Just gonna put this here:
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That really annoyed me with the âAmen and Awomenâ thing. Yes, itâs very performatively woke to make sure women are included in the opening prayer to government business.
But itâs completely missing the (at least I feel) more important point that religious performances donât belong in government at all.
Like today I heard someone actually say âat least Joe Biden knows how to swear in on a bible, and it was an impressive one tooâ. The bible is irrelevant to the governance of the US. Itâs not an important document of law. It is for all intents and purposes, LARPing equipment. And I would much rather see the president sworn in on the constitution, or on a stack of law books, or heck even on the Idaho state driverâs exam. At least those have to do with our government.
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Love that story. It was told in a church sermon many years ago and has stuck with me ever since. I need to revisit it sometimes, but it has stuck.
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Unfortunately, since the beginning we havenât had true separation of church and state. It would be a difficult thing to accomplish given how political parties use it for their advantage or to the detriment of those seen as other. I mean, they still make a big deal about Catholic vs. Protestant in some circles.
I was more encouraged by the moment of silence for those who died because of COVID-19. At least Biden acknowledged the loss of lives instead of ignoring it like 45 and the GOP. Iâll be even more encouraged when someone in government takes the bold step of taxing for-profit churches - just like any other business.
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The aspect of the deaths of COVID deniers and mask refusers that makes those deaths less tragic to me is that the behavior of the deceased is basically âhold my beerâ. They were informed that their grandstanding stunt would possibly harm them, as well as others. In many cases those others were cheering them on. I can feel sorry for their stupidity, but the consequences they brought on themselves.
I can get to âhe did a dangerous and stupid thing and it killed him, that must be very painful for youâ, but not much beyond that.
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To you, it might be (and even to me). But Biden seems to take his faith seriously, so Iâm guessing swearing on a bible has actual import for him. Itâs not LARPing to him.
True. But I donât think that everyone who is religious is cynically using religion as a prop. Many do, sure, but many do not and not all of them are theocrats, either.
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This exactly. Bidenâs religion seems to be a fact about who he is, rather than a plank in his political platform. That makes all the difference in the world to me. I am no more or less likely to trust him because of his religious background or beliefs, and Iâd be fine if he was comfortably atheist. But I am more likely to trust him because he presents himself sincerely and doesnât try to cudgel others with his beliefs. Everyone knows 45 wasnât religious, so his feigned religiosity was just another thing to put me off. Very refreshing to think we might be seeing a real person there, rather than a golem assembled of pure ego.
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I think the big thing here is that his faith seems to inform his policy proposals (thus far) in a general way, rather than in a specific way.
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Yes, thatâs a good way of putting it. Iâll reserve the right to object if he starts into telling others how to live their lives or restricting rights on the basis of what his religious beliefs are. But I think weâre mostly safe from that in his case!
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