by Kerry Thomas
October 10, 2005
Throughout history, great movements have begun with a single
spark of revelation. That small spark
smolders innocuously enough, until the winds of change come along and cause it
to erupt into a firestorm that sweeps unstoppably across the landscape.
Sometimes these movements are beneficial to humanity. The Age of Enlightenment comes to mind. More often, such movements are rooted in
fanaticism, and ultimately bring tragic results. Especially destructive are fanatical religious movements, where a
zealous charismatic leader convinces his followers that he somehow has a direct
link with their god. And, after all,
when god commands, the people must obey.
Look at history.
Recall the Crusades, the Salem Witch trials, the Holocaust. Remember Jim Jones and his Kool-Aid drinkers
in Guyana? Even the communist movement
has religious overtones, as the State takes the place of God in people’s lives.
We have two great religious movements preparing for mortal
combat in our world today. And history
is repeating itself yet again, as fundamentalists on both sides call for their
followers to take up arms, one against the other, in the name of their god.
Blasphemy, you say?
Surely I’m not comparing fundamentalist Christians to those Islamic
fundamentalists in the war on terror, am I?
Islamic terrorists are out to kill us in the West,
myself included. According to their
interpretation of their religion, they are obligated to kill all infidels. An infidel is anyone who doesn’t follow
their religion.
See any parallels here?
Oh, sure, Christians don’t tell other Christians to kill
non-believers. They’d rather convert
you to Christianity. But, failing that,
you’re labeled a sinner, a heretic, doomed to burn in Hell for all eternity.
Religion is a good thing in the world. It helps to establish rules by which
civilized societies should live. But no
human on Earth today can claim to know 100% the will of any god they
serve. People often make that claim,
but they cannot substantiate it. Citing
a work of man, even one written, allegedly, from Divine inspiration, is not the
Word of God. Even if these works were
originally a direct gift from God, they have been so warped and misinterpreted
over time that they no longer reflect the true Word. What man is so omniscient as to alter the Word of God?
When the Christian Bible says “Thou shalt not kill” it has
no qualifiers. Yet, many Christians see
no problem in putting someone to death when that person has committed a heinous
act against their fellow man. They
overlook another Biblical admonition. Judge
not, least ye be judged.
When religious zealots use their beliefs to spawn a
political movement, it becomes very powerful.
After all, what they are doing is god’s work. And who could possibly be against god? Who would be so bold as to question their actions?
Again, recall such movements throughout history.
We are fortunate to live in America. Our Constitution recognizes that our human
rights come to us directly from God, by virtue of our humanity itself, unfiltered
by either religion or politics. Just as
we don’t require permission from our government in order to exercise those
rights, we don’t require the interpretation of a particular religion
either. In America, you are free to
practice whatever religious principles guide your life, answerable only to God
for your actions, so long as those actions don’t infringe upon the right of
your fellow man to do the same.
In America today we see the political emergence of the
Religious Right. They are flexing their
political muscle, insisting that candidates for public office subscribe to
their religious standards. And such
standards are becoming the norm, in reaction to rulings and regulations
imposing secular laws on the Christian faithful.
Don’t kill and don’t steal are good laws for society. But don’t lie is only a law if you lie to
the government. Don’t commit adultery
is still a law in many places, but it’s rarely enforced. Same with don’t swear. Do we really want to make it a law that
“Thou shalt keep Holy the Lord's day?”
Honor thy father and mother is a good idea, but should it be law? Religious philosophy is a good standard for
personal conduct. But when it becomes
the law of the land, it often tramples the very rights it presumes to instill.
History has a funny way of repeating itself. In the words of nineteenth-century poet
Heinrich Heiner “Those who would start by burning books, will, in the end, burn
men.”
When it comes to melding religion and politics, I go back to
the Constitution. The First Amendment
says “Congress
shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof….” Article VI
of the Constitution says “…no religious test shall ever be required as a
qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”