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The Seeds of the American Taliban
By W. David Jenkins III
"God told me to strike at al Qaeda and I struck them, and then He
instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to
solve the problem in the Middle East."
- George W. Bush to Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, July
2003
"We tell them that we do not seek to kill, but we will chop off the
hand which seeks to inflict harm on us, God willing."
- Ayman al-Zawahri deputy to Osama bin Laden, September 2003
"The national government will maintain and defend the
foundations on which the power of our nation rests. It will offer
strong protection to Christianity as the very basis of our collective
morality. Today Christians stand at the head of our country. We want to
fill our culture again with the Christian spirit. We want to burn out all
the recent immoral developments in literature, in the theatre, and in the
press - in short, we want to burn out the poison of immorality which has
entered into our whole life and culture as a result of LIBERAL excess
during the past years."
- Adolph Hitler
Taken from The Speeches of Adolph Hitler, 1922-1939, Vol. 1, Michael
Hakeem, Ph.D. (London, Oxford University Press, 1942), pp. 871-872.
-
Now that the smoke has begun to dissipate from the bomb
dropped on America by Campaign '04, we can start to get some perspective
on exactly what happened. Many of us want to know just how John Kerry lost
a race against absolutely the worst president in modern history - if not
all time.
Well, if the pundits are to be believed, it would be largely because
of the folks who are presently thumping their chests as hard as they thump
their bibles. Those righteous, pompous, judgmental, sanctimonious and
incredibly ignorant brethren known as the "religious right." The ones who
are convinced that Jesus hates gays, liberals, science, tolerance and,
what's more, he's armed to the teeth.
Lock and load . . . amen!
What is amazing to me is that more people do not see the
similarities between what I call Cherry Pickin' Christians - those who
select and pervert Bible scripture to suit their political and social
agenda - and their counterparts who are doing the very same thing in the
name of Allah. The history of the world is tainted with eras of divisive
and bloody conflict centered in the misconception that God is on their
side. From the persecution of Pagans centuries ago to the Spanish
Inquisition, from the streets of Belfast to the streets of Tel Aviv and
the Gaza Strip and now Bush's war on terror there are numerous glaring
examples that religious conflict is not only never-ending but a pointless
and destructive exercise in "my God is better than your God."
There is a growing movement within this country of people who are
convinced that God is only on their side and the rest of us are going to
Hell. Apparently, quite a few of them voted recently and their call to
arms was something called "moral values." Eleven states were compliant
with the wishes of Bush Co.'s moral value fearmongers and included a
referendum on their ballots to legally refuse certain citizens the same
rights as others in regard to the subject of marriage. Not based upon law
but based upon scripture, lovingly cherry-picked from a book that also
says that shellfish are an abomination (Lev. 11:10) and that if you work
on a Sunday then you should be executed (Exodus 35:2). Go ahead, look it
up. And there's more where that came from.
The thing is, these cherry pickers are becoming a political force in
our country and history has shown time and time again that this type of
cultist population and its influence is a threat to any sense of stability
here or around the world. There is little more dangerous than some group
of zealots thinking that some omnipresent "entity" is sanctioning their
wishes at the expense of those who do not agree. The events of September
11 are a perfect example.
God vs. God
Shortly after 9/11, I did a piece on the threat that fundamentalism
posed for America. Now religious fundamentalism is a relatively new
phenomenon in the United States, characterized by a sense of embattled
alienation nurtured by some misguided perceived threat from a surrounding
culture. The term can also refer specifically to the belief that one's
religious texts (i.e.: the Bible or Koran) are infallible and historically
accurate, despite contradiction of these claims by modern religious
scholarship. There is almost a sense of righteous paranoia that fuels
these individual movements and the source of that paranoia would seem to
be the very "God" that these people worship. It's almost as if these
people are out to change the world into their way of thinking and
worshiping because they feel if they screw up then their God will smite
them for their failure.
Think back to just after 9/11 and the comments made by certain
religious leaders. Some said that God was "angry" with us because He
perceived weakness in our society concerning homosexuals, the ACLU and
other "pornographic liberal values," so He allowed those planes to attack
us. One has to wonder about the value of praying to such a vengeful deity.
