Christian Jihad

The Sassistas!^TM would like to acknowledge and thank half-a-sista who dished today's sass.

Last week, GQ magazine published an article entitled, "And He Shall Be Judged," and placed online a slideshow of covers for intelligence briefings sent from the Pentagon under Donald Rumsfeld to the former president.  On September 16, 2001, that same president referred to the “war on terrorism” as a crusade. 

These images taken during the glory days of the initial invasion carry quotes from  the Christian Bible (mostly the Old Testament). No quotes from other religious scriptures are present, but then, why would Americans quote any other scripture? Aren’t we all, or shouldn’t we all be, Christian?  But which kind of Christian out of the thousand varieties or so that exist in this country alone?

Our forefathers (sorry, no women were allowed) wanted the separation of Church and State because of what had happened in Europe where state religions were en vogue for centuries and led to widespread slaughter of people and costly wars that lasted centuries. In the new country of the United States of America, everyone could worship in whatever way they wanted. The State would not impose a religion on anyone. We veered off that path when fundamentalist/evangelical Christians decided to make their beliefs the underlying law of the land to counter the evil of the godless humanists. These believers started their own crusade against anyone who did not believe in the same way they did. It worked . . . for awhile.

“Pride goeth afore a fall, and a haughty spirit afore destruction.”  This is a common saying in the Midwest that's a misquote of what Proverbs 16:18 actually says, which is: “Pride goeth before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Seems to me that we are in trouble as a nation because of our haughty spirit and our pride mixed with our own brand of religious fundamentalism.

Jihad anyone?

Comments

[Flannista]

When half-a-sista emailed me last week about this, I didn't quite believe it. Then he sent this piece, and I looked at every intelligence briefing cover featured in the GQ hyperlink. There was something vaguely familiar about the covers that I couldn't quite pinpoint . . . until about a half hour ago when I looked at them again.

When I worked in the FBI Laboratory decades ago, I recall the Documents Section receiving the papers, brochures and mailings of a militant Aryan group that had threatened to blow up synagogues. Featured on the covers of many of these publications were photographs of members proudly holding their weapons and Bibles. Also predominately featured on the covers: a Bible verse or two.

I was a young Christian at the time and had begun to memorize verses from the Bible that gave me comfort and solace. Seeing the verses on that Aryan garbage made me sick to my stomach.

Seeing Rumsfeld's intelligence briefing covers made me sick to my stomach.

I don't know what sickens me more -- Rumsfeld, who does not regularly attend church, choosing to placate or cater to or manipulate his President by abusing scripture this way, or that his President had actually sent out the message to his administration that we were indeed fighting a Holy War in Iraq.

The verses on the intelligence briefing covers lasted only about a month . . . someone in the administration must have checked out that pesky document called the Constitution. That more than one ever got out is truly frightening to me.

I don't know how to fuel the sass feed today, half-a. Maybe you can help. All I know is that I completely disgusted.

[Flannista]

One more thing fills me with righteous indignation at this moment:

The mother of one of my godsons is undergoing a mastectomy at 10 a.m. today for breast cancer, and when she shared the news with me last week I sent her verses from Psalm 139, including verses 9-10 -- the very verses featured on the March 19, 2003 Pentagon intelligence briefing to Bush. How dare they.

FUCK CANCER

FUCK BUSH

[dcsistah]

No wonder atheists and agnostics despise the "church" so much, and its writings, the whole Judeo-Christian canon. It's used, then (to invade conquer colonize and 'own' Canaan) and now to justify atrocity.

Sigh.

I agree: Fuck Cancer, Fuck Bush. If you really want to get into the F word today, check out this funny yet vaguely disturbing video that says Fuck You to the people who oppose gay marriage:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV26OMSb_VQ I love the chorus: Fuck You Very very very much....

That video was created in response to this one, which is much more uplifting and hopeful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2Rp8ep_ezE

I've been thinking about this Obama guy, looking for some "middle way", which isn't nearly so progressive as i would like it to be. Will he indeed be any better than Bush or Rumsfeld in the wars we are fighting? I'm waiting on him. We'll see. Jury is out.

And meanwhile, i'm quite swept up in all the Marriage Equality stuff going on, from California, to my little Ward 5 here in the District of Columbia. I sat in a church basement 10 days ago and listened to hateful bullshit. Here's the 20 minute video from that night:http://www.dcdsc.org/videos/w5/w5demsmequality.wmv I take things personally: its a burden and a blessing. Forgive me if i've posted this before. I'm obsessed.

