Few words in religion are as ironic as “pagan” and that’s saying a lot. Stung by Jewish accusations that they were Pagans (for having two gods) and intent on theologizing their differences from the Roman cult, the followers of Jesus eventually succeeded in folding him into their mother’s milk of Jewish monotheism. He was spooned into the mix by the formulaic categories of Greek philosophy and the heresy-slaying councils of Christendom.

The determinedly triune dogma of traditional Christianity was made more rigid by Protestantism’s turn in the kitchen. Demonstrating an even greater jealousy on their god’s behalf, Protestants evicted the saints, as well as broke altars and images. Even the Americans, who despised creeds in favor of “Bible words for Bible things,” could not cut this cream out of their diet, but have kept whipping it through the centuries. God’s singularity and radical unrelatedness to creation defined his sovereignty and his sovereignty was the measure of his power to save.

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After nearly thirty years of overt pandering to and exploitation of religious fear and sentiment, the Republicans have unleashed the dogs of sectarianism on one of their own and probably their strongest candidate. As a Democrat, I confess that such self-destructive behavior is gratifying. As a Latter-day Saint, it’s not that much fun to watch. I have fantasies of sending the dogs back on self-proclaimed “Christian leader” Huckabee. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjtGgfhKIvo. But, two wrongs do not make right. Which point gets me back to Mr. Romney and his speech and the difficulty of running with the pack.

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Obviously, as shown by yet another case of a death sentence for speech considered an insult to the Prophet Muhammad, some Muslims hold beliefs that preclude certain kinds of speech. And, yes, the death penalty has a distinctly chilling effect on free speech.

It cannot be said, however, that all Muslims do or that Islam in general does preclude such freedom. Neither can it be said that only Islam has this problem with some of its proponents. A similar variety of response to heresy and insult has historically characterized Christianity. Even today, many Christian communities censure, shun, shame, disfellowship, and excommunicate those deemed a threat to the faithful. Thankfully, burning people at the stake has fallen out of fashion.

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