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So I'm watching CNN just flipping around, and I come across a report about former President Bush and his pardons of two border patrol guards before he left office. Now I don't really care all that much about the story to be honest; that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish down Mexico way. I only caught the tail end of it, but on the screen comes Rep. Walter Jones from North Carolina. Now he's a Republican and I wish I could say this was something only a Republican would say, but I doubt it.
Here's what he said as he faced the camera:
"I said 'Mr. President, you profess to be a man of faith. Please get down on your knees and ask god if you should commute or pardon these two men, and listen to god and I believe he will tell you yes.' I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but I think god did quite frankly."
Now, if someone tells me that they are religious because it makes them feels good, or gives their life meaning and direction, or a feeling of belonging, that's cool, I can understand that. Lots of people belong to clubs and associations and such for various reasons. And they all have their beliefs and bylaws, so I understand why people are religious. We all want to feel like our lives have some sort of meaning. They don't really believe everything they practice is based on fact, but they need or want it.
But, there are some people that take it beyond that and really insist that it's all real and true, and there really is a god about. And again, that's fine as well. Some people are in deeper than others and they are the credulous type, or they kind of person that can't do something halfhearted and so they force themselves to believe it's true.
But here's the thing, when you're a United States congressman, I'm expecting that you're going to be a little more intelligent than the general public. And when you clearly demonstrate that you're not in an incredible display of hubris and superstition, I'm taken aback by it. You're a goddamn congressman for christ's sake--act like it. You're not some rube that's easily taken in by the latest conman, or at least you shouldn't be.
Let's break this down:
- "Mr. President, you profess to be a man of faith."
There's NOTHING admirable about being a man of faith. It's the faithful, credulous, and unquestioning fools that bring despots and corruption to our world.
- "Please get down on your knees and ask god if you should commute or pardon these two men"
Say what? You're asking the President of the United States and a grown man to bow down to a superstition to decide the fates of two men?
- "and listen to god and I believe he will tell you yes."
So not only do you believe that such a thing as an actual god exists and you just happen to worship the correct one, but you also believe you know what it thinks about a given situation?
- "I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but I think god did, quite frankly."
In other words it couldn't be that Bush examined the case and consulted legal experts before coming to a decision based on the facts, could it? No no, it was your god that either told Bush what he should do, in person I assume, or your god violated the sacrosanct "freewill" that Christians endlessly prattle on about when excusing their god for condemning people to hell and it made Bush pardon them--is that it? I realize that Bush wasn't real big on facts and never saw one that got in his way of his version of the truth, but damn, you're a fucking congressman, at least pretend like you're not a blithering idiot.
It just stuns me to hear an elected official, a person that makes important decisions on our behalf, say such incredibly idiotic, childish nonsense. People like him keep blathering these supercilious tautologies that have no basis in reality and just expect intelligent people to just nod approvingly or something. That's bad enough, and trying to convince people to think before they say stupid shit like that is probably a battle that's just not worth fighting. But seriously, shouldn't we expect people like him to make a little more sense and not talk to us like we're goddamn children, especially if we're expected to address them with the honorific of "The Honorable" so and so? Because damn, there ain't nothing honorable about Christian gobbledygook; and I'll be damned if I'm going to respect idiotic shit like that.
Copyright ©2009 Rum Tickled Humanist
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