Schmoozing Their Religion

I need to set this up; I’ll try to get from “point A” to “point B” as fast as I can, though (not very “sexy” stuff…sorry).

There aren’t many TV programs I watch on a somewhat regular basis, but “The Sopranos” on HBO is one of them (and “Real Time” would be another, which rebounded quite nicely this week I thought…I’ll say more about that later).

I have to recap briefly to let you know how far the new season has progressed in case you don’t already. Tony is recovering well from his gunshot wound suffered at the hands of Uncle Junior, and he actually came home from the hospital last night. Before he left, he was visited by Sy (a member of Tony’s “inner circle” who, being a Jew, can never be a “made man”) and Sy’s wife, and as they were visiting Tony, an evangelical Christian (“Denny” I think his name was, but I could be wrong) reappeared in Tony’s room (he and a guy wearing a T-shirt with “Terri Schiavo, 1963-2005” on it had appeared earlier in the show to protest the hospital for dismissing a pharmacist who refused to fill a prescription for birth control pills…it seemed like they were going room to room – I wouldn’t be too happy staying at a hospital that allowed these characters to do that, not that I ever want to be hospitalized anyway).

The reason I’m even mentioning this is because Tony tells Denny that he and his family are members of a Catholic church (though, knowing about the show, you would know how “at odds” the family members act with it, except Tony’s wife Carmela), and a priest will be appearing in the room shortly. Denny makes some benign but condescending remark about that and tells Tony that he would be better off if he could communicate with Jesus more directly; the evangelicals apparently believe that they can do that. All the while, Sy and his wife are listening with very serious looks on their faces, and then Denny hands Tony a book by Charles Colson, asks that he read it, and then leaves.

At that moment, Tony makes some remark about Denny, along the lines of “this stuff sounds a bit flaky” or words to that effect, and I expected Sy and his wife to say something like, “Well, since we really don’t recognize Jesus as the savior, etc.” However, that’s not what Sy’s wife said. She cautioned Tony not to be so dismissive, saying that “Many Jews feel that the Evangelicals hold the keys to salvation,” or (again) words to that effect.

I was flabbergasted by that, and I had a few reactions. The first was that it was another indication of how good the writing is on this show in that it is so in touch with what is going on in this country right now. The second was that it showed how thoroughly the evangelicals had infiltrated other organized religions with their beliefs, which I think has had wide-ranging implications. The third is that, when this is combined with 9/11, I now have more of an understanding of how so many people in this country could have signed onto the Iraq War without any logical analysis of what was going on.

Now to Catholicism, and I know I have to be careful.

Have the Evangelicals had an influence? In terms of the organization called the Roman Catholic Church, quite possibly the oldest bureaucracy in history, I would have to think that the answer is yes, definitely moving the church to “the right” and more in tune with the doctrinaire practice of third world countries. In terms of how I live and practice my faith called Roman Catholicism on an individual daily basis, I sincerely hope that the answer is no.

I believe that the influence of the evangelicals has moved the church further to the right and towards some jackbooted doctrinaire practice that espouses blind obedience to an “onward Christian soldiers” ideology of which I want no part for myself or my family. Actually, that seems to be the influence of the evangelicals regardless of whatever religion they interact with.

It’s not as if the Catholic Church needed a lot of help to tilt that way even further, of course. I mean, let’s look at their reaction to the presidential candidacy of John Kerry in 2004. I don’t believe that there had been a Roman Catholic nominee for president since John F. Kennedy in 1960, though I probably should check on that.

My point is not totally that the church did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to help Kerry, but that Cardinal Ratzinger, who of course became Pope Benedict XVI last year, issued an edict that any pro-choice Catholic politician should not receive communion (and don’t underestimate the power of that intervention by the Vatican in the election; that weighed heavily in the minds of voters throughout the country, even in blue states…Chris Floyd of the Moscow Times had an excellent – and shocking, I thought – column on that awhile back). Basically, the church played a significant role in maintaining the corporate rightist political power structure of this country, represented primarily by politicians who are part of the evangelical movement.

I have to tell you that I can’t come up with a word or a number to communicate how important my faith and sense of spirituality is to me. But it angers and sickens me to see the hierarchy of my church constantly lying down with those running our oligarchical government who do nothing but oppress us on a daily basis (and yes, I know abortion is the “elephant in the room”).

Are there good evangelicals out there doing great work? Of course there are, and we should thank and respect them. But never underestimate the extent of their influence and our need to stand up to these people with reason and the truth.

Going back to “The Sopranos” again for a minute, one of Denny’s remarks as he leaves Tony’s hospital room is that evolution is a theory that keeps us from salvation (again, something like that…I would need to check out the show again to get the dialogue word for word, and I don’t know if I’ll have time for that). Denny tells Tony that “man lived at the same time as the dinosaurs,” and Tony, cutting right to the chase, says, “You mean like ‘The Flintstones’?”

Though it was a humorous remark, it cut right through what to me is the artifice of that argument; the argument to me is ridiculous anyway because it’s yet another example of trying to disavow science and rational thought.

For too many of the evangelicals, that is their goal (and I know Our Lord used the metaphor of sheep constantly concerning Catholicism), but at least the church has moved somewhat away from the “ours is the only faith” to be more inclusive, whereas to me the evangelicals are looking for people from other faiths to ultimately recruit for their own, and moving the other faiths toward them in the process.

This is why I think we should be skeptical on these matters and always think and reason for ourselves. I can never recall a period in this country when free thought was such a perilous exercise. So let’s keep that in mind the next time someone tries to cram a religious belief down our throat no questions asked (whatever that person’s occupation happens to be, and especially if they’re a politician).

If that’s good enough for Tony Soprano, then it’s good enough for me. Bada bing!

Update 1 4/3: This is another "notch on the belt" for the fundies at the expense of a man who apparently will do ANYTHING to be president.

Update 2 4/3: Speaking of religion, I would be truly remiss if I did not acknowledge the person who, in terms of spirit, intellect and courage, dwarfs every public figure mentioned in this post (as you can see, he passed away a year ago).