Magical Thinking in Politics and Religion

Okay.  Let me throw this out there, and then let me know what you think…

The TeaParty Republicans who are seriously threatening to rain down suffering in every direction through dismantling the world economy by thwarting efforts to increase the US debt-ceiling must believe that the vast structures and infrastructures and services that are the hallmarks of American life together come to us by some kind of magic.  Surely, the Grover Norquist vow never to raise taxes, which has been signed by almost every Congressional Republican, indicates that these legislators believe that things like food safety, clean air, clean water, postal service, Veterans benefits, salaries for active duty military members or even something like their very own Congressional salaries must emerge as a kind of fruit from a kind of tree that my parents assured me does not actually exist.  Exurbanites in my metropolitan area are largely No-New-Taxes-Republicans who are increasingly seething that their roads and services are crumbling and disappearing, in direct contradiction of their enchanted belief that roads and police and fire departments (surely must) bubble up from the cosmic ether.

What is with all this magical thinking?  What is with these deeply held beliefs that a well-run society with security, safety, beauty, enjoyment, function, and participation come for free, come out of nowhere, as if an answer to a…… prayer? Aha!  Maybe that’s it!

Is it possible that there is a deeply-shared common ground between these magical beliefs about how a country, state, or city runs not by compromise, contribution and self-sacrifice, but by some kind of magic—that there is a deep common ground with that kind of magical thinking and a religious faith that likewise expects an interventionist and supernaturalist almighty Deity to enact answers to prayers regardless of what people are actually doing?

Is there just one group of people here? And is this one group composed of the same folks who do not believe that living and nonliving beings in this world come about by a creative and cooperative process of mutual becoming and novel advance (‘evolution’), but rather that things come to be by a static Divine fiat?

Is there a genuine affinity between that kind of Magical Thinking Political Ideology and that kind of Supernatural Interventionist Religiosity? Or am I way off? What do you say?

9 thoughts on “Magical Thinking in Politics and Religion”

  1. Hi Paul,

    As a person who believes in God, I am uncertain that “magical thinking” in government and “magical thinking” in religion are really the same lines of thought. The miraculous in the world of people and the miraculous in the wider universe, in which I believe there exists God, are not the same in my mind. What do you think — especially as a person who (based on what I know of you) does believe in God?

    All the best,
    Josh

  2. Thanks, Josh. I do believe in God. But I believe in a God of loving persuasive power that is not coercive; power that is shared (which is another way of saying creatures have genuine ‘freedom’) rather than a God with ‘all’ the power (almighty, etc). This is the God who gently participates in the depths of each emergent being in each emergent moment, whose will can be contravened by free creatures who mutually-become in vast interconnectedness.

    My question in the piece is whether there is a confluence between the ideas of a coercive God whose will is never thwarted (even in the most tragic circumstances: ‘It must have been God’s will…’), who acts by means of supernatural interventions and political thinking that fails to recognize participatory becoming, fails to recognize that our common life costs us something, requires our common donation through taxes, but that somehow expects the structures of our common life to (magically) continue to exist.

    Cheers,
    Paul

  3. Paul,

    My sense is that it is beyond question that there exist a substantial number of people whose basic anxiety toward all things they cannot directly control–be it potholes, government debt, “different” people, or their own mortality–pushes then to cling to a fundamental (I choose that word specifically) belief that there is an all-powerful Father (again, that word specifically) who will provide comfort: personal, political, and in any other form they require.

    Keep on writin’,
    Aaron

  4. Well, Paul, for a some of them I think this is true. For many, I think the problem lies deeper, but results in the same result: they, essentially, don’t believe that reason and social connection have anything to do with either religious faith or public policy. Since to have faith means, for such folks, to believe against reason and to set one’s self apart from the mob (aka Ayn Rand, although she, at least, thought reason matters), the very act of engaging in social reason is ungodly. God places the truth in their hearts and they must passionately believe it and they must be faithful to that truth in every single act of public policy in which they engage. Therefore, if they believe earnestly that the President isn’t an American citizen, God revealed it to them in their heart and it doesn’t matter what the “evidence” reveals. In other words, I don’t think we get anywhere near an understanding of a processive world with them not just because they believe in an omnipotent God, but because they basically reject three of the four sources of revelation, including tradition, reason, and the Scriptures. (Oh, they quote them, but they don’t actually inquire into them or discuss them; God reveals to them in their hearts what the scriptures say and mean.) You don’t have to believe in God to believe and act this way; when it’s not protected by religious rhetoric, it’s plain old solipsism. I think it raises its ugly head when people find themselves in situations of great risk and don’t know who they can trust around them– that is, it’s pretty much the opposite of faith, no matter what they call it.

  5. Surely this intriguing line of thought has already found its apotheosis in Governor Rick Perry, who does indeed seem to believe, quite literally, that the answer to the nation’s problems is magic brought about by prayer.

    Any politician who, in his publicly-funded time as a representative of the people, spends a day “seek[ing] God’s guidance and wisdom in addressing the challenges that face our communities, states and nation” by encouraging Christians (and only a very conservative form of Christian) to pray for the welfare of the nation is indulging in precisely the fantasies you describe.

    1. James– Thanks. Actually, to keep it short and sweet, I cut out a paragraph about the praying behaviors of the governors of Texas and Oklahoma.

  6. I think you’re on to something… I don’t want to call a group of people ignorant, maybe intellectually lazy is better. They see a problem and they take the shortest route to an answer. Understanding the details and nuances of a problem is much harder.

    The world is a complicated, sometimes scary place – and people seek the safety and comfort of answers they can wrap their heads around. Deficits are a problem? Stop spending money! There’s a natural disaster? God must be angry.

    I’m ‘intellectually lazy’ too. I don’t understand credit default swaps much less why a tornado wipes out a town. But at least, I’m willing to admit it and don’t presume to tell everyone else what to do. What I fear most is the unthinking mob mentality.

    1. Jeff- Thanks for the response. There are so many barriers to people grasping the nuances of serious issues that we face. I worry about public officials who are ready to exploit people’s inability to comprehend the various complexities in our common life, and maybe even more I worry about media that intentionally mislead folks by igniting that thoughtless mob mentality you mention.

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