Satan in the White House

Yes, Ol' Scratch himself is on his way to the White House. The Tribulation is about to begin. The election of Barack Obama to the Presidency is the surest sign ever that the Kingdom of the Anti-Christ is at hand.

What's amazing to me is that even if Obama makes good on his promise to get the economy back on track, ratchet down the tension in the Middle East and restore the good name of the United States in the world, none of that matters. It wouldn't repudiate in the slightest the Christianist view of Obama's election.

It won't even matter if we see the abortion rates go down (as they did under Clinton - the abortion rate is more connected to the economy than any other factor), a decrease in unwanted and/or teenage pregnancy (which reality-based sex education leads to, as liberal families have far lower teen pregnancy rates than conservative families), or a revival of genuine religious spirit (times of hope are good for religions - hopeful religions anyway. The Quakers and Buddhists should do well.)

That's because intention is everything to the Christian extremist movement. The means is what matters, not the end. Results are a secondary consideration at best. Not matter what the outcome, if it didn't come from their God, their beliefs, their prayers, then it's unacceptable.

We are reminded of the Biblical dictum that if a man even looks at a woman other than is wife with lust, he has committed adultery "in his heart." The act of committing a sin is irrelevant. Sin itself is a thoughtcrime.

Christian extremism is utterly anti-pragmatic. Success or failure doesn't matter. It's the thought that counts.

The Mormons, Evangelicals and Catholics spent enormous amounts of money to defeat Proposition 8. Over 20 million dollars, I believe. (I've wondered if they ever considered "what would Jesus do" if handed 20 million bucks. That would feed and clothe a whole lot of poor people, and since Jesus spoke of the poor 190 times in the Gospels and spoke of homosexuality zero times, I think we can can tell what the Gospel writers' priorities were.)

Many of them (notably the officers of the LDS church) also went to great pains to say that they (mostly) don't oppose gay civil unions that offer equal legal rights to those of marriage. Once again, it isn't the reality, it's the thought that counts. Gay and lesbian couples can have all the civil rights they want, as long as they can't think they are married.

Hopefully we've turned the tide with this election, and we are finally moving away from a Handmaid's Tale-like dystopian future. And if that's true, than marriage equality will someday come to pass. When I consider my daughter and how she feels about it, it's inevitable.

We shall overcome.