The Mad Hatters, Cheshire Cats and White Rabbits of Today's Politico-religious Theater

How the Crazies in Religion Are Leading Us Down The Rabbit Hole

It's all a little like Alice in Wonderland, when you look at the Religion of Politics and/or the Politics of Religion these days. If you remember from your Lit I class, Alice In Wonderland is a classic of Literary Nonsense:

Literary nonsense refers to a genre of literature, whether poetry or prose, that plays with conventions of language and logic through a careful balance of sense and non-sense elements. Its strict adherence to structure is balanced by semantic chaos and play with logic. Usually formal diction and tone are balanced with an inherent topsy-turvyness and absurdity. The effect of nonsense is often caused by an excess of meaning, rather than a lack of it.

So religion - or our current religious political forces - are turning our world topsy-turvy while telling us that that is the only way our world should be:

George W. Bush was "Born Again" by talking with Billy Graham (once) and entered his idea of Compassionate Conservatism into the political maelstrom. Like the Cheshire Cat, it seems to have become invisible. Billy Graham is not looked upon as a "crazy" in religion, but rather a proto-crazy, allowing for all the others to act crazy while pretending to emulate him.

George told Pat Robertson that God wanted him to lead the nation and that if he went to war in Iraq, there would be no casualties. Sounds like something uttered at a Tea Party.

Robertson and others have remained steadfast in their support of Israel - the nation-state, not the people who are Jews and definitely not Christians. Robertson and his Christians know that The Rapture implied in the Bible cannot happen until Israel gains all of its promised land.

John McCain's spiritual advisor, Rod Parsley wants everyone to know that the REAL purpose of the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War were to become a nation with the sole purpose of destroying Islam. When he goes on about homosexuality and feminism and all the ills of the country, Parsley does seem to rattle on like the white rabbit. We're all late for that important date: nuking Iran. Of course, since Parsley is also a "prosperity theology" preacher, nuking Iran would somehow be very, very profitable and bring us all the rewards we've been praying for.

Pastor John Hagee warns everyone that the Catholic Church is the REAL Anti-Christ and says that the Bible calls it "The Great Whore" conveniently forgetting that the Bible meant either Babylon or Rome (without the pope). He waxes bombastically from his books like the Mad Hatter, expecting everyone to believe his faulty logic.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's mentor, has called upon God to damn the U.S. for all the things it's already admitted to doing. His pulpit emits the grandeur of his calling and inspiration, a little like the Queen of Hearts.





Dont' you wish, in a sense, that all of this really WAS part of Alice in Wonderland because, in the end, it would all turn out to be a dream.

Which character would you attribute to which politician or preacher?