Satan
Is Resting Easy: The Power Of Christ "Propels" Them
By Jason Miller
09 March, 2006
Countercurrents.org
Remember, Big Brother is watching,
listening and reading. In light of the illegal surveillance they are
conducting at the behest of their incompetent, rogue, and murderous
Commander-in-Chief, I am dedicating this essay to the NSA.
To George Bush, Dick Cheney,
Daniel Pipes, and their soulless war-mongering compadres, I proudly
admit that I support the Palestinians (and their democratically elected
Hamas leaders) in their struggle against their brutal Israeli oppressors.
In fact, consider me a member of the so-called Fifth Column identified
by Pipes. I abhor virtually all of the foreign and domestic policies
the Machiavellian disciples of Strauss have implemented through wielding
their ill-gotten power and influence. However, the United States is
as much my country as it is theirs. I fully intend to remain here and
work persistently against them by continuing to tenaciously pursue human
rights and social justice for humanity, not simply for a select few
in the United States and Israel.
Quoting the eloquent and
infamous words of the incredibly articulate Mr. Cheney, I say, "Fuck
you!" to their malignant cabal. While this nefarious faction and
its loyalists may consider me a traitor, I refuse to pledge allegiance
to a pack of criminals who have hijacked the government of the people
of the United States. If it is treason to dissent against corrupt thieves
and murderers who have shredded our sacred Constitution, I stand guilty
as charged.
There are lies and
there are damned lies…
One of the boldest and most
insidious lies propagated by the leadership of the Zionists, the Dominionists,
the Religious Right, and by their whores in Washington is that the Middle
East is populated primarily by Islamic extremists with an insatiable
thirst for the blood of "innocent American Christians" and
who are hell bent on eliminating "those poor chronic victims"
illegally occupying the land of the Palestinians and committing genocide
against them.
Somehow, in a twist of logic
only Lewis Carroll could fully comprehend, many people in the United
States have been indoctrinated to believe that our nation, which possesses
the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction in the history
of mankind, is the only nation to have used those weapons on a massive
scale (just ask the Japanese), and bears direct and indirect responsibility
for the murder of tens of millions of innocent civilians over the last
century, is a benevolent super-power illuminating a beacon of hope for
humanity. I readily recognize that other nations and governments have
committed their share of atrocities, but I do not see them waving the
Red, White and Blue, piously trumpeting platitudes about spreading freedom
and democracy, and simultaneously waging pre-emptive strikes against
nations which they merely “perceive to be a potential threat”.
Holier than thou, dost thou think? The golden chalice of the United
States runneth over with putrid sanctimony.
The terror of gazing
at one’s own reflection…
For over a year now, I have
written numerous essays which have been widely published on the Internet.
My primary goal has been to inspire Americans to apply the same humanitarian
standards to our nation that we use to stringently and hypocritically
measure other nations. I have also attempted to convince more Americans
to engage in introspection and self-examination. When I began plumbing
those depths about 13 years ago, I did not like what I saw. I have steadily
acted to reshape my values, outlook, and decisions to align with ideals
such as human rights, social justice, peace, equality, thrift, dignity,
honesty, respect, and responsibility. While I have not achieved the
high moral plain of a Gandhi by any means, I have become more a part
of the solution than the problem.
Based on the hateful, denigrating,
and sometimes threatening emails I receive from about a third of the
readers responding to my essays, I conclude that my message threatens
the sense of security many Americans derive from supporting the status
quo. I have also determined that I am swimming upstream against an addictive
torrent of vitriolic propaganda spewed by Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Michael
Savage, Jonah Goldberg, and a host of others. Sorry to disappoint those
of you who have told me to leave the country, kill myself, or renounce
being a “traitor and a "self-hating American" (yes,
they often parrot the rhetoric of the likes of Daniel Pipes), but I
have no intention of moving, killing myself, or abandoning my deeply
rooted antipathy for the enemies of humanity (and the Earth) who have
stolen the United States from We the People.
