These religious clowns should scare you: GOP candidates’ gullible, lunatic faith is a massive....

[DonViejo]

These religious clowns should scare you: GOP candidates’ gullible, lunatic faith is a massive character flaw

Their deluded debate answers removed any remaining doubt: These kooks belong nowhere near the White House

JEFFREY TAYLER

One of the most serious problems with religious faith is that it can afflict an otherwise intelligent person and incite her to utter arrant inanities with the gravitas of an old-time, Walter-Cronkite-style television newscaster. This problem is doubly striking when that intelligent person is herself a newscaster (of sorts). And triply striking when that newscaster (of sorts) is Megyn Kelly, the Fox News star who looks sane amid a roster of crazies headed by the faith-addled duo of Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly. Kelly is purportedly a Roman Catholic, but judging by her racy photos, divorce, and remarriage outside the church, the Pope and his bull(s) don’t play much of a role in her life. All of which is good, in my view.

Nonetheless, as the recent Fox News Republican presidential debates were coming to an end, Kelly decided to extract a (patently ridiculous) religion-related question from her channel’s Facebook feed and give it air time. Prefacing it by calling it “interesting,” she put the query to the politicians assembled on stage directly and in all seriousness: “Chase Norton on Facebook . . . wants to know this of the candidates: ‘I want to know if any of them have received a word from God on what they should do and take care of first.’” She paused. With just a hint of insouciance, and in one of the most understated segues I’ve ever witnessed, she then asked, “Senator Cruz, start from you. Any word from God?”

Now let’s pause and consider the situation. Kelly is a political science graduate from a major Northeastern university, an attorney by trade with some 10 years of practice behind her, and a citizen of one the planet’s most developed countries. Speaking on satellite television (a technological wonder, whether we still recognize it or not, and no matter what we think of Fox News) in the twenty-first century, this sharp, degree-bearing professional American has just asked, with a straight face, a senator (who happens himself to be a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law) if he is receiving messages from a supernatural being. Yet no one in the audience broke into guffaws or even chuckled. And, of course, no one cried out with irate incredulity at the ludicrousness of the supposition implicit in the question (that an imaginary heavenly ogre could possibly be beaming instructions down to one of his earthling subjects). But since the supernatural being in question goes by the name of “God,” in the clown show that was the Republican debate, everyone – audience, MC, and the clowns themselves – simultaneously took leave of their senses and judged the matter at hand legit.

In any event, the question gave Cruz the chance to display his bona fides as a faith-deranged poseur. He told us, to waves of applause, that he was “blessed to receive a word from God every day in receiving the scriptures and reading the scriptures. And God speaks through the Bible.” He reminded us that his truant, once-alcoholic father had found Jesus and returned to the family; that he supports the sickening array of Religious Freedom Restoration Acts now pullulating pestilentially across the land; and that he’s against Planned Parenthood. Nothing new or even interesting here. Referring to conservatives, he noted that “the scripture tells us, ‘you shall know them by their fruit.’” Well, we know Cruz’s fruit, and it is poison to the cause of Enlightenment.

Kelly then turned to John Kasich, who, punctuating his speech with a strange mix of karate chops, head wobbles, and thumb-wags, brought up his family’s immigrant background and implied his election as Ohio’s governor was a miracle, but, oddly, did so without really implicating the Lord in it. He rambled on (godlessly) about the need for unity and respect, giving us reason to think – and this is a good thing – that he considered the issue of religion too divisive to dilate upon. He finally, though, did answer Kelly’s question: “In terms of the things that I’ve read in my lifetime, the Lord is not picking us. But because of how we respect human rights, because that we are a good force in the world, He wants America to be strong. He wants America to succeed.” This bland verbiage prefaced his closing non sequitur: “Nothing is more important to me than my family, my faith, and my friends.”

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http://www.salon.com/2015/08/16/these_religious_clowns_should_scare_you_gop_candidates_gullible_lunatic_faith_is_a_massive_character_flaw/

[DirkGently]

1. Religion in politics is cognitively dissonant.

If we thought someone literally believed a supernatural being was giving them instructions that superseded everything else: law, reason; science, we'd be crazy to put them in office.

If it was some other deity besides Yahweh -- his same-but-not-entirely-the-same cousin Allah -- or Xenu or Baal or Zeus or Horus, they would be laughed off the stage -- or booed.

I remember, not more than two years ago, some sober speaker on NPR explaining how some group or another wasn't irrational or silly, "like people who believe in aliens" and therefore should be taken seriously.

But people who believe in the aliens in the Bible are fine, of course.

