Tag Archives: religion

Art

Posted on by ninjanurse

Maybe the virtue of Art is that it is transgressive. It jumps over the fence but lands in exactly the right place.

Leonard Cohen’s hit song ‘Hallelulia’ should have been sucked dry of all meaning by now. In fact, the old guy has got a lot of nerve to still be rocking. I played ‘Suzanne’ with three chords and a voice that never would be trained in 1976. We all thought he was blessing our own various religions. Leonard Cohen was no spring chicken even then.

I posted a clip of him singing about a month ago and thought it was the definitive version. Darned if he didn’t have other amazing performances. Here’s the one my minister,Rev. James Ford, placed on Monkey Mind Online.

Last Refuge

Posted on by ninjanurse

If patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel, religion must be the recycling bin into which you can toss your sinful nature and be given back… well, who knows where that stuff ends up? At least it’s out of our house, right?

Huffington Post says that television personality Brit Hume has some advice for Tiger Woods…

“The extent to which he can recover seems to me depends on his faith,” Hume said. “He is said to be a Buddhist. I don’t think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. My message to Tiger would, ‘Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.”

It seems to me that Brit Hume is advising Tiger Woods to take advantage of the Prosperity Gospel–a religion that lets disgraced celebrities recycled their reputations into something less toxic. I doubt that Jesus lived his life and suffered his death to provide an easy out for rich men whose private life has caused public embarrassment.

I’m sorry that Tiger Woods is putting his wife and small children through all this pain. I won’t think more of him if he recycles Jim Bakker weeping on camera.

And just for the record, Buddhism does not condone addiction, infidelity, or breaking vows. When I want to see real practitioners of any religion, I look to the ordinary people. They lead, celebrities follow.

UPDATE: Brit Hume elaborates that Tiger Woods needs something that Christianity ‘especially provides’. Would that be political cover and damage control? Jesus was not really supportive of public professions of faith for the purpose of self-aggrandizement. But the Conservative Bible may have re-written those troublesome passages.

I still don’t get the fuss. Tiger Woods owes a huge apology to his wife. And his fans, too, I guess, for behaving in a way he would not own up to. His plan to get away for awhile to work things out is much more sensible, and even graceful, than running around the talk shows claiming that Jesus wiped his sins and everyone should join him in a prayer circle.

Christianity is too old, and practiced by too many saints over the centuries to be undone by the Brit Humes of the world. Some of my best friends are Christians, and they pray even when no one’s watching.

UPDATE: Pat Buchanan, who knows a lot about the uses to which religion can be put agrees that Tiger Woods should convert.

UPDATE: Brit Hume isn’t waiting to be awarded his martyr’s crown, he claimed it for himself this news cycle.

Dog Whistle

Posted on by ninjanurse

So up in Vermont I was searching for the well-modulated voice of NPR when I caught part of a right-wing radio show. One caller, who sounded old enough to qualify for Medicare, said that health care reform would lead to total government control–

“They’ll plant microchips in our hands, or our foreheads, and no one who doesn’t have one will be able to see a doctor.”

A ‘dog whistle’ is a signal to a constituency that is couched in language that the faithful will recognize, but unbelievers will miss.

The concerned caller was quoting from the Bible, the Book of Revelations. Ever since the ink dried on that document, people have been applying it to their current political miseries. The End Is Near. It’s always near.

I recommend that any of our readers who want to understand our cultural roots read the Bible. It’s said that the Devil can quote scripture, and current politics shows the Word is true. A wise witch said that the challenge of our time is to integrate the rational and the mystical. She didn’t mention the irrational and fanatical, but that is the spirit of fundamentalism, of all brands.

A Better Type of Scandal

Posted on by ninjanurse

Some years ago Dale O’ Leary wrote a column for the Journal’s ‘Face of Religion’ page. She covered the Catholic child abuse scandals, and best I can recall, claimed that critics of the Church were gloating over the stream of accusations and revelations.

Not this critic. Parents have to trust others to care for their children at some point, even if they live on a compound in Idaho. Reading about the betrayal of children and parents made me heartsick, and frightened.

When it comes to Catholic sex scandals, I much prefer this kind, which I’ll admit is amusing–

MIAMI – A popular Miami priest nicknamed “Father Oprah” was set to give his first sermon Sunday since leaving the Roman Catholic Church after photographs surfaced of him kissing his girlfriend on the beach.

The Rev. Alberto Cutie will preach at his new church, the Episcopal Church of The Resurrection. The church allows its priests to marry, unlike the Catholic Church.

Yes, he was caught in an affectionate moment with an adult woman as they enjoyed a day at the beach. It takes a Jesuit to explain why that is more immoral than some of the nonsense the Church lets go by. The priest shortage just got a little worse. Catholic’s loss, Episcopal’s gain.

