April 28, 2008 - PPM - Religious Non-Leaders

I’m back from a week of sun and golf on the South Carolina shores. As they said about Richard Nixon in 1968, “I’m tanned, rested, and ready to run.”

I was able to accumulate many Pet Peeves on the long drive to Myrtle Beach. Here is the most topical.

This week’s PET PEEVE MONDAY is about Insertion of Religious Leaders into the Political Process.

This past week, Barack Obama’s “Spiritual Advisor”, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, single-handily derailed Obama’s White House quest. Wright did what the Clinton machine could not accomplish. Wright got Obama off-message. No more Hope and Change. It’s Denounce and Reject. Not exactly the uplifting message that sells.

The Reverend Al Sharpton tried to insert himself into the news by saying he could “close down New York City” in reaction to a judge’s ruling on the death of an African-American that was shot by NYC cops. As Sharpton again played the race card from the bottom of the deck, he neglected to mention that 2 of the 3 cops in the questionable shooting were black. No need to let facts get in the way of your race rhetoric.

Republican candidate Mitt Romney had to speak to the masses that thought Mormonism was a cult. Why does it matter?

What were the religious beliefs on George Washington and Abraham Lincoln? Did you know that Thomas Jefferson proclaimed his own religious commitment by stating he belonged to a sect with just one member? Jefferson considered much of the new testament of the Bible to be lies.

I doubt that Jefferson could be elected today given those thoughts.

Ever since Pat Robertson and the Reverend Jesse Jackson tried to trade their stunted religious careers for improbable political aspirations, religion and politics have been the new Odd Couple.

Billy Graham must be rolling over in his hospital bed. He was the “Spiritual Advisor" for several Presidents. He never felt the need to step in front of the camera.

It really PEEVES me that our constitution talks about the SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE, but the news media can’t make the same distinction.

Personally, I found a way to eliminate any embarrassing revelation about my past religious involvements should I run for office.

This past October, I became an ordained clergy member. I did an Internet search. I matched up my general feelings, my deep held beliefs, and a PayPal limit of $20. I am now a licensed clergyman for the Church of Spiritual Humanism.

As an ordained clergy member I can legally perform religious ceremonies and rituals like weddings, funerals, benedictions, etc.

As Spiritual Humanists we believe that every person has innate right to make a spiritual connection to the rest of the cosmos. Our premise is simple:

All humans have an inalienable right and duty to practice their own religious traditions. Spiritual Humanism allows everyone to fuse their individual religious practices onto the foundation of scientific humanist inquiry.

We accept people from any religious background and recognize the validity of all peaceful religious practices and behaviors as being helpful and necessary in developing the spiritual nature of humanity.

No eternal damnation, no 72 virgins.

In the future, I would respectfully like to be referred to as The Reverend J. Jay Lewis.

As George Carlin once said, “I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it.”