Secular Left Posts

February 6, 2018

Comedian Adam Ferrara has a very direct one-liner that he uses to define Catholicism: “Basically, if it feels good, stop.”

Depending on who you ask, Catholics may or may not qualify as Christians. The idea of preserving oneself, however, as a matter of faith, is present in both. The Bible says that “your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.” A vessel that should remain pure to carry out the Lord’s work.

But as we know, many people of Christian faith practice some form of indulgence and don’t believe it to compromise their faith. So the fact that the Christian right takes such an issue with marijuana is a bit confounding.

Sin and Perception

January 8, 2018
December 12, 2017

Religious texts are powerful rhetorical devices because they are subject to interpretation. America has no state religion, but the right wing has strongly endorsed what it preaches are a set of Christian values, making the movement more approachable to the seventy percent of Americans who identify as Christians.

You might think that for people who hold this set of values, Alabama’s Republican candidate for Senate, Roy Moore, would be stoned after five women came forward and made claims that Moore came on to them or worse when they were teenagers. The Christian right, however, seems to have taken a position of denial.

Moore’s not the only one setting a bad example for Christians in politics, either. There’s also our president.

Where Organized Religion and Politics Meet

November 7, 2017

With Halloween now in the rear-view mirror, we all know the world is about to jump on the Christmas bandwagon for the next two months. Never mind the fact that there’s a whole other national holiday in between the two (not that Thanksgiving doesn’t have its fundamental flaws as well, but that’s for another rant…).

Remember when Starbucks released its Christmas cup design back in 2015, and the entire world went nuts about it? Half the world seemed to be decrying the innocent cups as the end of civilization as we know it, while the other half of the world protested, “It’s just a cup! Get over it!”

October 13, 2017
image of The Trump

‘President’ Trump spoke at the ‘Value Voters’ Summit, which is sponsored by anti-LGBTQ hate group the Family Research Council, and promptly offered them some red meat to bolster his own ego and failing administration. What better way to distract from failure than scapegoating other people.

October 5, 2017

The world is an opportunistic place. As Steve Jobs famously implied, in order to sell something, in order to manipulate a desired response from someone else, you need to be speaking the language of emotions. Whether fear, desire or shame, empires have been built on exploiting the base emotional reactions of other humans, and in some cases, monetizing them.

You could argue that religion, the oldest form of politics, is one place where appealing to people’s insecurities is customary — whether promising satisfaction of carnal desires or immortality through reincarnation of your true essence. In a time where secularism is on the rise, it is natural that more and more individuals who subscribe to a religion will want to prove its relevance and importance, and objectify just about anything to do so. It’s only natural to see and hear the scaremongers.