Christian Rejection of Humanism: Bill O'Reilly and Josh Duggar

Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Instead of pointing out the contradictions between Bill O'Reilly's and Josh Duggar's professed beliefs and their actions, I thought it would be more interesting to focus on the continued elevation, by many evangelicals, of media figures. Duggar and O'Reilly join a long list of fallen religious personalities who were (foolishly) placed above the flesh they reside in by Christians who should've known better. The need to maintain a pseudo-symbolic order is the modern day version of Aaron creating a golden calf. The idolatry lies in the false belief that political affiliation and social status can grant you direct access to the Most High.

  

Believers are tasked with accepting weakness and sin as constitutive strains in our molecular structure. While some choose to struggle daily with the ways they fall short, others engage in the willful denial of their sinful nature. Yes, there will always be people playing the role and faking the funk, but why do so many believers fall into their trap? Many want/need the illusion of man made wholesomeness to be authentic. Some of their actions lead me to believe that their faith is as dependent on projecting righteousness through an in-group identification as it is on deep metaphysical investigation. We get examples of this every election cycle; some hyper-partisan believer emphatically claims that their candidate is a "true" Christian, or that God is backing their political worldview. These arguments, as compelling as they may seem to some, overlook the fact that none of us can see into the deepest darkest corners of a person's soul, nor do we possess the ability to know God's will.   

It's hard to follow Jesus and admit sin around folks who have a utopian view of what it means to be a Christian. Some of our most vulnerable brothers and sisters find themselves on the outside looking in. There's more dignity in admitting weakness than faking perfection, yet too many feel forced to accept a Stepford religion that forces them to suppress their humanity. Some of us become so consumed with a public figures shiny clear coat that we forget to lift the hood and see what the engine looks like. Some churches and religious leaders have hurt their credibility by professing their faith and allegiance to those who were better at hiding their sins than confronting them. If you're around Christians who make it a regular habit to demean and chastise the very people Jesus died for then maybe the fruit they are bearing isn't of the Lord 

Bill O'Reilly and Josh Duggar hurt real people. While some are dancing on their proverbial graves, we shouldn't forget the tragedy visited upon the children who were molested by Josh, nor the domestic abuse by Bill. Their transgressions are more than ammunition in the war against holier than thou Christians. This isn't an argument to absolve them of their wrong doings. Publicly humiliating them may feel good and vindicate their political enemies, but it does nothing to shrink the pedastal they were standing on. There's a revolving door of people waiting to get access to the money and spotlight that comes with being a public figure; maybe we should lower the pedastal they stand on and do a better job of vetting the character of those we elevate. These men are just symptoms of a greater problem.

Gay Rights For Paleo-Christians: A Guide To Liberty

"In truth, laws are always useful to those with possessions and harmful to those who have nothing; from which it follows that the social state is advantageous to men only when all possess something."

― Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are available to any American who doesn't suffer from that incurable disease called "otherness". There's a Dimension of personal belief that spills into the public sector; this belief has the ability to circumvent the rights of others. The lack of equality the homosexual community face is a direct reflection of the way our society has always handled radical alterity. The right to engage in commerce or have a marriage that's recognized by the sovereign is a right many (in this free country) have fought and some died for, yet the progress made in some states is being negated by the regressive policies of other states: Indiana and Arkansas.

I respect the belief that many Christians hold about marriage, but their beliefs aren't material to the issue of social justice. I'm a progressive Christian in the south; I know first hand that we (Progressives) will never convince the religious right that denying the gay community equal protections under the law is a perfect example of why the constitution was written. We have to do a better job of clearly defining liberty, and shaming those in opposition to it. We need to further stigmatize states, institutions and individuals who choose to engage in practices that limit the freedom of others. This doesn't mean attacking people for how they may personally feel, but we should attack anyone who uses those feelings as the basis for discriminatory practices. 

Denying gays and lesbians the right to purchase confections or marry not only harms them as individuals, it harms the idea of liberty capital L. Our country was founded by brave men who fought the tyranny of the royal crown. Men who in the name of liberty and freedom went on to commit genocide on native Indians and enslaved Africans. Why wait for history to point out the flaws of our current thinking. I want people to see how clear the line is drawn. Either you believe in liberty or you don't. If you don't believe in same sex marriage then follow the old adage: DON'T MARRY SOMEONE WHO SHARES YOUR SEX ORGANS.

We need to ask the opposition embarrassing questions like: how does the sovereign benefit by not recognizing the consenting relationships established by its citizens?  How does limiting the freedom of gays and lesbians promote liberty in greater society? If the sovereign- in the form of the U.S. government- hasn't established any laws prohibiting consenting adults from loving each other, why enlist laws that prohibit the natural evolution of that love?

