On Being Godless …
By Nancy Greggs
"If you are a liberal and a Democrat, you have probably learned, as I have, to grow a thick skin over the past six years. We have been called everything from unpatriotic traitors to terrorist sympathizers.
We are history revisionists when we remind people that their beloved Republican leaders said something today that is totally contrary to what they said yesterday.
We are tree-hugging hippies when we talk about the fact of global warming, and the need for careful stewardship of our natural resources. We are defeatists when we point to the realities of the failed misadventure in Iraq, or discuss statistics about the wounded, the orphaned, the dead.
We are the enemies of good, old-fashioned American capitalism when we dare suggest that government policy should be based on the well-being of our nation and its citizens rather than the bottom-line profits of corporations.
When we bring up the fact that the War on Terror is a fraudulent scare tactic used to sway voters and line the pockets of war profiteers, we are failing to see the Big Picture. And when we point to the fact that Administration relatives and cronies are the recipients of billions of our tax dollars via no-bid contracts, we are obviously too jaded to recognize amazing coincidence when we see it.
But being called “Godless”, a pointed barb obviously meant to sting more than any other epithet, never fails to bring an amused smile to my face. The irony of that attribution, and the concept behind it, always serves as a reminder that I am being targeted by people too blind to see the enormous gap between their own idea of what is God-like or Christian and the political behavior of the president, the administration, and the party they so staunchly support.
Ann Coulter – the pin-up girl of good, Christian keyboard warriors everywhere – devoted an entire book to our Godless state. And who would dispute the darling of the RW, who thinks all Muslims should be ‘forced’ to convert to Christianity, and bemoans the fact that Timothy McVeigh didn’t murder a few journalists while he was at it?
But just as the mindless sheep never make the connection between their financial contributions to their mega-churches in the cause of spreading Christianity and the lavish lifestyle of the Falwells and the Robertsons who cash the checks, so they never notice the disconnect between the policies they embrace as righteous Republicans and the teachings of one Jesus Christ – an early fatality in the battle against we Godless creatures, we who think torture might be a tad out of keeping with the Sermon on the Mount.
According to the vast wisdom of posters on RW Christian discussion boards, we recalcitrant peaceniks show our true Satanic colors every time we promote diplomacy over war, or speak up against injustice, inequality, or military aggression that kills innocent children. For this alone, we are damned.
But we are guilty of a far greater sin, in that we have refused to accept that George W. Bush was specifically chosen by the Highest Authority to rule over all Americans – and then some. We are told he speaks to the Big Guy himself on a regular basis; a merciful Christian God who apparently tells our darling leader that torturing, maiming and killing hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis is “doing the Lord’s work” – and repeatedly lying to the country in order to do just that is simply a matter of pursuing those “good works” we were told about as naïve children, once taught to believe in things like goodwill and brotherhood among all men.
And our Godlessness does not end there. We still prattle on about supporting programs to feed the hungry, providing health care to the sick, and banning weapons like landmines and cluster bombs. Good Heavens, is it any wonder we are all doomed to spend eternity in some special part of Hell, where those too soulless to embrace the concept of nukin’ entire nations that don’t agree with ours are destined to suffer for their multitude of transgressions?
For most right-wingers, Christianity has become a moving target. It is no longer based on the teachings of Christ, but rather on whether one has an (R) next to one’s name – a symbol which has replaced the crucifix as denoting that new-and-improved form of righteousness that allows for any kind of behavior, so long as that behavior takes place on the “right” side of the aisle. Lying, stealing, adultery, and homosexuality are all apparently acceptable to the flock, so long as you are willing to ‘fess up to your sins the minute you get caught, and not a moment later – or sooner.
Yes, my fellow Godless, fire and brimstone await us for sure. We wage War on Christmas by not taking offence when someone wishes us “Happy Holidays”, we have “personal relationships” with God that we steadfastly refuse to turn into public spectacles for political gain, we adhere to ridiculous concepts like not judging others lest we be judged – you know, all of that nonsense promoted by a man born over 2,000 years ago, a.k.a. the Prince of Peace, someone who obviously just didn’t get it.
Godless. It’s become a kind of badge of honor, one that I wear proudly, one that must make God – with that ironic sense of humor that is His, and His alone – laugh every time he hears it directed at one of His own."
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