Friday, March 25, 2005

TS and the religious right wing

The praying and crying and gnashing of teeth by the fundamentalist right wing of this country over the Terri S. case is an obvious case of their strange need for everyone to see how pious they are. Somehow this group is so insecure with their own faith that they have to haul it out and make extravagent public displays of themselves. If you think praying helps, pray. You don't have to put tape over your mouth that says LIFE and pray. You don't have to stand outside the poor husbands home with candles and signs and pray. Just pray. Or do you just want a little attention for yourself? This picture shows what I mean I think in many ways.

Check out Leah's Worldly Gossip for a link to the NY times article about this as well.

4 comments:

Cindy said...

Scott
I must say the statue laden "prayer procession" does not appeal to me either! I believe Jesus is the model for authentic prayer; he prayed in many venues, some public, some private, but always appropriately i.e. when Jesus prayed, he spoke to God the Father, not to others listening or watching. Any other intention is bogus.
That said, I admit that in my human weakness, I have prayed in a manner that has fallen short of his example, at times...not really focusing on who I am speaking to & letting pride (and probably piety) creap into the experience. My loss, for then I short circuited the opportunity to have a conversation with God. The possible gain of attention of others (humans)is pretty pale in comparison to the potential for relationship growth with God.
When I realized (at 27 years of age) that prayer had very little to do with statues, Mary (and the repetitive "hailing" of her), rosary beads, shroud of turin,...etc etc and everything to do with simple words between God & I (anywhere, anytime)...I was relieved.
I, also, am turned off by what I'll call "prayer activities" that say look at me.
Does that mean that I am NOT a member of the "religious right wing"?
Hmmmmm. I'm interested in your definition of that term. Blogon.

Scott said...

Cindy-
Sorry for the delay...I tend to forget people come here too! To me the religious right is the group that can't stand the fact that there are people who don't think like them and so, try to bend the goverment to be more to their religious views. I think the enlightened understand that you can't really do better than the concept of religious freedom. The founding fathers had a good feeling of what might happen if the church got too involved in the running of the country. For those who like to pray...America is the place for you! For those who don't...same place! How do you improve on that?

Blog on indeed!

Scott said...

Cindy-
Do you think the group that prays in this overtly public way to (I believe) draw attention to themselves or to their cause is the same group of people who leave flowers and teddy bears at the scene of an accident involving people they don't know?

Cindy said...

Scott
No problem re: response time...I was out of (blog) town, anyway.
Based on your definition, I do not fit into group called "religious right". I can stand the fact that there are people that don't agree with my religious views, and in fact, have a set of different beliefs that they believe in very strongly.
I agree with you that the constitution does not intend for any one religious group to be married to the U.S. government, making it intolerant to other groups. Founding fathers intended this to be a place where all groups could hold to & practice their religious beliefs. I understand separation of church & state to mean that the government may not mandate that any one religion will be the "state religion" (ala Constantine or Church of England). As such, I have the freedom to pray to the God I know & those who do not want to pray to him have the freedom to pray to another god or to no one at all.
Christians, Muslims, Agnostics, Jews, Atheists, Buddhists, etc etc...all have a right to hold to & freely practice their beliefs. In the broad sense of the word, I believe everyone has a "religion" & everyone is "allowed" to express & live out their beliefs at work, at play, in private, in public, in community, in solo...
Alongside the principle of separation of church & state, I believe that the right to religious freedom guarantees that individuals (even elected officials) may express their beliefs in how they live (even how they "officiate").
In that regard, if Judeo-Christian principles are coming out of the mouths of government officials & into legislation at this time in history, I'd say it's because there are a number of individuals with such beliefs in office right now. If they don't adequately represent the populace, they will be voted out come the next go'round.
I also, am not for “bending” the government & its constitution, but I am for a system where government officials are allowed, in fact expected, to have convictions, positions on issues etc.
So, the U.S.A. IS the place for me (to use your words)!! I am more appreciative, as time goes on, of the freedoms we do have. (Recently read a book entitled "Heavenly Man"...true tale of religious persecution in modern day China with focus on Brother Yun & his family…Yikes)
OK...that's all for now. Got to do some chores. I'll be back later about the flowers & teddy bears :-/