Separation of Church and Hate

Even before Barack Obama took the stage Tuesday morning to be sworn in as our forty fourth president, it was called the largest gathering of people in the history of Washington. I'd been anticipating the moment when our man would stand up and take the helm of our sinking ship. Watching the images of the mammoth crowds broadcast on CNN filled me with the unmistakable feeling that I was about to witness history. What happened next was nothing short of terrifying. A pudgy, god-fearing Christian waddled up to the microphone and began to spew vomit into the ears of the millions listening. It began something like this...

"Let us pray. Almighty God, our father, everything we see and everything we can't see exists because of you alone. It all comes from you, it all belongs to you. It all exists for your glory. History is your story. The Scripture tells us, "Hear, oh Israel, the Lord is our God; the Lord is one." And you are the compassionate and merciful one. And you are loving to everyone you have made."

I'll stop there as I'm sure you get the picture. Of course the fat fuck about whom I am speaking was Rev. Rick Warren, founder of Orange County's Saddleback Church. Warren was invited to give the "opening prayer" at this year's inauguration. I watched the entire tragedy unfold with a twisted sense of curiosity, like a child watching his first horror movie, testing the limits of my own nerves. I'll get to my point. Imagine if a few elements of setting were changed. Cover the crowd in hijabs and turbans, give Warren a long black beard, translate into Arabic, and broadcast that on CNN. I give it five minutes before every gun store in bum-fuck America has empty shelves. So once again I'll ask the question that seems to have no answer. What happened to separation of Church and State? We're taught everyday by the media to fear religious fundamentalist governments, and to make them our enemies. We are our greatest threat. Where is Thomas Jefferson when you need him? That's right, dead. Along with another one of the ideals upon which our nation was founded.