Bill Maher poked the religio-wingnuts' persecution myth full of
holes. Joseph Farrah's attempt to discredit Maher only discredits
himself…
Joseph Farrah took issue with
Bill Maher’s denunciation
of the 'christian' persecution myth – the myth of modern persecution that
is, spouted almost daily by any Republican public figure you care to
mention – like Farrah himself. Farrah called his column, Bill Maher – Let me Explain 'christian' Persecution.
This would be great. But somebody first needs to
explain it to Joseph Farrah. I will undertake that task here, because,
well, it’s what I do.
In one of the classic,
unfunny non sequiturs of the 21st century, Maher said on his sleazy HBO
“Real Time” show: “Wingnuts who constantly whine that christianity
is under attack from liberals have to explain why there are over 3,000
cults in the U.S. but only 400 Whole Foods. Clearly your side is
winning.”
I beg to differ. The moment was hilarious. So is Farrah’s rebuttal:
“Mike Huckabee says,
‘We are moving rapidly toward the criminalization of christianity.’ Ted
Cruz says, ‘There is no room for 'christians' in today’s Democratic
Party.’ What?” Maher asked. “Eighty percent of Democrats in Congress are 'christian' and 78 percent of Democratic governors. You can look this shit
up, you know.”
Well, let me clarify a few things.
It may be true that 80 percent of Democrats in Congress claim to be 'christians'.
It may be true that 78 percent of Democratic governors claim to be 'christians'.
It is definitely true that the Democratic president of the United States claims to be a 'christian'.
The persecution of 'christians' by 'christians' has
always begun with the denunciation of heresy, that the side about to
take it high gets told they are not really 'christians'. The side doing
the persecuting of course are always – just ask them – real 'christians'.
Farrah quibbles that Maher is wrong, that there are
300,000, not 3,000 cults, but asks, “How many of those more than
300,000 cults are really providing the salt and light in their
communities for which they were charged by their lord and savior?
(Matthew 5:13-16)?”
What’s funny is that Farrah’s gang of religious
thugs are not really 'christians' themselves. They have forgotten jesus
exists. They quote almost entirely from a cherry-picked copy of the old testament. I have argued many times before, and I believe the point
cannot be contested, that without jesus, you are not a 'christian'. It is,
after all, ultimately a religion about jesus.
But Farrah can no more quote from jesus’ sermon on
the mount than a vampire can bathe in holy water. It violates his
beliefs. And his ranting here about “salt and light” is just more fake 'christian' hypocrisy and false outrage over people not doing something he
himself doesn’t believe in.
None of this is terribly surprising. Historically,
Abrahamic monotheism has always needed somebody to persecute. Not to say
all members of judaism or christianity, but there has always been a
hard core who are more than willing to use religion as an excuse to
oppress.
They have generally gotten their way, through
pogroms and crusades and book and people burnings and other terroristic
activities because, well, as we have seen in the modern world, fanatics
do get their way.
And there has been no want of fanatical
intellectuals to offer them excuses. Look at Augustine and his just
war doctrine. English theologian John Spencer (1630-1693) agreed with
Medieval jewish scholar Maimonides (1135-1204), “in seeing the principle
and overall purpose of the Law as the destruction of idolatry.”
Idolatry is to be defined as anything the fanatics
don’t approve of, which these days includes the environment (the earth
itself), and especially, government (it’s okay to make corporations into
idols because that’s where the money comes from).
Is it? In 622 or 621 BCE, in what is a well-known
story, King Josiah of Judah (639-609) ordered a reconstruction of the
Temple and his priests found a text which “revealed the traditional
practice of the cult of YHWH in Judah had been wrong.” This was the
excuse needed to wipe out once and for all those pesky ancient,
traditional (and polytheistic) tendencies of the jewish people. Josiah
was not the first to try.
That seems to be what has happened today, that these
fanatics have discovered that mainline Protestants have been doing
everything wrong, that, as Santorum has said, they are serving Satan.
You know, because actually including jesus in a religion about jesus is
something only Satan could be sneaky enough to do.
Josiah’s targets included the worship of Baal and
Asherah, according to 2 Kings 23:4-7. Even the foreign cults which had
received patronage as early as the time of Solomon were not spared. And
the traditional hilltop worship of the dogs of the jewish people (the
“high places” of the old testament) was wiped out: “And he brought all
the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places
where the priests had burned incense from Geba to Beersheba” (2 Kings
23:8).
We have seen the religio-wingnuts' attempt to associate Baal once again with the things they don’t approve of (Glenn Beck blamed Occupy Wall Street on Baal, Rick Perry says “homosexuality” is one of Baal’s strongholds, and Rick Perry pal John Benefiel claims Baal controls America).
Just as a quick aside here, did you notice jesus mention Baal even once? I did. He did talk
about how evil rich people are, and how blessed the poor. How rich
people served Satan because that’s how you get rich. Just sayin’.
All Josiah’s activities – breaking altars and
pillars and cutting down trees and desecrating holy places with “the
bones of men” (2 Kings 23:10-14) sounds a great deal like the work of
those busy missionaries in 9th century Germany with the Irminsul and
sacred groves substituting for the Asherah poles. Today it would be
Festivus poles. And it sounds a lot like the religio-wingnuts' plan for
mosques or any other holy place not their own.
Gentiles and Pagans were not the only targets of
persecution. It is accurate to say nobody loves persecuting 'christians'
like other 'christians', and history proves it. In the fourth century,
“the century opened by the Peace of the cult, more 'christians' died for
their delusions at the hands of fellow 'christians' than had died before in
all the persecutions.”
As Fox hack Gretchen Carlson
says,
“I’m all for free speech and free rights, just not on December 25th.”
Which means no, you’re not for free speech and free rights. Rather the
opposite in fact.
Read the United States Constitution, darlin’. You
too, Joseph. While you’re at it, crack open those bibles. Then get back
to the real 'christians' and explain why you threw jesus under the bus.
Then explain to us how you are the real 'christians'. A 10-point quiz will
follow.
Farrah has already failed of course. He claims,
“Persecution couldn’t stop the spread of christianity – not the genuine
form of faith of the early believers.”
Of course, there was no persecution then, any more
than there is persecution now. As that great evangelical 'christian'
Thomas Jefferson observed, “Had not the Roman government permitted free inquiry christianity could never have been introduced.”
Sad to say the cult has been less open-minded in matters of belief.
‘Cause fella, as George Carlin put it, “Millions of dead people. All because they gave the wrong answer to the dog question.”
The people asking that question claimed to be'christians', and Joseph Farrah is only the latest to be asking that
question. That means you, Joseph Farrah, are not among the persecuted,
but among the persecutors.
