11A143 
Ron's Faith
 by Jim Davies, 11/7/2011
    



At the bottom of Ron Paul's "Issues" list on his campaign web site comes this
topic, and it's very humbly and courteously phrased. He does
not wish to take any advantage of his religion, merely to state
it so that those who wish to know, will know. All can respect
that. He says “I have accepted Jesus Christ as my personal
Savior, and I endeavor every day to follow Him in all I do and in
every position I advocate.” I've been there myself, and
understand what comes with it.



In the coming free society everyone will of course be wholly
free to believe whatever he or she wishes. There will be no
constraint, except the universal one that since everyone owns
himself, nobody may try to control anyone's life but his own.
Accordingly preaching and persuasion about a religious belief is
fine, but coercion is certainly not. All that said, that free
society will consist of people making agreements with each other
and honoring them, and therefore at the start of any trade there
will be a measure of mutual assessment; how far is this person
trustworthy? Is he rational, can he do what he promises? - etc.



A person who makes a statement of faith like Ron Paul's will
be evaluated accordingly. Such a religious belief will count in
some ways much in his favor; he will be honest and consciencious.
In other ways it will indicate an extraordinary degree of
gullibility, and if that is an important factor in the contract
being negotiated, it may be a dissuader. Similarly here; we
are contemplating how far it will be a good thing for Ron Paul to
become, for a time, the "leader of the free world."



Now, compared to some of his rivals, Ron Paul's faith is fine.
I doubt whether any of the others are as deeply sincere about
theirs as Ron is about his, for example; they may just parade the
right phrases when it's time to call upon God to bless America.
Then there's Mitt Romney, a self-confessed Mormon. Presumably, he
comes with the following baggage, in the words of B R Merrick:



"Mormon belief begins with the fable that between 1820
and 1830 AD, the Angel Moroni told Joseph Smith there was only
one God and that Smith was His messenger. Moroni didn't really
need to stir from his heavenly repose, for that dude could have
found out the first bit from at least two other local sources at
the time, and the second bit might be thought suspiciously
convenient for someone bidding to [gain influence.] Any conflict
with those earlier alleged revelations was put down to textual
corruption, while the new one--the Book of Mormon--was infallible
to the letter, as freshly dictated by power given from on high
(was that the origin of shorthand? It does look a bit like
Egyptian script)... The verbal infallibility however is quite
handy, since all discrepancies between it and the Old and New
Testaments can be disposed of quickly: Those others are wrong,
period."



I understand that Mr Smith received his revelations on tablets
of pure gold, which however were most unfortunately whisked away
to regions unknown before anyone else could clap eyes upon them.
Just fancy that!



I do not feel comfortable with the idea of a man seriously
believing such ridiculous myths having his finger on the nuclear
button.



However, unfortunately the orthodox, New Testament
Christianity embraced by Ron Paul also comes with a load of
amazing baggage. Here's some of what Dr Paul seriously believes,
and all of it can be found in the Nicene
Creed:



    
    
  • The universe has a personal creator, and a "beginning";
        this, on the infallible authority of that creator as
        recorded by an unknown writer over 3,000 years ago who
        did not even have a telescope. The circularity of that
        assertion is perfect, and hurls rational inquiry clean
        out of the window.
    • 
    
  • That creator is omniscient, omnibenevolent and
        omnipotent. He therefore created evil - in the animal
        world as well as the human one. Such attempts to define
        or describe Him run directly into the stone wall of such
        insoluble, fatal contradictions. Yet Ron Paul swallows
        the lot.
    • 
    
  • That creator took human form for a while, and was
        crucified yet resurrected, so furnishing the crowning
        proof that what he taught was true. The proof has,
        however, a gaping hole.
    • 
    
  • That manifestation of the creator (Jesus, Son of God)
        will one day return, and gather believers up to heaven in
        what's called the "Rapture."
        Everyone else will be left entirely in the lurch. At
        around the same time (the forecasts are a tad confusing)
        there will be a massive war to end all wars at a Mid-East
        location called "Armageddon."
    • 
    
  • Meanwhile, believers can commune with Him in prayer and
        worship, and receive His guidance for their lives.
    • 




Such amazing beliefs are very comforting; for example they
prompt some believers to sport the b-sticker "God is my
Co-Pilot." Somehow they don't bring me as much comfort as
they apparently bring the driver - I try to give them a wide
berth. Same with aircraft; when I board a plane I like to think
that the pilots are sober and rational and experienced, able to
deal with any emergency without recourse to hocus pocus. I also
assume they highly value their own lives.



 The converse is well enough known. For
example there is Egyptair Flight
990, on October 31st 1999. First Officer Gameel al-Batouty
repeatedly said (and was recorded by the CVR) "I rely on
God" while cutting the engines, skewing the elevators and
diving into the Atlantic despite the Captain's best efforts to
prevent him. All on board were killed. Evidently, al-Batouty had
a profoundly sincere belief that the Creator of the Universe had
told him to do all this; and it's the same God as is trusted
(though by a different access path) by Ron Paul. 



Less than two years later nineteen other sincere followers of
the same God, equally convinced they were hearing His voice,
crashed aircraft into the WTC, the Pentagon, and a Pennsylvania
field. Say what you will about their savage, murderous intent;
but their religious sincerity was beyond question. They
sacrificed their own lives, and that's the ultimate test.



Ultimately a sincere Christian believer will do what he
believes God is telling him to do, rather than following anyone
else's advice. That is the case whether he is or is not mistaken
about the message, and whether God really exists or is a figment
of anthropomorphic imagination - that is, a myth. Ron Paul is
such a believer, and in the White House will have enormous power.
I leave to your judgment whether that combination of
circumstances is, or is not, desirable.





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