The National Loss of Faith

And no, I'm not talking about the secular Christmas nonsense.
I'm talking about the loss of faith in our institutions.

We have become a nation of conspiracy theorists. We have convinced ourselves that every organization around us is secretly trying to screw us around.
Whether you are left or right wing, we have one thing in common - we both think that half of our elected politicians are traitors, to America and to American ideals.
The number one book on the market alleges that the Catholic Church has been running a cover-up since St. Peter was in charge - a cover up that has included over the years everything from Opus Dei to Freemasonry, in a plot that wouldn't have made the cut for an X-Files episode.
Don't get started on JFK. I understand the newest theory implicates everyone except L. Ron Hubbard and E.T. So many groups have been named over the years that the Presidential limo should have looked like Bonnie and Clyde's flivver.

It's no wonder that people are embracing everything from Intelligent Design to UFOlogy. When you believe that your whole life is a fraud, facts become suspect.

Well, folks, here is some old Hick advice.
Secrets are things held by two people, not twenty. The Catholic Church did not keep a secret for 2,000 years. Somebody would have lost their faith and spilled the beans before now. JFK might have been killed by the mafia, but not by the Illuminati, the Cubans, or the Secret Cabal That Has Run The Country Since 1963.
The Democrats are not traitors, they are just idiots trying to get re-elected. The Republicans, ditto. The ACLU is clumsily trying to help, not revive communism.
The world is in the state it's in because of plain old fashioned incompetence, greed, apathy, and ignorance. No secret plan exists to keep us down.

So have yourselves a Merry Little Christmas, and do what you can to make people's lives a little better this season. Don't preach, don't picket. Don't assume that PETA is full of terrorists, conservatives want a dictatorship, or that the guy at the end of the road works for Al-Qaida.
Be safe. Be happy. For one day, anyway.