I read somewhere that people were less likely to vote for an atheist, or found them less trustworthy or something, than any group against which people typically have irrational prejudices. Race, nationality, gender. No one skeeves Americans out more than people who don't say they go to church and believe in God.

But we don't really want true believers either, do we? Most of us. Obama demonstrated the kind of "religion" we trust -- went to church, made passing reference to religion here and there. But had he said, "Jesus came to me last night and told me what to do about the Middle East!" we would have been rightfully panicked.

We don't believe, most of us, but we feel uncomfortable with people not sort of pretending to believe. It is a lie agreed upon. We don't trust that in the absence of magical stories about right and wrong, we can figure it out for ourselves.

My take is that we worry that people relying on their own moral compass and careful reasoning will just go off the rails. Decide that "anything goes," which is something I've heard actual religious people claim would be the result if we cast religion aside. Running naked in the streets eating human flesh and so forth.

But I think the opposite is true. In continuing to pretend, we encourage cognitive dissonance, and that's the bigger threat. We suppose that religion imparts humility, but look at Mike Huckabee. He is certain that "God" is a jowly Southern man who thinks women need birth control because "liberals have convinced them they can't control their libido." He thinks he IS God. That the nasty, small, angry voice in his mind has supernatural authority. And people inclined to agree with him tell themselves the same.

We have elected a black man President, and celebrated that. We stand poised to perhaps elect a woman, and if we do we will celebrate that.

I look forward to our first election of a national leader who declines to swear an oath to a mythological being. Someone who rejects cognitive dissonance and the Lie Agreed Upon.

[gratuitous]

5. Really!

I mean, what the hell are we supposed to do with such nonsense as "insofar as it is up to you, live peaceably with all." Or that tripe about "serve one another in love." As if! And don't even get me started on that whole cockamamie economic notion that those who have much should not have too much, and those who have little should not have too little. Think of the implications for the United States if we had elected officials going off the rails like that.

[DirkGently]

8. Offered as the words of a magical deity?

Not much. That's the cognitive dissonance. Because as you'll recall, the same traditions hold that burning bulls and witches and small, disobedient children is also a good idea.

There is wisdom in most religious traditions. And also toxic insanity, like the Bible giving the thumbs up to selling one's daughters into slavery, or marrying someone you've raped in warfare. That's because religious belief doesn't come from a magic infallible being, but from people.

A fact we all kind of understand, but some would prefer we ignore.

The lie comes in when people want to insist we are all taking instruction from an imaginary being, instead of making things up ourselves, which is what we're actually doing. That lets people like Mike Huckabee and Scott Walker grab the evil "tripe" as you call it from religion and insist that it's just as valid as "love they neighbor."

Once you start pretending rules and laws and philosophy come from magic and are therefore immutable or infallible, you not only let in the crazies, but you give like minded people a convenient rationale for holding that, as they have done, black people were intended to be slaves, or women subservient to their husbands. It's all "the word of God," after all.

So we don't want people to "really" believe in taking instruction from imaginary beings. We want them to cherry pick the few universal notions of human decency -- like the ones you mention -- and ignore the vile, ignorant filth made up by the same people who made up the rest, that inevitably accompanies it, and give lip service to a belief we really don't want anyone in charge to literally have.

That's why we would consider someone who said they listened to voice of Xenu or Horus in making decisions "crazy," but agree to this half-hearted lie regarding the god more prevalent in our culture.

We don't really believe it, but we want people to pretend.

[AlbertCat]

14. Religion in politics is cognitively dissonant.

I think religion is just ancient government.


The whole point of the USA is to have citizens chose their reps instead of having a government run by families who supposedly derive their right to rule by some supernatural force....Y'know...kings....and emperors and caliphates and pharaohs and so on.

It is mind boggling the people who do not seem to realize this.

It is scary the elected officials at the highest levels who don't get it.


So. OUR politics SHOULD BE cognitively dissonant to religion.

[DirkGently]

15. The dissonance is believing both at once.

I agree religion was once the whole of the "law." We apparently didn't start out with arguing from reason, or set that aside at some point and insisted that right and wrong and the authority to distinguish one from the other must come from outside of ourselves.

The founding documents of the United States are heavily influenced by Enlightenment thinking. We expressly rejected a state religion. But the dissonance was built-in, with a sprinkling of references to "God" or "the Creator" here and there.

We essentially said we believed in a deity, but wanted to make our decisions based on secular reason.

So here we are. We (most of us) claim religion isn't the basis for law or policy, but still sorta like the idea of a "god fearing" person in charge. But not a chest-heaving, Bible-thumping believer. We get rightfully sweaty at the proposition of leaders who seem to REALLY think they speak with the authority of the Almighty, or who think they're getting messages from above.

