In Praise of Folly

“I’m an atheist still, thank God.”
-- Luis Bunuel

POLITICS & RELIGION

I suppose it isn’t so strange that politicians want to wrap themselves in the cloak of the church. But considering how strange (wondrous if you’re a believer) religion is in itself, one wonders why the cultural phenomena of religious belief persists? As Mencken famously put it, “Faith is an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable.”

Why would Obama, the candidate I support, associate himself with a man who claims the AIDS epidemic was a CIA plot, and the government had a hand in 9/11? Because politicians need God’s endorsement, and since she is an invisible being, they must prostrate themselves before her surrogates on earth. As Billy Graham told his flock in 1966, “I can tell you that God is alive because I talked to him this morning.” Even though we purportedly live in a secular society, the successful candidate must curry not only visible but invisible support.

Perhaps the Shaman one takes a chance on is always a gamble, and much has been made of the millstone Reverend Right, I mean Wright, has put on Obama. But if we all have our cross to bear, one wonders which exorcist John McCain identifies with?

In the interest of providing equal time for fundamentalist fanatics, like Wright and bin Laden, let’s take a look at the Rev. John Hagee (see YouTube, keywords “John Hagee Roman Church Hitler”). On Feb. 27, Hagee blessed McCain’s candidacy over Mike Huckabee (he was still in the race).

Given the WWF presidential endorsements that came out in recent weeks, it makes sense that McCain would pander to an American institution every bit as real as big time wrestling, white televangelism.

Here’s Frank Rich’s description of the YouTube segment: “Wielding a pointer, he [Hagee] pokes at the image of a woman with Pamela Anderson-sized breasts, her hand raising a golden chalice. The woman is ‘The Great Whore,’ Mr. Hagee explains, and she is ‘drinking the blood of the Jewish people.’ That’s because the Great Whore represents ‘the Roman Church,’ which, in his view, has thirsted for Jewish blood throughout history, from the Crusades to the Holocaust.”

Given that Hagee sees Hurricane Katrina as a physical manifestation of God’s wrath, for him, it’s no coincidence that The Mighty One struck on the very Monday a Gay parade was scheduled in New Orleans. I guess God’s agenda was such that she didn’t care about the Christians (God is our refuge and strength, / a very present help in trouble. Psalms 46:1) swept away by the deluge.

Where did Hagee say this? NPR’s “Fresh Air” in 2006. Hagee, a zealous advocate of attacking Iran, was sought out by McCain as a way of garnering the vote of the Christian right. Where does Hagee spew his anti-Jewish, anti-Catholic invective? Hagee, the pastor of a Texas megachurch, is a regular on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, which reaches 75 million homes.

LSD & CANCER

Just before he died, Albert Hofmann “learned that health officials in his native Switzerland had approved what will be the first known medical trial of LSD.” (Benedict Carey, NYT 5/4/08) The irony is that the combination of widespread use and bad trips caused LSD to be labeled a health threat by the late 1960’s. But the genie was out of the bottle, or, if you prefer, Pandora’s box had been opened, and the magic carpet ride couldn’t be stopped.

I recall going to jail with a copy of Bam Ram Das’s “Be Here Now,” and it truly became my “cookbook for a sacred life,” as the sub-title promised, at least in solitary. That’s probably the best way to get high, vicariously.

Rather than fulfilling the Castenedian promise of madness induced enlightenment, dropping acid quickly became just one more party favor. The exotic illusion that tripping was analogous to the experiences of the British Romantic poets--Coleridge, Wordsworth, and Blake--was incongruous with the cold realities of bad-trip-suicides, drug induced psychoses, and defective babies propaganda. The same drunken greaseballs that were telling us to get a haircut the year before were now tuning in, turning in, and dropping out. I recall one such case where the tripped out ex-duker, G.C., thought he could clear the rocks on Little Presque Isle (Actually, I think it was Angel Dust). Unfortunately, he picked a one-dive cliff. He was brought to shore in my friend’s canoe with his scalp peeled completely back from his skull.

Frank Zappa nailed it on “We’re Only In It For The Money,” (1967):

Who needs the peace corps?
What’s there to live for?
Think I’ll just DROP OUT
I’ll go to Frisco
Buy a wig & sleep
On Owsley’s floor
Walked past the wig store
Danced at the Fillmore
I’m hippy & and I’m trippy
I’m a gypsy on my own
I’ll stay a week & get the crabs &
Take a bus back home
I’m really just a phony
But forgive me
‘Cause I’m stoned
Every town must have a place
Where phony hippies meet
Psychedelic dungeons
Popping up on every street
GO TO SAN FRANCISCO…

(Also see lyrics to “Flower Punk” from the same album.)

Rick Doblin, president of (get this) the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, said that Hoffman was ecstatic to hear of a renewed interest in the medical benefits of LSD. (Carey, NYT 5/4/08) We’ve come a long way baby, say what, “Psychedelic Studies.” This sounds like a degree offering in the Department of Consciousness at the University of California at Santa Cruz. That’s right, the one where former Black Panther, Angela Davis, is the chair. I applied there once, but wasn’t accepted.

“I think people in this country, when they see a patient in pain, will not deny a person a medication just because the drug has abuse potential,” said Dr. John Halpern, a Harvard psychiatrist who is testing the effect of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in late-stage cancer patients.” (Carey, NYT 5/4/08) Wow! I don’t know? Maybe a little Bromton’s cocktail, or Fetanyl lollipop with a hit of Blue Cheer or Windowpane. Then put on the Five American’s “I See The Light” and trip the light fantastic, R. I. P..

The moral: stick to mushrooms!