Now This?

I am not easily offended.  I grew up as a sort of chubby kid whose last name includes the word "gas," and it has made me pretty thick skinned.  I like to think I have a sharp sense of humor and can usually tell and take a good joke. I was a little disappointed by Donald Sterling's racist comments, but in no way surprised by the fact that a rich white guy was harboring such despicable ideas in his heart.  Generally, when I hear or see people being that way, it just sort of confirms my basic opinion of humanity as a rather wretched bunch of sinners.  Oddly this generally increases my appreciation of those moments when people actually get it right: when they help, when they care, when they're just decent.
Low expectations of people in general make me pretty outrage proof.
Then Sarah Palin compared water-boarding to baptism... or baptism to water-boarding... or whatever, I'm not really sure... I'm not sure she was even sure what exactly she was saying.  I suppose I should have expected such stuff from Sarah, who is a rich fount of verbal bungling and practically a walking non sequitur, but I wondered at how the rather large crowd of NRA supporters, most of whom, I'm guessing, identify as some sort of Christian, actually cheered for her when she said, and I quote: "If I was in charge, they'd know that water-boarding is how we'd baptize terrorists."

Let's walk through this step by step, shall we?

1. Jesus was absolutely insistent on non-violence, to the point where he submitted to being tortured and killed himself rather than rallying his followers to take up arms and fight.

2. Whenever one of his followers tried to suggest that perhaps they get all butt-kicky he put them in their place and usually reminded them that his gig was a little different.

3. While there are certain theological schemes that can justify the use of force as an exercise of the commandment to love thy neighbor (i.e. putting a stop to Hitler's nonsense), the general tenor of a Christ-like existence should probably not be "stand and fight." (the theme of the NRA rally where Palin vomited all over two thousand years of Jesus following).

4. So, therefore, obviously, Jesus would enjoy having one of the most universal signs of the covenant between a loving God and his wayward children, be compared to a form of torture that involves the repeated near drowning of the victim.

In Baptism we remember that we are dead to sin and alive in Christ, we are joined with Christ in a death like his (which was rather plainly as the victim, not the perpetrator of torture), so that we might be with him in a life like his.  I'm just guessing that the guy who said, "blessed are the meek," and "forgive them Father, they don't know what they're doing," would probably have a pretty clear and simple stance on torture.

That stance would be: "Are you serious?"

Look people, theology does matter sometimes.  This nonsense of equating guns, freedom and 'Merica with Jesus has got to stop.  We need to be convicted of the reality that we're a lot more like Rome than we are a "Christian Nation." 

That doesn't mean I hate our country, or that I want to live somewhere else, it means that I love our country enough to want to see it live up to it's potential.  I also love Jesus, and if it comes down to picking a side, I'm going to take Jesus before I take the stars and stripes.

I honestly wonder if Ms. Palin has some sort of cognitive disorder, if so that means that all the people who will still sit and listen to her give one of these maniacal speeches must somehow share the disorder.

The sheer volume of psychopathy is more than a little frightening.

Lord, save us all, and please introduce yourself to Sarah Palin.