Just dump it in the front yard, yeah?
Erick Erickson thinks he knows what’s wrong with America. See if you can guess what his solution might be:
Our country doesn’t have a partisan problem, a political problem, a social problem, an economic problem, or any other problem as big as the spiritual problem we have.
In the absence of God, Americans across partisan lines have turned to government and celebrity for their gods. They have gone off to worship idols.
Indeed? And somehow Erickson has forgotten about all the intra-<place your favorite religion> violence that has occurred over the centuries? Protestant on Catholic on Protestant, for example? Even peaceful Hindus experience violence over such things as the invasion of Western customs. Imagine getting beat up because someone thought you were celebrating Valentine’s Day. (According to the Times of India article I read while in India 20+ years ago, it was actually a birthday party that happened to fall on Valentine’s Day. Poor guy.)
Religion is the source of much, but not all, violence. There’s nothing like an obscure theological point that some power-seeking person chooses to hang their hat on and start a fight over, that often turns deadly because each side is convinced that the Divinity is on their side. Concerning a Divinity for which they have no objective proof.
And, of course, Erickson ends his rant in the worst possible way, and, as a lawyer and intellectual, he knows better:
We need Jesus, not partisanship. We should expect our President to do anything but say that. Our leaders have failed us on all sides. They’ve led us to idols and performance art on social media.
Sheer, shameful pandering to the audience. This is how to solidify the base – don’t give them a reason to question, play to their biases. And he knows that, besides the fact that a good chunk of the United States isn’t Christian, and many of those that are know this, the President can’t do that. A President, in his official capacity, cannot advocate for a particular religion. Even if prosecuting him would be dicey, he’d immediately lose support right across the spectrum.
And does Erickson want to be told he should convert to Catholicism, if Biden were to choose to go full Jesus?
I won’t presume to prescribe for what ails us, because I think it’s a complex problem involving religion, intellectual laxness, arrogance, and the insane reach of the Web, but I do think that prescribing the source of many bloody wars as a solution is a bit of … well, self-delusion or pandering. Take your pick.
