Great to see the indispensable
Glenn Greenwald tackling the topic of Bush's disturbing faith in his faith.
The Most Powerful Man in the World said this about his global agenda:
It's more of a theological perspective. I do believe there is an Almighty, and I believe a gift of that Almighty to all is freedom. And I will tell you that is a principle that no one can convince me that doesn't exist."
Glenn's response:
This has been the great unexamined issue of the Bush presidency -- the extent to which Bush's unwavering commitment to Middle East militarism is, as Bush himself has made clear, rooted in theological and religious convictions, not in pragmatic or geopolitical concerns.
Of course, in little dens of blasphemy like my obscure outpost on the Internet, this theme isn't "unexamined," but in the mainstream it certainly is one of the many large
elephants in the room.
For your edification and delight, as an old teacher used to say before launching into something people didn't want to hear, here's the comment I posted on Salon:
To these eyes, this is the defining challenge of our age:
to break the taboo on criticizing religion.
In this supposedly modern era, ancient superstitions hold a troubling power, as evidenced by...
- Bush's "Crusade" (his term) in the Middle East, and the Religious Right machine that installed him in the White House
- The intractability of both sides in the Arab/Israeli crisis
- Islamist terrorism around the world, including the Iraqi Civil War started by our Christianist president
- Domestic Christianist terrorism, such as abortion-clinic bombings
- Institutionalized child rape by Catholic priests
- The "I'm a believer" kabuki dance every major political candidate is caught up in, at the expense of rallying around once-cherished values like reason and the separation of church and state
Yes, it's gauche to criticize faith. And desperately, desperately necessary.
Criticizing faith and its excesses is not the same as demonizing its practitioners. Superstition and shared myth are pretty much fundamental to humankind. One can hate the sin of religiosity and still love the sinner.
However, in an age of mass communications and weapons of mass destruction, we need to be willing to admit when religion isn't all bake sales and Kumbaya.
Ultimately, the suspension of reason and criticism creates grave risks to society, as does the suspension of checks and balances in a democracy.
As long as there's a blank check for those who let hokum trump logic, we're in for a world of hurt. This is probably the most inconvenient truth of all, and odds are not in favor of our species being willing to accept it.
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