Inside the head of every God-believing person, there must be a God. Who or what takes shape in that space of the mind, or heart–where that God lives–will likely differ in some small ways from one person to the next, even among those who partake in the same religion. As a non-believer, I do not feel that presence. I once looked for it, but could not find it. Now older, I am more settled in my status as a non-believer. Much of this is due to the realization that we are not necessarily in control of what we believe or what we dismiss.
There is instinct, a reflexive mental response that in some cases is just too strong to shake. I don’t believe I could become a believer, even if I wanted to. Even religion, at times, admits this–there is plenty of talk about people’s faith being tested, and reassurances that God will never give you more than you can handle. This in some ways, is a kind of backward engineered response, to soothe over any circumstance that causes one to ask “why, God, oh why?”
There are two recent events where I feel, in real-time, the flagrant use and insertion of God into the narrative is irresponsible at best, reprehensible at worst. The events, depending on your specific interpretation, are nothing to compare, strictly as events. However, there does exist a theme that I felt irked about enough to describe here.
For one, the assassination attempt of President Trump at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. And two, the ongoing conflict between Palestine and Israel. I understand these events seem to have nothing to do with each other, and directly speaking, they don’t. But I would like to explore the role religion plays in the ongoing conflict, and the role religion played in the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. I would suggest that these two events show the entitlement of religion at its very clearest and also illustrate the dangers of such a thought process.
In an article published shortly after President Trump’s assassination attempt, I remarked:
“One of the worst aspects of religious style thinking is to see miracles, that is, to apply the hand of God where they are not necessary. Mostly, this overcomplicates relatively simple situations and puts them in the context of the supernatural–a category of explanation that often raises many more questions than it actually answers. If you remember, and I am sure you do, Trump was in the middle of giving his speech and while referencing a visual aid on a nearby screen, he turned his head ever-so-slightly, just as a bullet was being fired right on track to enter his brain.
The bullet, instead of assassinating Trump, grazed his ear, causing a likely painful, but ultimately superficial wound. I don’t know how to explain to someone that every detail of this story can be done so through physics, through a very down-to-earth, very common narrative. Yes, it is coincidental, yes, it is incredibly lucky that Trump turned his head, but nothing about this event requires a supernatural influence. Nothing about this requires a miracle worker or an angelic intervention.”
I should say I have not changed my mind on this, and it is very likely that nobody who disagrees with my take has either. But let’s move away from the actual incident described here and posit what must be in the mind of a person who truly believes that God saved Trump from harm to save the future of America. While I cannot truly tell who believes such a thing or not, I am, without a doubt, convinced that they exist and are quite unaware of how incredibly entitled this comes across.
In their thought process, God, the Bible, the American flag, and Trump are really all a part of the same insignia. Perhaps God does love all children, but he is, in fact, an American. He speaks English. No other event that day could take precedence, forgetting for the moment that God, one must presume in the eyes of a believer, could be in two places at once. It is this type of territorial nature, which exists after the event that is irksome.
In their mind, if God was spared a bullet (well, almost, he was hit), or at the very least his life, this signals, without a doubt, that Trump is the true and God mandated heir to the American throne. You don’t get one without the other.
In this way, America is entitled to Trump, and Trump is entitled to his Presidency, votes be damned. I say Donald Trump is President because the election was authentically in his favor by number. But that, for many, is not good enough. What good is a vote when the voice of God has been made clear?
The second event I mentioned is ongoing, and since nobody would find the above at all controversial, I thought I would also tackle the conflict, the war, the genocide– whichever term you would like to use–between the state of Israel and Palestine. Watching an afternoon clip of the commentator Piers Morgan’s Uncensored broadcast, I found myself listening to Mrs. Daniella Weiss in conversation with the host. Daniella Weiss is an Israeli-Orthodox Zionist and the founder of Nachala, an Israeli settler organization. Her reputation is not one of great standing from an international perspective, and I found many aspects of her statements (and attitude while expressing them) to be abhorrent.
No doubt there are citizens of the Israeli state who would and should disavow her when given the chance. However, she was quite clear on one aspect of the ongoing conflict that many people are in strong agreement, and this one aspect cuts to the meat of the matter; the Jewish people are, once and for all, entitled to Israel. Why? Because our God said so, that is why. This statement, because of the concreteness of its belief, because the Torah demands it, is the chief instigator, and therefore the chief hurdle to peace ever seeing daylight in that region. This is another example of when God is introduced as the arbiter of land, judge and jury of events, and the final say in what was always destined to go your way, that the people will stop at nothing, no matter the ungodly consequences.
I don’t know what to do about people who not only believe in God, but claim to know what he, she, or it thinks, what he, she, or it wants, or what they will do when reality diverges from this white-knuckled grip on land, country, elections, society, civilization. I do understand why people believe in God, but I just wish they wouldn’t treat him like their personal real estate agent.
Wrong Speak is a free-expression platform that allows varying viewpoints. All views expressed in this article are the author's own.
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Yes, for fuck's sake, we all know radical Islam is a huge problem. Add it the list, if you'd like. I only have so much space, there is a word limit and thought it obvious.
How many Muslims do you think subscribe to Wrong Speak? If you just want fresh meat it can be found elsewhere. It is easy to change the subject- a little too easy.
Great post—the comments say a lot about the hold that mysticism has on people (outrage and false attribution are the marks of strong exposition).