More American Idols

Confounded by wall-of-separation rulings prohibiting sectarian religious displays in the public square, religious conservatives in Texas have turned to kitsch.

Is the object pictured on the right:

1. A toursit map?
2. A trashcan?
3. An ATM?
4. An outdoor grill?
5. A stone monument featuring a Bible lit up with a red neon sign?

You would be correct if you chose 5.

As noted by Street Prophets,

On August 15, 2006, a federal appeals court ruled that an open-faced Bible must be removed from the monument because a district judge changed the 50-year old monument from a secular monument into a religious one when he restored it (and uglified it by the addition of a neon light) around 10 years ago.

The "reasonable observer would conclude," the majority opinion stated, "that the monument, with the Bible outlined in red neon lighting, had evolved into a predominantly religious symbol."

This history would also force an objective observer to gag. No longer is neon just for flashy come-ons to a cheap motel, pool hall, dive bar, or Krispy Kreme "Fresh Hot Donuts" sign. This is how conservative Christian nationalism practiced today, Texas-style. It apparently includes idolatry and the glorification of kitsch in the name of Christ.

The Bible has indeed become an idol in the hands of Christian 'conservatives', especially those of a reconstructionist bent. They are those who believe that the ancient prescriptions of the Hebrew Torah should form the basis of civil law and government in this country. While hard core reconstructionists are few in number, their influence is widespread within the US religious right, and their idea of Christian 'dominion' has replaced the Rapture as the number one dangerous idea being promoted in evangelical circles these days.

Idolatry involves replacing the worship of God with the worship of objects, the elevation of religious (or commercial or political) artefacts to the realm of the sacred. It is the worship of an image, idea or object, as opposed to worshipping their Source. When one values the Bible more highly than the command of its presumed author to love one's neighbor as oneself, one is an idolator.

As noted by Jonathon Hutson in Talk to Action, it is hard not to view a monument such as the Texas neon bible without recalling the words of Leviticus 26:1: "Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the LORD your God."

Perhaps the Levitical authors or redactors forgot to add the corrollary commandment: "Avoid ye especially those graven images flanked by neon, for these are reserved for harlots and gamblers." But then they had never been to Vegas.