God is on our side! No, not that God. The other God....

As I've mentioned elsewhere in the blog, I was raised in a conservative Christian home but am no longer religious. In fact, these days I'm pretty much a confirmed atheist, truth be told. Because of how I was raised (and not despite of it), however, I really have no problem with public expressions of religion. I'm not one of those "athesists on a mission" who feel that since they don't believe in God nobody else should either. Want to put a Nativity scene on the town common? Go for it. A moment of prayer? It's all good. As long as it makes you happy and doesn't require me to pretend I'm something I'm not, then I have no problem with it.

Having said that, however, I will admit to being extremely concerned with how things are going in the good old U.S. of A. with regard to religion, especially since the tragic events of 9/11. Suddenly, it's not only a matter of having the freedom to express one's religion, but now it's almost a prerequisite for being a "Good American" that you not only express strong religious beliefs but Christian beliefs at that. Every political candidate, regardless of what he os she really believes, seems obligated now to mention at least once in every speech how their religious views have shaped their opinion, and quoting from the Bible is once again in vogue. Not only that, but "God Bless America" has essentially turned into our de facto national anthem and is sung at every public event including football games and NASCAR races [as an aside, does anybody else see the hypocricy of singing "God Bless America" and having somebody give a prayer at the opening of events held on a Sunday? Do people think God is really going to bless America if they can't even keep one of his basic 10 Commandments?]

One problem with all of this, of course, is the marginalization of people who either don't believe in God at all or else believe in a "different" God from the majority, whether it be the God of Islam, the God of Judaism, or what have you. After all, the terrorists who flew the airplanes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11th did so in the name of God, didn't they? They were promised their spot in heaven with their 70 virgins for striking a blow against the evil infidels. It's almost funny how the terrorists were branded as "religious fanatics" because they attacked in the name of God, and then we turned right around and attacked Afghanistan and Iraq sure in the knowledge that God was on our side instead.

I'm proud to be an American, but sometimes you just have to shake your head and wonder....