This morning I was bored and had a few spare moments to do some channel surfing. Normally I watch some justice porn (a.k.a. small claims court with Judge Mathis) or some random game show while I have breakfast. This time, I happened upon TBN with Pat Robertson. I am not a big fan of the guy. I was raised going Southern Baptist churches and I've seen all to often the duplicity of organized religion, and tend to just let them stay on their side of cafeteria. This time, for some unknown reason, I decided to listen to the man for a bit. He of course went straight into politics, giving coverage on the meeting of the American Taliban, a.k.a. the Republican candidates showing off their social conservative bona fides. I found it fitting Bachmann served everyone water, while we had heartfelt testimonials about Herman Cain's fight with Stage 4 cancer (he left out the part about getting favors from rich friends to get to the top of the list of exclusive cancer treatment centers, but it was a moving story nonetheless). We were treated to anti-abortion, anti-welfare, anti-sex rhetoric that is usual at these red meat buffets. Social conservatives make me cringe, but I've been around them so long I know how to keep the reflex at bay. Then, to my surprise, Robertson went head long into more politics by talking about how congress is corrupt, but then only giving examples alleged insider trading of Democrats. "Suspicious," I thought to myself.
See, I know Pat Robertson is going to cheerlead for the Republicans. And it doesn't surprise me that he might use TBN to get in a few jabs at Obama, but to do it on this scale is a little disturbing. It's become a circular, insular machine. You read magazines that say Obama is trying to kill off children. Then you go to TBN where they insinuate abortion is the reason for all of societies ills. I find it so difficult to talk to people when they feel that humans are inherently sinful creatures that require painful abuse to become whole. They tend to see negative aspects of society through an amplified lens. Abortion isn't a social issue, it's a genocide akin to the Holocaust. Wow. Yes, I don't like the idea that there are tons of abortions every year; I would prefer that people use contraception to avoid the practice as much as possible. In this area, I'm one of those Democrats that say "While I myself have reservations, I don't want the government to ban someone else doing it because of the negative ramifications and the fact it isn't my business." If I knocked a girl up and she could healthily deliver the baby, I'd just put on my big boy pants and deal. After all, I had fun with them off.
The entire show was a mix of coded messages and outright attacks on Democrats. It was disgusting how flagrant it was. All of the guests could not get through their points without losing emotional control, one notch down from Dylan Ratigan's now famous rant. All of the leftist boogeymen came out of the work in one speech: Planned Parenthood, Pelosi, Kerry, and Solyndra. I don't even know how the heck they got Solyndra in there, but they seem intent to make it seem like some big scandal it really isn't. TBN is integrated into people's daily lives. I could picture someone else watching it over breakfast or some housewife sitting at home with her kid while her husband was warming up his car. To get this steady drone of propaganda, without ever addressing the issues in an honest way, has me scared for the future. How many people who watch TBN have had abortions to save their lives, or use contraception on a regular basis because, surprise, sex is fun. God has made it pretty clear he wants you to do it. How many of them get the coded messages in the testimonials? They had people on who had "Let the Lord work in their life" which is code word for "I prayed and I magically had a check in the mail" or "I prayed and then I did what I was doing already and was successful and bought a brand new car." It's not just TBN, it's CTN as well. Many of these "rely on God" testimonials involve the person saying how they needed to rely on God and no one else. The underlying message is "See? All those welfare people are godless atheists under their elitist leftist overlords who want to fill their heads with secularism!"
I say all this in light of the fact that "The Call" has slithered its way to Detroit. It irks me that they're not located hundreds of miles away, but right in my backyard no less. Their political gamesmanship knows no bounds of course. They're trying to split the evangelical Black vote, and let me tell you, Black folks can be quite religious. I remember going to church on the Sunday after New York declared gay marriage to be legal, which sent the congregation into an uproar fueled by the pastor. To be honest, their gambit will fail. Blacks agree with conservatives about gay marriage for the most part, then forget all that and vote Democratic every time. No amount of apologizing for slavery in the midst of euphoric reverie will make up for the fact that your image with Blacks is mostly in the gutter. Michigan is a political enigma. We seem like a conservative state and probably should be solidly red for all intents and purposes. Places like Rochester Hills and Livonia certainly are. But in fact, we're the definition of purple. It's the folks up north near Muskegon and the UP with their tin foil hats and their conspiracies that the SMART grid is going to steal their soul. Near hear, Detroit and the surrounding areas are either deep blue or comfortably purple as I like to call it. There are so many independents it'd make your head spin.
Really, it's the machine of the evangelical right I fear. Lots on the Christian Right hate being called the "American Taliban" and deride their new term of "Christophobes" for people who think that they're trying to install a fascist Christian state based on the old testament law where medieval themed role playing games will be punished by being burned at the stake. I don't think things would ever get that far without people noticing. All of the rapture that one experiences during religious services disappears once the context changes. Exhibit A: Abstinence pledges. But, their ability to seamlessly integrate into people's lives and to sugar coat complex, deep problems with more of Jesus-Aid seems morally bankrupt at best. It does a disservice to pastors and clergy who run the soup kitchens and give out food to the needy, and do it constantly and unerringly. Instead, we have this political machine to consolidate power. Many of them probably think they're doing the lord's work, but I don't think that extreme teen pregnancy, prevalence of STDs, and many of the other ills they don't directly address were ever part of God's plan.
I may not sound Christian to many of you reading this, and for a long time, I was not. I know personally there is a God. I'm warming to the idea that some dude in Palestine pissed off the authorities and was strung up on a cross, although the idea of redemption through human sacrifice is something it will take some time to get used to. I don't submit my personal experience or handful of faith as evidence of anything supernatural, nor would I ever. I honestly am completely apathetic of your religious beliefs, or anyone else's for that matter. So for someone like me who is coming back to a world he once left, I have a special sense of foreboding, and see things I hadn't before. The future, then, leaves me only to wait with baited breath.