Today, I saw a church sign that, although it added to the evidence for my statements about the anti-Americanism inherent in religion, pissed me off.
The sign said: "The Cross. Our Real Statue of Liberty."
I could probably write a book about how wrong that sign is, why they say stuff like that, and all, but I will point out two quick and ridiculously obvious points:
1. The attack on America, and the motivation behind it, is pretty obvious. Perhaps nothing symbolizes American ideals more than the Statue of Liberty. This sign -- this church -- says that the Statue of Liberty is not a "real" symbol of Liberty. If you want Liberty, you have to toss aside that which the Statue symbolizes and embrace THEIR symbol. As I argued in a recent post about a different church sign (not too far away from this one), this is evidence of the religionists' desire to undermine the Constitution and the ideals for which it stands. You don't need to be a conspiracy theorist to see this. Just open your eyes, look around you, and ask questions.
2. This is a lovely example of the "tell people the exact opposite of the truth often enough and they will believe it" strategy that religions rely on to survive. Why do you think they start brainwashing kids early on? They know that if they wait until kids are old enough to decide for themsleves, that they are going to see that the stories of Jesus, Mohamed, Moses, Noah, Zeus, Odin, Yahweh, Gilgamesh, etc. would all struggle to be as believable as the story of Santa Claus to a free mind. The Truth is that religious doctrine is ANTI-LIBERTY! Religions tend to tell you what you must do, as commanded by [insert deity here]. Your free will can go to hell (pardon the pun). What is important is submission (my materials from Mohamed's staff tell me that "Islam" means "submission"). Let's make this quite clear: The Christian cross is a symbol, not of Liberty, but of subservience. That sign is nothing more than an outright fucking lie.
It is not just a lie, though. It is also an attack on Liberty and on the ideals upon which America was based (SEE NOTE). It is a purposeful undermining of the power and strength of the United Sattes and its Constitution in order to gain more power and money for themselves.
Again, we are forced to ponder the question of why religionists hate America, and the answer once again is because it competes with religion for power and money, and it allows for Liberty, which is antagonistic and, indeed, antithetical to their designs.
I think that's enough about that. I am going to go pet Pumpkin (that's what we named the pregnant feral cat) and calm down a bit, then set some sleep so I can be sharp as I scoot around town in my Mini-E tomorrow (It's not exactly a "zoom," more of a "whoosh.").
XXX
NOTE: Yes, there were Christians among the Founding Fathers. And yes, some of them wanted religion in the Constitution (probably most notably Patrick Henry). If you want to challenge my statements about American ideals based on the religiosity of America at the time of its founding, have at it. I'll be happy to point out examples of why religion was purposely kept out of the Constitution.
I hope you will hear me out a bit on this, but I wanted to mention to you my take on the idea of the cross as a statue of liberty perhaps from a more progressive "liberation theology" perspective."
ReplyDeleteAs a historian, I would hope you might appreciate an understanding of the historical perspective of Jesus' movement.
The cross, indeed, is a symbol of subserviance, for the Roman Empire. It was used as a form of state-sponsored terrorism, a way to torture those who disobeyed the leaders and military powers of the region, as it was not a quick execution but meant to torture the condemned and act as a posterboard for the community.
For Jesus, he was doing things that questioned the authority established in the area, creating a countercultural following, talking about a reign of God (the greek term used for reign or kindgom in the New Testament is basileia, and is a term used for the Empire of Caesar).
Jesus knew what he was doing, knew what he was getting into, and chose to do it anyway, to show that life is not about living in fear and preserving our skin, but loving others and showing that love no matter what it takes, even when it comes up against authority that is corrupt and unjust. That is the liberty that the cross shows, that true and full life in God is beyond just self-preservation, but living without fear for love. It is the opposite of submission because true love is not submission, but mutuality, shared and given freely.
I'm not here to preach to you, or tell you to beleive anything I am saying, but I am here to tell you that there is another way to think of faith. What do you think was behind a good part of the abolitionist movement in the 19th century, or the civil rights movement of the 20th century? Do you think Martin Luther King created his ideas on his own, or was it rather he was putting the words of Jesus into action? Do you think those movements were unamerican, or were they what is really good about America. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions about what I am saying.