Original Letter

Can a people that believe more fervently in the Virgin Birth than in evolution still be called an Enlightened nation? America, the first real democracy in history, was a product of Enlightenment values - critical intelligence, tolerance, respect for evidence, a regard for the secular sciences. Though the founders differed on many things, they shared these values of what was then modernity. They addressed "a candid world," as they wrote in the Declaration of Independence, out of "a decent respect for the opinions of mankind." Respect for evidence seems not to pertain any more, when a poll taken just before the elections showed that 75 percent of Mr. Bush's supporters believe Iraq either worked closely with Al Qaeda or was directly involved in the attacks of 9/11.The secular states of modern Europe do not understand the fundamentalism of the American electorate. It is not what they had experienced from this country in the past. In fact, we now resemble those nations less than we do our putative enemies."

These are the words of Historian Gary Wills (a practicing Catholic), in an editorial piece entitled, "The Day the Enlightenment Went Out", after the 2004 election.

A recent criticism of my methods in engaging theists has been the inability, or stubbornness, however you may look at it, of acknowledging the "good" supposedly wrought from the religious convictions of people from this great country we share. Now, I'd like to point out that there is a difference between a person of strong religious conviction who has contributed to this country, and a person of strong religious conviction who has contributed to this country as a sole representative of their particular system of beliefs. For comparison, Martin Luther King Jr. was a baptist minister, but his work, which I consider quite possibly the most important socially contrived excellence we have seen in this country since its' founding, is the result of a more prominent attribute. Now, if Pat Robertson were to contribute to something worthwhile, something of this magnitude under the role of a church patriarch, I would be forced to reconsider my respect for the contributions of the religious in this country.
To be fair, there is one specific church leader for who I have the utmost respect. As I sit and make my home of the very island settled by the Hutchinsons, Coddingtons, and Clarkes, at the behest of this man, I am often overwhelmed with a real sense of childlike pride at calling this place my home. It is of course, to you fellow Rhode Islanders, Roger Williams that I speak of...
Roger Williams, for obvious reasons, is still progressive. His advocacy of the most virulent form of separation of church and state, under the very defined term "soul-liberty" or liberty of conscious, was at the very least a preclude to my beloved establishment clause of the first amendment of the constitution. Most likely, it was also the insight to freedom of conscious, the right for a person to believe what he will, without civil penalty.

A short list of things for which I give the theologian, Roger Williams, the highest credit. (All this from a man born in 1603!)

1. Co-founded Rhode Island, and city of Providence.
2. Rhode Island passed first law making slavery illegal.
3. Very early proponent of separation of church and state
4. Acknowledge Indians as man, and dealt with them fairly.
5. Backlashed against calling England "Christendom", instead dissenting and calling England an apostate of the church, for its' theocratic nature.
6. Hated by Baptists (This one guarantees you are doing something right)
7. Established Rhode Island as a safe haven for people being persecuted for their beliefs (eerie how this might become another reality.)


So, there you have it. An American Theologian I respect. He also started the first Baptist church here in America before leaving the cult. I would like to point out that we have recently passed the 400 year mark of his birth, effectively making this nearly 400 years of Christian drought in this country. My ultimate point being that we will almost certainly never have another contributing Christian theologian in this country. This claim is withstanding, and I merely point out my top ten list of powerful theologians and minor details of their existence. Dr. Kings' "warm and reviving breeze of hope" is long over, faith needs to die.

1. Ron Luce: Founder of Teen Mania, Branded by God, www.Battlecry.com, and the Acquire the Fire movement. Ron is part of some kind of cultish People's Temple stronghold out in Washington, where things like birth control, swearing, and female involvement are graciously pushed aside for the novel concept of Branded By God and over-breeding. Besides this, he will soon be starting THIS. Honestly, I'm just showing you here... quotes and visuals. They are doing the work for me... More on the Holy War.

2. Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson: Former Republican Presidential candidate, this man has a television audience of over 1 million viewers daily. He gives himself credit in the national prayers he led to open seats in the supreme court when Sandra Day O'Connor resigned. Let us soak in his own words...
"If Christian people work together, they can succeed during this decade in winning back control of the institutions that have been taken from them over the past 70 years. Expect confrontations that will be not only unpleasant but at times physically bloody.... This decade will not be for the faint of heart, but the resolute. Institutions will be plunged into wrenching change. We will be living through one of the most tumultuous periods of human history. When it is over, I am convinced God's people will emerge victorious."

"There is no such thing as separation of church and state in the Constitution. It is a lie of the Left and we are not going to take it anymore."

"Individual Christians are the only ones really -- and Jewish people, those who trust God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob -- are the only ones that are qualified to have the reign, because hopefully, they will be governed by God and submit to Him."

There are so many, many more...but you get the picture. Moving on.

3. Jerry Falwell: Founder of Liberty University, and the Moral Majority. Belligerent fundamentalist, Southern Baptist Convention associated, creationist, whackjob. You get one quote to sum it up, spoken on the 700 Club (see 2.) after the September 11 tragedy and concurred by, yep, Pat Robertson (see 2.). "I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen."

Yeaaa. It had nothing to do with religion. Sheer, utter brilliance. Suitable for a position as president of an accredited University no doubt...