Jesus as a commodity…
and a weapon
One of the American elite’s
(amongst whom I include their complicit disseminators of propaganda
in the mainstream media) most repulsive means of grabbing and maintaining
power has been its shameless use of spiritual manipulation, a heinous
form of psychological abuse. Preying on fear, insecurity, and ignorance,
they have perverted true Christianity to the extent that a third of
those voting for George Bush, a man as morally repugnant as Dorian Gray,
were a part of the radical Religious Right.
With the help of mendacious,
avaricious, and highly sophisticated hucksters like James Dobson, Jerry
Falwell, and Ted Haggard, the American plutocracy has packaged and commercialized
spirituality like an Extra Value Meal at McDonald’s. You want
fast food salvation done the American way? Look for the Golden Crosses,
zip into the drive-through, drop some donation money, and accept Christ
as your savior! Forget spiritual pain or sacrifice. Jesus died to grant
you a path to easy street. So be on your merry way with your Big Mac
of two all beef patties and guaranteed eternity in heaven. Chase it
down with an enchanting Golgotha collector’s cup filled with smug
certainty that you are now morally superior to the rest of humanity.
Savor a side of Schadenfreude fries delightfully spiced with visions
of the abject torment the “heathens” will face when Jesus
the Avenger returns to Earth to smite the sinners.
Acknowledging that not all
those comprising the Religious Right are created equal, and that there
is a great deal of diversity amongst their beliefs and practices, there
is enough commonality to conclude that the malefactors at the helm of
the US have leveraged the hateful, narrow-minded beliefs of enough of
these fanatics to garner sufficient support to commit egregious acts
of torture, passive mass murder (New Orleans ring a bell?), massive
slaughter under the guise of military intervention, and theft of public
funds.
Men like Dobson shepherd
their flocks to vote for bellicose champions of the wealthy because
these “moral stalwarts” have pledged their undying support
to a "culture of life". Despite their "devotion"
to making abortion illegal, ending the use of human embryos (even those
which would otherwise be discarded) for stem cell research, and denying
equal rights to 5-10% of our population (gays and lesbians), the power
brokers have perpetually been incapable of making good on their promises.
While championing these “family values”, they have mesmerized
their Religious Right followers into supporting the false dichotomy
of Christianity vs. Islam, an imperialistic and murderous agenda in
Iraq and throughout the Middle East, and domestic policies which significantly
erode the economic well-being of their radical Christian base (and the
rest of us amongst the working class). Thomas Frank explored this mind-blowing
phenomenon in great detail in his book, What's
the Matter with Kansas.
Realize that I am not disparaging
the Christian religion in general. Personally, I am a spiritual person
with a belief in a Higher Power, but I am not Christian. However, I
recognize that there are many rational, compassionate, and decent
human beings who practice Christianity. If one reads many
of my essays, one will discover that I often find myself defending Islam
and its followers in my writing. I do this because they have been the
victims of Western imperialism for years. I make no claim that either
the Muslims or Christians are better. I am simply deeply concerned about
the Western genocide and acts of imperialism committed against Islamic
peoples since oil became a valued commodity. In spite of the despicable
misdeeds committed in our names, we wonder why so many in the Middle
East harbor such hostility against the United States and its residents.
We act befuddled, violated, and validated in our belief that we are
morally superior when obscenely oppressed and exploited people resort
to “terrorism” in a desperate attempt to defend themselves
from the mightiest military and economy in the history of the world.
I abhor the violence committed
by both sides, but we are not the “good guys”. The prevaricators
leading our nation and writing our history have portrayed Americans
as wearing the white hats for far too long. Transgressions and atrocities
have been committed by many nations and people throughout history, including
the United States and its leaders. Consider the most recent example
in Iraq. Our occupying force has killed over 100,000 innocent Iraqi
civilians. This is state terrorism at its worst and it needs to end.