Today, i read this: http://sfgate.twi.bz/c, called The big gay shrug: Sorry, enemies of gay marriage. Prop 8 or no, you've already lost. The writer doesn't have much positive to say about the Bible: and i quote, "Don't they know the musty ol' Bible mutters some barely coherent, mistranslated silliness about it in a single word or two written 1,500 years ago in a long dead language by acidic church elders with powermad political agendas and violently repressed libidos who nevertheless wish to instruct us all how to live and love and screw?"

I'm half way through a 4 year lay bible study class, and i have to say, i'm challenged in each class to find the relevance for what i'm reading to my life today or our collective lives today. I DO find it. It's a challenge. Just sayin'.

I hope the mother of your godson does just fine. She'll have a drain put in and be challenged to restore full range of motion to that arm, and if her lymph nodes are removed, she'll be challenged to avoid lymphedema for the rest of her life. Hopefully, she'll be cancer free. Yes, Cancer Sucks. Hatred Sucks. War and Warmongers suck.

And Sassistas keeps me sane.

love to all,
dc

[nowayasista]

Hardly the first time warriors were sent off with the backing of the Lord. It might surprise you that soldiers and Marines themselves pray before going into battle. You may want to stop making this a political issue. It is not.

A better word for today may be hope. It is not as dramatic as the F word. It is far more constructive.

[half-a-sista]

True, this is hardly the first time warriors were sent off with the lie that the Lord backed them in their endeavor. Do we honestly think that when christians fought each other both sides didn't claim the support of their God and their Lord? No, both sides said prayers and claimed the rightness of their cause before they slaughtered each other.

It does not surprise me that anyone prays to their god before going into battle if they believe in a higher power. I would want someone else on my side in battle.

Not a political issue? It became a political issue when the fundamentalists and evangelicals decided to "reclaim America" and took over the Republican party. It became a political issue when the religious right started the implementation of laws that reflected their religious views. It started when they launched campaigns against everything they don't believe in and used their churches to provide the human power to do it. They wanted to win back America for their god and savior. We need only look at what has happened in the last 20 years to see the damage that this "christianizing of America" has done.

It became political when the the previous administration declared the invasion of Iraq a "crusade" against the terrorists to justify the actions of an administration that wanted a war. It became political when a not-so-religious Rumsfeld used Christian scripture to adorn the pages of intelligence briefings. It became political when a Muslim employee complained about the use of Christian scripture on a government report. Not political? I disagree.

[Chrysosistah]

Rummy was definitely out of line to quote Christian scripture on his intelligence reports - just one example out of many of how that administration was not reflective of our nation. I'm glad they are out of office, and although it's not constructive, I'll admit to a desire for retribution - I'd love to see these guys hauled up before some righteous panel and made to stand for their misdeeds. Not the least of which are the deaths of thousands of soldiers and citizens in Iraq. I remain convinced that Bush wanted that war with Iraq as "payback" for Saddam dissing his daddy. And, of course, here we are, nearly eight years since 9/11, and we still haven't caught Osama bin Ladin, Afghanistan and now Pakistan are reeling under the Taliban-Al Queda movement, Iraq's still dicey and Iran's still a bit wacko...feel any safer?

We are far enough removed from it to have forgotten the horrors, but we only have to look at our own history (thinking of the Civil War) to see how religion was used and abused in battle. Of course people pray before such events. We just shouldn't mix religion and politics, it can be such a deadly cocktail.

[Flannista]

nowayasista -- of course soldiers and Marines and their loved ones pray before going into battle. But can a soldier, a follower of Wicca, offer his or her prayers/chants in front of the troops? Probably not a problem as there's no way in hell a Wiccan would ever be appointed to command anything in the military.

Commanders must be devoted Christians. Here's a description of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson's faiths:

"Lee and Jackson were both professing Christians – most men of of their day were that – but on the premise that these men not only professed Christianity, but actually practiced it and endeavored in every way to lie according to its much neglected tenets. They were great readers of the Bible, and nearly every act of their lives was directed by their interpretation of its maxims. This was true of their actions not only at home toward their family and neighbors, but even in the camp and on the battlefield toward their enemies…Humility, purity, Peacemaking, Love of Righteousness – virtues neglected – if not a little despised today, seem to have exalted these men and lifted them from the depths of defeat to the pinnacle of fame . . . ."

