Bigotry and Bullshit in the name of God

I just had the supreme misfortune of having lunch with stereotypical "Christian" America.

I don't want to bring faith, theology, or God into this blog very much . . . but sometimes it is unavoidable. However, this really isn't about God. It's about people. Or to be more specific, it's about stupid people.

When someone at a seminary lunch table says "I'm having a quarter-life crisis because I'm twenty-five and the world isn't mine yet", there are three appropriate responses. 1. Laugh. 2. Ignore them. 3. Roll your eyes. However, Mr. Super-Christian-Captain-America did not laugh,but replied "Well, just keep getting closer to Jesus and that desire's going to go away."

Seriously, pull my teeth out with pliers.

When Mr. Super-Christian-Captain-America started talking about how America always has protests going on, I thought he was making sense. But then he continues by pointing out that the rest of the world doesn't do this because if they open their mouth, someone might "blow their brains out." A bit of a stretch.

Then he takes the plunge. "What we really need in America is more violence. We need to start doing the same thing. It's not taking away freedom of speech - it's just making sure people are willing to die for something before they start talking about it."

Umm, isn't good, rational discussion the best way to prevent NEEDING to die for things? And isn't good, rational discussion a great way to decide whether or not an issue is important enough to die for? And isn't stupid, pointless discussion preferable to brains and blood spatter on the pavement?

Ah, but we weren't done yet. "And we might as well do it anyway, because it's gonna start happening to us real soon. People are gonna start killing us when we speak up for Christ publicly."

And congratulations, thanks to all the hot-air you've been spewing, you just created a mouth-fart with enough lift to create a whole new level of stupidity.

The end of the world has been coming since the apostle Paul. Everyone thinks "this is it." Everyone thinks "in my lifetime, people are going to start killing all the Christians in the world/my country/my area/etc"

It hasn't happened yet. Christianity is swelling in the Southern hemisphere (not the Southern Baptist or Southern Seminary hemisphere, the real Southern hemisphere). Since I was eight years old Christianity has supposedly been on it's way out of America. Yet every four years since I was eight, every major presidential candidate has tried to convince America of their strong Christian faith. Obama was no different.

And in 2012, it will be no different. We are years away from "being killed for speaking up for Christ in public." Sure, there are nutjobs who will shoot you for speaking up. But they then get prosecuted for their actions.

This is why war is always a matter of theology - because theology is populated by us all, even the bigots. This is why people are consistently raped and murdered in the name of God - because the world is populated by morons who can't keep their damn mouths shut.

I'm going to say it once, loud and clear, and I am appalled and ashamed that I have to say it at all: Hurricanes happen because of the weather. Tornadoes happen because of the weather. All disastrous things happen because of sin, and we are all sinners. God does not sit in heaven using weather patterns as target practice to pick off particular sinners.

God does not rape and murder people. We do. God does not start wars for land, democracy, or politics. We do. God does not stand outside and protest. We do. God does not kill stupid people, bigots, sinners, or unbelievers, and we should be thankful. We don't do that either. We are the stupid, bigoted, sinful, unbelieving people.

Because every time we open our mouths, there is no God in our god. It's just another redneck who thinks he's the king turd of shit mountain. And unfortunately, right now, the world is our mountain, and we're the biggest load.

God forgive us.
God save us.

Magnify

A speck on fire, a lens, a lair
Feet on hills, an itch, so human.
Magnify, magnify
Oh rose desire, sapphire
Azul and black the skies
Magnify or die
Magnify and die.
Ants beneath the sadist's scope
Survivors on a burning rope
With hands and eyes and skin
But nothing so distinctive
As the plume by which we burn.
Magnify, magnify
Oh magnify his name we cry
And wash away the majesty.
So the parchment seared
A blue of Poseidon's hue
Tarnished by the same
Oh burning, dying flame
Oh misbegotten lens
Of an unforgiving ire . . .
Kill the fire.