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