Fatal Flaws & Bad Religion

For more than two years I purposely ingested poison every day to prevent myself from dying. That cancer is a complete bitch is not new news for anyone. Practically everyone knows of someone who died from the disease. When someone tells us that they have cancer, our first response is to anticipate the worst and hope we’re wrong. We inherently understand that left untreated, cancer kills. We’ve seen many survive treatment and go on to live productive lives. We’ve also seen those for whom treatment was insufficient and shed tears watching their lives fade away. Few question the science. Cancer is bad.

So why, then, do we not respond the same to a severe outbreak of the flu? Almost everyone blows it off until they get it and, much to their surprise, it nearly kills them. We are fortunate to have plenty of medications that treat the flu, depending on the variety. Yet, as I’m typing, 4-year-old Ruby Swain is on the verge of dying from a case of Flu A. We hope that she’ll recover, but there are no guarantees. There never have been. The flu is pretty fucking dangerous.

Among this morning’s headlines, Avian flu is suspected in up to 15 bird deaths at New York City zoos. A dairy worker in Nevada has tested positive for H5N1 bird flu, the first human case identified in the state. Both strains are different from the bird flu, which has kept egg prices increasing across the country. As we mentioned yesterday, this is the worst flu outbreak in 15 years. The odds of one form or another developing into a full-scale pandemic are too high to ignore.

So, naturally, Felonious Punk, the questionably-elected leader of our tattered country, decides this would be a good time to start removing critical health information from government websites. Specifically, information related to the particular health issues of women and people of color has gone missing. Funding for medical research has been frozen or abolished. The Centers For Disease Control is bracing for layoffs.

Sit back, I’m gonna make this personal.

In the Spring of 1974, I got the flu. The timing sucked. I was supposed to play Pomp & Circumstance for Jr. High graduation. There were finals to take at school. Things were not going well at the church Poppa pastored and he was actively looking at his options. For a while, we ignored the fever and other symptoms and I kept on plugging away. I could barely see the music as I played for the graduation. I couldn’t concentrate enough to take tests. Because Mother was a trusted teacher, she was allowed to administer my tests at home, but that didn’t help. I grew increasingly sick.

Finally, when my fever hit 105, my parents decided to break down and take me to the doctor. The problem there, and the reason for their hesitancy, was that our local small-town doctor was on vacation. He had made arrangements with another physician in the next town over to see any emergency cases. My parents weren’t sure they wanted to trust this unknown doctor, but when my fever wouldn’t come down, they decided they had to call. At 9:00 at night.

Remember, this was the 70s in rural Oklahoma. There were no urgent care centers. Hospitals largely shut down after 6:00 PM. Going to the ER was out of the question. When Mother called the first time, the doctor was audibly perturbed at the lateness of the call. He told her to give me aspirin (Tylenol wasn’t a big thing yet) and make an appointment for the next morning.

I took the aspirin. My fever continued to rise. At 11:30, Mother called the doctor again. I was in desperate need of help. I was having trouble breathing. The doctor balked, insisting that we would have to wait for normal office hours the next day. Then, Poppa got on the phone. I have no idea what he said to the doctor, but the next thing I knew I was bundled in a blanket and on my way to the doctor’s office.

After seeing my condition, the doctor apologized for the delay. He had not imagined that my condition could possibly be this bad. I remember getting two shots in my butt. Mother would later tell me that I was four. By morning, my fever had gone down to 102, but it stubbornly stayed there for the next four weeks. We would end up moving to Tahlequah before I was completely well. I never saw any of my classmates or friends again.

Only years later would Mother admit that they had erred by not taking me to the doctor sooner. They had relied on faith. Praying like crazy that God would heal me and make me better. Surely, if they waited long enough, this flu would just go away for me like it did for everyone else. It didn’t. If science hadn’t prevailed, I would have died.

Not since then have I had a case of the flu that laid me out as badly as that one. We learned from the experience. At the first sign of a fever, we were off to the doctor. There would be other years when the flu would hit the household pretty hard, but never again was it as life-threatening. The lesson I came away with was two-fold: Don’t take health matters lightly, and don’t expect God to intervene.

