Oh Robert Zimmerman, where art thou? As our leaders attempt to pilot the ship of state through the murky waters of financial turmoil, political unrest, unending war, third world famine-aids epidemics-genocide, and global warming our energies are being sapped and diverted by the constant harangue of political adversaries and their ingenuous appeals to personal faith and religion. What has become increasingly clear is that integrity is not only for sale, it has been deeply discounted: the lust for political office, the lure of power has destroyed common sense and reasonable discourse. Here in the Old North State, the race for the US Senate seat between incumbent Republican Elizabeth Dole and Democrat Kay Hagan has taken a turn for the worse, in fact, one might reasonably argue that the two candidates have actually taken a step back in time. One of Liddy Dole’s recent campaign advertisements charges that Kay Hagan is, well, godless. The Dole ad doesn’t actually say “Hagan is godless“; however, the inference is unavoidable given the primary tactic used in the ad is guilt by association with the coup d’etat delivered somewhat demagogically at the ad’s conclusion when an image of Hagan fills the screen and a woman’s voice utters, “There is no God“. While the voice is not Hagan’s, the message the ad intends relies upon the public’s disdain for subtlety or nuance. Naturally, Hagan charges to defend herself in the spirit of true Pauline indignation by rebutting Dole’s claim with self-righteous Christian anger, predictably, by holding a press conference on the steps of her church; and, she sins not! Her many years as a Sunday school teacher and an elder in her Presbyterian Church apparently requires that she declare to the world what ostensibly God already knows; although, were God to go public, HE/SHE/IT might have been a trifle more thoughtful and unquestionably more inclusive. Loops of these exchanges play almost constantly. What could be next? A lawsuit. You bet. What are the chances either mud-slinging politician can prevail in a defamation of character claim; there are cynics who argue that unrelenting character assassination while feigning innocence is a prerequisite for any successful politician. As this homegrown passion play evolves, its proximity to Winston-Salem elicits the chilling memory of another Salem with its gallows laden with bloated bodies of innocent men and women and the failure of misguided faith.
In the heat of accusation and recrimination, a torpor of ignorance and callousness enervates the spirit of religious freedom. Christian values are myopically proclaimed as if they are penultimate criteria for establishing worth; and, while one might suppose that other religions are relegated to subordinate status by our national might, it is we who are diminished, it is our ideals that are tarnished and toppled ignominiously like foreign statuary. Our republic is unique in its profession of a single constituency; it hangs together because we are enriched through our differences and not separated by them: One nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all–the source of the brouhaha, the UNDER GOD part that was added to the original Pledge of Allegiance back in 1954 . Interesting, the author of the Pledge of Allegiance which, was written in 1892 was Frances Bellamy, a Christian Socialist and Baptist minister: it seems unlikely that the omission of “God” was an oversight. The slander of godlessness fouls the air. Not because some monstrous irreligious heresy has been exposed. No, the culpability of those involved is even more odious because precious time and effort have been wasted on nothing more than foolish conceit, or even worse, a transparent veil of pretense.
Perspective becomes irrelevant, methods are immaterial, the ends don’t justify the means because the means no longer matter. Friend or foe, ally or enemy are arbitrary and impermanent arrangements by which the world is ordered. The sad irony is that it doesn’t matter with whom we cast our lot because we are plagued with a universal ignorance:
You never ask questions
When God’s on your side.With God On Our Side
Bob Dylan
