Lafindboy's Rambles: Politics: And Religion Mixed

How many times have we heard the expression "Religion and politics don't mix"? Unfortunately, over the centuries, they seem to have done little else.

From the ancient Hebrews, who saw no end to divine assistance in smiting their enemies, to the Roman gods of war who aided and abetted the formation of a world empire, from The Battle Hymn of the Republic to Onward Christian Soldiers, religion has often led the way into battle for us mere mortals.

The Iranians are also among those who would follow their religious leaders into war. Indeed, their religious leaders are also their political leaders, so they would have very little choice in the matter. Iran, during its' long war of attrition with Iraq, led the league in religious martyrs. Families proudly displayed the photos of their sons who had found their way into paradise at the behest of their mullahs. Instant paradise to martyrs is at the root of Islamic belief.

Like the Japanese during WWII, the Iranians are capable of, and quite willing to, ordering up large numbers of suicide bombers to inflict casualties upon their enemies. The mind boggles, and the knees tremble, at the insane and unthinkable possibilities that a war with Iran might bring. The threats that Al Qaeda pose to the west would amount to a hill of beans compared to the threats that Iran could bring to bear. Toppling a theocracy is not the same as toppling a despotic lout like Saddam. There is no real comparison between the two seemingly similar events.

George Bush (Dubya) also has a firm belief that God is amongst his most ardent supporters. He had been heard to admit, just prior to his first campaign, that he believed that God wanted him to be president. This should be taken in context though. America is a country where high-school basketball players pray before each game for God's help, and are quite convinced the God wanted them to win whenever they do. Born again Christians are ever ready to admit that God guides them in every aspect of their daily lives. This is also a very disturbing phenomena. People who believe that God is guiding their lives have a hard time believing that they can do any wrong. They are quite willing to say, in the face of any disaster, that any outcome is simply God's will. They are merely the tools of God.

There has to be a better way to live our lives and express our spirituality than allowing these nutters power and following them to our ultimate and inevitible doom.

Perhaps if we pray hard enough God will listen and lift from us this unacceptable and dangerous burden of religion. If we could only free ourselves of our obsession with the Afterlife, and concentrate on making our paradise here amongst the living.