Ignorance Ain't Bliss for the Rest of Us by John Cullison Blog entry

Blog: John's Blog
by John Cullison

Ignorance Ain't Bliss for the Rest of Us

The kid gloves are off

Date: 12/19/2005 9:15:22 PM ( 19 y ) ... viewed 3371 times

You know, George W. Bush was never genuinely elected to the White House, but he had a lot of support from evangelical Protestants and other Christian groups which helped get him there.

In fact, he still has their support. According to a survey I read last week, 52% of those who identify themselves as fundamentalist Christians still believe that George W. Bush is doing a good job.

No amount of evil performed by the man or his administration is about to sway them, it seems.

At least some of them are coming to realize that the man "isn't doing a good job". That's a euphemism for "destroying the country", but realizing that they helped put him there, fundamentalist Christians aren't too keen on accepting responsibility for their part in this mess.

That's the understatement of the year, by the way.

But even though the dam has cracked a bit, and the realization that George W. Bush is less than he claims (to put it mildly) is beginning to dawn on some of these folks, will they ever take the next step and actually learn from it?

Please, God, please...

The first point I want to make, and rub in the faces of fundamentalist Christians everywhere, is simply this: your own poor judgment led you to support a man who supports, endorses, and allows the torture of children.

When we Americans were screaming about how evil this man was, when we still had a chance to do something about it to prevent it, these people failed to take it upon themselves to police one of their "own", such as he is, and solely because he supported their hatred of gays, or their hatred of women's rights, or whatever other hatred it is that was in vogue at the time.

When we pointed out his lies, they ignored us, because he was "doing God's work", the entirety of which consisted of seeing how far he could push the envelope of turning America into his own personal little dictatorship by squelching the rights of human beings.

And 52% of them still turn a blind eye to the atrocities of this man and his administration.

Are they not their brother's keeper?

The second point I want to make is that the big problem here isn't with their support of George W. Bush, which is wrong for so many reasons by itself, but simply that the same faulty judgment they used to support George W. Bush colors virtually every aspect of their lives, including their faith, and those decisions are just as faulty.

Pretty hefty charge, isn't it? The fact that these folks support George W. Bush does not simply call into question their judgment, but the integrity of their religion, too.

I don't have the threat of God behind me to use to rattle their chains and make them actually think. I am just an individual man who has HAD IT with the destruction of a once great nation and some really great ideas and ideals at the hands of those who think they have the right to dictate to the rest of us, to slay thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands and falsely declare such in the name of freedom, and to TORTURE CHILDREN BASED ON A PACK OF LIES -- to name just three transgressions against America and humanity.

The hypothetical examples of why torture is acceptable never actually takes into account the simple fact that NONE OF THE VICTIMS OF TORTURE AT THE HANDS OF THE UNITED STATES has produced a single bit of useful evidence. Which weapons of mass destruction could a prisoner confess to, when we know for a fact that NO SUCH WEAPONS EXISTED, and WE KNEW THIS FOR A FACT BEFORE THE TORTURE BEGAN?!?

Was there some other reason for torturing these children? What possible reason is there for raping fifteen-year-old boys? All their hatred of homosexuality doesn't seem to apply when it's Our Boys doing it to Their Boys, does it?

Which of them has the social conscience to declare that enough is enough and it's time to expel the hypocrisy from among their ranks? And which of them has the insight to realize that not all is right in Christiandom if it continues to deem men like George W. Bush worthy of a position of leadership? Anyone?

I doubt it. After all, Christians believe that eternal torture is what Jesus has waiting for a large number of us (and I stand proudly in this group). What's a little extra physical torture in the here-and-now, eh? Especially for the children... Jesus loved the little children... And tortured them... ?!? And that's what they worship?

I'm done playing Mr. Nice Guy to the hypocrisy of the self-proclaimed chosen while they commit or support atrocity after atrocity in the name of anything that ever meant anything.

Especially Jesus.