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Tony Norman

Newt Gingrich plays the 'pagan' card

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

By Tony Norman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Over the weekend, the Republican Party worked overtime to secure its place as the last bastion of religious and political Know-nothingism. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee headlined the "Rediscovering God in America" conference at a Virginia Beach church.

In contrast to President Barack Obama's speech from Cairo University that dared imagine religious pluralism as a virtue, Mr. Gingrich, the reigning Savonarola of the GOP, encouraged the party's base to continue asserting its brand of American civil religion because, well, it continues to work so well for the party, doesn't it?

"I think this is one of the most critical moments in American history," Mr. Gingrich said in a speech broadcast live over God TV, an evangelical Web site. "We are living in a period where we are surrounded by paganism."

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines paganism as "n (15c) 1 a: pagan beliefs or practices b: a pagan religion 2: the quality or state of being a pagan."

That doesn't tell us much, so I had to look up the definition of "pagan." This musty-sounding word derives from the Latin "paganus" or "country dweller." The definition in Merriam-Webster's hints at Mr. Gingrich's intentions: "Heathen, especially a follower of a polytheistic religion; one who has little or no religion and who delights in sensual pleasures and material goods; an irreligious or hedonistic person."

Fresh from climbing down after bearing false witness against Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, Mr. Gingrich couldn't resist using the broadest brush possible to describe those who disagree with him on social and political issues as "pagans."

There are enough self-identifying "neo-pagans" in our country to take umbrage at Mr. Gingrich's description of their morals and their beliefs. In Mr. Gingrich's universe, every social practice from abortion to gay marriage is evidence of paganism. He has made paganism a synonym for liberalism.

Many Americans rub shoulders with neo-pagans at work whether they know it or not. They are among our friends and family. They serve proudly and openly in the military. Compared with followers of the three Abrahamic faiths, their numbers are minuscule, which is why a thrice-married, twice-divorced politician who has done his share of pursuing sensual pleasure thinks he can get away with using "paganism" as pejorative and not descriptive.

What, exactly is Newt Gingrich talking about when he insists "we are surrounded by paganism"? He's not using the original definition. It's not like there are millions of druids, shamans and followers of Zeus attempting to overthrow America's Judeo-Christian consensus. If his use of paganism is, as I suspect, shorthand for "liberal ungodliness," is this definition limited to one side of political disputes?

Is Scott Roeder, the man charged with the first-degree murder of late-term abortion provider Dr. George Tiller, a "pagan" in Newt's eyes? Scott Roeder is accused of shooting Dr. Tiller to death in the sanctuary of his church in front of loved ones. If the person responsible for vandalizing a statue of the Virgin Mary in Mt. Lebanon over the weekend is suspected of being hostile to Christianity, what does that make a man who murders another man handing out programs in his own church?

What about those Americans who put their faith in unfettered and unlimited access to guns and ammo just to feel secure in their own homes -- are they "pagan"? Is the Bush administration "pagan" for authorizing the use of torture to elicit information from detainees? Is former Vice President Dick Cheney "pagan" for advocating both torture and gay marriage?

What about those who masterminded the invasion of Iraq? Are they "pagan" for causing the deaths of thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis? What about those whose worship of obscene profits at any cost led to the collapse of the economy they ostensibly managed -- are they "pagan?"

What about so-called "Christians" who can't wait to point fingers at the children of other gods? Would it surprise anyone to learn that they're the biggest "pagans" of all?

Tony Norman can be reached at tnorman@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1631.