Religious License
 
    
Harry T. Cook


By Harry T. Cook
4/8/16


Republicans fear Donald Trump not because of his tragi-comic imitation of Der F�hrer, but because he bids fair to blow up what's left of their already fractured party by leading the mob to who knows what.
 
Solution? Put up an alternative who -- as party leaders say -- is a free-market conservative who hates regulation (excepting that legislated to frustrate the operation of Planned Parenthood or to complicate for suspect minorities the right to vote), who believes taxes should be cut to the quick for the most affluent and stands four-square for religious liberty.
 
Let us dispense with the "free-market" fantasy. The market, so-called, is anything but free. It is manipulated right and left -- mostly right -- to benefit corporations and their investors. Phooey on regulations, it is said. They're job-killers. Taxes? A scourge right up there with the 10 plagues suffered by Pharaoh and his lot at the hands of Yahweh.
 
But "religious liberty"? What does anyone think that means? Can it mean that you may set an agenda for me based on your beliefs however arrived at? Does it mean that I can refuse to obey the law of the land because a certain biblical passage urges me to do otherwise? See Psalm 137:9.
 
What, pray tell, do we mean by "religion"? It is not my wont to take down the dog-eared Bible from the shelf to seek a definition because, were I to find one, it would only apply to those whose book it is. Anything in the Bible would not apply to Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Taoists or Rotarians.
 
However, figuring that most American politicians who so fervently demand "religious liberty" would be thinking of religion as having something to do with the Hebrew/Christian Bible, I turn quickly to the Epistle of James, chapter one verse 27 and read: "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God ... is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world."
 
Pretty clear, except the terminal word "world." Its original meaning was "adornments" or "trappings." So, for Christians, not only is religion caring for orphans and widows in their distress, but eschewing the trappings -- or one might say the unearned or undeserved ornaments of life.
 
Unless I am very much mistaken, anyone who desires to act on religious liberty with that biblical understanding in mind has plenty before him to do. And it is liberty, not license. Religious liberty does not, cannot mean circumscribing the human rights of others citing contrary religious beliefs. In a republic in which religion and politics are by design separate entities and in which the establishment of religion is clearly prohibited, ignoring laws on the basis of religious dogma cannot be tolerated.
 
What's more, the expansive latitude the First Amendment affords the exercise of religion is remarkable, considering what we know of other nations where religion is stuffed down the throats of people.
 
In America, anyone can purchase a piece of property and the edifice on it or build a new one and call it a church, synagogue or mosque and watch the property tax exemption take immediate effect. And not only that. Such property is entitled to police and fire protection for which its congregants pay not one red cent. Tax exemptions are the financial lifeblood of religious institutions.
 
From its ambo or pulpit can be said almost anything but falsely crying "fire" should the sanctuary be filled with worshippers. Think of the nonsense that can be spoken in such a place. It can be said there with no hesitation whatsoever that Earth is but 6,000 years old, that no evolution of species occurred, that the apocalypse is nearly upon us, that only he or she who heeds these words shall be saved ad nauseam. No law has yet been devised to prohibit the utterance of any such rot.
 
What the Republican elite seeks is a candidate who will engage in religious license under the guise of liberty to diminish the human rights of those whose voices are effectively drowned out by the cataracts of money sluicing down from the heights of untold wealth into the campaign funds of lickspittle bidding-doers.
 
No. Religion, at least for the Christian who knows his or her Bible, is what St. James said it is: to minister to orphans and widows in their distress and to shake off the trappings of excess that divert attention from those who need and deserve it.
 
 

Copyright 2016 Harry T. Cook. All rights reserved. This article may not be used or reproduced without proper credit.
 


Readers Write
Re essay of 4/1/16 Love Affairs With the Apocalypse    
 
Woodrow Latham, Palo Alto, California:
What you call "apocalyptic" could kill us all. Are you sure it's the "best bet" for the hopeless as you describe them. Helpful analysis, though.
 
