Does God hate Texas? As I write this in early September 2011, the state is being ravaged by wildfires after suffering through a devastating drought during the historic heat wave of the spring and summer. Is God laughing at Texas? The fires have been fueled by the winds of tropical storm Lee, which is flooding Louisiana and Mississippi. Does God hear a Texan’s prayer? In April 2011, Texas governor and presidential candidate Rick Perry issued a proclamation designating three “days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas.” A few months later, Perry led a controversial mass prayer rally in Houston, begging God to heal the nation’s ills and declaring that he loved America only a little less than he loved the living Christ. But the nation continues its decline, while Texas burns. Is God wise to Rick Perry? Perhaps even an agnostic can hope.
I pose these questions at the risk of being deemed insensitive, at best, to the deaths and damages caused by droughts, fires, hurricanes, floods, and other acts of nature; in fact, I am simply trying to view these disasters from a prayerful perspective. If God exists and hears the prayers of people who love the living Christ, then you have to ask why he hasn’t answered them. Maybe insufficient numbers of people are praying; or maybe insufficient numbers have come to Jesus—especially insufficient numbers of political leaders. Congresswoman and aspiring president Michele Bachmann has suggested that by sending us earthquakes and hurricanes, God is trying to “get the attention of the politicians.”
Whatever. The theocrats have surely gotten our attention. So far, the race for the Republican presidential nomination is dominated by Christian nationalism, which Rick Perry is either leading or exploiting. Even Mitt Romney, who has generally focused more on capitalism than Christ (and is suspect among conservative evangelicals in part because of his Mormonism) promised Tea Party supporters that he would govern prayerfully, making decisions “on my knees.”
Yet a mere two years ago, former New York Times columnist Frank Rich wishfully characterized the culture war as a casualty of economic crisis, a “luxury the country—the GOP included—can no longer afford.” A 2008 Pew Forum survey found increased public resistance to the marriage of religion and politics, with “a narrow majority of the public saying that churches and other houses of worship should keep out of political matters and not express their views on day-to-day social and political matters.”
Majorities may still be wary of sectarian policy making (and the Tea Party is generally viewed unfavorably). To a secularist or religious moderate, the sectarian culture war may indeed look like a luxury we can’t afford, but, especially during economic and environmental crises, religion is also a necessity in which many find solace, as well as explanations: Maybe God is punishing America because of our godless, hedonistic inclinations; maybe God is testing America or sending us a series of disasters to scare us back to church; maybe God is simply working in his usual mysterious ways. In any case, despite the Tea Party’s reported unpopularity, the newly ascendant religious Right exerts inordinate influence on politics and policies through its inordinate influence on the Republican Party.
The irreligious continue to organize in the wings while religious extremists strut across the stage; but while the new atheism has increased the visibility of secularists and humanists, it has not increased their clout. A minority of House and Senate members will privately admit they do not believe in God but don’t dare acknowledge their disbelief publicly. It’s still impossible to imagine an avowed atheist making a feasible run for president or any high office. Meanwhile, sectarian laws and policies abound: abortions are widely unavailable and abortion rights are seriously imperiled because of a successful sectarian assault on reproductive choice. Religious organizations still receive direct taxpayer support under the bipartisan faith-based funding initiative, and the Obama administration still allows them to engage in federally funded employment discrimination. The federal judiciary, especially the Supreme Court, is increasingly friendly to church-state partnerships and sectarianism in government.
This is not a call for the godless to surrender, but it does underscore the need for them to choose their battles wisely, as I’ve often suggested. Atheism or mere agnosticism in America requires a sense of humor, however black, as well as a thick skin and the acceptance, if not the embrace, of outsider status (which, after all, can be invigorating). It seems safe to predict that American culture will always be influenced by the resilient religiosity of American people. But while a cultural preference for religious belief, even when reflected in instances of official ceremonial deism, may be irritating to atheists and agnostics, it doesn’t necessarily entail substantive deprivations of rights. A successful secular movement will recognize that reality. If right-wing religious extremists succeed in taking over the White House and Congress (as they now seem poised to do), we will face many more serious threats than anodyne references to God in public ceremonies or on public buildings and dollar bills. We’ll face the official elevation of sectarianism over science, faith over reason, and “right religious thinking” over religious as well as irreligious rights.
Wendy Kaminer is a lawyer and social critic. Her latest book is Worst Instincts: Cowardice, Conformity, and the ACLU (Beacon Press, 2009).
CFI SUMMIT
OCTOBER 24-27 2013
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