*This article is cross-posted from Positivelyharmful.blogspot.com*
Can he say that on here? Of course I can, especially since it happens to be so fucking true. In what I can safely say is the most infuriating piece of news to come out of Washington in some time, Michele Bachmann and her buddies on the Congressional Prayer Caucas--the very existence of which appalls me--recently wrote a letter to President Obama criticizing him for the sparsity of the words "God" or "Creator" in his public addresses.
Bachmann and her cohorts erroneously claim this lack of religiosity "cast[s] aside an integral part of American society," apparently by, "removing one of the cornerstones of our secure freedom." Really, Michele? What about my freedom from having your ancient, mystical, and ultimately incorrect point of view shoved down my throat?
First, for my sake, I'd like to point out that Michele Bachmann's ignorance in this matter, in my opinion, does not represent the primary viewpoint of her Minnesotan constituency--though this perhaps is due to my unwillingness to believe that my once-home state could be overrun by such stale, backword-thinking right-wing sympathies.
I flat-out reject Bachmann's assertions that "God" represents either an integral part of society or a cornerstone of our freedom. The very concept of a Christian God--one who is creator and master of all things, and that ultimately has the authority to condemn a soul to an eternity of damnation--is in all ways anti-freedom. The bullshit concept of seven deadly sins--all of which are an unavoidable part of what it means to be human--is perhaps the most devious control on individual freedoms ever to spew from the mind of man. In a sense, there could be no greaterthreat to the truest ideas of freedom than this concept of "God."
As far as representing an "intergral" part of society, I ardently disagree. The machinations of the god-worshipers and the sects by which they identify have shown through time to be very detrimental in serious ways. "God" and his name have been evoked in some of the sickest ways imaginable, allowing for human beings to do to others what would otherwise be nothing short of unthinkable. Also, I take it for granted that this god does not truly exist, as absolutely all available evidence (there's that word again Christians) points to the negative. As such, I honestly believe that, with time and awareness, the common knowledge of God's non-existence will eventually prevail, though on no certain time-table. With this being the case, it seems perfectly clear that we cannot, or at the very least ought not, allow ourselves to saddle God or his supposed word with the lofty title of Integral to Society.
Perhaps most shocking and frustrating to me (as I am rarely shocked anymore by the general stupidity of the religious right) is that this matter has found its way to the President and his public despite the enormous legitimate tasks facing every one of these representatives. With our country taking giant shit after giant shit all over this Earth and at home, the time of our elected officials is being spent bickering over a fucking fairytale. I'd assert--unscientifically--that potential factors in our current national financial woes include our tendency as a society to represent a major anomaly within the well-documented relationship between increasing wealth and decreasing religiosity in societies, if not directly than by some correlation (i.e. stupidity).
Rev. Barry Lynn of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State called Bachmann's position "one of the silliest manufactured controversies I've ever seen," in a statement released in response to the letter. I tend to agree, though because I believe Bachmann-like thought is a serious threat to reasonable people everywhere, I would substitute the words "most ludicrous" for "silliest" to remove the connotation that anything about this type of thinking could be funny.
Michele Bachmann is a true disgrace to Minnesota and the nation at large. Her sense of values is completely out-of-whack, and the idea that she could be voted to such a position in life casts a horrifying reflection on the population that elected her. On behalf of myself and decent, freethinking people everywhere, I take great pleasure in typing to Mrs. Bachmann a well-deserved, "Fuck you very much."
Jeff N.
~One Nation, under Reason, with Liberty and Justice for all
