[lbo-talk] Re: barbarian of the moment

Dennis Perrin dperrin at comcast.net
Sun Dec 21 13:54:41 PST 2003



> Hate to put a damper on the holiday season, but I think one reason for
> Americans' amazing ability to believe what ain't so is their absurd
> religiosity. IMO, strong belief in the benignity of a cosmic supreme being
> is just the kind of mindset needed for belief in the "deep, fundamental
> goodness of the USA."
>
> But obviously there's more to the problem than religion. I've been
catching
> up with the 4th season of The Sopranos (just released on tape) and have
been
> impressed once again by that series' grasp of the US as a society powered
> almost entirely by bullshit -- a nation in denial about its own base
motives
> that uses an ever more glitttering array of pop-psych concepts to justify
> its own violence and self-indulgence.
>
> Carl

Yesterday I attended a wedding that was one of the most hypocritical spectacles I've witnessed in some time. I won't go into the particulars, but a preening, chest-beating religiosity was a big part of it -- grand pronouncements of holiness and self-righteousness on a scale that I trust would make Jesus not only weep, but physically ill. When they filled our glasses with non-alcoholic sparkling cider, one of the toastmasters, an ex-jock turned preacher who made my skin crawl, called on us to toast Jesus (since He was there watching the proceedings), I wanted to shout out, "Well, if Jesus can turn this crap into real wine, He'll have my toast!"

Some of the people behind the wedding are big Bush/war supporters, so this sickening display was part of what Carl's talking about. And I'm sure it's played out daily across the country. Being religious or spiritual shouldn't cloud one's eyes to what's going on, and for many believers it doesn't, as we all know. But the sad truth is that too many "believers" behave in the above fashion, and I don't know how one could ever reach them.

DP



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