The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled last week in an Arizona case involving tax credits for donations to religious schools.  In this case, citizens who donate money to school tuition organizations (STO’s), which in turn use the funds to provide scholarships to students attending private schools, most of which are religious schools, get a tax credit from the State for the full amount of their donation.  Arizona credits dollar for dollar contributions to STO’s up to $500 per individual or $1000 per couple.

The court ruled 5 to 4 in favor of the tax credit.  The five in the majority were justices Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, Alito and Kennedy.  In the minority were Ginsburg, Breyer, Kagan and Sotomayor.

As you can probably guess, I’m not too thrilled with this decision.

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I’ve traditionally been a fan of rock music, listening to bands such as Tool, Rush, Soundgarden and others.  But recently I’ve been wandering into the world of folk and roots music with bands like Ha Ha Tonka, Hoots and Hellmouth, Fleet Foxes, M. Ward and now a band called The Low Anthem.  Here’s a track from their first album released a few years ago.

Not sure where this trend is taking me, but it’s a nice diversion.

The church I drive by going in and out of my neighborhood has a new sign up this week.  It says:

Faith focuses on God instead of the problem

First thought…what is THE problem.  Is there some specific problem the religious are concerned with?  Are they referring to the problem of suffering in the world? and asking God why he allows it?  or are they referring to the problem of high gas prices? and asking God to pump more oil?  Or maybe they’re talking about the problem with religion, and it’s lack of any rational justification for its existence or why their God is any more likely to be real than the thousands of others that have come and gone throughout history.

Okay, enough nit picking about their use of English, I’m not one to be talking…you know, glass houses and all.  But, as usual, I’m not getting the intent of this message.  But if you think about it for a while, it might just explain a few things.

For example, faith healing.  You’ve seen the tragic stories.  A child of a deeply religious family has some ailment that is easily treatable or controllable, yet the parents refuse to take their child to a doctor.  Instead, they pray for God to heal their child.  Then sadly, the child dies.  The focus on God instead of the problem results in an innocent child suffering the ultimate sacrifice.

Or how about the global warming deniers, who believe man cannot destroy the Earth, only God can decide when to destroy his creation.  These are the ones who want to abolish the EPA and remove all restrictions on businesses in terms of carbon emissions or pollution.  Luckily, we don’t have any of these people in our elected offices, or having the potential to be the head of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

I find this focus on God as a problem solver odd.  I was taught that if you have a problem, it won’t go away on its own.  You have to deal with it.  Face it head on.  Otherwise it will fester and grow until it consumes you.  Instead of focusing on God and expecting him to solve your (or the worlds) problems, why not have faith in yourself to solve them or faith in yourself to make a difference in the world about the bigger problems that exist that seem immutable.

Nothing gets done by itself and certainly not when you’re down on your knees mumbling some utterances to a non-existent father figure in the sky.  Get up, take action and responsibility for yourself and solve your own problems.