What really pushed it over the edge for me, though, was this add of Rick Perry's that claimed a war was being waged against his religious freedom, the title of the commercial is Strong.
The video opens with hopeful music and in walks our supposed savior, Rick Perry, nonchalantly dressed in comfortable, but masculine clothing, and talking in as calm a way as possible. He makes the claim that there is a war on children being able to celebrate Christmas and pray in school, and that this is unbalanced with Gays right to serve openly in the military. He then makes the claim that faith makes America strong and that we need faith.
Here are three of the many problems that I have with this video, in as clean a way as possible:
- Kids are not inhibited from being Christians: I know this from personal experience, I sing Christmas songs for all of my choirs every day for a month and a half leading up till Christmas. I have to sit through religiously charged conversations every couple months as inculcated and uninformed children come back from a "religiously transformative" retreat that they go on in which they are convinced that "god has a plan for them". These discussions are allowed in school and we observe a moment of silence every day. For multiple reasons, kids are not inhibited from being Christian in school. WHAT THEY ARE INHIBITED FROM IS BEING ANYTHING ELSE. I am not afraid to admit I am an Atheist. When I try to bring up that point in front of a group of people that are Christian, I am looked down upon, there is always something I just do not understand. Yet I am not the only one who feels this, Mormons, Jews, Muslims and all other denominations do not have representation either. If anything, Christians should be restricted.
- Faith will not solve long term economic mistakes: There is nothing about getting on your knees and praying to the "almighty" for forgiveness that is going to fix a totally trade dependent world. Horrible things go on in the world and a focus on pedantic little crises through prayer and personal observation does nothing at all to help.
- He assumes Gays cannot be Christians, and then plays Sentimental music to back up his non-logic: Gays can be Christians, Christianity is a community and it is a pool of ideas that are used to help people make judgements about things and to feel as though they are part of something greater. When it is used as a tool against totally natural things, such as same-sex dispositions, it becomes a carrier of hate, and is anti-rhetorical in that sense. Perry then tries to lull us into a submissive thinking position with the wretched music that he plays, it almost lulls me to sleep thinking about it. It is a beautiful piece for a wretched topic.
Jon-
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you know by now that I am very conservative as well as a devoted Christian. That being said, I agree with a lot of what you are saying in your post. I too am not a fan of religiously-charged candidates such as Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry. Also, I know that you're not the only one who has been looked down upon by hypocritical Christians, which is quite an embarrassment towards our faith. But what I strongly disagree with you on is your negativity towards religious people. When you said that "Christians should be restricted", I don't think you realized how much you sound like those same inculcated and uniformed Christians who deemed you an idiot for not agreeing with them. Christians, Muslims, Jews and other people of faith will always be around. If you really want to make the country a more tolerable place, you absolutely should not try to rule Christianity out of mainstream America, especially because faith and liberty are the very principles that founded this nation. If anything, show compassion to us “irrational and illogical” Christians. After all, we are a little slower right?
Jason -
ReplyDeleteThank you for leaving this comment, it has spurred a great deal of thought and I have come to some conclusions about what you had to say. Let me just start off by saying that in no way was I serious in saying that christians should be restricted, I only used the phrase as a rhetorically sarcastic device. Yet this begs the question of what can, and cannot be dismissed. I would agree that liberty is a value that this country was founded on, and equally that a freedom to individual faith, and a freedom from persecution are definitely guaranteed in our constitution and in the moral framework of our country. I firmly believe that individual religion, of every persuasion, is probably a good thing. I strongly disagree that christianity, or any other fundamentalist organized religion, promotes toleration, in fact I would argue that they are a facet through which people can dispense hatred and then choose to justify it with quotes from a book that is taken out of the intended context so that people can feel as though they belong to some broader moral background. To quote the recently late Christopher Hitchens "That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence", you may choose to believe the book that you allow to dictate your life, but for all intensive purposes you should make sure that your creed stays only in and of yourself.
I would like to say that the last two or so lines of your comment were very poetic, and I respect that. You may be right about christians being irrational and illogical, yet I don't think it is fair to think that you are slower, in need of some greater irrational association that will allow you to understand your very existence on terms that "make sense".
All of the above is my opinion, and closest to analytical refutation of your comment, I hope that we can continue this dialogue, as it should be one!
Jon
“Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it.” - My man Christopher Hitchens (The only "C" that deserves to be capitalized in my book, other than "Crusade" possibly)