Thoughts on the Religious R...Wrong

[MorganGrayson]

I want to preface this by saying: I am not a Christian. I am devout in my chosen religion, which has a comfortable familiarity with sex and preaches little but if it did things like "tolerance" would be high up on the list. I was raised Catholic, a religion that has driven away so many of its members it actually has a phrase for it. There are "lapsed Catholics" aplenty, but try finding a "lapsed Methodist."

The "Religious Right" offends me, but for an unusual reason. "Christian" means "Christ-like," as a "christian" friend once explained it to me. (I differentiate between what I call "Capital 'C' Christians," who tend to use the Bible as a weapon, and "small 'c' christians," who seem to have gotten the original point.) As my friend explained it to me, in order to be a christian, one must live their life the way Christ would have. Now, most of the King James editions of the Bible thoughtfully highlight the speeches credited to Christ in red, so that they're easy to find. Perhaps "Christians" have that red/green color blindness thing going on, because they all seemed to have missed the "judge not lest ye be judged," "let he among you who is without sin cast the first stone," etc. They sure as hell missed the "my Father's house has many rooms" part.

The "Religious Right" offends me, a non-Christian, because they have so little to do with Christ. As Eddie Izzard put it, Christ was "mellow and groovy." "Christians" are neither.

The framers of the Constitution were careful to include (OK, after they got around to it in an amendment) the nice parts about freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press...all the good things that were supposed to make our country different. Special. No matter what role you hold in our government, you swear to uphold the Constitution. If you are a soldier, you are ever mindful that you may be called upon to die to protect it.

I have a mental picture of Christ pinching the bridge of his nose, staring at the "Christians" and muttering "exactly how was I unclear?"

The framers of the Constitution couldn't have anticipated the internet, of course. I do know, however, that they told dirty jokes during the breaks from writing said document, because one of them wrote down every bloody word that came out of anyone's mouth. (I had a good history teacher. I wish I could remember who the prodigious note taker was, possibly Madison, but I'm not sure. It was a long time ago. History class, I mean. Of course the Constitutional Convention was a long time ago.)

No matter how many Bibles you thump, "Capital 'C' Christians," *your* mother isn't a virgin.

And you'll take my freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press when you pry them from my cold, dead fingers. A thought, I'm sure, that's occurred to them.

[Linkster]

I think the guy you were referring to with the jokes was Gouverneur Morris from Pa. He was also the writer of the preamble to the constitution but also made many jokes and pretty much was against the other delegates use of religion during the convention. Most of the jokes he made were anti-religion although he wasnt against faith - he just ahd a real problem with it being the cornerstone of a country. Of course as we all know, he was outvoted

[MorganGrayson]

Thank you, Linkster.