I want to say "What is it with all this religious looniness?" but I rather suspect I know the answer to that one.

I do wish I had the power to add to their 'Key Scriptures' section on the matter of prayer my favorite portions of Matthew 6. . . .

(Stolen...)

I have no problems with various groups sending various books and stuff off to "our boys at war" -- that freedom to do that is what our forces are supposed to be fighting for and soldiers in the field are pretty good at working out the most worthwhile use for whatever they receive. (Think about it.) But the arrogance behind asking them to send in that little slip of paper -- I'm speechless.

If you a believer, you should be praying for the President, at least once a day -- more would be good. I try to. But my feelings may be better reflected by Anne Lamott in Friday's Salon:

I am going to pray for George Bush's heart to change, so that he begins to want to be a part of the human family. He really doesn't want to gather at the table with God's other children, because he might have to sit with someone he hates. Iraqi soldiers, or someone like me. I really, really know this feeling. It is something he and I have in common . . .

. . . He's family. I hate this, because he is a dangerous member of the family, like a Klansman. To me, his policies deal death and destruction, and maybe I can't exactly forgive him right now, in the classical sense, of canceling my resentment and judgment. But I can at least acknowledge that he gets to eat, too. I would not let him starve, and I will sit next to him, although it will be a little like that old Woody Allen line that someday, the lion shall lie down with the lamb, although the lamb is not going to get any sleep. That's the best I can do right now. Maybe at some point, later, briefly, I will feel a flicker of something more. Let me get back to you on this.

I think that would just about cover everything and everyone, whoever the leader and whatever one might think of him.

GEORGE BUSH IS GOD's GIFT TO US

Man, what did we _do_ to get on God's bad side?

This scares me, badly. If, say, the Administration decides to suspend the next election, on account of the State of Emergency declared when the war spills over into Georgia and Kenya, I have an awful feeling that a good chunk of the population will probably *support* the dissolution of democracy.

In the military, consequences could be a bit more severe.

Also this week, the choir had been scheduled to work up "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God", but we took a vote and did "America the Beautiful" instead. This was partly the normal patriotism of New Yorkers in time of war, and partly for the sake of the bit that goes:

America, America, God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.

There is an equivalent to the United Way in the military. It's called the Combined Federal Campaign. On board ship, coordinating it is assigned to the most junior ensign. I've seen the captain of a ship tear up the paperwork. Refusing it isn't a problem. Really.

Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks!

And, in fact, I had always imagined that the second verse is habitually left out because of a vague suspicion on the part of the Tories that these lines refer to themselves.

— George Orwell

This strikes me as merely the next logical step in the process...

Grunts have always (and I mean caligae-and-onagers always) understood when they are being bullfeathered. Some will no doubt send in their pages in all seriousness, others with the deepest possible irony (I expect a few will go with editorial emendations).

If there were any suggestion that the Army were trying to give orders -- however informally -- regarding the troops' conduct of their relationship to the Infinite, there would not only be very acute constitutional issues, we'd hear about it from the soldiers themselves; I would think that the most authentically devout, regardless of faith or sect, would be the first and most vocal to, you'll pardon the phrase, draw a line in the sand.

Telling GIs that they ought to send notes of approval to their Commander in Chief, for whatever reason, is crass and offensive. Adding blasphemy to the formula is just icing.

I think it might be more appropriate to spell that "Paypal".

Kinda accentuates the cash flow angle a bit more.

It would be reassuring to me if I were convinced that this whole mess were to anyone's rational advantage, financial or otherwise. It has seemed to me for a while to be out of control in a World War 1 kind of way -- even those angling for their own interests are way out of their depth.

This crowd truly is incapable of recognizing blasphemy when they commit it. Or the sin of pride, in believing they know God's political opinions.

Those sufficiently lacking in respect for our (allegedly) elected Leader may wish to go this site: http://www.gradis.net/xray.htm

Move your mouse around the screen, and all will become clear. Or transparent, or something.

I always figured that an X-ray of George W. would reveal Zippy the Pinhead's cynical twin brother.

* * *

John M. Ford makes a good point. It could be that these pamphlets will end up being abused in the same way that my collitch friends and I abused Jack Chick tracts. Or their form factor will make them useful for something, such as being shoved in a crack to eliminate a rattle, or rolled up to plug a hole in a chemical protection suit.

Thanks, Teresa, I think.

The specific sin there is presumption.

He had one once, but the wheels fell off.

Indeed, someone I met at the Parliament of the World's Religions said he always took Chick tracts whenever anyone handed them out (and you can bet there were plenty around that meeting). "I pulp them and make spell paper," he said.

I am also reminded of Voltaire's succinct response to a detractor's letter: "Dear Sir. I am in the smallest room of my house. I have your letter before me. Soon it will be behind me."

One of the really great things about our military is that they have been (until recently) extraordinarily tolerant of religious diversity. Judy Harrow (a famous Witch) was asked to write a section of the Army Chaplain's manual about Wicca, and soldiers can certainly have Wicca listed on their dogtags (there was a recent attempt to remove it as a choice, but I think it failed). I once met a just-discharged (honorably) Wiccan soldier who showed me his tags, along with his (I think) Blue Star tattoo, and told me no one had ever given him one whit of trouble over either one (and yes, they knew what both symbols meant).