Maquinna's Poop du Jour

Keep your religious bullshit out of politics.

Yep, I'll say it again. Wherever religion and politics become bedmates, chaos ensues. I am acutely reminded of this in recent days with the nearly inescapable inundation of Fox News bites (Fair and Balanced? Just who the hell are they kidding?)about the Terri Schiavo controversy. A recent piece by Daniel Shore on NPR drew some interesting comparisons between that situation and the declining health of the Pope. What does the Pope do when his health becomes so poor that he can no longer communicate his wishes? Strangely enough, back around 1980 the Pope was quoted as saying (I'm quoting loosely here) that taking extraordinary measures to extend life through artifical means was as dishonourable in the eyes of God as it was to take it prematurely. If that isn't enough to baffle the sheep of the flock, I don't know what is.

In my mind, though, one of the best thoughts on this subject came from a Catholic priest himself. He was recalling how his grandmother had cared for her sister as she was dying, feeding her little bits of soup and broth. The doctor suggested that a feeding tube could be inserted into her sister's nose to aid in getting nourishment into her. The priest's grandmother told the doctor he could take that tube and stick it somewhere else - the woman was dying, and who on earth were they to stand in the way of her joining God for her reward in heaven? Eminently sensible, I should think.

All those nutters protesting outside of Terri Schiavo's hospice, getting themselves arrested even while her parents beseeched them to behave themselves, prove yet again that media hype and the interference of moral agendas on the legal system and political process does nothing to forward reason.

I was reminded through all of this, yet again, of how pervasive religious agendas in world politics has become. There are those who would chalk up my fears here to conspiracy theories, but one doesn't have to dig very far to learn that organizations not only exist, but are highly mobilized to push their agendas onto not only the U.S. political stage, but to propagate their conservative-religious right-US centric contempt of the any other beliefs throughout the rest of the world. Ever heard of 'The Family'? Take a look at this article that appeared a few years ago in Harper's.

posted by Maquinna @ 3:59 p.m.