With our resources, the United States could become a humanitarian force.
Sadly, the Neocons have chosen guns over butter (using our tax dollars
and a mountain of borrowed money) to a shameless degree, enraging many
of us who still have a social conscience.
Do as we say, not
as we do….
Just as some Islamic fundamentalists
wield religion as a weapon, the morally bankrupt aristocracy of the
United States utilizes religion as a tool of war. Employing the power
of spiritual manipulation to muster the support of their minions of
extremist Christians, the authors of the Project
for the New American Century mobilized enough popular support
to invade a nation which had not harmed the United States, to eradicate
the poor in New Orleans through passive mass murder and a Diaspora,
to sell our children's future by committing to $8 trillion worth of
debt to power their war machine, to cut taxes on the rich, and to increase
war spending while cutting spending on programs which benefit humanity.
I hate to burst the bubble
of those still deluded enough to accept the false premise (advanced
by the Bush Regime) that we are a Christian nation embroiled in a modern
day crusade against the followers of an Islamic religion which teaches
them to hate democracy and brutally violate human rights. Here is a
dose of reality. Over the last century, this "good Christian nation"
and our friends in Israel have slaughtered, murdered, and tortured millions
of Islamic people, both directly and indirectly (through proxy dictators).
In contrast, Islamic murders of Americans, Christians and Jews are a
relative drop in the bucket. Rather than "spreading freedom and
democracy", Bush has the United States spreading imperialism, torture,
and murder of innocent civilians. Saddam Hussein’s removal from
power was a mere sideshow. If the United States was so concerned with
its moral obligation to remove a ruthless dictator from power, there
were many others they could have targeted. It was oil, power, and increased
security for our terrorist proxy occupying Palestine that motivated
the United States to invade Iraq.
Speaking of concern for human
rights and humanitarian intervention, when is the United States going
to stop funding Israel and launch an invasion against them to stop the
Palestinian genocide? When groups like Hamas have the audacity to resist
oppression and murder, Americans and Israelis label them as "terrorists".
Now that Hamas is the democratically elected ruling party of the PA,
the United States has elected to cut its aid to the Palestinians, a
people who are already wallowing in the misery of Israeli-inflicted
poverty and racial extermination. (As a side note, the Israelis are
able to inflict genocide on the Palestinians because of the obscene
amounts of financial and military aid they receive from the United States).
To add insult to injury, Israel has determined that they can once again
disregard international law by withholding the Palestinian tax revenues
they collect (the Palestinians’ chief source of income). As is
typical, the United States and its proxy are free to violate treaties,
international laws, UN mandates, and humanitarian standards with impunity
while applying the same laws to the rest of the world to the nth degree.
How about calling
us a pluralistic nation with freedom of religion?
The notion that the United
States is a Christian nation is false on numerous levels. Certainly
we are heavily influenced Christianity, but to say we are a Christian
nation flies in the face of the raison de’ etre of America.
Consider the following:
1. According to the 1990
US Census, 91.6% of Americans were Christians. By 2000, the percentage
had decreased to 85%. We 42 million “heathens” represent
a pretty significant portion of the population.
2. Many of the Western Europeans
who settled the original thirteen colonies fled their nations of origin
to evade religious persecution and state-imposed religions.
3. Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin
Franklin, two of our most prominent Founding Fathers, were Deists. Washington
and Jefferson were not particularly religious but tended more toward
Deism than Christianity.
4. Thomas Paine, whose writings
were a powerful catalyst for the American Revolution, vehemently attacked
Christianity in one of his polemical works and refused to embrace Christianity,
even on his death-bed.
5. God is not mentioned in
our Constitution. The Declaration of Independence simply mentions "Nature's
God" and a "Creator", neither of which specifically imply
a Christian god.
6. Per the Treaty of Tripoli,
endorsed by President John Adams and ratified unanimously by the US
Senate in 1797: "As the Government of the United States is not
in any sense founded on the Christian religion..."
