Agnostic Grumbling
Jan. 3rd, 2005 11:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jetpack_monkey_ljarchiveThe following is in defense of agnostic/atheist rights, which should not be construed as a bashing of Christianity. That Christianity is used as my main bone of discontent is simply because it's the religion "in power," so to speak.
If I have to read one more person complain about "politically correct Christian bashing," I'm going to freaking hurl. For one thing, it's a contradiction in terms - being "politically correct," in the purest sense, is an attempt (mind you, I say attempt) to offend no-one, up to and including Christians. Being politically correct is offensive as it is - there's tact and then there's idiocy - it doesn't so much need to bash any group, minority or majority.
I do agree that there is a lot of bashing of the Christian faith going around. It's not much better or worse than the active pity or "well, you'll know better someday" condescension that agnostics and atheists have to suffer on a daily basis. People of different faiths or lack thereof are always going to have problems with one another.
There's a certain irony to the Christian complaint, though, because that particular religious institution has not-too-subtly insinuated itself in our governmental offices, courts, schools, and basic fabric of American society. To proclaim one's faith in God in the workplace or at a social gathering is met with polite nods and smiles or even equally vocal support. Mention you're an agnostic, atheist, or you just don't buy into this whole religion thing, and you may as well have pulled a dead skunk from your coat. There's an urban myth woven into the brains of Christians, non-Christian religious types, and seculars alike - that, somehow, this is a Christian nation. It's not, and I'll touch on that a bit later.
But there's usually somebody that complains that "they're trying to destroy the Christian institution" every time somebody else attempts to bring forth what should be inherent in the government anyway - a true separation of church and state. Yes, that means no God in your Pledge of Allegiance. It means that we cease to trust God on the back of the dollar bill. It means no statues of the Ten Commandments in the courthouse and no bibles on the witness stand. No nativity scenes on the front lawn of City Hall.
Here's the thing that these complainers fail to understand - we're not out to get them. We're out to protect ourselves and them with it. The separation of church and state is a protection of freedom that has roots that go all the way back to the Pilgrims (who turned out to be pretty good little religious persecutionists themselves). The First Amendment promises that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." And yet there remains an implicit acknowledgement of Christianity with only the most basic lip service paid to Judaism and Islam (if at all), and not even a sideways glance at the Eastern religions or secularism.
There's this weird but not inexplicable belief out there that America is a "Christian nation." Certainly, America is a nation with a Christian majority, but that has nothing to do with America's ongoing religious identity (or, he said with hope, lack thereof). The Founding Fathers certainly didn't see America as a Christian nation. Not the ones who were actually doing anything with the writing of important documents, anyway...
James Madison, author of the Bill of Rights: "An alliance or coalition between Government and religion cannot be too carefully guarded against......Every new and successful example therefore of a PERFECT SEPARATION between ecclesiastical and civil matters is of importance........religion and government will exist in greater purity, without (rather) than with the aid of government." Letter to Edward Livingston, 1822
Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence: "Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law." Letter to Dr. Thomas Cooper, 1814. Incidentally, Jefferson has often been mistaken for a Christian for his references to God in his writing. However, his overall philosophy seemed to be an almost complete rejection of Christianity. He leaned more towards deism, and, in fact, rewrote the New Testament to resemble a philosophical text, leaving out the religious and supernatural elements).
George Washington's position on religion is unclear, as he has very little on record about the subject. In his writings, he commented on the Sermons twice and never once referred to Jesus Christ. In battle, however, he let his men choose their own chaplains, including a Universalist, and he supported Jefferson's belief in a separation of church and state. There's some historical conjecture that he may have been a deist, but there's little hard proof of this. (from here) In 1790, he wrote that he saw an America "which gives bigotry no sanction...persecution no assistance.... May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid." (from here). Washington is the most debatable of the founding fathers on the position of religion, however.
The reason for this belief in a Christian America is, I believe, wholly political. Left or right, successful politicians play to the majority because the majority is going to put them in office. And the vast majority of Americans are of the Christian faith. Politicians want to assure people that their country will look exactly like them, and most people can get behind the idea of God - a big invisible sky deity whose word is literally law and who is going to take care of them and their nation.
Religion has been an effective political banner for so long that it's easy to forget that it isn't actually good for the government. Religion is an intensely personal pursuit that deals with unknowables. Each person has to discover their own religious path and it makes religion less of a pure pursuit if it's embedded in the system of rule. Religion and power should not mix. Lest we forget that how Europe got the Crusades, The Inquisition, and the Holocaust. None of those are "Never in America" situations. To quote Margaret Atwood in "A Handmaid's Tale" - "Nothing changes instantaneously: in a gradually heating bathtub you'd be boiled to death before you knew it."
I have no argument with a politician's value system coming forth from deeply held religious beliefs, but I take issue when he or she wants to explicitly insert those beliefs into the operation of the government. I would rather see the morality of a person in action than the promise of morality based on a label they've attached to themselves, whether they're devoted to its tenets or not.
If I sound defensive, I am. I have no desire to be marginalized, however slightly or greatly, by my government because I do not hold with a faith in the Christian God. I do feel like I'm fighting for territory that shouldn't belong to any one faith system, swimming to keep my head above water when we should all be sprawled out on the beach.
As a last thought, and to dip into the arena of satire... What if the Scientologists got the reins next? Would the other religions raise an uproar, or would it have to be that the majority of the nation had switched to Scientology to get that result? In which case, can it still be found acceptable?
