There are many stories in the news these days that irritate me. It’s not a particularly high bar. One story, however, struck a particularly raw nerve.
Back in 2016, the so-called “Religious Right” made a bargain with the devil to flush any pretense of spiritual convictions and offer their unqualified support for the former President – an individual who could not be remotely mistaken as having any moral compass whatsoever. In return, they asked for a Supreme Court majority that would overturn Roe. And their bargain appears to have paid off.
And now, rather than perhaps regretting the consequences of electing a wanna-be despot as the leader of the free world, they are now drooling over what other freedoms they could possibly trample under the blasphemous cover of religion by taking control of Congress and the White House in 2022 and 2024.
Ralph Reed’s “Faith & Freedom Coalition” held their annual conference last week in Nashville and the gathering was an insulting affront to both faith and freedom. The speaker list at this particular conference was a virtual Who’s Who of pandering snakes, self-appointed morality police, demagogues, and false prophets. Sadly, there are more far-right politicians who missed the conference itself but who nonetheless share these descriptions. Few of these people have shown adherence to anything resembling true faith nor, given their incessant attacks on the validity of the 2020 election, have they shown any regard for true freedom.
I flatly refuse to cede any moral high ground to any of them. While I believe that the majority of people who might tangentially align themselves therein are good people with generous hearts and the best of intentions, I also want to believe that they can recognize the dangers inherent in their leaders who use religion purely as a means to a political end. Not only do these leaders have no monopoly on morality, they are a corruption of morality.
Below is a collection of philosophical notes that I have hesitated time and again to turn into a post. It’s simply not a topic that I often discuss and is one that is full of landmines. While my experience suggests that my opinions are not at all uncommon, I’ll offer them here as my own – repeat: my own – vague understanding of a completely unorganized and purposely unnamed anathema to the “Religious Right”:
- We are guided by an internal moral compass that we may each independently interpret as a religion, a philosophy, a belief system, a spiritual confluence, or whatever. As a group, we are inclusive and not particularly interested in labels.
- Our compass is an intrinsic part of who we are and how we view the world. We strive for it to be consistently reflected in our words and deeds.
- We generally do not wear our compass as a badge. We can accept those who do, so long as they understand that the badge grants them no authority whatsoever, moral or otherwise.
- We are tolerant of others’ compasses and expect them to be tolerant of ours. We are only intolerant of subterfuge and of intolerance itself.
- We strive not to force our compass upon others and we expect others not to try to force theirs upon us.
- No manifestation of any compass, particularly in terms of any formal religion, should be a requirement for an American passport. We firmly support the separation of Church and State – not just to keep religion out of politics, but also to keep politics out of religion. We contend that religious beliefs should never be imposed upon others via political power. We contend that political agendas should never be advanced under the guise of religion.
- Our compass, however, certainly informs our political views and preferences. For those of us who lean to the American political left, our desire to protect the environment is directly related to our intrinsic respect for it. Our call for universal healthcare reflects our empathy for the sick, the poor, and the powerless. Our advocacy for reasonable firearm regulations is rooted in our desire to protect the most vulnerable members of our society.
- We readily acknowledge that others’ compasses may sincerely lead them in different directions on the political issues of the day. With these people, we welcome informed debate and hope that common ground can be found.
- Unfortunately, we also acknowledge that there are many people who only pretend to have a moral compass and yet present their counterfeit compass of convenience as better than others. We consider these people to be supremely dangerous to society.
- We do not have all the answers. We are appalled by those who claim they do.
Please note again that my obvious disdain for the “Religious Right” is most certainly not directed at Christians, nor at evangelical Christians, nor at Republicans in general. For example, while I could fill a separate blog detailing my many issues with Mike Pence’s political views, I can still respect his general adherence to his own internal moral compass. Indeed, all true Christians, regardless of their political affiliation, share a basic moral compass by definition – as do all true Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, etc. And a secular moral compass is no less valid than a religious one.
My issue is with those individuals who wield religion as a political hammer with little regard to the underlying tenets of said religion. Whatever may be one’s personal definition of Hell, I pray that it features a dark, windowless room where these people are eternally tortured by their own hypocrisy.
Since I seriously doubt that the vast majority of speakers and attendees at the above conference have actually read the Book which they so loudly gathered to ostensibly promote, I’ll close by offering them one brief excerpt:
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
– Matthew 6:5-6 (KJV)