Open-minded closed-mindedness: a Knick Ledger contributor on faith

From the Knick Ledger:

Don’t get me wrong. I believe a candidate’s faith is very important and should be one of the criteria people use to decide who gets their vote. I just don’t believe it should matter which faith is in play.

Faith is not just about believing in God or a higher power, but in those select few elected by the people to act on our behalf in the governing of this country, faith is about character.

We must remember, as much as we use the term democracy to describe our system of government, it’s actually a republic. The people don’t make decisions on how they are governed. We elect others to do that for us. In doing so, it is in our best interests to do what we can to ensure that those officeholders are individuals of strong character.

I’m not surprised that someone can be as childishly naive and closed-minded in regard to faith or lack thereof as a qualification to obtain an elected position. I am, however, a bit aghast that a website like the Knick Ledger, which seeks to be seen as a legitimate news/media outlet in this area, would reproduce it.

Faith in a higher power as a requisite for character is a fraud perpetuated by those insecure about their own morality and intolerant of agnostics and atheists. It is, indeed, churched-up bigotry; only a few steps down from the lovey-dovey “hate the sin, not the sinner” bile spit with a smile at homosexuals in this country. Atheists all over the world have proven, albeit it quietly and with regard for humble dignity, that one doesn’t need faith in God to love and care for his or her fellow human being. Acts of kindness, generosity, and moral integrity occur every day amongst those who don’t believe in an invisible and unprovable deity or belief in texts written thousands of years ago and awkwardly transcribed for modern society, often without the proper context necessary to understand the source and intent. A lack of belief in God is not an absence of virtue or morality, despite what the author of the aforementioned piece insists.

It has also been proven throughout history – and by that I mean the whole of written history – that some truly horrendous and unforgivable sins have been committed against humanity by those thought to possess the highest degree of faith and character, and often in the name of a God or deity or belief structure. It continues today, and apologists will remark that these actions occur with insincere motives. It overlooks, though, that many of the worst men in history truly and earnestly believe that God was on their side and, in many cases, delivered unto them a direct edict.

This is not to say that religion can or should be abolished or outlawed. Nor am I professing to be intolerant of belief systems, regardless of the fact that I wholeheartedly and unequivocally disagree with their position on the existence of divinity. I am, however, saying that this author and everyone else like him that thinks faith matters – even if it’s a weak argument like the one above which states that any faith is okay so long as it’s some faith – is engaged in a criminal naivety that only encourages insincere political pandering that elects charlatans and makes liars of good men who must pretend to be something they are not (church-going, Bible-thumping) for fear of being labeled as not possessing character or integrity.

Faith is not, inherently, a bad thing. But it is also not alone enough to make a man good, nor is its absence indicative of character. The vast majority of people in this country, however, still believe otherwise. And they’ll suffer for it until our culture evolves past the point of having a nonsensical spiritual litmus test for holding office.