So, when Felonious Punk announced this week that he was creating a White House Faith Office and putting Paula White-Cain at its head, a knot started growing in the pit of my stomach. When he signed an executive order alleging to protect against anti-Christian bias, that knot started bouncing around, causing me to feel ill. I fear that these are precursors to a change in government that puts everyone at risk and blatantly defies the Constitution.

The problem is that Paula White-Cain is a fraud. That’s not surprising, given the company she keeps. Newspapers have labeled her as a ‘prosperity gospel’ proponent, one who thinks that there’s a connection between salvation and how much one gives to the church. While that’s true, there’s an even darker side to her beliefs. White-Cain is part of a movement known as the New Apostolic Reformation, which is a Christian Nationalist movement bent on putting like-minded religious fruit cakes in all government offices. They’re willing to completely ignore the whole of the First Amendment. Women’s rights? Nah. They need to stay home. Religious freedom? Nope. If you’re not their brand of Christian your faith is invalid. Science over myth? Not even close. They look at things such as science, math, and rational thinking as damaging to one’s faith and are therefore sinful. These are the people who label empathy as sinful. They bend and contort scripture so far out of context that Jesus Christ himself wouldn’t recognize the bullshit they’re preaching.

The movement is far from new, though it hasn’t always had this name. It has seen a resurgence over the last fifteen years, though. There are books both supporting and debunking the philosophy at almost any bookstore. The tenets of the movement are at the crux of any debate between conservative and progressive churches.

Worse yet, they’re getting what they want. At the start of the new legislative session, a group of North Dakota legislators put forward a blatantly unconstitutional resolution that would have the state “acknowledge the Kingship of Jesus Christ.” 

“Whereas, the founding fathers of this great state begin the constitution with the words, ‘We’, the people of North Dakota, grateful to Almighty God … We desire there shall be a recognition of Almighty God as the source of authority; of the Lord Jesus Christ as the rightful ruler of nations…” the text for House Concurrent Resolution 3020 reads. 

Should this resolution pass, and should courts ultimately uphold it, the entirety of the First Amendment would become null and void. Other states, such as Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa, and Arkansas, would almost immediately follow suit. As more states bend to the idiocy of this movement, the entire Constitution fractures as Amendments are as misinterpreted as are Bible scriptures. The United States as we know it would cease to exist.

I wish I knew what I could do to convince all people that every religion, any of them, is mythological at its base. Their concepts of deity are based on a gross Neanderthal ignorance of the universe. Nothing in any of their holy books holds truth, though they do occasionally give some decent advice about being kind, forgiving, and accepting; you know all the things this administration ignores. Adhering to religious faith above a growing knowledge of the universe, earth, its elements, and its dangers, is the type of foolishness that results in the end of humankind.

Have you ever wondered why humans are the only creatures on the planet who believe in a deity? A 2016 study showed that bonobos not only have more gray matter in the amygdala and insula, regions involved in perceiving emotions in self and others, but they also have a larger pathway linking the amygdala with the anterior cingulate cortex, which is implicated in top-down control of aggressive impulses. Moreover, a study released this past week shows that when bonobos realize they know something human partners don’t, they attempt to communicate and ‘teach’ the human. Great apes don’t rely on mythology, they rely on proven information.

Given that information, who is the lesser species here? Why are we taking governmental instructions from people who not only believe in myths but completely distort them in an effort to extort power?

I grew up thinking that people have a right to believe whatever the fuck they want. I’m no longer of that mind. If what you believe puts other people’s lives in danger, your beliefs are wrong. If what you believe denies established facts, you are wrong. If what you believe diminishes the humanity of others based on gender, sexuality, or perceived race, you are wrong. Period. No excuses.

We can no longer afford to tolerate such ignorance and stupidity, especially in our country’s highest offices. Gay rights are human rights. Trans rights are human rights. All people, everywhere, have a right to the best medical care available. No one should be dying from the flu!

Fuck Christianity. Fuck all religions. I’d just as soon see every last one of their churches, synagogues, and temples burn to the ground. You are a danger to humanity and to this country. I’m done being tolerant of ignorance. Burn it all to the ground.