Alright this is a blog I’ve been tinkering with on and off since December. It’s probably not gonna be that funny…just a warning.

“Oh crap…Tim’s going to get ‘political’ again.” (Closes window)

It started shortly after the Sandy Hook shooting when I saw a posting from one of my Facebook “friends.” It was a video of Mike Huckabee saying that taking God out of our schools was the reason things like Sandy Hook happen. To be fair, that is an oversimplification of his point. It wasn’t as simple as “A” caused “B.” It was more about the effect of taking God out of schools on the overall culture, but the message was clear, “we need to put God into our classrooms.”

That prompted me to write this comment:

Ok, explain this to me…and I mean this not with malice but genuine bewilderment. How does the political party that wants to privatize everything want to put God in the hands of our government? God means so many different things to so many different people…who gets to choose which God is the official God of the USA? Why would we give our relationship with God over to the state?

I honestly am confounded by this. If you or your friends have an answer for me, you will not be shouted down, mocked or belittled by me. I really am trying to understand this dichotomy.

I thought that was a fair question. I still do. The conversation that followed certainly did enlighten me…but without answering my question at all.

Tim, it’s not a comedy routine, There is but ONE God, God of Love, kindness and forgiveness. Period! Through Him all things (of GOOD) are possible. Without him, the devil takes over ones body and destroys it. It has NOTHING to do with states or politics, it only has to do with Love! Don’t put something into it that’s not there. If you have further questions please ask a Pastor or Rabbi!

First off, I’m a little insulted that the person immediately thought that because I’m a comedian that I was making a joke. There were no jokes in my comment. It was a straight up question. Oh but because I’m a comic I can’t have an actual question about something? You suck. (I know I said the person wouldn’t be belittled by me but A) I meant on their Facebook page and this is my blog and B) I’m not belittling their opinion about religion and government, I’m belittling their opinion of me…totally fair game. Right?) Anyway, I put my ego in check and just continued on with the discussion…

[Person’s name], you misunderstand my point. I am not making a joke. But you understand that this country is made up of Jews, Muslims, atheists, and other people who believe just as you do that the God they believe in is the one true God, right? Not only that, Christians do not all agree on who God is or what he wants…Catholics, Baptists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Mormans…there is no one size fits all for all faiths. And I assure you everyone who has a relationship with God knows their faith is the one true faith. I don’t want the government to tell me my God is not the true God…but more than that, I don’t want the government telling YOU that your God is not the true God.
So my question remains…how can you be for a limited government, but then want to hand the government the power to dictate the terms of your relationship with God?

Then a misguided person tried to join my “side.”

Tim. Well said!!! They will have no answers, only ones that support their beliefs, not others.
Sad

As much as this feels like the way it is, I just can’t believe it is. I don’t think people in this country are twisting their mustaches while hatching a scheme to turn us all into their particular faith. I feel like there MUST be something I’m missing. And so I tried to get the conversation back on the course I had intended…

Well, [Other Person’s name], I’m not interested in judging anyone. I’m not trying to be “right.” I’m trying to understand. We all live here. We have to find a way to work though these types of issues. Dismissing those who disagree doesn’t work. Just because I don’t share someone’s opinion, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have value.

Then the original poster had more to say…

Tim I know your an atheist, But after all the people that posted this, why put your question on mine, why? My [spouse is terminally ill], I’m sick with the flu and no family living near, do you honestly think I really want to get into this right now. There is ONE GOD! Go ask a Priest or Rabbi. There is ONE LOVING GOD, NOT MANY, man has takin it upon himself to change the believes, but not thy God! When the belief is transformed into their own believes and twists and turns HIM into many God’s that is the devil’s work. God IS LOVE, period! It’s as simple as that! “LOVE”

For the second time, the person suggests I “ask a Priest or Rabbi.” As if those two things are A) interchangeable and would give me identical answers or B) the only two authorities on God. (Notice “ask an Imam” wasn’t in there). And I bet if I did ask a Rabbi, I’d get a very concerned answer to government mandated prayer in schools. Because odds are, it’s not going to be a Jewish prayer that’s mandated.

If I sound overly snarky, I have to admit…this comment made me very angry. This person posted a video that they had to know would bother some people. Then when I engage in discussion about it…VERY civil discussion I might add, the person pulls out the “I don’t want to argue about this because my spouse is on death’s door card.” I was hot under the collar (is that a phrase people still use? …I’m so old). It just felt like a cop out. But at some point, I remembered I am in fact a human being and so was this person. The stress of dealing with losing a spouse is more important than my little philosophical debate. So I kept my thoughts about the Priest/Rabbi fallacy to myself and I attempted to wish the original poster well…

First off, I am truly, TRULY sorry to hear about your [spouse].

I only posted the question on this post because your post made me ask myself the question. I’ll seek my answers elsewhere if you wish.

Point if fact, before I leave…I am not an atheist.

As I said my point was not to insult, or diminish you or your faith. Just trying to understand.

God bless you and your family

I assumed that would be the end of it and I started writing this blog. But the original poster couldn’t let it go…

I am sorry, I thought you were Tim, so very sorry! I understand, just very very stressed out here, just not a good time! Thank You! Just remember all this blown out of proportion crap about many God’s, is just that, people making up excuses to justify their own thoughts. (that’s deep) There is no justifying anything, Life’s too short! Beatles said it best! “All You Need Is Love” Afterall St Peter’s going to say yes or no when we get there, not excuses, no justifying, just yes or no, good or evil. :o)

Ok…”I don’t want to debate about this now, but here’s another paragraph about why I’m right.”

Ugh…again I had to remind my self that the person was having a rough time and if winning this debate helped them feel better then I should just let it go. In fact, I thought maybe the reason they didn’t want to look too hard at the question is because their spouse was so near death. Who wants to question their faith in the afterlife right as someone you love is about to enter it? So I pulled my head out of my own *** and decided to just let this sit in the back of my mind. FYI-From what I can tell, the person’s spouse is still with us and I believe I saw a post not too long ago that the spouse was doing better. (I tried to get an update for this blog, but the person’s Facebook feed is so full of random links and pictures that after 15 minutes of scrolling, I gave up. Here’s hoping they are both doing better.)

But my original question has still not been answered. Why would anyone want the government telling them how to pray and when? Much less telling our CHILDREN? I thought those were the kind of religious restrictions that this country was fighting against at it’s founding. My fear is that people envision THEIR religion being the one brought into schools, and so they’re fine with that. But odds are, with so many different faiths in this country, it won’t be yours taught in the classroom…at least not your particular denomination. Is that still ok? Am I missing something?

I honestly want to know. The party that DOESN’T want the government to decide who should and shouldn’t have a gun apparently DOES want the government to decide who we should pray to? How can that be? Any thoughts in the comments will be appreciated. Any name-calling, put downs, belittling or “trolling” will be deleted. Thanks for your time.