Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Jealous Jehovah!

Andrew Sullivan spars1 with Bill Maher on things religulous2. But citing the bit that "non-believers are far more superstitious than believers"3 only trots out another tired old horse4 of the religious right. It may indeed be true to some extent, but it is transparent subterfuge.

The picture of a sovereign paternal god, one who is jealous of the usual 'pretenders' – ghosts, Atlanteans, Loch Ness Monster, bigfoots (bigfeet?), fairies ... – is burned into the mind of the conservative Christian. So instead of possibly believing in a bunch of minor, disjointed, magical characters, they believe in the big One (or – like Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove – One in Three Roles). It's a convenient trick—it's those new age-y, relativistic liberals who believe in strange beings!—to keep their fundamentalist phalanx firm, dress themselves in the cloak of faux-respectability, and promote the views from the religious right's playbook.

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1. andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/09/the-palin-night.html
2. www.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/religulous/
3. andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/09/magical-thinkin.html
4. online.wsj.com/article/SB122178219865054585.html


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