My fellow Christians love quoting scripture when topics contrary to their biblical beliefs come up. I offer them Matthew 5:29:

New Living Translation
So if your eye--even your good eye--causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

The only one eyed Christians I know lost their eye due to accidents or disease. I've never met a Christian who plucked their eye out because it offended them, and I have seen my fellow Christians react when shapely women have walked by. St. Paul told slaves to obey their earthly masters, yet we got around that. St. Paul also said women shouldn't preach, but we worked that one out as well. My religious beliefs have the ability to influence my decisions, not the decisions of those around me. We have to actively engage in the kind of rhetoric that forces our opposition to chose between what's uncomfortable and what's fair. If seeing two men hold hands bothers someone that's fine, but we can't continue to let the comfort levels of some limit the freedoms of others.

Living an "ideal" life is an abstract fiction sold to us. What's normal, and why should anyone invest in someone else's definition of it? Natural liberty is the belief that you can pursue any endeavor your heart desires. There aren't any moral or ethical barriers stopping you from living anyway you choose. Civil liberty is contingent on the idea that you follow the laws established by the sovereign in order to receive the protections the sovereign offers. If we want to further the cause of liberty as described in our countries founding documents we need to include all of our society. This isn't a radical notion: it's following the rule of law. If freedom is reserved for some and not all at least post a list of desired people who will have their rights protected. 

“The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it. Each is the proper guardian of his own health, whether bodily, or mental or spiritual. Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to themselves, than by compelling each to live as seems good to the rest.” 

 John Stuart Mill, On Liberty

A Lesser Conversation About Suicide

http://dagblog.com/reader-blogs/lesser-conversation-about-suicide-19423

NATIONALISM: KANYE WEST AND AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM

'I am God's vessel. But my greatest pain in life is that I will never be able to see myself perform live.' Kanye West

I'm better than you! I can lift more weight, run faster and jump higher than all (or most) of you. I'm young, healthy and fairly intelligent. I also sound like a jerk talking like this. None of the claims I've made (whether true or not) add to my intrinsic value; yet, if I substitute my physical abilities with fame, money or political power (in many circles) I would be seen as a “better” person. In many ways Kanye West is the most logical conclusion of our materialist culture; a culture shot through with hubris and bravado. The conservative mythos of American exceptionalism is epitomized in the actions of Kanye West.

Confidence is an invisible minefield; straying too far off the path can lead to arrogance. If you ask a conservatives to explain American exceptionalism they, generally, start with the notion that God ordained this land and blessed our forefathers with the courage and vision to shape history for the rest of the world. At some point they'll tell you America is the freest, most enlightened, wealthiest and most powerful nation in the history of the world. We could debate the validity of these beliefs, but we can't deny their impact in shaping our society. Any challenge to American hegemony is equated with treason. The pride some Americans feel is based on a skewed set of metrics that always point to us being number one.

In an article about Finland Katja Pantzar wrote:

If there's one characteristic that applies to almost all Finns, it's extreme modesty. Finns don't boast about their own achievements; often they don't even mention them. You might spend an entire evening at a dinner party socialising with someone – only to find out later that they hold a world championship title for downhill skiing, invented a key component of the mobile phone or have accomplished some other "minor" achievement.

Please don't confuse my use of  this quote as another example of a liberal looking to the Scandinavian countries as a template for how we should live. There are areas where their focus on the collective have yielded better results than our dogmatic belief in rugged individualism, but It's their collective modesty that's important to this argument. Societies like Finland undoubtedly produce their share of jerks, but they couldn't have produced a Kanye West. He's as American as Apple pie. A product of our belief in American exceptionalism, even when that belief is detrimental to those affected by our behavior. His rhetoric about personal greatness, the genius in his music and his place in history rival the red meat speeches given at any CPAC or RNC lectern.

Liking (or not liking) Kanye West or his music is a separate issue from a critique of his character. Often, our ideas need physical examples to be fully understood. For many on the left the false machismo of the 2nd Amendment and Tea Party crowd serve as that example. While there might be nuggets of truth in their rhetoric it gets drowned out by their claims of moral superiority and patriotism. There's a chance Kanye West is a genius, but his actions scream jerk. America might be the greatest country in the world, but our constantly reminding the rest of the world comes off as conceit. America has progressed towards greatness because ordinary citizens have made (and continue to make) hard choices and personal sacrifices, not because we beat on our chests and remind the rest of the world of our military and economic prowess. It's hard for me to fault a person for embracing the prevailing ideology of our generation. If you see enough bumper stickers and hear enough politically driven jargon supporting the idea of American exceptionalism it isnt a far leap in logic to assume that if America is number 1, and I'm at the top of my chosen field: ispo facto I'm number 1. I'm not saying it's right, but it isn't that far of a leap to make.