Live and let live

I finished Crazy for God this morning. It really stirred me up, like good writing should.

Frank Schaeffer has exposed himself to the world - and I have to say that if I had known he and his father, Francis Schaeffer, were mostly responsible for the Religious Right being a major part of the political process in this country, I might have been tempted to clout him while he was signing the book. (He regrets it now.)

As another example of how no one is just one thing, his father seemed like someone I would have enjoyed talking with, even though he abused his wife. He was one of those people who was steeped in theology, but who lived and thought as a social liberal.

Both of Schaeffer's parents more or less lived a lie. His father probably would have been content, and possibly less abusive, if he had followed his inclination and followed a profession in the arts. His mother (I'm not sure if she's still alive) would have been less a "crazed" person if she had been allowed to be a dancer.

I found it interesting, as I always do in these cases, that while holding others to a high moral standard, they forgave Frank for his transgressions.

(She reminded me a lot of my mother. In fact, the whole relationship between his mother and father reminded me of my parents.)

It all kind of gives credence to Obama's assertion that people who are desperately unhappy with their lot cling to organized religion. (And I'm not saying that everyone who is religious is desperately unhappy.) I'm still uncertain about the guns part, but it's still a matter of control, who has it, and what you do with it.

Young Frank talked his father into joining forces with the likes of Pat Robertson (who they believed to be nut cases) to stir up religious fervor over Roe v. Wade, arguably the "decider" in American political elections.

It's a good read, a real page turner. Look at his picture, or look at him if you get the chance, and you will see the whole book etched in his face.