Falwell, Faith, Fear and Funds

Here's an Aussie's site that you absolutely must visit sometime (BEEP! BEEP! IT'S ME.). I just love the sense of humour, the rich visual context for her blogs, the iconic symbolism of Arthur Dent, the Cheshire Cat, flying pigs ... even the extensive blog rolls. Well worth many visits, actually!

Today, I noticed a quote which I thought instructive:

"When Christianity went to Athens, it became a philosophy. When it went to Rome, it became an organization. When it went to Europe, it became a culture. When it came to America, it became a business."

Christianity in Greece is quite attractive, especially if you fancy Neoplatonism. In Rome, I'm not impressed. In Europe, I start to get afraid of bonfires. In America, I keep feeling for my wallet. The following video illustrates this quite well:

But it's not just your wallet that you need to protect from the televangelist hucksters. It's your liberty and freedom. The so-called Christian pledge of allegiance of the extreme right-wing is just another symbol of how the meaning of words are twisted in the service of a political goal with pseudo-Christian rhetoric - "life and liberty for all who believe".





Admittedly, this video is old, but given the recent death of Jerry Falwell, it's worth rehearsing what this "man of faith" stood for.