4. James Clayton "Jim" Dobson: Focus on the Family founder, radio and televangelist, and psychologist. No proper construction of an official Asshat would be complete without the measurements of Dobson's head. His Quest International initiative amounts to nothing more than a cult indoctrination of kids with unproven results, and techniques regarded as brainwashing. And hey, he said it: "Nothing short of great Civil War of Values rages today throughout North America. Two sides with vastly differing and incompatible world-views are locked in a bitter conflict that permeates every level of society. …the struggle now is for the hearts and minds of the people. It is a war over ideas. And someday soon, I believe, a winner will emerge and the loser will fade from memory. For now, the outcome is very much in doubt."

5. Ted Arthur Haggard: Not so powerful anymore, so perhaps he doesn't belong on this list... he is the former president of the 90 million strong National Evangelicals Association, founder of the Megachurch, New Life, in Colorado, personal friend of James Dobson (see 4.) and a bowl of microwaved noodle soaked hypocrisy. His admittance of sexual immorality and drug use was preceded by his constant denial. He really shouldn't be on this list, it would be like adding Billy Graham...but it is an opportunity to plug in a Dawkins' quote about Haggard here...

"Finally, I have repeatedly been asked what I think of South Park and of Ted Haggard’s downfall. I won’t say much about either. Schadenfreude is not an appealing emotion so, on Haggard, I’ll say only that if it wasn’t for people of his religious persuasion, people of his sexual persuasion would be free to do what they like without shame and without fear of exposure. I share neither his religious nor his sexual persuasion (that’s an understatement), and I’m buggered if I like being portrayed as a cartoon character buggering a bald transvestite. I wouldn’t have minded so much if only it had been in the service of some serious point, but if there was a serious point in there I couldn’t discern it. And then there’s the matter of the accent they gave me. Now, if only I could be offered a cameo role in The Simpsons, I could show that actor how to do a real British accent."

6. Timothy F. LaHaye: Minister, founder of several toxic institutions of lower learning. Author of the apocalyptic Left Behind series. Enough said. The man looks forward to the day all non-believers are cast into the pit of eternal fire.

7. Becky Fischer: Pentecostal Children's Pastor. Most notable for her role as the Pastor in Jesus Camp, the academy award nominated documentary about her "Kids on Fire" camp. Consider most fundamentalists views (creationism, anti-abortion, anti-gay), add Bush worshiping, and Kid brainwashing, and speaking in tongues, and top it off with an "Warlocks are an enemy of God! Harry Potter would have been put to death!" rant, and you've got yourself a certified lunatic.

8. Tofik Benedictus "Benny" Hinn: No comment, this requires visual depiction: The Power of Prayer.

9. Bill Britt: Former Pastor turned Amway/Quixtar Crown Ambassador. I cannot emphasize enough the absolute corruption that the MLM presents, the tendrils in government, the cult nature of this organization. The real money is in the self help market of the business, with the products bringing in money only to the parent company Alticor, (Run by the DeVos). Britt himself has been cited for numerous frauds and conspiracy claims...

10. Rod Parsley: Powerful Televangelist and senior pastor of World Harvest Church (The Sunday morning disaster show you had to scroll through as a kid on your way to finding cartoons). His concepts of God are quite possibly the most absurd of all the cracks in the field...

Observe: "I'm just being moved on in a funny way today by the Holy Ghost and I yield myself to it that great blessing may come to you . . . I just love the different anointings of God. I'm glad to be serving a God of variety . . . This is just a different anointing."

Did I mention this guy is powerful?

Honorable Mentions: The Graham Family, Joel Osteen, Robert H. Schuller, Joyce Meyer, and Rick Warren.

What have these people done to contribute anything to society? They are all millionaires, filthy rich, high rolling, scam artists, and peddler of men. I suppose a person could make a claim that the theologian Dan Barker, has contributed recently... oh wait, he is one of the founders of the current movement...not sure if that counts...negation by proxy?

It has been 36 years since Insect Societies, the primer of modern evolutionary behavior theory, and a start of an embodiment of work which would lead to emerging concepts of biological determinism, and the concept of the selfish gene. Both of which have undergone tremendous scrutiny for their role in so called Social Darwinism and the layman's eugenics beliefs involving evolutionary psychology theory. E.O. Wilson has survived to see his once controversial ideas of Darwinian behavior models not only accepted by modern science, but skillfully used to help defeat the public enemy of rational thought in so much as explaining away their very reason for existence. The "ultra" Darwinist would consider anyone who thinks that Darwinism does not contain enough creative power to account for design as an enemy.
One of the last theist strongholds is in the field of human behavior, and the natural inclination we tend to have towards absolute morality. Scientists, of which about 7% believe in a personal God, have been working to answer the ever dominant and impotent "If there is no God, what reason is there to be good" argument(?).
Using the "reciprocal altruism" rule seems to most rational people a perfectly suitable explanation for evolved cooperative behavior among social animals. The lesser mentally evolved of our species would require less evidence, and more supernatural explanations. The use of game theory for example, is wholly insignificant to the great morality frothing from the bible.
Several articles today have cited a study posted yesterday by Duke University in Nature Magazine declaring that they have found the "altruistic" core of the brain. Altruism is one of the more difficult behaviors to define, but apparently the examples of active altruistic behavior are abundant enough to be noticeable to brain imaging techniques.
Almost 40 years after Wilson's breakthrough considerations, we have moved that much closer to accepting the "Universal Acid" of Darwinism in the understanding of our existence, and if the future scientists and philosophers of this thought process can handle the simultaneous acceptance of the underlying concept of the selfish gene, and at the same time the gentle removal of ancient text in morality, we may be that much closer to surviving the results of this surging culture war.