Though he's seen by many as quite the crackpot, Robert Anton Wilson once wrote, "The only religion is private and personal".

Oh, Frankenchrist. Chuck, the next time you get the urge to do something like this, instead of posting it, just e-mail it to some philoso-buddy of yours. Spare me/us.
Or at least stop reveling in your own genius long enough to use THE GODDAM RETURN KEY ONCE IN A WHILE.
Pre-emptive strike: No, fan girl, it's not poetic and dreamy.

dear gawd, i think "fan girl" is on your side. can you spell t-r-o-l-l?

...the clothes one wears, your hairstyle, your house, neighborhood, books, movies, political party, mall—all of this stuff, which one must buy into, is the locus of American Christianity.

I always thought in terms of the American Christian(ities). Now I realize there is only Moral Majority type mall Christians. All American Christians think alike.

That's so different from the vibrant diversity of Judaism in the United States. Where you have everything from Hasidism to the Mall Shopping Jewish Princesses of Rodeo Drive.

Isn't it odd that there are so many different kinds of Jews and only one kind of Christian in America? Such a dreamy and poetic insight into the American Spirit.

As a Jew, one thing I hate about Christians is they always have to show off their religion. You don't see American Jews going around bragging about being Jewish every five minutes. Whats more Judaism is not a social system that requires subjects (or consumers) to show their belief, to put it on display.

You would never be able to recognize Jewish people by what they buy, what they eat, or where they live. Spirituality should be in the heart, not something you talk about. People who you work with shouldn't even know you are Jewish or Christian. Christians always have to talk about their faith, I hate that.

Yes, why can't Christians ignore Jesus' command in Matthew 28:19? Things would be so much simpler.

I suppose, Charles, you don't mind cashing your paychecks from PLU, owned by the ELCA, who promotes sharing of faith:

http://www.elca.org/evangelism/individuals/sharingfaith.html

Oh, come off it Annie.
I'm not a troll. I don't want to start a war. I just want to make sure impenetrable, dense, ridiculously self-absorbed writing like this is met with some sort of objection.
Or, in the very least, I'd like to promote the use of PARAGRAPHS. They are easy to use and pleasing to the eye.
Figure it out.

"The silence of faith has been replaced by the noise of testifying."

You're right, Charles. Before postmodernism, no one in America ever talked about their faith. Religious movements were all protestant, and never had a public/ social aspect to them that was conflated with testifying. Certainly no one made a big deal about John Kennedy's faith. And the scopes trial, well, what was that about again? The first great awakening surely had nothing to do with putting faith on display. The second great awakening was so inwardly focused that no one had time to devote to worldly affairs like reform movements. Social gospel? What was that? Gosh, I sure wish all those Reaganites hadn't politicized religion, turned it into some kind of consumer ethic, despoiled it in a way that had never happened before the end of modernity...

As for Shoshanna: might I suggest you get off your high horse and buy a "moses is my homeboy" t-shirt?

http://www.heebmagazine.com/store/store.php

this is an excellent post, and it does not (directly at least) involve self-absorption, marx, or hegel. if you don't like charles' blogging, but don't want to engage in discussion over some critical point, why post a negative comment? just hit the "scroll" key and read the next author.

Much as I hate to give Reagan credit for ANYTHING (I do hope the bastard is burning in hell, and my only regret is that he wasn't more aware of his suffering in his last days) I don't think you can blame this obnoxious version of Christianity on him. It has much more to do with television culture and the self-absorption of the Baby Boomer generation, and their blanket rejection of their parent's values.

And yes, I am a borderline baby boomer, so I can say that ;-)

You know what, Charles? I usually gloss over your writing, I'll admit, but this entry was dead on. Good work.

I really think the so called self affirmation of faith belies what is actually what has become a sociocultural crusade.

I don't think Jews are exempt from this attitude, nor any other group. But why should Christianity as a group be the main target of Charles' "rant?" Perhaps it is because that which has become most repressed in society is the one most linked to Christianity. And what is this - not just faith, for many groups have faith, but a certain thread of faith thas is unique to the Christian religion. And I would say that this uniqueness must be Jesus Christ himself, who orchestrates, with his highly original and puzzling parables and stories, the entire New Testament, the most influential book on the planet before Freud. Indeed, it should be noted, that the entire system of Christian culture and repression in America has been completely antithetical to the life of Jesus. For example, Jesus was extremely poor, he was homeless, he acted upon faith and he did not wear his "religion" on his sleeve. He did nothing but help people when they needed help, argued against the evil ones and fooled them. He saw one thing clearly, but what he saw he could not share. His destiny.

Christians don't want teenagers to fuck and Jews think god wants them to suck blood out of baby cocks. Only idiots believe in religion.

The Stranger raised $3,000 for Katrina relief, that's more than any Christian organization donated.

The Torah is good for wiping your ass with, the bible works just as well.

Even New York Public Health can't stop Rabbis from sucking blood from baby cock because god tells them to. Check out what Slate says;

http://www.slate.com/id/2133654/

Dude, you forgot to wipe your ass with the Koran, that's religious discrimination which I'm against.

Notice how nobody, especially not the original author of the post, named a historical period when christianity was more personal and less about public affirmation of being in the blood drinking crucifixion club. They also fail to mention how it's possible for organized religion to be any other way.

Maybe he was thinking of the middle ages when they were so unconcerned with whether you publicly affirmed your faith that they had you slow roasted for doing it wrong.

Religions of all stripes claim to be interested in the next world be we know that's bullshit and they know it. If that were true, they would leave this world to us and pray.

JD, it's because there's a billion and change of them, and in case you haven't been watching the news the last 6 years, they're using that moral majority to manipulate the law.

Pay attention and quit deflecting blame.