mission accomplished and the christian right

the take home final is done! it took an all-nighter tuesday night, and then i slept about 15 hours on wednesday. but i did what i had to do, and to use the parlance of our times, mission accomplished. oh, topical humor ... "its just like watching murphy brown!"

which brings me to a new issue (and my first online rant): i've been pretty vocal about my frustration and utter disdain for the outcome of our nation's recent elections. sure, in a democracy (or our republic), your guy doesn't always win, and i can understand the cause for celebration for those that view the world differently than i. your guy won, gloat all you want, but don't expect me not to dry heave in your general direction when you do.

however, on three separate occasions, i've come across bush supporters wielding scripture to condemn my voicing of dissatisfaction. i'm guessing that there's some blanket email going out to all the baptist churches, teaching everyone this cool new bible verse that they can allude to, anytime someone has something negative to say about the president:

"let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. for there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. therefore, he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves."
-- Romans 13:1-2

oh, ok! cool, i get it now, i need to get on board, lest i be condemned. funny know one told me about this verse during the glory years. even so, i think i'll take my chances. why not? the company of dissenters is pretty nice. for starters, apparently none of our founding fathers read the book of Romans, otherwise we'd still be enjoying warm tea through our bad teeth. who knew all those revolutionaries we know and love were nothing but dirty sinners? kinda kills that whole "america was founded on christian ideals" argument, eh christian right?

ghandi = sinner ... who knew? and we really dodged a bullet with the civil rights movement. clearly, martin luther king wasn't much of a bible reader, and i think most people would agree that it worked in our favor. also, i think the protestants can get on board with me when i say that its a glorious thing martin luther spent too much time writing theses to read his bible cover to cover, otherwise i could still score myself some back-to-school indulgences. come to think of it, almost every single act that permanently shapes a nation, or a people, or a religion, or a society as a whole has been met with opposition from the authorities of that time.

so get off my back with the scripture, can we? especially verses so contradictory and hypocritical that it makes you look like a fool. just be happy (and maybe even humble?) that your poster boy fought off the moving vans, but don't hint at me that i can't say my piece.

besides, jesus himself was a pretty revolutionary dude.


(p.s. still don't agree? then keep reading, republicans ... a few verses later it says you have to pay taxes. such is the word of God.)