I've long advocated the idea that religion is good for society. When I read expressions like Gaz's, whether he really means it or not, I often re-assess that idea. Hey, be moral, but not sooooooo moral! Another idea shunned by some in the Church. It's unfortunate that with such admirable tenets as most religions have, they too often produce fanatics. Where does one find a balance? I guess, ultimately, the scriptures do encourage an either/or view of life, which is why I still think Eric Hoffer's
The True Believer is still relevant 57 years after it was first published. Hoffer's analysis of religious or political fanaticism isn't a scholarly one, but remarkably insightful and relevant.
I've also often pondered whether Australians' decision to pretty much abandon religion (what else can you call it with something like a 8% weekly church attendance overall? And a huge debate about whether to include "God" in a new Constitution.) was a wise one. But on the other hand, I can see how less schismatic our society is without the former strong religious emphasis. In the 1950s and 60s Catholics and Protestants were virtually at war. There was religious discrimination in employment, mainly against Catholics, but it worked both ways. Society was religiously divided, but by the 1970s this began to fizzle out. People like Bob Santamaria, a staunch, conservative and influential Catholic, were becoming more and more irrelevant. But there were still strong religious debates in newspapers, mainly between atheists and believers, perhaps the most prominent atheist being
Phillip Adams , who wrote such provocative books like
Adams Versus God, who often didn't stop short of ridiculing religion, something that could not have been done in the 1950s-60s without severe public retribution.
By the 1980s religious debates began to die down. People were just getting tired of all the divisions. And in the National Census on national belief, "No religion" was the fastest growing category. Today, you' be hard pressed to find any continuing religious debates in letters to editors columns, though some infrequently arise. Quoting from scripture in letters to editors, something frequently done in the 1970s and parts of the '80s, is now virtually non-existent. Why? Because religion has lost most of its credibility, and the scriptures are viewed as archaic and irrelevant, and the source of too much former division. It may be sad to say, but when someone quotes scripture today in the public media, they almost lose their credibility immediately, because it's viewed as "preaching". Such are the sensitivities retained from the divided years. Note too, that I have personally observed all of this over 34 years, also as a frequent contributor to letters columns.
So what's my point? I wonder if America will eventually go the same way? To watch Gaz fling scriptures to justify his "fag hate", and his bizarre concept of "justified killing", makes me think that eventually the public reaction to this in America may have a boiling point. I don't know, because I'm not an expert in US religious trends. This is also related to the topic of this thread, started by KA, "Keeping religious zealots out of power". There's actually one sure way to do this, and that's by allowing people like Gaz to have a say, and to keep flinging scripture about, then hope that the majority of Americans eventually get sick and tired of it, but as I said, I may be underestimating America, which has a very strong religious ethos.
Today, the kind of "Christianity" Australians respond to is illustrated in the post below, which I took from another board I post on in Oz (I'm sure the poster won't mind, though I didn't ask her to do this). The debate was whether the "age of chivalry" had disappeared, that is, chivalry of men towards women, and though most views were negative, this lady chimed in with this post:
It may seem chivalry is dead..but its not..Chivalry is seen as rare these days.. but its not dead.
I was broken down in my car one day out in what I call an isolated road with my 2 kids..
My radiator had given up and it was at least 40 degrees Cel...middle of summer.
As we live in quite a large wheat belt the farmers and contract drivers beat a fairly constant path up and down that road.
A wheat truck stopped and the driver saw what had happened.. immediately he realised I needed water and as he had none with him..he got out his water can and walked up the road in the blazing heat to a farmhouse quite a way down the road- we could see it but it was still quite a hike.
The man came back with the water and filled my stupid radiator..he was a bushman and words didn't come easy to him..hardly spoke .. he was a gentle unassuming weathered man of about 45 years.
I felt so grateful to him for his help..but he shyly brushed aside words of gratitude and quitely went on his way..
I don't know his name and I wished that I did..he restored my faith in human kindness that day because he showed me there were still good pple in the world who give without expecting a thing in return.
That shy unassuming man left a lasting impression on me...
If religion was brought into this, or any scripture quoting, or any "religious lessons" implied, it would have killed this post stone dead, and that's the point we are at, thanks to years and years of religious division.
