Lean Left

McCain Chaplain: God Will Be Humiliated By Obama Win

by KTK

October 14th, 2008

David Kurtz, of Talking Points Memo, catches this opening prayer at a McCain rally:

I would also add, Lord, that your reputation is involved in all that happens between now and November. Because there are millions of people around this world praying to their god - whether it’s Hindu [sic], Buddha [sic], Allah - that [McCain’s] opponent wins, for a variety of reasons. And Lord I pray that you would guard your reputation, because they’re gonna think that their god is bigger than you, if that happens. And so I pray that you would step forward and honor your own name in all that happens between now and Election Day.

If it weren’t so offensive it would be funny. His ignorance is palpable (he apparently thinks “Hindu” is the name of a god, and that Buddhists pray to a god), the familiar xenophobic bigotry is well in evidence, and it reeks of childishness: he thinks his god cares who wins an election, and that elections are some sort of popularity contest between gods, a struggle to see who is “bigger”. Apparently gods have to intervene in elections (just as in football games and American Idol competitions) to “guard their reputations”, because it would be so embarrassing if their chosen candidate didn’t win. (Or, in this case, if the, supposedly, chosen Christian candidate of many non-Christians were to win, it would somehow be a victory for the non-Christian gods of those non-Christian supporters of that Christian candidate, and a loss for the god of the other Christian candidate, who is also the god of the winning candidate, but is humiliated by the victory of the one Christian rather than the other. The mind boggles at what this all means for Joe Lieberman.) He also thinks he’s in a position to give personal advice to his own god, which may not be a high-water mark for Christian chutzpah, but at least hints at what’s in store if we allow these yahoos to grab any further political power here on earth.

Of course it would be futile to expect any kind of consistency or rational thought to attach to this nonsense: If the Christian god’s reputation really is called into question by the outcome of this election, then when McCain and his fundy sheepfold get their asses handed to them in November one would, presumably, be entitled to regard that god in an appropriately lesser light, right? I mean, if McCain’s victory really does prove the greatness of McCain’s and Obama’s god, then Obama’s victory must really prove his impotence. But you’ll see no admission of that sort, you can be sure.

What we will see is more and more religion-as-competitive-sport among the beleaguered, angry, and resentful religious right, and more and more pandering to their fears and hostilities as the GOP continues to lose the middle. And as the non-Christian population increases in size and visibility, and as right-wing Christians lose the fight on their social-issue hatreds, one by one (miscegenation? lost, decades ago; mandatory school prayer? lost, decades ago; atheists-as-boogeymen? in full retreat; contraception? lost, decades ago and continuing; gay rights? lost, step by step over decades; gay marriage? in retreat; abortion? stalemate; stem cell research? stalling action, about to lose big time; gay adoption? losing; gays in military? partial retreat, about to lose it all; “Christian nation”? now a hallmark of bigotry), they gin up smaller and smaller issues to demagogue about (”Obama attended a madrassa”) and cling to sillier and sillier tribal symbols (God’s reputation in an election; “purity rings”).

When can we finally say religion has simply jumped the shark? Is it time yet? I think it’s getting close to time.

UPDATE: Jesus’ General nails it.

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