So much of our political discourse is distorted by this American obsession with God. Democrats and Republicans both invoke God when attempting to appeal to unity. They often go further, each framing their criticisms of the other in terms of how ungodly their opposing party is, and how much more in-line with God they are. So much time is wasted. So much political nuance is lost. Our politics are mentally enfeebled by it, like a WWE event gatecrashing a book reading on Western philosophy.
Why does this exercise me so? It brought to mind the interview Will Smith gave a couple of years back, in which he told the audience that he hopes that the voters would now reflect on the destructive aspects of “loveless, godless leadership”. As if godlessness were a pejorative term. Not even ungodly. Godless. In other words, being of the mind that God likely doesn’t exist is seen as an inferior moral position than believing he does exist but that you’re against him.