I am ignostic. I believe that a person's belief in a deity and afterlife are irrelevant to whether he or she is a good or bad person. In religious debates I tend to keep my head down except in the case where a deity is claimed to have a measurable effect on the secular world, I will ask for independent documentation of those effects, preferably in a double blind study. So I have no call to inquire into the beliefs of others or the desire to change those beliefs. Behaviors and politics, being in my view independent of the views of a deity or afterlife, are a different matter.
I am in a way going against my own beliefs because I want to speak to what has been called around here in DKos the Religious Left, and more specifically to the Christian Left. I want to speak to you with respect as brothers and sisters in a cause that is greater than we are, to create a country worthy of the ideals upon which it was founded. I have a request of you.
I ask this because you can carry a message I, in good conscience, cannot. The recent contretemps over Amanda and Melissa and the Edwards campaign have again revealed some splits between us that lead to infighting among ourselves and make us take our eyes off the prize. Donohue may not have gotten a couple of bloggers but he did manage to knock us off message for a couple of days and get some of us snapping at each other again.
Part of the problem is that we want our most cherished beliefs to be respected. When someone goes off against our group, tribe or church on the basis of the actions of one of its members that we ourselves don't respect, we all get defensive. So Donohue or Falwell or Dobson becomes for many the face of Christianity. For the Kossacks who love their church and cherish their faith, that must hurt like hell, if you will pardon the wisecrack.
So we have a conundrum. How do address those who abuse the church to bludgeon progressives and liberals and feminists and environmentalists and unions and minorities and anyone who disagrees with them without wounding the brothers and sisters who are at our side in this fight?
I think I have an answer. Unfortunately, it is a solution I, as a nonbeliever, cannot implement myself. All I can do is give it to you, my brothers and sisters in the struggle, and hope it takes root and grows. I ask this of my brothers and sisters of faith with respect. I took inspiration from the upcoming Evolution Sunday.
When we, and I mean we in broadest sense possible, are attacked by Religious Right, our brothers and sisters of faith must minister and witness to our attackers. Tell them, as Jesus told the woman at the well, that they know not what they worship. Imagine tens, hundreds, thousands praying loudly, publicly for Falwell or Robertson to abandon their sinful ways and return to Jesus. And I don't mean just doing it for the TV bigwigs but in our own towns and communities where ever there are churches where the gospel is one of hate and hymns of intolerance are sung. I'd love to see a pastordan interviewed on every church page in every newspaper in America.
I am sure with the creativity of the Kos community there will be many suggestions how this can be carried out. I would ask other nonbelievers like myself not to kibitz or criticize here, as this is a mission (and I mean this in the religious sense) for our brothers and sisters of faith. I hope that people can have fun with this. Jesus himself showed how much he loved a good party when he changed the water into wine.
Peace be with you.