Conflating The Big Gs

If you want to see the spirit of God at work, staring into crimson sunsets or gazing up in wonder at the velvet belts of the Milky Way may not do the trick. No, if you want a fool-proof glimpse of the power of God (or at least that of His believers), the place to look is the American political scene, which is in great danger of being subsumed by a cabal that is using morality as a tool to manipulate people of faith into abandoning rationality to obedience.

For many people, their faith truly sustains them. It helps them deal with the chaotic, random nature of the world. For those people who are thus sustained, I say bully. To quote the philosopher John Lennon, "whatever gets you through the night, it's alright." In times as dark as these, when we seem on the brink of a permanent night (terrorists wreaking havoc in our world, mothers drowning their children, bees abandoning their colonies by the billions), having a benevolent personal god who knows the falling of the sparrow and sends angels to look out for you is a most compelling illusion.

Unfortunately for us, Karl Rove and his ilk realize this, as well, and have used it to their advantage. By seizing the mantle of morality, they use fear -- of atheism, homosexuality, equality (they will say they are all for equality, but only so long as you share the belief that their god is more equal than others) -- to win the support of people of faith. They have conflated one big G (God) with another big G, (George W. Bush). For many, belief in one is trust in the other, and vice versa.

That's why you'll find so many of the Bush core constituency walking in lockstep on issues such as torture and global climate change. In both those cases, I think the commonsense Christian position would be the opposite of what is seems to be: to oppose torture in all instances and to choose a path that exhibited proper stewardship of the planet they believe God created.

These people are only 20-30% of us, yet they have a stranglehold on power, simply because they are so committed to their faith. They love having a higher power to defer to, and now they have two: one G who talks to them, and reassures them, and the other G who they believe listens to them and cares for them. (And who the first G also talks with, according to his own statements.) This makes them a very formidable roadblock on the path to a more perfect union and liberty and justice for all.