In God We Trust? - a photo on Flickriver

In God We Trust?

Hi All: It's been a while since I've been around. In trying to push the product, i.e. Father Joe's message, I've been blogging instead of Flickr-ing. I plan on being on Flickr more often in the days/weeks leading up to the U.S. Election Day. Sorry, you're stuck w/ me.

I wrote the blog below on Sept. 3rd for MySpace (see it HERE), a few weeks prior to Wall Street's implosion.
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IN GOD / CAPITALISM / CONSUMERISM / CREDIT WE TRUST

The mass email ringing through the night of Aug. 15th, pinging my in-box at 10:15 p.m., came loaded with exclamation points in an attempt to rally American Christians around a shared idea of God, country, flag and all the patriotic/religious fervor that drives sales of "God Bless America" bumperstickers. (Personally, I prefer a bumpersticker I saw recently that reads, "God Bless All Nations.")

"Here's your chance to let the media know where the people stand on our faith in God as a nation!" the email began. "NBC is taking a poll on whether or not In God We Trust should remain on our American currency. Please send this to every Christian you know so they can vote on this important subject! Please do it right away before NBC takes this off the web page!"

The churchgoing relative who had forwarded the email to me was presuming a great deal about me. "Please vote!!!" the email urged. The poll's numbers that night were tight: The leave-God-on-our-money crowd was four percentage points (52 percent to 48 percent) ahead of the take-God-off-our-money crowd.

Four months earlier, during the launch of my religious-sounding book, The Gospel of Father Joe: Revolutions & Revelations in the Slums of Bangkok (C'mon, why else do you think I blog? "Sell the damn book, move the product!" the agent screams), I'd spoken at a crowded affair inside the Royal Thai Embassy in Washington, D.C. The subject of my book, Father Joe Maier; Sen. Jim Webb, a renegade Democrat from Virginia; and 100 or so kindred spirits were in attendance. I'd felt comfortable preaching to this choir, so when the mike was handed to me I pointed at a life-sized mural of President Bush painted on an embassy wall, then toward Sen. Webb, who was sitting at a banquet table with Father Joe.

"I apologize to President Bush - or not - for what I'm about to say," I began...

Being an election year and all, tax rebate checks totaling $152 billion (nope, not a typo ... that's a 'b' as in billion) were being mailed out with the usual Washington euphemism attached: the "Economic Stimulus Act of 2008" had been overwhelmingly approved by our nation's leaders. We needed to borrow money on the futures of our children in order to "revive our economy." In Congressional Speak, the only kind on Capitol Hill, that translates into "Corporate Subsidy." Best Buy, Circuit City, Home Depot, Target, WalMart, all the big tents of our devout consumerism, lobby in Washington and fund expensive election-year campaigns.

Meanwhile, in April, a global hunger crisis in South Asia and Sub-Sahara Africa, was being driven by the soaring cost of fuel, rice and corn. "The Silent Tsunami," the World Bank called it. By month's end, there would be food riots in Indonesia, the Phillippines and Cameroon, and 24,000 people on average were dying daily from illnesses related to starvation. They still are.

"I don't know 'bout you," I told the crowd at the Thai embassy, "but I am appalled that our Congressmen and women think they know us Americans so well that they can give us a tax rebate check and we'll spend it on ourselves. Ourselves. They think we're selfish. Why else would they give us 'free money' and call it an economic stimulus plan?"

And sure enough, Best Buy, Circuit City and all of our idols of bargains were holding "Rebate Sales." The malls in the affluent areas surrounding Washington, D.C., were extra congested.

"They don't think we'll give our tax rebate to, say, Father Joe's Mercy Center. They don't think we'll give our rebate to the global hunger crisis. They think they know us so well (I looked at Sen. Webb and nodded another apology) that they can give us money and we'll give it right over to Corporate America. Well, I don't know about you, but Corporate America ain't getting my rebate check. I'm giving it to the Mercy Center."

A month later, the United States and other wealthy countries responded to the urgent pleas of the World Bank to increase global aid in the face of the Silent Tsunami. President Bush announced triumphantly that the United States would spend nearly $5 billion (yep, a 'b' but this one isn't quite as impressive) over the next two years to fight global hunger.

The night of Aug. 15 I clicked on the MSNBC POLL that asked if I wanted to remove In God We Trust from our U.S. currency. I then clicked "Yes," but only because I didn't see an option for "Hell Yeah!" *

I then emailed the relative who had presumed how I would vote.

"If you want to put In Consumerism We Trust on our money, I'm cool with that. Or, maybe, In Corporations We Trust. I'd be fine with that. But ... In God We Trust? Take it off.

"Give to Caesar what is Caesar's."

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* The mass email apparently worked its feverish magic because when I checked the MSNBC POLL results today, Oct. 15, the leave-the-slogan-on-our-money-crowd had increased its lead to sixty percentage points, 81 percent to 19 percent.

Taken on: October 15, 2008

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