Sunday, June 07, 2009
New Age Newt
"I think this is one of the most critical moments in American history," Gingrich said. "We are living in a period where we are surrounded by paganism." Newt said that at the "Rediscovering God In America" conference in Virginia. A head scratcher, & the quote stands alone in all the press reports. I wonder if he elaborated on the statement?
Is there any topic on which Newt does not have an expert opinion he is eager to express in public, knowing that media will dutifully listen & report? Will Ferrell's new movie? Golf course design? The best recipe for peach cobbler?
There are two environments where I feel the presence of paganism (not including tee shirt shops on the boardwalk). One is any event when religion & patriotic nationalism are blended together. This blend is raised to the level of spectacle in many right wing protestant churches. I've never set foot in those. Religious nationalism is a primary feature of the American protestant right; they believe the United States is the center of the Universe the way we used to believe the Sun, planets, & stars revolved around Earth.
The other place I feel the strong presence of paganism is a Roman Catholic Church. Early Christians, especially after Constantine approved the religion, adopted the forms, liturgies, offices, festivals, music, architecture, & administrative structures of Roman paganism, & they are preserved in living museums found in your town & mine. The Church also absorbed a variety of major & minor gods & goddesses, Virgin Mary being the most notable, a venerable peasant woman of Palestine subsequently elevated to the near-status of Venus/Ishtar. The Church continues to create saints out of historical personages embodying the best qualities of ethnic deities. This is how religion evolves & changes.
Newt has converted to Roman Catholicism. Good for him if it teaches him to think outside the Box of American Right Wing Protestantism & enjoy the cultural diversity the Roman Catholic Church makes available. It hasn't yet. He'll also have to get used to the pagan influences. Newt may also notice that the Roman Catholic Church in America tends to treat immigrants kindly without inquiring as to how they got here.
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
Is there any topic on which Newt does not have an expert opinion he is eager to express in public, knowing that media will dutifully listen & report? Will Ferrell's new movie? Golf course design? The best recipe for peach cobbler?
There are two environments where I feel the presence of paganism (not including tee shirt shops on the boardwalk). One is any event when religion & patriotic nationalism are blended together. This blend is raised to the level of spectacle in many right wing protestant churches. I've never set foot in those. Religious nationalism is a primary feature of the American protestant right; they believe the United States is the center of the Universe the way we used to believe the Sun, planets, & stars revolved around Earth.
The other place I feel the strong presence of paganism is a Roman Catholic Church. Early Christians, especially after Constantine approved the religion, adopted the forms, liturgies, offices, festivals, music, architecture, & administrative structures of Roman paganism, & they are preserved in living museums found in your town & mine. The Church also absorbed a variety of major & minor gods & goddesses, Virgin Mary being the most notable, a venerable peasant woman of Palestine subsequently elevated to the near-status of Venus/Ishtar. The Church continues to create saints out of historical personages embodying the best qualities of ethnic deities. This is how religion evolves & changes.
Newt has converted to Roman Catholicism. Good for him if it teaches him to think outside the Box of American Right Wing Protestantism & enjoy the cultural diversity the Roman Catholic Church makes available. It hasn't yet. He'll also have to get used to the pagan influences. Newt may also notice that the Roman Catholic Church in America tends to treat immigrants kindly without inquiring as to how they got here.
Labels: blogging against theocracy, in the news, religion
