What follows is by far my favorite passage from a News Journal article ever. Cris Barrish has a sense of humor.
When gardener Paul Reeves tells O’Donnell the ailing economy is his primary concern, the Republican candidate agrees, saying that she — not six-term Senate incumbent and Democratic vice presidential hopeful Joe Biden — would make the “difficult decisions” to cut government spending.
O’Donnell immediately shifts the conversation, though, to her favorite topic — religion.
“When you go into the voting booth,” the conservative Catholic says, “ask God which candidate will further the kingdom of God.”
Reeves cuts her off.
“Biden’s going to win. I’m going to be honest. He’s going to win both seats,” Reeves says. “And nobody is going to further the kingdom of God but God. That prayer wouldn’t make it to the heavenlies.”
According to two recent independent polls, O’Donnell’s bid to knock off Biden doesn’t have a prayer, either.
That is just hilarious, and it rightly reveals the utter contempt we must have to such appeals to religion.
Ms. O’Donnell, let me tell you something. You do not own God. You do not own the Kingdom of God. You do not own religion. You do not own prayer. You may very well be an honestly religious person who thinks that how she feels about the issues is how God feels about the issues. But the problem with you Christofascist conservatives is that you feel empowered by your opinions about what God wants, so much so that you want to tear up the First Amendment to the Constitution, ban all other religions, ban all other opinions about what God wants in favor of your own opinion, and establish a fascist theocracy.
Ms. O’Donnell, have you ever considered the possibility that you are wrong. You are falliable since you are a human being. Unlike Mike Matthews, I do not consider you a Goddess. And if you are wrong about what God wants, it means that someone else, who you would denounce as immoral and evil, could be right. You see, that is the problem with proclaiming that you are on God’s side, because God just might say “Uh, no you are not.”
Mr. Reeves is right. What furthers the Kingdom of God is God. What furthers America on Earth is thoughtful consideration of which candidate is smart, thoughtful, intelligent, and calm and who would do the most to handle the economic crisis, further social justice, end immoral wars and return America’s moral authority in this world. And I think, if we do that, God might, just might, be happy. But hey, I don’t know God. I speak to Him on occasion, but he doesn’t answer me.