The naive credulity these people have towards the power of government, their blind faith that they can tamper with the machinery without it hurting anybody, differs in kind nor quality not one lick from the most snake-handlin’ Pentecostal’s faith that Jesus will keep the serpent from biting.
They look down on people of faith, but they are just as much the same. Even worse, because they put their faith in men.
When government DOESN’T screw it up, that’s when I’m surprised.
Sebastian, you might want to edit your post so it doesn’t make you look like a bigot.
Do you have any empirical data that Jesus doesn’t protect Pentacostals from snakes? Or are you just prejudiced against a group based on third hand stories and propaganda? If it is ok to mock and dismiss Pentacostals (who aren’t bothering you in any way), why isn’t it ok to mock and dismiss gun owners (when I can make a tenuous case for banning guns)?
I’m quoting from Tam. It’s not my words, so I can’t rightly change it without putting words into her mouth.
I have nothing against Pentecostals. I doubt Tam does either. “Snake handlin'” is a caricature created by the same type people who can’t fathom why Obamacare is a disaster. That’s why it works as a rhetorical tool.
dustydog,
How does stating that their faith in government is no different in kind or quality from a Pentecostal’s in Jesus make me a bigot?
1) It’s absolutely true.
2) It’s all the more delicious since most of them would absolutely deny it, and indeed a solid majority would likely scorn Pentecostals for their faith.
As someone who is libertarian-of-center, if you want to handle snakes, or you want to handle your snake, it’s no business of mine.
It’s not omnipotent nor omnibenevolent, but government actually exists, so there’s that. I guess both groups share a resistance to learning from experience. This debacle won’t alter the true believers’ faith in the .gov any more than a death from a snake bite shuts down the snake handler churches.
Well, in this analogy, the snakes certainly do exist. If someone decided to handle snakes because they had an unbending faith that the Fish and Wildlife service would prevent them from being bitten, the Fish and Wildlife Service is actually real, but it’s still the same kind of faith, isn’t it?
And I suppose that would change if you actually had FWS agents in the room ready to pounce on any snake the decided to bite, if it Jesus were in the room saying “Don’t worry, I got this biting thing covered,” it wouldn’t exactly be faith anymore.
Statist leaders are like kids who cover their eyes to make something they don’t like go away. Statist followers are like kids who are told to cover their eyes, thinking that when they move their hands, something will magically appear.
I won’t take the time to search out the exact passage(s), but I seem to recall that Eric Hoffer opined there was no difference between theological and secular True Believers, and that as often as not, a True Believer would be both.
All I know is, with this much horse “output” in the room, true believers will reliably conclude there’s got to be a pony in there somewhere.
The naive credulity these people have towards the power of government, their blind faith that they can tamper with the machinery without it hurting anybody, differs in kind nor quality not one lick from the most snake-handlin’ Pentecostal’s faith that Jesus will keep the serpent from biting.
Tam is so very wrong. There is a huge difference in kind and quality of the faith.
The snake may not bite.