Although conservative Christians profess a love of Jesus and are
diligent in their efforts to create new believers, they seem to be stuck
in an Old Testament way of thinking. Most importantly, by their actions
they seem to have done away with the line about "judge not lest ye be
judged." It would seem that Jesus makes a great selling point to join the
club, so to speak, and God help you once they have you. But at least you
know, once you're in, that only you and people who believe like you will
go to heaven - right?
The only problem is there are others who feel that they have the
only keys to heaven or whatever paradise apparently waits. As I stated
earlier, the world has a long history of bloody conflicts which have been
little more than one side imposing its version of God on those who do not
share the same beliefs. Many are so pompous as to proclaim that they know
how God feels or whose side God is on.
On one hand, you have a military leader such as Gen. William Boykin
speaking at an evangelical Christian meeting that "the war on terror is a
fight against Satan" and then tossing in his boast that "My God is bigger"
and "My God is real" while others are just "idols." On the other hand, you
have folks like the Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Omar, predicting the
destruction of America. "If Allah's help is with us, this will happen
within a short period of time," Omar said. So fundamentalism teaches that
my God is better than your God - I'm right and you're wrong and if I say
my God states that you have no right to exist than you're just going to
have to deal with it.
This line of thinking begins to shed light on how the
shortsightedness and intolerance of religious fundamentalism can lead to
everlasting wars with the will of a minority having a devastating effect
on the rest of us.
Distant Dysfunctional Cousins
The comparisons between conservative Christians and their Islamic
counterparts in the Taliban are numerous - the most glaring being the
drive to adopt a form of government based upon a repressive theocracy.
These two movements are determined to bring their brand of fundamentalism
to their respective governments. (I use the present tense since the
Taliban is currently regaining strength because the Bush administration
has ignored them for the last few years due to the great things we're
doing in Iraq.) Fundamentalist Christians have the jump on the Taliban as
far as longevity and they're confident that their goals are being met -
they're just taking their time about it. Now, since the last perhaps
spurious attempt at an election in this country, the religious right is
starting to step things up a bit.
Now one of the powder kegs that I'm sure I'm setting a match to is
the argument that Christian conservatives aren't nearly as brutal as their
Islamic cousins. To accept this declaration would betray the history of
gruesome deeds committed in God's name and we don't have to go all the way
back to the Crusades or Salem in this country to prove the point. Eric
Rudolph (the women's clinic bomber) and James Kopp (the sniper from
Buffalo) come to mind as recent examples of brutality and murder supported
by Christian extremists. In the same light that not all Muslims support
such drastic behavior as committed by the Taliban or al Qaeda, neither do
most Christians support snipers and clinic bombers. However, we are
experiencing a small but growing extremist faction on both sides that sees
such brutality as acting in God's name.
"Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, my
brethren you did it to me. (Matthew 25:40)
After the Soviet/Afghan war and the Taliban had assumed
control of Kabul, they instituted and began to enforce a purist way of
life based on their fundamentalist interpretation of Islam. Although many
of their edicts had little to do with the teachings of the Koran, it was
their fear and disdain for all things modern that caused them to feel the
need to inflict such strict rules in order to preserve what they felt was
pleasing to their version of "God."
Like the Taliban, conservative Christians have moved the thrust of
the education of their youth to specific "values" according to their
interpretation of their respective texts. Although their teachings are
largely based on their interpretation , it is also their fear and disdain
for all things modern (or liberal, if you prefer) that forces them to
enact such drastic measures on their own young "disciples."
Both groups mask their extremism as a crusade to install
a "perfect morality" in society with their version of God. Both groups are
involved in a moral standoff, not only against society as a whole, but
against members of their own faith. Right-wing Christian evangelicals,
like the Islamic Wahhabi, see conformity with and acceptance of modern or
liberal values as a blasphemy and weakness in spirit to which they speak
out and, in some cases, they even strike out against their own respective
communities. And both Christian and Islam seem to have the unifying theme
that they are trying to "save" folks from all of those evil weaknesses in
order to somehow "justify" their words and actions.
Both of these religious factions stress that they are
inclusive in their practice yet they are exclusive in their teachings.
