussed Jerry Falwell's comparison of Hillary Clinton to Satan during private remarks to like-minded pastors at the Value Voters Summit. Falwell is an extremist and works closely with others who can be considered even more extreme than he is, but he likes to come across to the general public as a genial defender of the faith. Mel White has documented at length, in Religion Gone Bad, how these ideologues will say one thing in public, trying to sound as reasonable as possible, whilst uttering dark invective to foot soldiers when they suppose the media aren't paying attention.

The point of all this is not to attempt to equate Jerry Falwell or Franklin Graham with Osama bin Laden. To compare isms is not to equate them, nor to suggest moral equivalency between one kind of outrage and another. In any case, charges from the right of 'moral relativism' do not successfully detract from the validity of observations that similar dynamics appear to be at work in both.

Every now and then I come across a rare gem from somewhere on the religious right that simply leaves me dumbfounded by its unintentional irony.

Hence the following surreal quote in the Washington Post from Pope Benedict XVI's biographer, George Weigel. Weigel is responding to outrage throughout the Muslim world following the pope's recent comments in which he quoted a 14th-century Byzantine emperor saying that the prophet Muhammad brought "only evil and inhuman" things to the world:

The over-the-top reaction in the Muslim world simply underscores the truth of what he [the pope] said at Regensburg, which is that unless Islam develops the capacity to be self-critical — unless Islamic leaders take responsibility for saying to their extremists that violence in the name of God is wrong — then there can be no genuine interreligious dialogue.

Such arrogance. A prime example of the pot calling the kettle black. Inquisition, anyone? Witch hunt? Gay seminarian purge?

I don't remember the last time I heard Vatican leadership exhibiting the capacity to be self-critical in relation to any number of its dogmatic pronouncements — especially those condemning family planning and contraceptive use in the third world, or on the "intrinsic moral evil" of loving, committed same-sex relationships. Nor have I witnessed Catholic leaders taking "responsibility for saying to their [own] extremists that violence in the name of God is wrong."

This laughable piece of deflection ties in nicely with a recent article on Christian realism in the Progressive Christians Uniting blog. In it, Peter Laarman highlights Reinhold Niebuhr's insight that

Christians should see the world as it is and act ethically in the light of a clear-sighted realism. For the neoconservatives and for most other Right ideologues, “realism” means understanding how bad they are — all the “enemies of freedom,” “Islamo-fascists,” etc.; yet surely a major part of Niebuhr’s realism entailed understanding our own propensity to sinning, our own capacity for self-deception and hubris. It’s this kind of Christian Realism that is in critically short supply right now.

Laarman ties this lack of self-critical capacity amongst Christians to "the corporate-media mystification bubble". This lack seems to be particularly pronounced (in his view) among American evangelical Christians.

Consumption is a lonely pursuit, but it’s a pursuit that accords perfectly with the high level of small-bore anxiety that rules our culture ...

Consumerism pits me against other consuming monads ... it definitely does not invite us to think collectively about how we will fare in retirement, maintain our health, or gain education for the enhancement of life itself rather than for purposes of workplace competition. This latter way of thinking — thinking about the “we” and doing so with the benefit of critical consciousness — is the business of citizenship, not consumerism ...

The paramount challenge facing progressive Christians, I believe, is developing the courage and the tools needed to puncture the mysification bubble — is finding the capacity open the eyes and awaken the consciences of our fellow Christians and of the body politic as a whole to the suffering and danger all around us.

Mel White has also attributed part of this mystification or blindness to the average church-goer's tendency toward blind faith in their spiritual and secular leaders. If their pastor, pope or president say Islam is an evil religion or homosexuals are destroying the family, then it must be so.

So we wrap ourselves in the mystification bubble while blaming others, not ourselves, for all the evil in the world. Meanwhile, Rome is burning. 

According to USA Today, the so-called 'homeland security' business (aka the military-industrial-security complex) is now worth $59 billion a year. That's how much governments and businesses spend to 'thwart terrorosts', whatever that term means in practice. Homeland security is bigger than the motion picture and music industries.

The big winners?

• The usual lineup of military contractors: Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Ericsson, etc.
  
• Accenture, a $15 billion a year services company headquartered in Bermuda.
• The biometric industry and other whiz-bang technologies with limited or unproven effectivess.
  

Are we getting any value for all these billions?

Consultant Doug Laird, who worked for the U.S. Secret Service and was Northwest Airlines' security director, criticizes the Department of Homeland Security for awarding so many contracts to large corporations.

