CCCP Update
When I wrote about the Complete Conservative Criteria of Patriotism the other day, I omitted one very important criterion: belief and worship of a Sky God. That's right, folks, I do not subscribe to any formal religion nor do I engage in public rituals thereof. I am not religious, although I was educated/indoctrinated as a Roman Catholic. It wore off pretty quick once I was out of grade school and I've never looked back.
My dogtags say Pantheist, which is a pretty good description of my spiritual beliefs and their duration in my life. Where sublime exists in this universe, it is the wholeness of creation, of this improbable explosion of life and thought on a small planet in one galaxy. The miracle of creation and life is about as wondrous and infinite as it gets. As wonderful as all this can be, I know it is as ephemeral as my own life. None of this is permanent, nothing is guaranteed. Life has no inherent meaning, only the meaning I make of the one life I have while I have it. That is why I am (mostly, since I am all too human) respectful and honest in everything I do. Not for some eternal reward but because that is how I want to act toward others and how I want others to treat me. I think that's a very clear and tenable way to live as a human being on this planet. I do not find religion necessary in order to do so.
Now religion isn't the same as patriotism but they have common elements, especially authority, obedience and ritual, all of which are worth questioning in my opinion. Authority, obedience and ritual often compliment each other, either through direct church-state relations as in Russia and England or in the sense of a chosen people like America where a beneficial God steers our destiny. Either way, the public expects a believer, or at least someone who can perform the rituals convincingly, which is why I cannot run for president. Beyond that, though, religion and patriotism are conflated in the public mind. If I believe in no God, I do not believe in the beneficial God who blesses my country in all things. Therefore I cannot be seeking the greatest good for America and cannot be truly patriotic.
This changes the Patriotism Quotient (PQ) calculation to a 20 point scale by adding a possible four points for religion. That puts me at between zero and two out of 20 rather than 16. My PQ for the CCCP slipped even more.
I probably worship Satan and hate America, too.
Labels: last refuge of scoundrels
posted by Rez Dog at 6:10 AM
1 Comments:
i have a lingering fondness for the old beliefs dawg. probably because we always understood that they were not literal truths. i don't know of a single apache, including the children who listen to the stories at night, who honestly believes that there was a time when coyote walked on two legs and spoke in apache, or palled around with his 'cousin' bobcat, or had a talking horse. but, when i'm out camping and see a coyote looking at me with amusement, guess who i'm thinking about? no, i don't believe that spider woman sits at her loom up in the sky weaving time like a fabric. but when i'm out under the stars and look up, guess what i think about?
i don't believe that the rains this year will depend on how well a dance is performed, but come august, guess where my feathered and turquoised ass will be.
i will dance, not to bring rain, but to be an apache, among other apaches. we will dance again this year. merely because we're alive and who we are.
probably dropped a few fucking points on the patriotism scale myself. and no, i will not sign the "loyalty oath." mine was proven in places those cowards wouldn't dream of going. once it's been written in blood, ink becomes meaningless.
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