With only two days left to milk the “War on Christmas” blogging season, let me just make a point that I’ve been hinting at in previous posts and just wanna get off my chest. This whole Fox News-led crusade against liberal strawmen is embarrasing to watch, but it’s also a part of a much bigger problem. It’s a pretty well-known bit of trivia that the United States is one of the most religious countries in the Western world, but it seems to me that this all depends on how broadly you define “religious” and whether American’s willingness to describe themselves as religious actually translates into serious religious devotion. So while I’m a little unsure about America’s piety, there’s one thing that seems obvious to me : America is fraught with religious insecurity.

At least, that seems to be the thread that ties so many religiously-fueled controversies together. Putting the Ten Commandments in court houses, “intelligent” design in public schools, “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, and this absurd war against anyone who says “Happy Holidays” are really just facets of the same issue if you think about it. For a paranoid minority of Americans, it’s not enough to live in a country that values religious freedom, they want secular aspects of our society to reflect their religious views.

The truly remarkable thing about it, however, is how they’ve found a way to be on the offsensive while convincing the American public that they’re playing defense. Yeah, having an irrational persecution complex helps, but it’s also damn good politics. Religious activists around this country are actively trying to make changes throughout our society, yet their rhetoric (which always seems to be taken at face value) is that they’re somehow “preserving” some phantom aspects of our culture that have only existed in their faulty memories.

But if you really think it through, this modern crusade isn’t just something to get pissed off about. It’s sorta funny and sad. If we take them at face value and cede the point that our religious society is in danger of crumbling, then their tactics for reversing this trend are woefully pathetic. How do they propose returning America to her righteous Christian greatness? Having children mindlessly recite the words “under God” every morning? Making sure department stores use the word “Christmas”? Pathetic.

Is your faith so fragile that it’s in danger of crumbling in the face of mild secularism? Are tolerance and diversity interfering in the relationship between you and your lord? If the only thing stopping your religious worldview from gaining acceptance is a few radical judges who stopped you from displaying a giant chunk of granite emblazoned with an ancient list of rules you probably can’t even recite from memory, is there a chance that maybe your beliefs aren’t as strong as you’d have us all believe?

So if you find yourself in the company of those who are fighting to garnish our country with tiny bits of Jesus, please do us all a favor. Stop making us the targets of your insecurity and weakness. If your views aren’t strong enough to withstand engaging with a secular society, perhaps it’s time for a little self-reflection. If you need to see the words “In God We Trust” written on money, then you’re just fighting a losing battle with your own self-doubt. It’s one thing to battle your own demons in the public square, but I’m tired of being made the boogey man. Your spiritual weakness is not my fault.

Besides, if you’re truly sincere in your beliefs, there are much better ways to proselytize than expending so much energy on unimportant crap. For example, you could try engaging people in coversations about your religion and explain why you believe the way you do. It worked for Jesus.