If I have to read one more person complain about "politically correct Christian bashing," I'm going to freaking hurl. For one thing, it's a contradiction in terms - being "politically correct," in the purest sense, is an attempt (mind you, I say attempt) to offend no-one, up to and including Christians. Being politically correct is offensive as it is - there's tact and then there's idiocy - it doesn't so much need to bash any group, minority or majority.
I do agree that there is a lot of bashing of the Christian faith going around. It's not much better or worse than the active pity or "well, you'll know better someday" condescension that agnostics and atheists have to suffer on a daily basis. People of different faiths or lack thereof are always going to have problems with one another.
There's a certain irony to the Christian complaint, though, because that particular religious institution has not-too-subtly insinuated itself in our governmental offices, courts, schools, and basic fabric of American society. To proclaim one's faith in God in the workplace or at a social gathering is met with polite nods and smiles or even equally vocal support. Mention you're an agnostic, atheist, or you just don't buy into this whole religion thing, and you may as well have pulled a dead skunk from your coat. There's an urban myth woven into the brains of Christians, non-Christian religious types, and seculars alike - that, somehow, this is a Christian nation. It's not, and I'll touch on that a bit later.
But there's usually somebody that complains that "they're trying to destroy the Christian institution" every time somebody else attempts to bring forth what should be inherent in the government anyway - a true separation of church and state. Yes, that means no God in your Pledge of Allegiance. It means that we cease to trust God on the back of the dollar bill. It means no statues of the Ten Commandments in the courthouse and no bibles on the witness stand. No nativity scenes on the front lawn of City Hall.
Here's the thing that these complainers fail to understand - we're not out to get them. We're out to protect ourselves and them with it. The separation of church and state is a protection of freedom that has roots that go all the way back to the Pilgrims (who turned out to be pretty good little religious persecutionists themselves). The First Amendment promises that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." And yet there remains an implicit acknowledgement of Christianity with only the most basic lip service paid to Judaism and Islam (if at all), and not even a sideways glance at the Eastern religions or secularism.
There's this weird but not inexplicable belief out there that America is a "Christian nation." Certainly, America is a nation with a Christian majority, but that has nothing to do with America's ongoing religious identity (or, he said with hope, lack thereof). The Founding Fathers certainly didn't see America as a Christian nation. Not the ones who were actually doing anything with the writing of important documents, anyway...
James Madison, author of the Bill of Rights: "An alliance or coalition between Government and religion cannot be too carefully guarded against......Every new and successful example therefore of a PERFECT SEPARATION between ecclesiastical and civil matters is of importance........religion and government will exist in greater purity, without (rather) than with the aid of government." Letter to Edward Livingston, 1822
Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence: "Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law." Letter to Dr. Thomas Cooper, 1814. Incidentally, Jefferson has often been mistaken for a Christian for his references to God in his writing. However, his overall philosophy seemed to be an almost complete rejection of Christianity. He leaned more towards deism, and, in fact, rewrote the New Testament to resemble a philosophical text, leaving out the religious and supernatural elements).
George Washington's position on religion is unclear, as he has very little on record about the subject. In his writings, he commented on the Sermons twice and never once referred to Jesus Christ. In battle, however, he let his men choose their own chaplains, including a Universalist, and he supported Jefferson's belief in a separation of church and state. There's some historical conjecture that he may have been a deist, but there's little hard proof of this. (from here) In 1790, he wrote that he saw an America "which gives bigotry no sanction...persecution no assistance.... May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid." (from here). Washington is the most debatable of the founding fathers on the position of religion, however.
The reason for this belief in a Christian America is, I believe, wholly political. Left or right, successful politicians play to the majority because the majority is going to put them in office. And the vast majority of Americans are of the Christian faith. Politicians want to assure people that their country will look exactly like them, and most people can get behind the idea of God - a big invisible sky deity whose word is literally law and who is going to take care of them and their nation.
Religion has been an effective political banner for so long that it's easy to forget that it isn't actually good for the government. Religion is an intensely personal pursuit that deals with unknowables. Each person has to discover their own religious path and it makes religion less of a pure pursuit if it's embedded in the system of rule. Religion and power should not mix. Lest we forget that how Europe got the Crusades, The Inquisition, and the Holocaust. None of those are "Never in America" situations. To quote Margaret Atwood in "A Handmaid's Tale" - "Nothing changes instantaneously: in a gradually heating bathtub you'd be boiled to death before you knew it."
I have no argument with a politician's value system coming forth from deeply held religious beliefs, but I take issue when he or she wants to explicitly insert those beliefs into the operation of the government. I would rather see the morality of a person in action than the promise of morality based on a label they've attached to themselves, whether they're devoted to its tenets or not.
If I sound defensive, I am. I have no desire to be marginalized, however slightly or greatly, by my government because I do not hold with a faith in the Christian God. I do feel like I'm fighting for territory that shouldn't belong to any one faith system, swimming to keep my head above water when we should all be sprawled out on the beach.
As a last thought, and to dip into the arena of satire... What if the Scientologists got the reins next? Would the other religions raise an uproar, or would it have to be that the majority of the nation had switched to Scientology to get that result? In which case, can it still be found acceptable?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-01-03 09:18 pm (UTC)Ah.. Perfect icon. :D
no subject
Date: 2005-01-04 12:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-03 10:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-04 12:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-04 12:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-04 12:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-04 04:33 am (UTC)Fortunately for my rant's impact, I had to get off the bus before I ran out of steam and out of rant.
no subject
Date: 2005-01-06 04:26 am (UTC)