Really quickly…

The Louisiana House of Reps has mandated that the Ten Commandments be posted in every classroom, yet they’ve cut funding for school lunches. A woman’s right to choose is imperiled. The notion of no-fault divorce is being actively targeted as a symptom of a society gone amuck, with all the womenfolk leaving these good mens!

And yet Jesus is parroted. They yell about the vengeance of God, and how He will cause ruination because this country has lost its way.

But what happened to a loving God? What happened to a God you’re eager to serve, who gives you all these great things? What is a God you fear, lest He get angry and turn Boston into a pillar of salt? Where are examples of God’s love, besides His grudging acceptance of our existence which, if you MUST know, he can wipe out at any time?

I’m a lapsed Southern Baptist, and it’s not lost on me that the convention is now voting and will most likely approve the disassociation of churches with women in positions of power. I reconcile that with my upbringing, where the verse “on this rock I will build my church” was largely taken to mean on the backs and through the wallets of the women. This same conservative bloc is behind a lot of this fiction that things were better when women shut up and had babies, the Negroes just sang memorable songs, and we were at war with everyone else.

But, as we’ve learned, telling people to hate and fear others has a lot of legs. Lot of energy and results can come out of it a lot more than love. “Hate thy neighbor” gets asses moving faster than “love thy neighbor.” Collective action derided, because “real men do things themselves; real adults don’t ask for help!” All the while mental health declines because people are trying to work out the contradictions. “How can I feel lonely when everyone tells me to do things by myself? Why do I call these people friends when I don’t really know them?”

A lot is wrong in this country, but a lot of it is not from external forces. Maybe, when it comes down to it, the country founded on these lofty ideals can’t live up to them. Is it better to just stop pretending, or continue the charade?