By James Murphy
Spring 2008
The Vicar of Catholics, the Holy See, and the President of Catholics, Pope Benedict XVI came for a week-long visit to the United States last week. Before I get into the details of his trip, I want to praise the man for his sensibility. His proposed solution to the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa is not condom use or the promotion of any other kind of birth control, but abstinence and chastity. Under that outrageous, pointy hat lies a powerful brain, churning away constantly, and spitting out the solutions. Rather than accommodate for a natural, carnal human tendency that’s written deeply into our DNA, why not try to stifle and stalemate it, albeit in a continent that’s clearly having lots of sex? Home run, supreme pontiff.
Onto his visit. Throughout his visit to the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan, Ground Zero, Yankees stadium, and Washington, his holiness pushed all the right buttons with feel-good rhetoric and measured tones, leaving everyone warm and fuzzy, without making any likely lasting impact. This is a good thing. We don’t want to rekindle the fires of religious faith and obedience.
In adhering to the tradition of mass at Yankees’ stadium, the pope gets major brownie points. It’s a nice touch. After all, what generates more revenue, organized religion or organized sports? Why not combine the two? I’m certain the multi-network simulcast gave every media executive a huge chubby. All it did for me was make me miss the Lakers’ playoff game. Religion wins more than Kobe does. After pontificating to the sell-out crowd, the ambassador of faith, and the man with a special relationship with god made his departure in the ultimate embodiment of faith, his bullet-proof golf cart, the Popemobile, enshrouded by more body guards than the President. I guess God’s protection isn’t enough nowadays. I hope everyone that made it to the mass managed to get his autograph and/or blessing; preferably the former.
Ultimately, this mini-rant only really strikes a chord with the Libertarian party’s philosophy in its anti-establishment overtones, and atheistic leanings. In a very basic sense, this is meant to be a criticism of the mass-media sensationalism that permeates everyday journalism, and my, however futile, effort to ‘put my foot down.’
James Murphy a member of the Rutgers Libertarians. He is a Rutgers College Junior, majoring in Biology.
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When you put your foot down, James, I think you stepped on your crank.
ReplyDeleteWhile any true libertarian is always on guard for attempts to establish a state religion in violation of the first amendment's establishment clause, libertarianism and religious faith -- or merely belief in a Creator -- are not antithetical, notwithstanding Ayn Rand's antagonism toward religion. Antagonizing believers is not the way to grow the party and attract people to the cause. And attacking the pope is particularly clumsy and boorish.
How do you reconcile your lack of faith and apparent cynicism toward people of faith with the following words: "When in the Course of human events . . . . the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them . . . ."
Or these: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Or these: "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."
Is the foundation upon which the Declaration is written completely illusory?