Keeping the Faith, Losing the Religion

So, lately conservative pundits have been calling Obama's faith into question, saying that he hasn't attended church often enough and that his policies go against the bible. This comes to me as a breath of fresh air; for the first time in eight years, we have a leader that's keeping his faith to himself and letting reason and justice dictate his actions. Whereas Bush was overt in his spiritual beliefs, Obama has displayed his faith occasionally and diplomatically, like when he appointed Rick Warren to give a prayer at his inauguration. He's using his faith calculatedly.

It reminded me of American Theocracy and Religulous. Both emphatically declare the real threat that religions poses.

Kevin Phillipps's American Theocracy is a meticulous description of the rise of southern Christian fundamentalism from the pre-Civil War era to the forefront of contemporary politics. Among Phillips's scathing criticisms of the Bush administration is the idea that prophetic religion, or a doomsday mentality, has become a major influence of foreign and domestic policy.

It isn't anything new of course. Bill Maher painted a very dismal and silly portrait of religion in Religulous. Maher interviews a parade of religious figures, from evangelists to rabbis, and even mentions my old buddy, Reverend Robert Tilton. For the most part, Maher simply tries to make religious people look, well, ridiculous, and to that end he succeeds. At the end of the film though, his comical jabs crystallize into a poignant denunciation and caveat against religion. My favorite part:

"Religion is dangerous because it allows human beings who don't have all the answers to think that they do. Most people would think it's wonderful when someone says, "I'm willing, Lord! I'll do whatever you want me to do!" Except that since there are no gods actually talking to us, that void is filled in by people with their own corruptions and limitations and agendas."

That's it, really. In the last ten years, I've gone from Methodist to lukewarm, to agnostic, to secular, to antireligion. I will always have my faith in a deity because it was ingrained into me as a boy, but my faith in religion is fading fast.