Arianna Huffington disses secularists

While the Divine Ms. A has done a lot of good in supporting the growth of the liberal blogosphere, it comes as no surprise, knowing her NewAgeish tendencies in some areas, to know that she totally misses the boat with her higher-power babble . (Yes, the post is seven years old, but I’ve never heard the Huffmaedchen withdraw her general tenet.)

That, in turn is part of a larger and sadder blank-check support for “faith-based initiatives” in general. (Oh, BTW, what would the Bush Administration, or the Greek Goddess (snark again) do, if a Wiccan or Satanist applied for a faith-based grant?)

Here’s the nutbarrery of her nut grafs, though:

In the same way that astronomy wasn’t able to move forward until Copernicus posited that it was the Earth that revolved around the sun — also an unpopular view at the time — our society will not be able to reclaim its proliferating human casualties until it comes to terms with the fact that healing revolves around the acceptance of a higher power.

Of course, there will always be people who believe there is no God, just as there continue to be flat-earthers, convinced that Copernicus had it all wrong.

So, we’re as stupid and contrary as flat-earthers.

First, possibly the most horrific war in history, in terms of total civilian suffering, was an inter-Christian religious war, the Thirty Years War. Even today, and not just among or by Muslims, or Jews, or Christians, wars are fought in the name of religion.

The Tamil Tiger separatists are Sri Lanka, for example, are mainland-India oriented Hindu “religious nationalists.” (Given the nature of Hinduism, and a comment about to follow, that’s the best handle I can devise.)

Speaking of that, India has its Hindu Nationalist Party. Oh, Goddess, you remember it, don’t you? The party that won Indian parliamentary elections in 1998 on a promise to start nuclear bomb testing? And then doing so.

Or, let’s not forget the Japanese militarists of World War II praying at Shinto shrines, or the kamikazes thinking their missions were divinely supported.

I then got to thinking, I could have updated Arianna’s column myself and fictitiously bylined it under an even bigger rectal irritant’s name. All I had to do was go to Washington Monthly, crib a few quotes from some of Amy Sullivan’s more insipid posts, insert them at the right points in the Divine Miss A.’s original column slap Amy’s byline on it, and, voila!

Oh, and welcome any readers of Kevin Drum’s “liberal, godless blog.” Not.