religion and politics - mr. falwell

By Todd Stadler · Friday, September 28, 2001 11:11pm

I haven't often brought up my religious beliefs on this web site because I'm usually flippant or sarcastic, and such attitudes don't really lend themselves to a serious discussion of a spiritual nature.

But in these last few days, I have heard words like "God" and "prayers" more than ever before, as people's thoughts turn heavenward.

Well, some of them. Others, like Jerry Falwell, turn their thoughts ever towards fire and brimstone. Which might be fine if he got it right.

By now, Falwell's remarks that the increasing secularization of America led to the terrorist attacks are well publicized*. But does this guy even read the Bible?

In the gospel of Luke, Jesus responds to the tragedies of his day by saying that tragedies don't happen because of people's sinfulness. But indeed, since we will all one day die, be it from a bombing or natural causes, we should seek forgiveness of our sins.

But such a simple, beautiful message of forgiveness given freely is often buried under the rhetoric of modern American Christianity, in which America has somehow become the chosen land and Americans God's special people. Frankly, this ideology has more in common with white supremacy than Christianity.

It's not like God likes America and not Afghanistan. Because I seem to remember something about God loving the world so much that he sent his son. And last time I looked, Afghanistan was also part of this world, and will continue to be until such time as we decide to blast it out of existence.

And yet, all the many bumper stickers that ask that God bless America seem to imply that he had better not bless those awful people in Afghanistan. Or he can bless them after they've been bombed.

Of course, in merely suggesting that we should pray for the Afghanis, I make myself a target of the rabid jingoes. And that bothers me. Because I also love my country. But I don't think God is so selective in his love.