Jorge Majfud, “The Privatization of God”
Posted by graham on September 28th, 2006
–Worthy of a read and some thought. Religion has come back into style in the pages of the analytical journals but they rarely talk about the systematic use of religious propaganda by the elite. Looking back through history shows us who it is that needs to take on religious symbolism and who, in the end, benefits from it. We must start looking deeper than religious reasons for these conflicts if we are going to see the real reasons for war and oppression.
October 1st, 2006 at 1:06 am
It’s the elite that believe the propaganda. This article is timely and apt. Though there are deeper reasons than religious ones, religion is the flour in the dough. A lot of it has to do with a perceivedly important piece of real-estate in Israel and the union of right wing evangelists with Right wing Israelis. A big part of why Stephen Harper keeps backing Israel is because of a steadfast right-wing Christian manifest destiny delusion that says “Completely fuck over everything that thinks about touching Israel.” The Canadian Alliance Church and the right wing evangelists are as much to blame as the elites.
The article is right to point out that it is the simplifications that make people stand behind a leader. The simplification for the religious right is “Israel good, Palestine bad” The religious right, even those at the very top, believe this is true and they believe also that the world is about ready to explode. I think it’s true that if they continue, a self-fulfilling prophecy will come to pass.
They’ll keep lauding the slaughter of the terrorists, even if it is at the expense of thousands of civilians. They’ll keep doing it because they just don’t listen to anyone but the man at the pulpit.
It’s crazy that administrations around the world keep making the same mistake. “Gee I don’t want people to attack my country, so I’m going to go nuke a bunch of villages and see how much nicer everyone wants to be to me.” The reason why the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia and slaughtered over a million in brutal genocide is because Nixon’s secret carpet bombing of Cambodia gave them the political leverage to take control. Violence always breeds violence. Yet the right will stand behind an agressor that is willing to do precisely what Nixon did to Cambodia. The Bush administration is willing to resort to air strikes in Iraq. So even since Clinton declassified the real data of the bombing of Cambodia and even though we know that the bombing, were it not devastating enough on its own, ultimately lead to further genocide of millions of innocent people, we’re still seeing the same old action every single day. Unless the religious right is taken head on and its doctrines refuted in a - yes, simple - way that it’s vast congregation can understand, no progress will made toward the cause of peace.
There’s a lot of people who are unwilling to include religion in reasons for political action, but not enough. Fantastic further reading for this article is in the October Walrus. It’s all there in black and white.
October 1st, 2006 at 1:08 am
scratch that last ‘it’s’ goddamn possesives.