Religious fundamentalism scares the shit out of me. There, I said it again (or more correctly, wrote it again). And I’m not just talking about Islamic fundamentalists trying to destroy the American way of life in the name of their religion. I’m talking about Christian fundamentalists in our own country.
It is staggering the amount of complete crap that fundamentalists believe. Dinosaurs never existed. Evolution is a load of crap. Jesus is coming down to Earth to destroy sinners and bring the good Christians (or at least the Saved) back to their home in heaven. Or whatever freaky shit is truth in their minds.
And I don’t really give a crap if that is what they choose to believe. Hey, everyone has a right to their opinion, even if it is deluded and misguided and completely fucked. But what scares me is that they are teaching their children this load of hooey, and they are organized into a massive voting block that is directing political decisions at a national level.
George W. Bush would never be president if not for this powerful voting block. With their help, we now have a fundamentalist Christian president who actually bases decisions on his skewed morality from a religious upbringing. And that is downright scary shit.
Religion, in and of itself, is not a horrible thing. It’s not for me, but if some people get comfort from it, what’s the harm? Well, when people start believing that their religion is the “right” one, and that their job is to bring others under their wing or destroy them, that’s when religion becomes a perversion of the purpose of charity and salvation.
I just read a very interesting article on Joe Bageant’s web site about the popular “Left Behind” series of books. Joe, who was raised in a fundamentalist household, discusses how millions of Christian fundamentalists in the US take these Left Behind books as gospel. Yes, they believe these works of fiction are what the Rapture will be like when it happens. And they hope it happens soon.
As I get older, and hopefully wiser, I’ve come to realize just how harmful organized religion can be. Not only because of the violence and the sex scandals, but because these people are getting more and more insular in their beliefs. And they are raising children who are becoming more and more aggressive in their opinions about their beliefs, and how to deal with the “non-believers.”
As a moderate in my political beliefs, it frightens me how much this country has become fractured along lines of religious beliefs, as opposed to worrying about social issues like education, illegal immigration, and foreign policy. People are voting on single issues - abortion rights, gun control, prayer in schools, etc. And unless some of the more moderate among us step up and start airing our opinions (me included), then we’re going to be facing an ever-increasing number of religious nutcakes who are dictating our national policies.
I guess I should do something about this. But, then again, the Simpson’s are on at 7:30… Oh well.
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