Mark Bendure, Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan:
That may well be the best of a series of excellent essays you have shared. Very insightful. I differ with your assessment that you "can't blame" folks for drifting toward the apocalyptic. Life is a very mixed bag.  There is beauty and goodness if you look in the right places, but there is also unspeakable human suffering that no just God would ever sanction. Everybody has a choice: try to make things better in whatever small way one can or contribute to the misery of others. I do blame people who choose the latter. I am confounded by the theology of those who go about raping, torturing, and murdering unknown strangers in the name of their deity, believing that a God worthy of the name sanctions and rewards that conduct.
 
Tom Richie, Anderson, South Carolina:  
It is so helpful to me to read your word that connect Christian fundamentalism and ISIS-sponsored terrorism. I have long thought the two came from the same mental/emotional/religious source. You paint the picture so well with your words. Thank you so much.

David Cook, Onalaska, Wisconsin:
Great essay on religious apocalyptic thinking. You nailed the Cruz brand of this human evil.
 
Hope Franzen, Sarasota, Florida:
Your essay leaves not a lot of hope in a world gone crazy. I agree with you in your self-criticism that you may be wrong. I also fear that, as you say, you may be right. What about our grandchildren and their children? Can it really end this way?
 
Jim High, Tupelo, Mississippi:
This is a very good essay. You are saying that we attack, or correct, terrorism by fixing the root cause of oppressed people's despair.  We can never control or protect ourselves from terrorism. It will exist as long as the problems that cause it exist. 
 
Fred Fenton, Concord, California:
I share your pessimism about Americans "drifting into apocalyptic." The crowds cheering Trump make me shudder. The election in November is likely to be the most critical in our lifetime. The most we can hope for is a moderate, establishment leader becoming the next President. Will that stem the tide of resentment over the growing disparity of income and opportunity in America? I sincerely doubt it.
 
Rox Lucan, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
Most folks where I grew up, back in West Virginia subscribe to the rapture and end times. I get tired of hearing about what trash all those 'angry poor whites' are. Just a lot of junkies and gun nuts! I took a photo about 10 years ago, in my hometown - -or what's left of it I should say -- sums up what all that is about. The steel mill used to employ 14,000 and Main St. was always crammed with traffic. The eerie emptiness of the mostly abandoned downtown upset me more than the rust, and grass growing on rooftops.
 
Don Worrell, Troy, Michigan:
If you'd only watch Joel Osteen on Sunday mornings you'd know that everything is just hunky dory!
 
Charlotte Means, London, Ontario:  
Pretty pessimistic outlook you give us today. I wonder if, even in the short term, there is a place that's safe from bombers and other terrorists? I don't get on an airplane anymore, and sometimes I'm even worried about the trains.
 
Robert Causley, Roseville, Michigan:

Today you hit it totally on the mark. The dam is broken and the only way to stop the onrush is to try to understand how to divert the strength of the power unleashed to a positive force. Unfortunately this seldom happens quickly. The growth of negative power under Hitler was ignored and even supported in the beginning.  You correctly point out those whom are awaiting the apocalypse so they can rejoin their lost ones. My neighbor actually has all of his late wife's personal items ready. Her car, her makeup, and her clothing are ready and waiting! Your words say it all but the 'kick it down the hall ' comes into effect. The political mantra is to push decisions away pass election dates. There is not one single politician that will stand and admit how truly responsible America is for some of the unrest currently in the world.

Gil Claeys, Ann Arbor, Michigan:
Thanks for the read, and the thinking that that read instigated. My wife and I have long thought there was little difference between orthodox Christians and orthodox Muslims. Both seem to tolerate absolutely no deviance from exactly their way of thinking. And both camps seem to be dangerous to a pluralistic society, such as ours, where we must accommodate all of our different points of view. So, here you are:  putting in print and spelling out exactly what we have been saying all along. You suggest we're not alone. Thanks for that. It's fun not to be alone. Some of the apocalyptic Christians with whom I am acquainted have recently been loudly complaining how their religious freedoms are being threatened and even disregarded by "all these secular types," while complaining how they aren't allowed to have creches in front of schools and city halls; how they can't recite oral prayers in public schools; how they have to feed, clothe, and house poor people with public money. You get the idea. 
 

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