I Will Choose a Path That's Clear...

Religious conservatism is something that baffles me. Well, let's be honest - conservatism is something that baffles me. But I'm especially having difficulty reconciling the fact that people of a religious bent would be on the right side of the political spectrum when it comes to the issue of government programs. I really can only talk about Judaism and Christianity, since I'm of Jewish background and I've lived all my life in a country of Christian majority. So if my take on this does not apply to other religions, I apologize.

I read a blog recently that had an entry about the Air France crash in Toronto earlier this month. The blogger (who is a conservative Christian) applauded the media for referring to the survival of all the passengers and crew as a "miracle". She went on:

I wish the media would take time to appropriately name other miracles. How about the possible news headlines:

Some High School Students Actually Say "No" to Drugs

Twenty percent of College Graduates Maintain Their Virginity

Despite Political, Cultural and Economic Pressure, Women Increasingly Stay Home with Family

and my favorite "miracle story": No Terrorist Activity in the US Since 9/11

May God give us eyes to see the miracles that surround us.

My initial reaction to reading this shows my reality-based bias. Aside from the dog-bites-man nature of the above items, I think that a statement like that either gives God too much credit, or gives people of free will too little. It basically said that all good things are as a result of divine intervention, and all bad things are either caused by fallible people, or just a function of the fact that "shit happens". It's reminiscent to me of the Passover seder when we sing "Dayenuh" to thank God for getting us out of all kinds of jackpots in ancient Egypt, forgetting that He got us into them in the first place. But in response to a reader's comment to that effect, the blogger said, "My hope is that it wouldn't require such a tragic event for any of us to be thankful and appreciative of the good things bestowed on us." I have no problem with that, and any source of gratitude and humility is a good thing. And I fully appreciate the sincerity of this blogger, and of the many people who share the belief in God's role in worldly matters.

The problem I have is with the intellectual inconsistency of religious conservatives. They engage in prayer, often with an objective. They pray for a loved one's health. They pray for the troops at war. They pray for personal strength. In other words, they appeal to a higher power to intervene and give them assistance in a dire situation. And yet, these same people object to government social programs. It's okay to call on God to heal the sick, but there shouldn't be a public health care system. It's okay to call on God to feed the hungry, but don't don't use my tax dollars for welfare programs. It's okay to pray to God for the well-being of our children, but tax dollars shouldn't go toward day care. Do you see what I'm getting at, folks? (I just slipped into Limbaugh for a moment.) I believe that anybody who believes that God is the source of all that's good in the world, or who has ever appealed to God to assist in a worldly matter, has forfeited the right to preach to others about "personal responsibility" and "self-sufficiency" when it comes to the merits of government programs. The only difference between the intervention of God and the intervention of government is that God doesn't send you a tax bill. If He did, I assure you there would be a lot less prayer going on.