http://scoop.epluribusmedia.org/story/2006/9/26/235127/732
A Crusader or Humanist Civilization?
by BrianTrent
Tue Sep 26, 2006 at 11:51:27 PM EST
What kind of future can we hope for when the leader of a nation
believes in Apocalypse, not human progress?
A Crusader or Humanist Civilization?
Cultures - and the civilizations which give rise to them - don't remain
frozen in time. They transform. They progress or revert, grow or
retract, reach golden pinnacles of accomplishments or implode. On
lengthy enough timelines, they can do all of the above.
And like a cast of vibrant characters in the greatest epic since
Earthly life first crawled out of the muck, we've seen numerous models
to learn from. Though few U.S. Congressmen and fewer Senators heed such
lessons, they exist anyway. We see cruel despotisms and theocracies
which smear the pages of history, but we also see astonishing
progressive cultures which gave the world its highest art, science, and
humanistic principles. Side by side, only an ignorant spirit would
choose the former.
What do we choose for the United States? What will the history books
say?
The United States of America is a civilization founded on Greco-Roman
principles. The concept of democracy was derived from the ancient
Greece under Pericles, and its functional republic is the Roman model
perfected.
Pundits and strategists of the 21st century GOP campaign tirelessly
strive to advance a different view. From the echo chambers of mass
media, the evangelical Right pushes forward the fallacy that America is
a Christian nation, founded on Biblical principles.
It is of course nothing of the sort. Not only is America founded on a
secular Constitution (which in its own words is "the supreme law of the
land"), not only do the first ten words of the First Amendment
explicitly forbid a state-endorsed religion, but John Adams stated it
for the global record in 1792: "The Government of the United States is
not in any sense founded on the Christian religion." The Founding
Fathers left it up to the American people to be as religious or
nonreligious, as Christian or Muslim, as Hindu or Wiccan, as they
wanted to be. Government would remain neutral and secular.
Why is it important? Consider Rome at the height of its power, where
freedom of religion was generally allowed (except for the nasty Druidic
habit of human sacrifice.) Having staked its eagle-headed standards
into most of the western world, Roman civilization enjoyed multiple
cross-pollinations with other cultures. The results were awe-inspiring,
a free exchange of ideas fed a pluralist civilization best realized in
one of the Roman Empire's grandest cities - Alexandria, Egypt. There,
numerous cultures interacted and, like the proverbial stone soup, saw
Egyptian culture (sporting merit badges in medicine, architecture, and
mathematics) meeting the Greeks (boasting unparalleled scientific
inquiry, invention, and philosophy) meeting the Romans' unflagging
pragmatism which, together, gave the world one of its greatest Golden
Ages.
When Christianity was declared the state religion of the Empire in 311,
all that changed. The religious tolerance vanished, and in 391 the next
"evanga-logical" step was taken: Other faiths were outlawed, and the
subsequent forcible conversion of cultures, the destruction of pagan
libraries, the crippling of humanity's artistic and scientific
inquiries to understand the universe resulted in a culture of blind,
unquestioning obedience.
This provides the unheeded message for American evangelicals today, who
seek nothing short of a return to this medievalism. Capitalizing on
both the 9-11 attacks and recent natural disasters, Crusader personas
like Pat Robertson and long-time compatriot Reverend Jerry Falwell
blamed the tragedies on secular society's abandonment of God. More
evils would befall America, Falwell preached, unless we quickly
embraced Biblical Law - the Old Testament code of ethics which in
addition to condemning homosexuals also says citizens have the duty to
stone disobedient children, sell daughters into slavery, and smite
those who work on the Sabbath. It also relegates women to positions
nearly as subservient as the Taliban imposed. Said Falwell: "If we are
going to save America and evangelize the world, we cannot accommodate
secular philosophies that are diametrically opposed to Christian
truth." The June 1999 issue of American Vision's Biblical Worldview
magazine expressed the core thesis of Christian fundamentalism: "We've
been told that Christians cannot impose their religious beliefs on
others. Since heaven is at stake, we have no choice."
Same battle-cry, new century.
For American civilization which historically champions liberty, a
fundamentalist government would slay the Constitution itself and
replace it with the Bible, the Koran, or whatever holy book the "holy
elite" rally by. The freedom of America is the freedom to be diverse,
independent, even dissenting - indeed, it was formed as a nation from
the very act of dissention. Yet evangelical philosophy is opposed to
this diversity. Possessing their own right to worship isn't enough for
them; they feel it necessary to crush the beliefs of others and
convert.
Consider GOP Majority leader Tom Delay telling a fundamentalist
gathering at the First Baptist Church in Texas that, "God is using me,
all the time, everywhere, to stand up for biblical worldview in
everything that I do and everywhere I am. He is training me, He is
working with me." And forget the debate over homosexual marriage -
commissioners of Rhea County, Tennessee (the same county which arrested
a teacher for teaching evolution) want the ability to charge
homosexuals with "crimes against nature." In the words of Commissioner
J.C. Fugate, "We need to keep them out of here."
In the evangelical mind, "them" is anyone who dissents.
But it's deeper than that even. What kind of future can we hope for
when the leader of a nation believes in Apocalypse, not human progress?
When disaster and tragedy are seen as advance shots of the End Times --
a concept which evangelicals embrace and desire?
*
A progressive society contrasts sharply with the poisonous culture of
nationalistic fascism which fueled the Nazi regime, the totalitarian
atmosphere of Stalin's Russia and Communist China, or the evangelical
mania of medieval Europe - including holy wars, Inquisitions, and papal
decrees to convert the Americas "by any means necessary" which, of
course, allowed for the genocide of the Aztec and Inca civilizations.
America today is flirting with all three poisons. The unifying
patriotism in the days following 9-11 has been exploited shamelessly.
The culture of the George W. Bush Administration has pushed a fanatic
jingoism which equates dissent (which Thomas Jefferson called the
"highest form of patriotism") with aiding terrorists. The natural fear
of future terrorism has aided a new brand of totalitarian ambitions of
which the renewed PATRIOT Act is but one example. And the evangelical
agenda of the current White House is not only antithetical to America's
fundamental fibers, but is a running leap towards theocracy and
state-endorsed purges. It isn't by accident that the current president
enjoys using the word "crusade" when speaking of his dealings with
other cultures.
Progressive, humanistic civilization is not only possible, but it
yields the greatest benefits to history. The Classical Age of Greece
and the Italian Renaissance stand as vibrant bookends, while the
millennia in between gave the world torturous Inquisitions,
witch-burnings, holy wars, and a Lord-of-the-Flies-like degeneration of
all the ancients had built. Progress was heresy; blind faith was the
only acceptable state of society, and the religious elite grew bloated
and corrupt with each passing century.
The choice for America is spelled out in that contrast. Will we be a
Crusader society, or a progressive Golden Age?
At this point, it's impossible to tell.
.
|