In general, he says, the contractors oversell the security value of their goods and services. Further, he says, the government exercises inadequate oversight.

"The DHS has pretty much given them an open check to supply products and services," he says.

Often, the large corporations "have no idea about" the work that needs to be done, Laird says. "In my opinion, it's a total rip-off."

The question on everybody's lips: Has the world become any safer? 

 

Focus on the Family Action, James Dobson's lobbying organization, will be holding a vote-your-hate rally at the Excel energy Center on October 3. Featured speakers will be FOTF's James Dobson, the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins, former presidential candidate Gary Bauer and Antioch Bible Church's Ken Hutcherson.

The event is billed as a "rally for the family", but the speaker lineup and blurb on the web-site clearly indicates it is a publicity stunt designed to rally the troops for Dobson's anti-gay, anti-choice, anti-democratic political agenda ahead of the November elections.

Which is why the upcoming release of a new book on the religious right is all the more important. Rev. Mel White, founder of Soulforce, will be in Minneapolis Thursday, September 14 at the Wayzata Community Church, to promote Religion Gone Bad: The Hidden Dangers of the Religious Right.

Mel is a former evangelical insider, having ghost written books for Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson before coming out as a gay Christian. From this background and his work with Soulforce he is uniquely qualified to write this exposé of the American religious right.

The Reverend Mel White, a deeply religious man who sees fundamentalism as "evangelical Christian orthodoxy gone cultic," believes that it is not a stretch to say that the true goal of today's fundamentalists is to break down the wall that separates church and state, superimpose their "moral values" on the U.S. Constitution, replace democracy with theocratic rule, and ultimately create a new "Christian America" in their image.

As he writes, "These are not just Neocons dressed in religious drag. These men see themselves as gurus called by God to rescue America from unrighteousness. They believe this is a Christian nation that must be returned forcibly to its Christian roots."

Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong, in his review of the book, says that Mel lays bare

the fierce anti-homosexual agenda of organized religion from the Vatican to the American television preachers. White paints a frightening picture of what they mean when they call for ‘making America a Christian nation.’ He issues a challenging wake up call both to those who are traditional Christians as well as to those who hold deeply human values. A consciousness-raising, must-read book.

Rev. Paul W. Egertson of the ELCA says the book is

a devastating and documented account of what happens when fanatical religion and fascistic politics hook up in a semi-secret affair that gives birth to spiritual, and sometimes physical, terrorism.

The primary targets of this spiritual and physical terrorism today are gays. But the hatred extends to all who oppose the theocratic agenda. Presbyterian Church (USA) moderator Rev. Jack Rogers calls the book "essential reading for anyone concerned about the health of the church and the future of our nation".

I've already ordered my copy.

The US military plans to spend more taxpayer money in an effort to influence media coverage on Iraq. The Washington Post reports that the military command in Baghdad has issued a request for bid on a two-year, $20 million public relations contract.

Apparently the incumbent PR firm, the Rendon Group, isn't doing a good enough job.

There is a concern that existing media coverage does not adequately present the official perspective on events in the Middle East. And apparently Defense Secretary Rumsfeld is none too happy about that. As the statement of work asserts,

Therefore, it is essential to the success of the new Iraqi government and the Coalition mission that both communicate effectively with our strategic audiences (i.e., Iraqi, pan-Arabic, international, and U.S. audiences) to gain widespread acceptance of their core themes and messages.

The successful contractor will be tasked with providing

the full range of strategic communication, media relations, communication research, and public relations services required to meet Coalition mission, monitoring and reporting Arabic and Western print and electronic media, including gathering raw data, analyzing and reporting effectiveness of communication programs, developing and staffing communication plans, developing and providing public relations products, and identifying methods for applying products to improve MNF-I’s mission performance.

The services provided by the contractor(s) have a core objective…engage and inspire targeted audiences.

The project is expected to require a team of 12-18 PR professionals, who will monitor US and international news sources and develop "product placement" that supports the Bush administration's "core themes and messages" on Iraq. Product placement will include preparing press releases, developing talking points and FAQs, writing op eds for publication, providing media training to officers, etc.

The worse things get on the ground, the more the administration spends ramping up the propaganda machine. And with with that machine in full force, the specter of media intimidation and censorship cannot be far behind.

As the Washington Post reports,

The monitors are to analyze stories to determine the "dissemination of key themes and messages" along with whether the "tone" is positive, neutral or negative. The media outlets would be monitored for how they present coalition or anti-Iraqi force operations.

