The opiate of the masses

World Net Daily ^ | 5/9/09 | Patrice Lewis

[ReformationFan]

Confession time. It always bugs me when I see a politician darken the doorway of a church.

This is counterintuitive, of course. I mean, here's the one door politicians should darken more frequently, in my opinion. Most politicians need a whole lotta churchin'.

But the reason it bugs me is I always wonder if they're darkening that door for sincere spiritual reasons, or for photo ops. Too often it's proven to be the latter, not the former. The distinction can generally be made by how many news cameras are on hand and how much the politician smiles and waves.

I can understand how one's faith would be difficult to practice if you're a prominent elected public figure. You're constantly buffeted by factions from all sides, left and right, demanding that you comply with their particular worldview. Every time you set foot in a house of worship, people swoop down upon you like buzzards, making every church service a de facto photo op. It's almost impossible to avoid. I understand that many politicians opt for private religious services with their spiritual advisers. More power to them.

But for too many of our leaders, religion is a mere tool, an opiate to placate the masses, a means of showing the great unwashed what a terrific connection they have with the Almighty. Right.

[ReformationFan]

I like this paragraph:

"Specifically, it bugs me when politicians claim to adhere to the tenets of a particular denomination – for example, Catholicism – and then flagrantly and blatantly pass laws or partake in behavior that directly violates the tenets of that denomination. I mean, c'mon – why pretend you're Catholic if you don't believe in a thing the Catholic Church stands for? Why claim to be Baptist or Lutheran or Jewish or anything at all if you're going to go out of your way to flout the very values you say you profess?"

This is good too-

"When Nancy Pelosi claims to be an "ardent, practicing Catholic" and yet supports abortion on demand for any woman having a bad hair day … well, sorry, but her actions speak WAY louder than her supposed religious suasion."

[Dajjal]

bumpus ad summum