7. If Christians lay claim
to the United States as their nation, that means they bear the sole
responsibility for the evils of slavery, the virtual annihilation of
the Native Americans, and the many acts of state terror perpetrated
by the US military and CIA over the years.
8. In 1864, the equivalent
of today's Religious Right cowed Congress into passing legislation mandating
that the US begin stamping "In God We Trust" on several of
our coins. Besides caving to the powerful influence of Christian fundamentalists,
our federal government also recognized the psychological boost the power
of Christian symbolism would give them after the blow to their authority
rendered by the Civil War.
9. McCarthy-inspired anti-Communist
hysteria motivated Eisenhower to sign Public Law 140 in 1956. Going
forward, all US coins and paper money bore the propagandistic slogan
"In God We Trust" to reassure Americans that we were better
than the godless Communists. The same year, the words "under God"
were added to the Pledge of Allegiance. It took 180 years for this Christian
nation to fully embrace its identity. Or perhaps it simply took our
plutocratic rulers that long to recognize the power of spiritual coercion….
As an aside, the original
motto on the United States was E Pluribus Unum (Latin for “Out
of many, one”), which obviously encourages more unity and cohesion
than an exclusionary national motto dedicated to a god worshipped by
one segment of the population.
Sleeping like babies….
Aside from the power of radical
Christianity to subjugate the masses, this disturbing perversion of
healthy spirituality does come with an added “benefit”.
It enables its devotees to support politicians who rob from the poor
to give to the rich, who wage murderous and imperialist wars to enrich
the military industrial complex, and who allow their corporate collaborators
to blatantly abuse employees, consumers, and the environment. Thanks
to the salve provided to their consciences by "knowing" they
live in a Christian, morally superior nation (not to mention the security
provided by their "guaranteed blissful after-life"), the mélange
of groups and people comprising the extreme Religious Right can swear
their allegiance to a group of monstrous human beings without feeling
a twinge of guilt.
As many of my antagonists
have pointed out, I am not without limitations (and I do not claim to
be). Remaining in the United States to wage a non-violent struggle for
human rights and social justice virtually assures that I will be a party
to enabling the US war machine and corporatocracy in some way. Besides
the fact that I pay federal taxes (fairly unavoidable for a working
class family person), buy some products from grossly corrupt corporations
(albeit as few as possible), and have my share of personal spiritual
struggles, my other glaring sin is the hostility I harbor toward the
enemies of humanity sitting atop the throne of power in our nation.
However, even Jesus himself directed outrage at the money-changers and
legalistic religious leaders of his day. If someone of his moral capacity
directed anger at the corrupt establishment, who am I to presume I could
overcome my rancor against the malevolent forces comprising the United
States ruling elite? If their numerous crimes against humanity were
not fanning the flames of my anger, I would no longer be breathing.
My challenges are to prevent my ire from evolving into festering hatred
or desire for revenge and to strive to maintain constructive anger (which
motivates me to seek justice and positive change). That is a challenge
to which I can rise, despite my human short-comings.
Please excuse my use of profanity
above, but it felt so good to echo Cheney's choice sentiments back to
him and his unwholesome cohorts. Meanwhile, send Satan a postcard on
his vacation. Our imperialistic rulers do not need him to perpetrate
their acts of profound moral depravity. They glide on the momentum generated
by fanatical followers who believe they have the market cornered on
morality and that Jesus will soon return to Earth as the ultimate WMD.
Jason Miller is
a 39 year old sociopolitical essayist with a degree in liberal arts
and an extensive self-education. When he is not spending time with his
wife and three sons, doing research, or writing, he works as a loan
counselor. He is a member of Amnesty International and an avid supporter
of Oxfam International and Human Rights Watch. He welcomes responses
at [email protected]
or comments on his blog, Thomas Paine’s Corner, at http://civillibertarian.blogspot.com/
.