It's a half a lie. "Put your hand on this and swear that, but just this one God and this one (and maybe one other) religion, and don't get too het up about it."

Frankly it just screws things up. We make leaders pretend to believe, and it opens the door to loons like Huckabee who fully reject reason and the Constitution and all of the other work we've done, and want to talk about who "God" wants people sleeping with, or which bathrooms they need to use or whatever the hell nonsense sprouts unbidden between their ears.

We'd be better off being a bit more clear. We can't keep pretending we want people to believe we're governed by a mysterious deity, but don't want "Him" taken too seriously when it comes time to make the hard decisions.

Religion is over there. Maybe it guides your philosophy. Maybe it's a source of inspiration. But we are not literally bound to the laws made up 2,000 years ago by the migrant tribes of Israel, who frankly had a lot of screwy ideas about things, thank you very much.

[mr blur]

2. Excellent read!

Kelly is a political science graduate from a major Northeastern university, an attorney by trade with some 10 years of practice behind her, and a citizen of one the planet’s most developed countries. Speaking on satellite television (a technological wonder, whether we still recognize it or not, and no matter what we think of Fox News) in the twenty-first century, this sharp, degree-bearing professional American has just asked, with a straight face, a senator (who happens himself to be a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law) if he is receiving messages from a supernatural being.

Asolutely!

[smirkymonkey]

3. K&R

I really feel like I am going insane sometimes. What on earth has happened to rational society?

[Curmudgeoness]

4. Yes, they should scare you,

and they do scare me. So do all the people who don't think that this is something to scare you.

Yet no one in the audience broke into guffaws or even chuckled. And, of course, no one cried out with irate incredulity at the ludicrousness of the supposition implicit in the question

This is very telling about the way that we think here in the US. I remember when it came out that Nancy Reagan was regularly consulting an astrologist, and people were not worried about that either, so we are rather immune to irrational thinking.

[DirkGently]

11. Culturally preferred crazy gets a pass.

I think Mitt Romney actually suffered for the "weird" teachings of LDS, despite the fact that other than being a bit more intense than the way "standard" Christianity is practiced, it doesn't have much, if any, more irrational beliefs going on than any other Abrahamic religion.

I remember people talking derisively about the "temple garments" LDS requires as "magic underwear," while ignoring the fact the Bible talks about special undergarments as well.

Aaron shall enter the holy place with this: with a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 4"He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his body, and he shall be girded with the linen sash and attired with the linen turban (these are holy garments). Then he shall bathe his body in water and put them on. 5"He shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.

(Leviticus 16:2-34)

[Curmudgeoness]

12. Leviticus.....

an atheist's dream come true.

It is so easy to poke holes in the religions and their followers when they have so many laws that are not being followed. Most Christians have no idea how sinful they are.

[DirkGently]

13. It is a gold mine of hypocrisy

Remember this?

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God’s Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can.

When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination… end of debate.

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God’s Laws and how to follow them.

Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighbouring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?

I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21 . In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual unseemliness – Lev. 15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offence.

When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord – Lev. 1 . The problem is my neighbours. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

I have a neighbour who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2. clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?

A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination – Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t agree. Can you settle this? Are there ‘degrees’ of abomination?

Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?

Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot.

Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev. 24:10-16. Couldn’t we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help.

Thank you again for reminding us that God’s word is eternal and unchanging.

Your adoring fan,

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/03/25/850561/-An-Open-Letter-to-Dr-Laura-Schlesinger

[Warren Stupidity]

6. will no one rid us of this pestilence?

Seriously. We need a miracle, a real one, to rid us of the curse of religion.

[snagglepuss]

7. k and r

[Initech]

9. They do scare me. They are reckless, stupid, and insane.

They stand for exactly none of the values that Jesus stood for, and instead play the persecution card to get elected. They seek to destroy the notion of separation of church and state.

[DirkGently]

10. It's a claim to an entitlement to irrationality.

Look at Huckabee's eyes when he talks. He has no qualms or second thoughts about simply characterizing whatever vile, vicious notion comes into his head as divine truth. He believes he speaks "for God."

He believes he IS "God."

I can think of no more dangerous a mindset to be given even a shred of political power, yet we sit there as though insanity was not staring us right in the face.

[Mnemosyne]

16. The Family ties National Prayer Breakfast's Doug Coe, with the Koch bros. going way back. The Family

tries to recruit all new members of the House and Senate. They have a great load of wingnuts at their bidding now, most likely blackmailing for Jesus too.