Here is a description of the faith of General Meade, who fought against Lee at Gettysburg:

"Throughout his life General Meade was a man of deep religious
conviction. When he entered the service he said, 'I go into the
field . . . trusting to God to dispose of my life and actions in accordance
with my daily prayer that his will, not mine, shall be done.' Throughout
his entire military career he constantly acted in harmony with that
sentiment. Time and again, in his letters and statements, he acknowledged his dependence upon Divine Providence."

July 1-3, 1863 -- Whose prayers were answered during those days at the sleepy town of Gettysburg, PA? What side had the backing of the Lord?

[half-a-sista]

Chryso, the "deadly cocktail" has been served for a long time. Maybe we need a new advertising campaign: Don't drink and fight.

[Flannista]

Chryso -- our comments passed in the 'sphere. Interesting that you bring up the Civil War, and I referenced it in my comment.

This is indeed a political issue. I could not agree more with half-a-sista's response to noway and also Chryso's perspective.

The Rich Man -- my client and evangelical Christian -- had direct ties to the Bush White House. I've seen some of the "prayer requests" about the "evil-doers" in Iraq -- on official White House stationery. IN PRINT, like those intelligence briefing covers.

noway, what do you think of those intelligence briefing covers? Seriously, what do you think?

[PEACEsista]

I'm sorry that the people in command made this blunder. It's harmful. My soldier son was not fighting in Iraq for or against anyone's God or religion, though he did feel protected by the God he believes in. He did not pray with or in front of others. Before going out on patrol, he recited a Psalm he'd memorized in the latrine. It was a very private devotion and coming back alive each time helped to reinforce the practice. Those in command could learn a lot from the folks whose lives are on the line.

[PEACEsista]

dc: I copied the comment below from Facebook. I think Elizabeth is right, what do you think?

"Elizabeth Statmore: The Prop 8 people are exactly where Bull Connor was when Dr. King and the SCLC organized "Project C" in Birmingham.

He was still technically and even forcibly in charge.

But he was no longer in control.

Prop 8 and Rev. Rick Warren are in this same position right now in California with regard to equal rights for gay citizens to marry.

Keep your eyes on the prize, people."

[Chrysosistah]

PEACE, that is so true, and your son's exercise of faith is a testament to how well he was reared.

[Flannista]

PEACE -- I prayed for Pete every day he was serving in Iraq . . . and praying for him made me more mindful of everyone caught up in that ugly war. Eventually, all I could pray was: "Stop, stop, please stop!"

"Those in command could learn a lot from the folks whose lives are on the line."

Amen, PEACE.

What Rumsfeld and other members of the Bush administration did with these intelligence briefing covers was more than a blunder. It was a disgrace. It dishonored good soldiers like Pete. Man, the more I think about this, the more infuriated I become.

What the Bush administration did was contemptible. The F-word not constructive here? How ironic that while those in command in the Bush administration could never countenance taking the Lord's name in vain, they could find so many other ways to say, FUCK JESUS.

[Jerseysista]

I am writing this before I even finish reading half-a’s post. I got no further than reviewing the slide show. I am so outraged I had to stop and comment. This is what we get when we have a government that thinks it represents only its Christian constituents. It presumes its non-Christian and non-theist citizens don’t need to be considered. People like this in control of the government need only the right circumstances of threat or expediency to turn on its “second-class” citizens. As horrifying as it is that the previous administration marched off to war under the Christian banner in the name of us all, creating its own jihad, it is more terrifying that the right catastrophe and the right majority could translate into the methods of McCarthyism and past fascist regimes. Picture Buddhists, Muslims, atheists and others along with liberal Christians forced to choose between pledges to fundamentalist Christian litmus tests or being issued special ID cards of second-class citizens, patches sewn on their outer clothing, restrictions from participation in certain public life, quotas, internment camps. The scariest thing is that it is the Christian right that has formed all the militias. Maybe the left ought to be supporting the NRA!

Thanks, half-a, for this post. None to-date have riled me as much as this one. Now I will finish reading your thoughts and the comments of others. Undoubtedly I will have more to say.

[Jerseysista]

OK. I only got half way through the comments. Love DC’s insights, thoughts and links. Sorry about your friend’s cancer, Flann. I am “holding her in the light” as you say.

