Frank Rich articulates beautifully what I've been saying for years: that the radical right are steeped in a culture of death, not a culture of life. In fact, I think Christianity, particularly radical, fundamentalist Christianity, is a cult of death. You only have to look at the predominant image -- Christ bloody on the cross -- to see it. I'm sorry if this offends any of my readers (not that I expect it does, seeing that all of my readers are family and friends who know my beliefs!), but it's the truth. It's horribly sad that this death worship has taken over the way it has and has been manifested in such horrific ways, with our cavalier invasion of Iraq, our nonchalant sanction of state executions (that we even have to question whether or not it's okay to execute juveniles...), our ongoing destruction of the environment, and our pessimistic worldview that seems to revel in the thought of no-future.

I've been studying Zen Buddhism for a number of years now and have recently started calling myself a Buddhist because I've integrated meditation into my daily life and have accepted the ideas and philosophy of zen. Over and over again I see references to Buddhism in western texts as a "death cult," or "pessimistic." It's funny, really, that a philosophy (it's not really a religion since there is no god, no worship, and no belief in some fairy tale afterlife) that accepts death and therefore emphasizes life is seen as pessimistic, when the opposite is true. It is an extremely optimistic view to see life as truly precious, that your actions are your only true belongings, that you must take care of everyone and everything around you because they are impermanent (as you are), and that you are intimately connected to all things, living and not. This is a radical idea, though it predates Christianity by over 500 years, and it is in direct conflict with the Revelations-based wacko Christianity so many preach, a vision of life so pessimistic it revolves around a fantasy of the end of the world and life itself.

Buddhists think they have an obligation to make the world a better place because they understand that there will still be life after they are dead. We are not the last people who will ever live on earth. This is entirely different than the radical Christianity some Americans believe in, the one that Rich discusses when he talks about the "Left Behind" readers who say they believe in a "culture of life" (because they are "pro-life," a fictitious notion that's really about being pro-birth). They think the "end of times," whatever the hell that means, is "upon us" (there's always this pseudo-biblical language meant to sound more intelligent and insightful than it actually is), meaning the end of the world is coming during their lifetime and therefore there is no need to take care of others, let alone the environment or oneself, because in the end Jesus and God will sort us out, giving the righteous a place in heaven and the sinners a place in hell. "Faith" is all that matters: you can kill, destroy, and you'll go to heaven as long as you believe in Jesus and accept him into your heart. It's absolutely ludicrous.

In Zen there is no heaven or hell. "Heaven," if you want to call it that, is here on earth. This is it. When we die we might change (we're constantly changing), but we aren't transported to some fantasy place and we actually do die. We disintegrate, turn to dust. We become air, smoke, clouds, soil, etc. etc. This is not reincarnation, it's an understanding that we are made up of the same substances that make up all the other things in our world. When they say "form is emptiness," some Zen masters tell us to ask "Empty of what?" The answer, they say, is that we're empty of a separate self. We are all connected to one another, to the natural world too, and therefore if we hurt others (or the natural world) then we hurt ourselves, including our ancestors-to-be. We have to take care of each other now, because this is all we have -- this moment. What an idea!

This is particularly radical if we think about the "culture of death" philosophy that has permeated our society (and not just ours -- you can't get more "culture of death" than blowing yourself up in the name of Allah). Just today on NPR I heard a story about a group of Jews suing Mormons (again) for baptizing Jewish victims of the Holocaust to make sure they go to Mormon heaven. It's so absurd, isn't it? And it's actually happening! Apparently it's been happening for years. A decade ago they reached an agreement and the Mormons said they wouldn't do it anymore, but a lot of families and small congregations do it on their own anyway, hence the lawsuit. Mormons, I guess, are so afraid of death they're afraid for other people, even for people who are already dead. It's so utterly insane.

One of the things that's always attracted me to Buddhism is the fact that it's not evangelical in the slightest. It's not about "Spreading the Good News," born-again conversion, or trying to convince people that they are going to suffer greatly in the afterlife if they don't believe in a set dogma. I am deeply insulted by evangelists. I've been visited by mormons in New Orleans, accosted on college campuses by soap-box preachers, handed nutcase pamphlets in airport lobbies, you name it. I don't understand why people can't live and let live. This doesn't just involve religion, of course. Unfortunately, we're becoming a paternalistic society that thinks there is a "right" way to live (and die, for that matter). It's scary.

One thing Rich doesn't mention is the irony of the media's lovefest with the deaths of Schiavo and the Pope, and their complete ignoring of Iraq and Afghanistan. We're at war. War means death and destruction. Somehow, though, it's not a rallying cry for the radicals because it might be one of their sons or daughters (or husbands, fathers, mothers, wives) who dies. Death is intriguing when it's separated from us -- the long ago video of Schiavo or the laid out corpse of John Paul -- but it's entirely different when it's close to home. Therefore no pictures of flag-draped coffins on the front page, nor of mangled corpses, nor even of the broken bodies of the wounded. They may want to see Jesus tortured and killed, moment by moment, but they don't want to see someone who looks like them, could be them, going through the same, even if they advocate the policies that led to that person's death. Talk about not taking responsibility! If our actions are our only true possessions, as Zen teaches, then we are a nation of teens who refuse to take responsibilty for our actions. And this from a group who talk about an "ownership society." Ownership of what?

Part of the "culture of death" is the crazy dichotomy of both fear and love of death. It's bizarre to fear something so strongly that you coccoon yourself from it in fantasy (through religion and entertainment) while simultaneously wishing for the Apocalypse, death, and the glorious afterlife that comes with it. What is most disturbing to me, though, is how this love/fear of death has manifested itself in our world: insane amounts of violence fetishized when it serves the people in charge; that same violence ignored when it is done by us for our nefarious, greedy purposes. It's sick.

A couple of summers ago in Baja one of our dear friends was reading a history of the Spanish Civil War and pointed out a passage to me about the rousing meetings (revivals, really) of the fascists during Franco's rise to power. The crowd, delirious with "patriotism," yelled out "Viva Muerte!" over and over again. That could be our rallying cry now that the inmates have taken over the asylum. It's bedlam everywhere I look. Freedom is an illusion when radicals are in charge. And, unfortunately, the death-loving, Jesus-worshipping nutcases have taken over.

I don't want to live in their Culture of Death. How do we remake it? How do we open people's eyes to life? How do we create a true Culture of Life?