What will happen to those outlets who are perceived to be too negative in tone or not sufficiently appreciative of the administration's "core themes and messages"?

And in news related to my prior post, Homeland Security's Chertoff defends the government's plans to snoop ever more closely on the personal communications of its citizens. He says that increased intelligence gathering and sharing doesn't equal less privacy.

As we have broadened information sharing, we have made sure that there are strict rules in effect...that prevent people from misusing that information or putting it out improperly [...] That's built into the DNA of this and all of our intelligence-sharing capabilities.

That's right... unrestrained and highly secret intelligence gathering programs by their very nature are respectful of citizen privacy. The same government that has accidental data breaches every other day is totally capable of respecting sensitive personal information.

And while we're at it let's throw in a few other nuggets from the Ministry of Truth: War is peace. Freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength.

Confounded by wall-of-separation rulings prohibiting sectarian religious displays in the public square, religious conservatives in Texas have turned to kitsch.

Is the object pictured on the right:

1. A toursit map?
2. A trashcan?
3. An ATM?
4. An outdoor grill?
5. A stone monument featuring a Bible lit up with a red neon sign?

You would be correct if you chose 5.

As noted by Street Prophets,

On August 15, 2006, a federal appeals court ruled that an open-faced Bible must be removed from the monument because a district judge changed the 50-year old monument from a secular monument into a religious one when he restored it (and uglified it by the addition of a neon light) around 10 years ago.

The "reasonable observer would conclude," the majority opinion stated, "that the monument, with the Bible outlined in red neon lighting, had evolved into a predominantly religious symbol."

This history would also force an objective observer to gag. No longer is neon just for flashy come-ons to a cheap motel, pool hall, dive bar, or Krispy Kreme "Fresh Hot Donuts" sign. This is how conservative Christian nationalism practiced today, Texas-style. It apparently includes idolatry and the glorification of kitsch in the name of Christ.

The Bible has indeed become an idol in the hands of Christian 'conservatives', especially those of a reconstructionist bent. They are those who believe that the ancient prescriptions of the Hebrew Torah should form the basis of civil law and government in this country. While hard core reconstructionists are few in number, their influence is widespread within the US religious right, and their idea of Christian 'dominion' has replaced the Rapture as the number one dangerous idea being promoted in evangelical circles these days.

Idolatry involves replacing the worship of God with the worship of objects, the elevation of religious (or commercial or political) artefacts to the realm of the sacred. It is the worship of an image, idea or object, as opposed to worshipping their Source. When one values the Bible more highly than the command of its presumed author to love one's neighbor as oneself, one is an idolator.

As noted by Jonathon Hutson in Talk to Action, it is hard not to view a monument such as the Texas neon bible without recalling the words of Leviticus 26:1: "Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the LORD your God."

Perhaps the Levitical authors or redactors forgot to add the corrollary commandment: "Avoid ye especially those graven images flanked by neon, for these are reserved for harlots and gamblers." But then they had never been to Vegas.

Is George W. Bush an idiot?

It's easy to lampoon the man. But is he stupid?

You be the judge.

Interesting to see some conservatives are coming to their senses about Bush however, as with MSNBC's Joe Scarborough:

For the past six years George W. Bush has been the target of ridicule from liberal circles. But now, instead of laughing at Democrats’ ill-directed arrogance, Republicans are quietly joining the left in questioning the President’s intellectual prowess.

The biggest knock on Bush’s brain is his lack of intellectual curiosity. Former administration officials still close to the White House will tell you Mr. Bush detests dissent, embraces a narrow world view and is intellectually incurious.

Worse for this White House is the fact that George W. Bush has daily smackdowns with the English language and the English language usually wins.

I agree with some of the anlysts though. In my mind, being arrogant, obtuse and inarticulate does not make a person an idiot. Otherwise half the country (and 90% of our political leaders) would all be idiots, and the word would have no meaning.

Liar? Yes. He lied to the American people on God knows how many issues.

War criminal? Quite possibly. He authorized detention and torture of so-called 'terror' suspects without a shred of evidence and in contravention of the Geneva Convention.

Idiot? Highly unlikely in my humble opinion. An idiot (even with help from smart friends) could not have so successfully carried out the transformation of America from a freedom-loving democracy into an incipient totalitarian state. Yes, he had good help, but I don't believe the story that Bush is a fool.