The thing that stopped me half way through my reading, was noway’s comment that “you” (whoever that is - - a bit personal and antagonistic in my view) is making this political. Is any one of us who is outraged at the Pentagon’s stance and stating an opinion about it “making this political”? It IS POLITICAL when my government has decided to ignore the Constitution and treat me like I am irrelevant! Commenting on it in a blog is PERSONAL. A soldier’s right to pray is PERSONAL. It is a POLITICAL CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT, though for a soldier to know that his government, who sends that soldier into harm’s way, is behind him or her one hundred percent even if she is an atheist or he is a Muslim. It is POLITICIZING to elevate within government a personal religious belief over all others.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming . . . .

[Flannista]

Preach it, Jersey -- I mean that with upmost respect.

In talking about this with a colleague moments ago, he said that Bush probably did not know what Rumsfeld and others were doing -- that he was innocent, etc. -- and others took terrible advantage of Bush's good will.

Bullshit.

It reminded me of a scene in the movie, "Conspiracy," based on the actual transcription of the Wannsee Conference where the Nazi Final Solution phase of the Holocaust was devised. Here is an exchange between SS General Reinhold Heydrich (ordered to get buy-in for the Final Solution from all those at the meeting) and Wilhelm Kritzinger -- one of Hitler's closest advisers when Heydrich pronounces death to all Jews. Again, this is from the word-for-word transcription of the meeting:

Kritzinger: No, that is not, that is contrary to what the Chancellory has been told! I have been told, I have . . . Purge the Jews, yes. But, to annihilate them . . . That we have undertaken to systematically annihilate all the Jews of Europe? No, that responsibility has personally been denied, to me, by the Fuhrer!

Heydrich: And it will continue to be.
******
Bush will continue to deny knowledge that his Administration abused the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. His manipulation of language -- and particularly scripture -- to rid world of "evil-doers" is terrifyingly similar to the language and scripture used in Nazi tracts against the Jews.

You're right, Jersey. We should be very afraid of "Christians" like Bush. Very afraid.

[half-a-sista]

PEACE, any war would be fought quite differently if the president (from whatever party) and his commanders lived in the field with the soldiers who fight a war. We might see peace come earlier in that case.

Mixing religion and war creates an even deadlier cocktail than mixing religion and politics. That cocktail will lead a nation to do some horrific things in the name of their god (whichever one that may be). Abu Ghraib happened when soldiers followed orders from their commanders. The prisoners became less than human, the other. We don't even know half of the abuses committed there as I am finding out from various pieces on the internet.

The recent California State Supreme Court decision, while a loss for supporters of same-sex marriage, does show that the other side has lost the battle. Same-sex marriage will become the law of the land in the next 10 years. The struggle may be long and difficult but same-sex marriage will win in the end.

I find it ironic that the Mormon Church with its past and current polygamy issues spent so much church money and the energy of its members (sending them by busloads to California to canvass door-to-door in support of the ban on same-sex marriage). Politics and religion certainly make for strange bedfellows. I believe in karma. It will all come back to them.

[Matissta]

I don't know, am I the only one who is not surprised that Rumsfield did this? He knew it would trigger Bush's religious beliefs. Bush's entire presidency and his decisions were entangled with his religious beliefs. And no, I don't think religion has a place in politics. Keep it separate.

And PEACE brings up an excellent point when citing her son's behavior. I personally don't know any soldier who joined the military to fight for or against a religion.

[Flannista]

Matiss -- as cynical as I have been about the Bush presidency and its profound failures -- I was shocked when I saw those covers. There was the proof -- IN PRINT. There it was. Cover after cover after cover.

Words on a page are very powerful. But these were not ordinary words. It was what is for me HOLY WRIT on those covers. THE WORD OF GOD.

SCRIPTURE: Abused.

SCRIPTURE: Spat upon.

SCRIPTURE: Fucked over.

Hell hath no fury like a Savior scorned.

[Flannista]

dc -- I just watched that entire 20-minute video of the Ward 5 meeting you attended. Sorry you had to hear that in person. But when the camera spanned the room, and I saw you quietly knitting off to the side -- I saw a little light of hope.

Thank you.

[half-a-sista]

dc, tried to watch the video but haven't figured out how on my iMac. Sounds like I may have heard similar stuff in some of the meeting I attended. But, we keep showing up.

Matiss, I don't know of any soldier who joined the military to fight for or against a religion. Sometimes I think the leaders of the country use religion as a way of inflaming the population.

