by Michael Arvey

OpEdNews.com

Shoot me a pig and point me toward Jesus. Or Allah.

Who can't help notice that when it comes to fundamentalists (fun-dies, as some have applied the sobriquet) of different faiths, the verbal spillages of their beliefs resonate equally or are uncannily similar? They tend to preach the same contorted gospel, and require a demonized enemy upon which to foist their holier-than-thou doctrines. In these hangdog days, the air is thick with the locusts of religious extremism.

Recent comments from Lt. General William Boykin, deputy undersecretary for defense intelligence, claiming "Satan wants to destroy this nation...and he wants to destroy us as a Christian army" are one example. Another: "George Bush was not elected by a majority of the voters in the United States. He was appointed by God." And all along, the left thought he was appointed by Supreme Court justices. But, of course--they served as divine amanuenses. Give you the jim-jams? Is God a delusional, stars-and-stripes nationalist?

Parallels between fanatics are startling in their universality. According to Ethical Atheist ( www.ethicaletheist.com ), Osama bin Laden and Jerry Falwell appear to have much in common. Each uses religion to justify his actions. Each promotes intolerance and hatred---Bin Laden toward America, England, Europe, capitalists, infidel nations in the Middle East, gays, lesbians, and women; Jerry Falwell toward the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, abortion clinics, Americans for the Separation of Church and State, non-Christians, gays, and lesbians.

Bin Laden has said that all religions not following his set of beliefs and interpretations of the Koran are infidels, enemies, and should be murdered; Falwell has said that all religions not following his set of beliefs and interpretations of the Bible are infidels and "failures" as human beings. Bin Laden has blamed members of his own Muslim religion and the Middle East for cooperating with the United Nations; Falwell has blamed our own citizens and other Christian organizations for terrorist acts against us (9-11)--the ACLU, abortionists, feminists, gays, lesbian, and secularists.

Any Unitarian immunologists aboard a White House that's susceptible to opportunistic infections of zealotry? When evil-doer slayer George W. Bush on January 29, 2001 bypassed Congress and established by executive order the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI), he must have been anticipating Osama bin Laden's 2002 critique of the U.S.: "You run a society contrary to the nature of mankind by separating religion from your policies."

Maybe soon Bush will proclaim a National Jesus Day just as he declared a localized one in Texas. Maybe he is a closet EndTimes enthusiast, which smutches his judgment. Elder Bush once remarked at a fund raiser, "I don't know that atheists should be considered citizens, nor should they be patriots. This is one nation under God." Are we now one nation under fanatics?

Voltaire (1694-1778)wrote, "If we believe absurdities, we shall commit atrocities." (From "Religion is a Natural When it Comes to Terrorism.") It's an adage for every age. God's truths will not be found in the exclusionary gibber of presidents, preachers and terrorists, but in the eternal demesne of smiles and handshakes.

Michael Arvey Freelance writer, author, poet, teacher Boulder, Co.