The Dark Ages weren’t so bad so “Let’s put God back in our country.”

I try to steer clear of religionists who are so over the top that engaging them would be an exercise in futility. It’s not like anything I say would make a difference, and it serves to just get my blood pressure up. That’s why I prefer to keep religionist Facebook friends to a minimum, and fundies to zero.

As luck will have it, a good FB friend who is much more ecumenical than I, asked for my input to a comment left on his page. The comment was in response to an article about Louisiana defying separation of church and state and infusing Christianity into the classroom : 

”God has been taken out of so many things over the years, its no wonder our country is in as bad shape as it is. If we keep the mentally of God first, Country second, Family third, Others fourth, and self last, you'd be surprised what accomplishments will transpire.”  
 Jim Williams, Fishers, Indiana

[Notice that family comes in a distant third behind his imaginary God. I guess if it comes down to God demanding a human sacrifice, or his playing catch with his kid, we know who’s gonna get the short end of the stick.]

Yes, Jim would like to see more god in our country.  You know, the good old days when people worshiped together on bloody knees, while doing penance, and flagellating themselves; when King's ruled with God Given Divine Right; when Pope's and priests were sacrosanct; when unread uneducated peasants fell to their knees praying for the plague to end, or burned Jews at the Church's behest for their having conveniently been found responsible for spreading the plague.

Who doesn’t long for those days when God was first, and prevailed above all else? When he filled the hearts of men; where God and country were one in the same, and family was second so that they didn’t hesitate to turn in their family witches; subjected their ill to the torment of exorcism, and reported heretics promptly and often. Where God determined the guilt or innocence of loved ones or the scapegoated by whether or not they drowned when thrown bound into a pool, or if they felt pain when they were burned alive at the stake.

Ahhh ... the good old days of Church and God above all, when Jews were persecuted, crusades were fought, and science was trampled underfoot all in protection of God's holy word and for God’s glory; when the only book anyone needed was the Holy Bible - but only in the hands of the Church, on pain of death, lest commoners misinterpret the words, contradict the Church’s interpretation and run amok.

Yes… lets get God back into our nation, our schools, our military, our courts, and elevate him/it above all else. Let’s regress, deny the scientific age, toss out all those troubling freedoms and rights societal evolution has delivered over the past 1000 years; chuck the scientific advancement gained in spite of religious suppression.  We can call this new and improved era  "The Dark Ages" or to avoid confusion 1000 years from now …  "The Dark Ages 2.0".

Then, I'm sure God will shine his countenance upon us and bless us much as he has blessed our most religious God Fearing state - Mississippi - whose poverty, crime, teen pregnancy, under education, unemployment, and short life expectancy are epic, and have run rampant for generations under His Divine Blessings.

We have been warned!!!  Until and unless this happens we may fall further into the depths of godlessness and find ourselves like Norway, Sweden, and Denmark three of the worlds ten most prosperous nations, where a majority are atheist, have the strongest economies, enjoy the highest standards of living, lowest crime rates, lowest suicide rates and highest education levels on the entire planet. Gawd protect us from THAT horror!!!

The Jim Williams’ are many.  They infest this nation; they breed in litters and infect their offspring with this backwardness thus prolonging religio-mindlessness for another generation.  They vote for prayer in school, the banning of abortion, the criminalization of homosexuality, the rejection of evolutionary theory, the acceptance of Creationism as science. They promote the idea of dinosaur riding by cave men, the US as a Christian Nation, the Ten Commandments as the basis for the Constitution, and the idea that storms, earthquakes, fires, droughts and slow economic growth are the signs of their God’s disapproval and wrath.

They are the FOX news faithful, and rabid supporters of those GOP politicians  whose seemingly weekly outrageous public comments would be laughable if they were joking, and that make even moderate Republicans shudder in disbelief and embarrassment.

It’s the 21^st century in most of the world, a welcome era when the possibilities of scientific discovery and great strides in social advancement will make this country, the world, a better place.   But not in the minds of the Jim Williams’ and his ilk who mourn the passing of the age of the boogieman.  Their own passing can’t happen soon enough for me.