Christians with no faith

It was hard to figure out why the far right mob was engorging themselves on the fiction of "death panels" dispensing medical care. It took a while, then there was the flash: Despite calling themselves Christian, they have no faith.

Well, not exactly right. They are actually "totemic" Christians. They have faith in their totems. "The Bible" is one of their totems. "Free markets" are another. "Family" is another.

When there needs to be a rational dialogue, they reach into their bag of superstitions and wave around a totem, as if to ward off the evil spirits of "socialism" or "homosexuality" or "lack of values."

Their shamans, Rush, Palin, O'Reilly, and the others, actually know this is a game. They just want to win, and capture the fame, power and money that comes from selling fear, like their forebears, Jimmy Swagggert, Jim Baker, and the others. These use the totems to communicate in code, to prod their flock into panic, to create the frenzy we see building around us.

But others with more character are faced with the knowledge that the issues we face will not bow to superstitions. That the shoddy system of health care we have eats 16% of our budget and will not run from a totem. That it needs to be fixed by rational effort.

Bank reform, credit card reform, education reform, political reform will not be solved with magical potions. These are issues that need to be looked at squarely, and hard decisions need to be made. Imbalances corrected. Power may shift.

Oh yes, the left has its totems as well. In many ways they mirror that of the right, and usually start with a hatred of other people's money. The difference is that the left doesn't hide behind Christianity, though interestingly, probably has more claim to it.

But why are those on the right so eager to believe the false prophets? Is it they don't really believe that their Reward is Coming? Is that why they are so focused on the lies and politics of the material world?

Or it may be that there is need, now, to stretch our idea of community to include others not like us. They want to exclude more than embrace, and hypocrisy always hides behind anger and fear.

It doesn't matter. There is work to be done. We need to get to it.