… according to David Dale, “Both leaders were photographed going to church on Sunday, but in their speeches on Saturday, they gave God no credit or blame. This would have been unthinkable in the United States. If Kevin Rudd was a US politician, he'd have thanked the Lord for his success, while John Howard would have said the result was the Lord's will and he'd seek consolation through prayer. But they didn't, because we're not that kind of country. Our politicians can get by without divine intervention.”
This is one of the many reasons I'm glad I was born here & now.
In other news, the temp outside is 27 degrees (ish) outside and approximately 300 inside, work’s air-conditioning is on the blink, and it’s rather nasty.
Funny, we don’t have air-conditioning at home and there’s only about a month, all told, when we wish we did. We generally keep cool thanks to a combination of good roof insulation, big old double brick walls, keeping the curtains drawn and windows closed on hot days and growing a nice lush vine at the front (which cops the worst of the afternoon sun). And now we have Persephone planted right at the front too. When she grows (delightful deciduous poppet that she is), she’ll add to the general keeping-coolness thing.
Monday, December 3
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8 comments:
Don't get me started on the whole politicians and god ridiculousness. This country was founded on, among other things, the idea that church and state should be separate, and then they compete with each other to see who is the most pious. Grrrr.
Luckily for us the whole church / state thing works pretty well. Although you can send me on on a ranting rage by bringing up the issue of state funding of church schools!
Hi DMM -
The following is one woman's perception:
Many of the founding fathers of the U.S. were Deists. Most were members of one of the various branches of Christian religion. But they were absolutely clear about the vital need for both the separation of church and state, as well as the idea that the U.S. was not founded on a Christian religion!
Much of the bleeding of religion into U.S. political life took place in the 20th century, including the addition of the phrase "under God" into our pledge of allegiance in 1954. This also coincided with the era of McCarthyism and the senator's political witch hunts.
In the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. seemed to help bring us back to our senses as a nation. But then there seemed to be a backlash to the freedoms of the 1960s which coincided with a rise in Evangelical Christianity.
The Republican take over of the White House in 2001 coupled with the same party's dominance in Congress allowed for weakening of the separation of church and state as well as excessive tinkering (bordering on assault) on the U.S. Constitution.
Prior to the first inauguration of George W. Bush in 2001, reference to God or a divine presence would have been as far as most national politicians would go. Bush inserted Evangelical Christian imagery into his ceremony and it was startlingly and sadly transformative. The events of Septemebr 11, 2001 gave Bush and his administration an opening to go ever more deeply down this path of politicians cleaving overtly and publicly to religion.
For those of us who value and revere our Constitution, these have been grim years. That's why we worked so hard to try to turn Congress around last year and why we are striving for dramatic change to begin on January 20, 2009, when we will inaugurate a new president
Thanks for listening.
- Lee
I think someone wiser than me (or maybe it was me) once wrote...
"Politicians will do anything and say anything to get themselves elected."
The reference to God in the Excited States is no different to, say, a reference to global warming here. Instead of thanking God, our political leaders promise to "cut greenhouse emissions by 60% by 2050".
It's meaningless... just an appeal to the what the politician thinks his voters want him to say. In neither case (thanking God or cutting emissions) does the politician actually believe it. But he hopes (and perhaps prays) that we will.
Democracy. Of all of the possible systems of government, it's simultaneously the best and the worst.
And Lee, that what they say or do fundamentally attacks the foundation on which your country was built is irrelevant to them.
They can't see past the next election, and if tearing up the Constitution is what it takes to get elected, then tear it up they will.
Shame on the American people, so few of whom can actually be bothered to vote that to rule America only requires the support of a small, well organised minority.
Hear, hear. Thanks, Lee, for saying what I meant to say but in a much more articulate and hystorically grounded way.
As for the low voter turnout: I am outraged by it, myself. Since I became a US citizen I have made it a point to always vote. Always. I know a lot of people who nonchalantly forget to vote; I know people who proudly announce that they don't vote because it doesn't make any difference anyway. What they don't get is that it makes all the difference in the world. And by the world, I mean the world.
Hi DMM, e and Chester,
The embarrassingly low voter turnout is a serious problem and one which I cannot understand. I know people who don't vote for the same reason e stated. It strikes me as illogical verging on crazy.
I believe I have voted in nearly every election since I was 18. (Heaven help me, that was nearly three decades ago!) I know I have never missed a national election When I was a literacy tutor, one of the most exciting moments for my student and me was helping her to register to vote for the first time. She was around 40. She later wrote a very moving essay about it, saying she felt like a "real American" as a result of participating.
I still believe that democracy is the best form of government. It's messy and dicey and requires vigilance of the people, but it's still the best.
Are there too many apathetic citizens in the U.S.? You betcha. But there are many people who do care and it seems as if those numbers may be growing. I hope so.
- Lee
P.S. I hope you don't feel I hijacked your comments section DMM! Thanks for the opportunity to talk about these things here.
Wow - well done one and all - particularly Lee, that was beautifully put.
As for voting, I would even if it wasn't compulsory - I really do think it's important to play that little part.
Chester's cynicism is pretty much spot on, though I do believe a great many politicians are believers and do think that it's ok to push those beliefs on others. Which worries me terribly.
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