The previous president called this war a "crusade" which are usually religiously-oriented military actions against an unbeliever. We need only look at the eleven crusades fought from 1059-1272 ACE (after the common era) to see what holy wars do to nations and people. Probably the saddest of all the crusades was the Children's Crusade where approximately 37,000 children marched off to the Holy Land. Those who didn't settle in towns along the way died of hunger or shipwreck. Many were sold into slavery in North Africa and the Middle East. Apparently none of them reached the Middle East.

[babysis]

All this passion reminds me of Westsista's recent post, Stand as a Lighthouse. Yes, humans will argue over anything, and always will. I'd love some civility in the meantime. While I am appalled at Rumsfeld's prideful presumption too, I'm not sure how to measure it against anyone else's. I get the sense from reading Sassisstas! each day, that most of us have decided who and what we believe, and enjoy trying to keep the universe lined up in the order we see fit. I can't help but think of Mrs. Turpin in Flannery O'Connor's story, "Revelation." If there is a God who cares, we are sometimes in need of being humbled because of our pride and hatred. I admire those who earnestly seek God's guidance and help, and leave the results to him/her. I think the Civil War leaders actually demonstrated something civil by their expressions of faith, even in the midst of war.

I don't get the animosity against noway for calling for a constructive word like hope. Seems like that word is only okay when a Democrat uses it. I'll assent that politics and religion are intertwined, but also happen to believe everyone has a "religion" that they are committed to.

[half-a-sista]

Matiss, do you really think that the former president was a religious man? I think he was an opportunist who used religion to justify a whole lot of crap that he did. Maybe I'm wrong. I would hate to think that he was as religious as he acted and that he spent 8 years in the White House with his finger just inches away from a button that could have started Armageddon, which seems quite popular among some of the faithful these days. After all, they would have us believe that we live in "The Latter Days."

Started watching a YouTube thing called, "The Ghosts of Abu Ghraib" which appeared on HBO. Didn't finish because I lost my connection. Very disturbing from the 15 minutes that I saw.

Sorry, the Crusades in the Holy Land covered 1095 through 1291 ACE.

[Chrysosistah]

Babysis, I agree with you and Noway that I would prefer civility and hope - and I think anyone can (and probably should) use Hope.

And mercy on us all, I think you are quite right on this point, that we all "enjoy trying to keep the universe lined up in the order we see fit."

I actually feel better when I see that Obama consistently calls for civility and seeking the common ground. That gives me hope, too.

[Flannista]

babysis -- I have no animosity against noway for calling for a constructive word like hope in his comment. None in the least. I heard him. In fact, when I prayed for my godson's mother, Beth, this morning, I asked specifically for hope and expressed gratitude that noway had convicted me of not naming it, of not actually saying the word, "hope." I said it.

And just now wrote it. I'll write it, again: HOPE.

My animosity is clearly directed elsewhere today, don't you think?

I have to admire the way you are using my matron saint, Flannery O'Connor and my favorite story of hers, "Revelation" to hurl humility at me in the waiting room of the sassosphere. Before I comment more on that specifically, I'd like to say that although O'Connor paid little attention to politics during her short life, she did express the hope that Kennedy would be elected President in 1960 because, "King Kong would be better than Nixon."

King Kong would have been better than Bush.

A chimpanzee would have been better than Bush.

Look at Flann -- stuck in the pigpen of her righteous indignation and judgement, hosing down all the pigs of the Bush administration. What's the matter with her? Can't she just shut up and be civil? Not make waves? Not name the truth when she sees it or look for and bring about what Joseph Conrad called "the highest possible justice to the visible universe"? O'Connor put that Conrad quote in an essay of hers called, "Novelist and Believer," by the way. Here's something else from that essay: "The artist penetrates the concrete world in order to find at its depths the image of its source, the image of ultimate reality. This in no way hinders his perception of evil but rather sharpens it, for only when the natural world is seen as good does evil become intelligible as a destructive force and a necessary result of our freedom."

Perhaps it is the artist in me, the lesbian Christian artist in me, babysis, that makes me unafraid of naming evil when I see it. The Bush administration's war policy (that allowed scripture references to be painted on the sides of bombs dropped onto Bagdad that killed innocent people) was a destructive force that dishonored not only civility, but human rights. Its leaders claimed, as you said in your comment, to earnestly seek God's guidance and help, but blatantly and cynically did NOT leave the results to him/her.

Enough is enough. Again to Bush I say -- this time quoting his own Vice President: Go fuck yourself, now that you're no longer fucking the United States of America -- the country I love and the country you saw as a pigpen.