While many conservative Christians rail against schools in Arab countries
that teach their students that all westerners are evil, deserve death and
are their supreme enemy, those same outraged folks are scooping up the
"Left Behind" series by the ton in order to spread the good word that they
're the only ones going to heaven and everybody else can go to Hell. And
if you don't hurry up and get on board with these folks, well, don't
expect them to cry any tears for you. You're just a sinner in their eyes
and deserve everything you get.
Recognizing and Repairing the Damage
There are certain things in life that just do not go
together. Peanut butter and tuna fish come to mind. There's nothing wrong
with either one but I don't recommend mixing them together or you'll end
up with a bad taste in your mouth. The same can be said of mixing religion
and politics. There is no possible way to merge the two without them
mutually polluting each other.
Some folks may be convinced that I despise religion and
am just another Godless liberal who cannot see the righteousness of George
W. Bush or Jerry Falwell. They'd be wrong on the first count and right on
the second. My religious views are where I think they should be -
personal. My failure to see anything Christian or righteous regarding
Bush, Falwell and the religious right is because I feel those
characteristics require a bit more than lip service. The good Reverend
Jerry just proclaimed that "we should just keep bombing them (terrorists)
all in the name of the Lord" the other night. Sure, Rev, that'll solve
everything.
The unfortunate thing about organized religion - all
religion - is the fundamentalist element within it that isn't satisfied
until all people accept their way of life and worship and even are willing
to go to violent extremes to achieve that goal. When this element's "moral
values" become a basis for governmental involvement and the policies which
follow, the innocents of the world community ends up suffering.
The Bush administration may insist that the war on terror is not a
war against Islam but try explaining that to the Arab nations. They see
the television reports on the "fundamentalist take-over" here in America
after the last election. They hear the hateful and pompous words of such
blow-hards as Falwell and others like him. Now, the members of the
conservative Christian movement will argue that they are in no way like
the Taliban or al Qaeda because they have not attained the level of
brutality on as large a scale. I would counter that there are some mangled
orphans in Fallujah who might beg to differ with that argument. The war
between perspectives can be just as long and as destructive as the war
between religions.
What is also just as destructive is the image given to
Christianity -- as a whole -- by these Cherry Pickin' Christians. This
world is full of people who show that they are at peace with their
religion through their good works. They are building houses through
Habitat for Humanity, they are feeding the hungry and they are reaching
out to those in need - without any strings attached. These are the people
who have taken the words they hear when they worship and put them into
action in order to give to people - not take away. These are the
Christians who are angry that the image of their faith has been given such
a black eye by such outspoken and all too visible "religious leaders" who
think God supports invasions and torture, just as long as it's done in
"His name."
The seed of fundamentalism in conservative politics has
begun to take root and is seriously endangering the American political
landscape. The synthesis of evangelicalism and republicanism is showing
the same destructive trends as the religious extremism in Afghanistan and
Pakistan. This movement threatens to use the Constitution to take away
guaranteed rights for certain citizens for the first time. It has moved
into our schools and wants to discredit science in order to implement the
"reality of Creationism." It wants to shield us from the evils of
intellectualism and rob us all of our free thinking. It wants to reverse
course and remove rights from women and, most of all, it wants to rid the
scourge that hates them for their "moral values" and their "freedoms."
Jihad has been declared in America. The seeds have been
planted. We will become like our Arab counterparts who have been at Holy
War with each other for centuries. While we have
not yet reached the same level of hostility and violence active in
these not so far away places staring back at us from our television
screens, we must bear in mind that we're still in the early stages. We
still time to recognize that in order to preserve that which is good in
each, religion and politics must divorce themselves from each other before
they become mutually dysfunctional - more than they already are.
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| User: "Tadapope" |
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| Title: Re: The Seeds of the American Taliban |
12 Dec 2004 01:26:16 PM |
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That pot roast gave me gas!
Tangents are infinite in all of nature in
all universes constantly and at random.
* D OUOSVAVV M *
Oh Joy!
Tom
The Psychedelic Pope
Patron Saint of the Internet
http://www.apple2.org.za/gswv/me/
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