Physician, heal thyself

"Before you accuse me, take a look at yourself."
--Bo Diddley

I've always been sickened by the tendencies of some Republicans to use faith as a weapon. (I'd say the same about Democrats if this were truly on both sides, but I can't think of any example of this behavior from a Democrat.) I'm not sure when it began, but, at some point, the Republican Party tried to make its brand synonymous with "Christian," implying that the Democrats, their opposition, were, by default, "atheist." They've driven this home to voters through use of wedge issues like abortion, which is an issue that will never, ever, ever, ever be truly resolved, but which doesn't fail to get out the vote from a certain group of Christians who are led to believe it's their moral duty to protect unborn babies... but somehow okay to never provide for their education, and to send these kids to die in unnecessary wars when they grow up.

This year, it's been especially bad, and not just in the most obvious spot of that guy with the same middle name as that other guy's last name, you know, the one we found hiding in a hole and executed. I learned about a little back-and-forth between the two candidates running for US Senate from North Carolina, of all places. I was born in North Carolina, and raised there and in Virginia, and am proud to be a Southerner. I still argue with ignorant "Yankees" that the cause of the Civil War wasn't as simple as history books make it seem (that Lincoln outlawed slavery and the bunch of jackholes who made up the South left the Union because they loved slavery so much). It doesn't mean I think slavery was anything short of one of the darkest deeds this nation ever perpetrated (it's a toss-up for worse when compared to our treatment of the folks who were here first), or that I condone racism at all. But oversimplifying it to demonize one side doesn't do any services to those who want to learn from the mistakes of the past.

I have digressed. Here are links to the two ads, the one from Elizabeth Dole and the response from Kay Hagan. (Go ahead and watch. I'll wait here.)

I'm not sure which sentiment is stronger in my mind: the desire to pimp-slap Elizabeth Dole or to call Hagan personally and say, "You go, girl!" It's one of the lowest attacks I've seen, answered by one of the classiest and yet most scathing counterattacks. If Democrats had stood up for their beliefs and acted like this twenty or thirty years ago when Republicans were busy convincing voters that they were atheists who wanted to force you to abort your babies, we might not be in quite the mess we're in now, politically speaking.

Face it: In over two centuries, we have never had a president who was anything but a Christian. We've had one Catholic president; the rest have been Protestant. There has only been one candidate who had a chance at either the presidency or the vice-presidency who wasn't Christian (Joe Lieberman, who is Jewish).

And, yet, the biggest scare tactic used in this presidential election is the lie that Barack Obama is a Muslim. How many times does a man have to specifically say he is Christian before people will believe him? Call me insane, but anyone who claims to be of any religion gets the benefit of the doubt in my book, until he does something to prove otherwise. If he were secretly a Muslim extremist, why doesn't anyone realize that he should be facing Mecca and praying during many of his public appearances? Does Jesus Christ have to come down from Heaven himself and endorse Obama for people to just take him at his word? There are things you can doubt about either candidate (and both have stretched the truth), but it scares me that there are still people who don't believe the man who seems likely to be our next president on something as basic and personal as his religion.

(And don't get me started on the mass of hypocrisy that is Sarah Palin. Maybe later, but I could go on about her for several pages, and don't feel like it now.)

On the other hand, it worries me just as much that there are still people who believe this is a Christian nation, that we have some grand role to play. No, we're a bunch of people living in a particular geographic area, violently and dishonestly stolen from the natives who were here first, upon which a country was founded by a wide variety of Christians, deists, and atheists, where we are supposed to enjoy and respect certain freedoms, one of those being the freedom to believe whatever you want. One's opinion of a politician should not rest entirely on what his or her religion is. I won't argue that one can't consider the underlying moral teachings of that religion, but most religions agree on the basics and, barring a sudden, unexpected return to the Thuggee worship of Kali, we're unlikely to encounter one that's too different in the moral teachings from Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, or any of the other religions practiced in the US.

About two weeks ago, former Secretary of State Colin Powell restored eight years worth of lost respect in my eyes. It wasn't that he endorsed the guy I'm voting for. He could've said that Obama was incompetent and endorsed McCain, but I would think he was a great man (that I happen to disagree with) if he had still said what he said about the attacks on Obama:
[I]t is permitted to be said such things as: "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is: he is not a Muslim. He's a Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is: What if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is: No, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some 7-year-old Muslim-American kid believing he or she can be President?

It's nice to know there are still some people out there who recognize that people who disagree shouldn't hate one another. And that attacks on faith are not only wrong, but not acceptable Christian behavior.