Politics, The New Religion

When I was in Secondary School in the mid 1980's my school library had a book that I loved, The State of the World Atlas. It had maps showing the world using various themes, what countries had capital punishment, or conscription, or power plants or I think you get the basic idea. One of the maps was on world religions and it showed the religion of the Soviet Union as Marxist-Leninism. In the description it stated that the Soviet Union officially had no religion but that Marxist-Leninism was in reality the defacto state religion.

It had a bible, the Communist Manifesto, and other "holy" texts. It had it's own Saints and Demons. It had it's own processions. It had it's own paradise and it's own hell. It was my introduction to an idea I found quite shocking, that politics could be a substitute for religion. For a long time the idea sat there but I did not forgot it. Today I think that they were correct, that belief is belief whether that belief be of a material or of a supernatural nature.

That means that as religion, particularly Christianity and Judaism have been disappearing, belief has continued. Not belief in God, instead in mans ability to create our own paradise on Earth. For a long time God's paradise and mans paradise lived side by side because mans paradise looked to be a long way off. In the last 100 years God and his followers have had to compete against mans paradise. A paradise that seemed with each passing decade to be closer. To many people we didn't need supernatural miracles as man was now able to create his own miracles. The rate of technological advance during that time WAS truly spectacular.

During the Twentieth century there was an assumption that technological progress would spell the end of religion and in it's place would be rational thinkers. However human nature is not like that, in reality we are both rational and irrational. That means that if we reject one belief we go looking for another. It satisfy's both our emotional needs and our logical needs. So believing in Communism or Liberalism can become a religious experience. But there is one major way that this new religion is deficient and that is it's own belief that it not a religion. It means that the believers faith is always being challenged and they feel that they must defend it constantly against attack. 

All modern political philosophy's are Christian heresies, but they have never completely shed their Christian skin. Missionary work is important, so is preaching, so is conversion. However unlike Christianity there is no church to gather at for that work, instead everywhere becomes their church. And it's not just one day a week. Every school, every workplace, everywhere and it must be directed at everyone at all times. Everything must be political because politics is their religion. It's why the time when you could have a rational argument about politics or religion are over. As the The Z Man wrote a few days ago "Today even NASCAR is a sermon", as there are no churches anywhere is a good place for a sermon and for any reason.

Today I read that the word Fascist simply means Heretic. As soon as I read that I knew it was true. So that means that Nazi, Racist, Sexist, Homophobe, Islamaphobe also simply mean Heretic. For example, I am a Racist, not because I hate people of another race, but because I do not believe or support the current religious orthodoxy. That is why no matter how much we bow down it can never be enough. We must become Orthodox ourselves, just like them, if we wish to be saved.

We have all seen this get worse, we have left the battle of ideas and now we have entered into the battle of wills. Is their will really stronger than ours?

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