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