Okay, not really. But. whether you’re for religion or against it, at some point you just have to come to terms with it. Mark Erbacher, noticing that the institution has come under assault in recent years — perhaps unfairly? — put forth his defense of religion, giving me a chance to heartily keep up the heathen assault.
According to Erbacher, in Germany, "government has realized that religion is not something to be feared but rather to be embraced, if for no other reason than the amazing things a faith-based group can do for a community." Ha ha ha ha soap made of Jews.
Religion has been given a bad rap in the U.S., but we should take a moment to consider that by its own nature, religion cannot be a bad thing. It is an absolute moral good that brings us together.
A personal Jesus can justify anything. Religion does not "get" a bad rap; it has earned it by empowering self-righteous hypocrites who believe, unquestioningly, that their own values are "absolute moral goods." You can tell when you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out he hates all the same people you do.
As Mahatma Gandhi said, “As soon as we lose the moral basis, we cease to be religious. There is no such thing as religion overriding morality. Man, for instance, cannot be untruthful, cruel or incontinent and claim to have God on his side” [ed. note: unless WMDs are at stake].
In trying to end on this laughably false note of hope for true believers or whatever, Erbacher leaves me unconvinced. This essay just doesn’t have the fiery, brimstoney awesome that would really help me make up my mind.
"The bow of God’s wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood."
Okay. Now I’m convinced.
[source: K-State Collegian, Anne Lamott at Salon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God]