God Needs a Loan

Posted on by ninjanurse

No, of course not. God is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. She isn’t waiting for the next paycheck to come in.

But some souls who really can’t afford it are making a preacher rich by sending him money, believing that God will pay it back with interest.

As Easter approached, the ad ran repeatedly on the Inspiration Network: David Cerullo, clutching a Bible, told viewers they, too, could receive prosperity, physical healing and other blessings God gave the ancient Israelites.

All they had to do, the televangelist said, was send $200 or more.

“Go to your phone,” he said. “Sow your Passover offering and watch God do what he said he would … Call now.”

So who would fall for this? Maybe someone extremely vulnerable…

Rebecca Mills, 54, of north Mississippi, gave about $400 two years ago. Money was tight. But it was a time when she was recovering from breast cancer and trying to get closer to God.

The more she read the Bible, the more she wondered why she’d written those checks: “I could just … tell that what they were saying wasn’t right.”

Unitarians don’t particularly believe in Hell, but if there is a Hell, there must be a special place for con men who prey on poor people when they are sick and alone.

And in a lovely example of taxpayer support for ‘faith-based’ organizations (otherwise know as ‘churches’), even atheists get to contribute to the ‘reverend’ and help expand his reach…

Much of the money sent by people like Mills is now funding the City of Light, a 93-acre campus in northern Lancaster County, S.C., where the network’s plans include a sophisticated training and broadcast center.

Taxpayers are also helping to pay for it. Eager to bring jobs to a county with 19 percent unemployment, South Carolina offered the network incentives worth up to $26 million to land the campus – a deal that has been questioned by economic development experts.

Maybe they didn’t want the voters to think they were Godless, like in that book.

But if you need to have faith in something, I have a deal for you. Comment on Kmareka. If you do, the god Mercury will strap on his winged sandals and wave his caduceus over your blog, causing thousands of hits to appear on your site meter every day. Just believe. Faith is a good thing. Don’t make me call down the wrath of Saturn on your hard drive. Comment today.

Mr. President, Why Can’t You Just Fake It?

Posted on by ninjanurse

G.W. knew how to get the most out of the National Day of Prayer, but President Obama is letting this great photo-op pass him by…

[White House Press Secretary] Gibbs said Obama prays privately and his plan for the day was in line with those of past presidents. Still, Obama drew a rebuke from the National Day of Prayer Task Force, a private group that promotes prayer events around the country.

“We are disappointed in the lack of participation by the Obama Administration,” said task force chairwoman Shirley Dobson, wife of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson. “At this time in our country’s history, we would hope our President would recognize more fully the importance of prayer.”

The first thing the President needs to recognize is that you get zero political capital out of praying privately. Even ‘Joe the Plumber’ gives the press updates on what God is telling him to do. If Sam Wurtzelbacher runs for office, you can be sure he has the God endorsement in his pocket.

Mr. Obama can learn a lot from reading the Bible. Jesus made some reckless remark to the effect that God liked the silent prayer of a tax collector better than public piety (Luke 18:9-14) , and later compared some very distinguished clergy to whitewashed graves.( Matthew 23:27)

And look what they did to Him!

Of course, Jesus was executed for blasphemy by a collusion of church and state–could never happen here. The Freedom From Religion Foundation is worried about having a National Day of Prayer at all, but the occasion has been observed since 1952 and has given so many politicians a chance to display their profound and sincere spirituality that it would be mean to deprive them.

Praying into a microphone in front of a cheering crowd seems kind of bizarre when you consider that God is omniscient. And prayer seems kind of intimate, really. But public baring of the soul is very popular with some constituencies. You wonder why the President can’t make an appearance and, you know, fake it. But maybe the Obamas, with their busy schedule, needed some time to focus on their own family. We the people can rest assured that James and Shirley Dobson are focusing on ours. Make sure you pull the shades down.

Annullment?

Posted on by ninjanurse

I have absolutely no moral authority to be asking this question, because:

1. I think people’s marriages are their own business
2. I’m an ex-Catholic

But what the heck? Newt Gingrich has converted to Catholicism, some say because his wife is Catholic and he wants to share her faith.

Where does that leave the status of former wives #1 and #2?

Is he now living in sin with #3, or does he have to get the first ones annulled? Will the exes cooperate? Does that affect the legitimacy of the children of the first marriage?

Or do converting politicians get a free pass? It’s all too esoteric for me, but a guy who makes a career out of telling us whose family is more valuable and what virtues we lack will have no trouble being sanctimonious. He can go to Mass with Tony Blair now, and maybe they’ll write a book about the Just War.