In spite of their complaints about negative press, Evangelical Protestants have been getting a lot of deferential media attention this election season.
\nYesterday, I happened to see both a recent documentary on the subject, as well as the last half hour or so of a famous 1940’s film about a Roman Catholic saint, “The Song of Bernadette”.
\nThe Song of Bernadette won its star, Jennifer Jones, an Oscar for Best Actress. Ms. Jones’s performance was such a perfection of luminous piety that some members of the public castigated her when they discovered that in real life, she was not actually a nun but a wife and mother. This was further compounded by the announcement shortly after the Oscar ceremonies that she and her husband were filing for divorce.<\/p>
\nAnyway, I was stuck by the contrast between the film and the reality of current-day religious zealotry, exacerbated by this year’s high profile epic drama, “The Passion of the Christ”, the most successful foreign language film in history.
\nFor a long time now, I’ve been trying to put my finger on what bothers me the most about the Evangelicals, and I think I’ve got it.
\nIt’s the total inner-directedness of their brand of religion that scares me, versus the complete outer-directedness of other forms of religious expression, the almost total exclusion of good works in favor of personal salvation for personal benefit.
\nThis is certainly true of the current occupant of the White House, who directs his Pentagon minions to maim and murder Iraqi babies in support of his Messianic delusions.
\nThe documentary on Evangelicals included a particularly hideous sequence in which an 8 year old girl pontificated that “being saved” at age 3 taught her that everyone who doesn’t accept Jesus as their personal savior is going to hell.
\nThere was no conversation in this child’s house of the righteous about charity or kindess to others, care for the poor, etc. Rather, a self-involved absorption with Christ’s sacrifice so that THEY could have eternal life in heaven.
\nWhat egotism! What incredible presumption! To justify – nay, celebrate – the horrendous, unspeakable torture and murder of an innocent for personal benefit alone is a sacrilege and an insult.
\nOne wishes Jesus would, in fact, return to earth, and quickly, to set the record straight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In spite of their complaints about negative press, Evangelical Protestants have been getting a lot of deferential media attention this election season. Yesterday, I happened to see both a recent documentary on the subject, as well as the last half … Continue reading