Editing Frank Zappa (section)

===Government and religion===
[[File:Praga 7 zappa havel.jpg|left|thumb|Zappa with [[Václav Havel]], 1990]]
In a 1991 interview, Zappa reported that he was a registered [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] but added "that might not last long—I'm going to shred that."<ref>{{YouTube|id=XgJvMwAscO0|''web Interview with Mienfoking Films''}} (4:50)</ref> Describing his political views, Zappa categorized himself as a "[[Conservatism in the United States|practical conservative]]."{{Refn|group="nb"|"Politically, I consider myself to be a (don't laugh) 'Practical Conservative'. I want a smaller, less intrusive government, and lower taxes. What? You too?"<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|315}}}} He favored [[limited government]] and low [[Taxation|taxes]]; he also stated that he approved of national defense, [[Social Security (United States)|social security]], and other federal programs, but only if recipients of such programs are willing and able to pay for them.<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|315–316, 323–324, 329–330}} He opposed military drafts, saying that military service should be voluntary.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/frank-zappa-you-are-what-you-is-feature/ |title='You Are What You Is': Frank Zappa's Savagely Satirical Pop Masterclass |last=Atkins |first=Jamie |date=September 23, 2022 |publisher=uDiscoverMusic |access-date=September 27, 2022}}</ref> He favored capitalism, [[entrepreneurship]], and independent business, stating that musicians could make more from owning their own businesses than from collecting royalties.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-12-19-fi-721-story.html|date=December 19, 1989|title=Frank Zappa, Capitalist Rocker|author1=Apodaca, Patrice|access-date=October 3, 2016|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> He [[Anti-communism|opposed]] communism, stating, "A system that doesn't allow ownership... has—to put it mildly—a fatal design flaw."<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|315–316, 323–324, 329–330}} He had used his album covers to encourage his fans to [[Voter registration|register to vote]], and throughout 1988, he had registration booths at his concerts.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|348}} He even considered running for president of the United States as an independent.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|365}}<ref>{{cite book |title=The Routledge History of Social Protest in Popular Music |edition=illustrated |first1=Jonathan C. |last1=Friedman |publisher=Routledge |date=2013 |isbn=978-1-136-44729-7 |page=151 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BC16oLUzlSIC}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=BC16oLUzlSIC&pg=PA151 Extract of page 151]</ref>

Zappa was an [[Atheism|atheist]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kaylan|first1=Howard|last2=Tamarkin|first2=Jeff|title=Shell Shocked: My Life with the Turtles, Flo and Eddie, and Frank Zappa, etc.|date=2013|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=978-1-4803-4293-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SQ5OjILuPywC|access-date=October 21, 2014|quote=I was an atheist. Zappa was atheist.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Oxford Handbook of Atheism|date=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-964465-0|page=722|editor1=Stephen Bullivant|editor2=Michael Ruse |quote=Of numerous atheist rock musicians, Frank Zappa ranks among the most outspoken.}}</ref> He recalled his parents being "pretty religious" and trying to make him go to Catholic school despite his resentment. He felt disgust towards [[organized religion]] (Christianity in particular) because he believed that it promoted ignorance and [[anti-intellectualism]]. He held the view that the Garden of Eden story shows that the essence of Christianity is to oppose gaining knowledge.<ref>{{cite interview |first=Frank |last=Zappa |interviewer=[[David Sheff]] |title=Frank Zappa's 1993 Playboy Interview |url=https://www.playboy.com/read/frank-zappa-s-1993-playboy-interview |work=[[Playboy]] |date=May 2, 1993 |access-date=March 14, 2019}}</ref> Some of his songs, concert performances, interviews and public debates in the 1980s criticized and derided Republicans and their policies—President [[Ronald Reagan]], the [[Strategic Defense Initiative|Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)]], [[televangelism]], and the [[Christian Right]]—and warned that the United States government was in danger of becoming a "fascist theocracy."<ref>{{cite AV media |first=Frank |last=Zappa |date=2003 |title=[[Does Humor Belong in Music? (video)|Does Humor Belong in Music?]] |medium=Motion picture (DVD) |publisher=EMI |orig-date=Recorded 1984}}</ref><ref name="CNN TV Debate">{{cite web|date=March 1986|title=Crossfire with Frank Zappa and John Lofton|publisher=CNN [TV Debate]|url=https://archive.org/details/FrankZappaOnCrossfire|access-date=October 3, 2016}}</ref>

In early 1990, Zappa visited [[Czechoslovakia]] at the request of [[President of the Czech Republic|President]] [[Václav Havel]]. The meeting had been arranged by keyboardist [[Michael Kocáb]]. A longtime admirer of Zappa's commitment to individualism, Havel designated him as Czechoslovakia's "Special Ambassador to the West on Trade, Culture and Tourism."<ref name="Pompilio">{{cite web|last=Pompilio|first=Natalie|title=Frank Zappa: Revolutionary|publisher=Legacy.com|date=December 4, 2013|url=http://www.legacy.com/news/legends-and-legacies/frank-zappa-revolutionary/1726|access-date=November 9, 2014}}</ref> Havel was a lifelong fan of Zappa, who had great influence in the avant-garde and underground scene in Central Europe in the 1970s and 1980s. [[The Plastic People of the Universe]], a [[Czechoslovakia]]n jazz rock group associated with [[Prague underground (culture)|Prague underground culture]], took its name from Zappa's 1967 song "[[Plastic People]]".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mitchell|first=Tony|title=Mixing Pop and Politics: Rock Music in Czechoslovakia before and after the Velvet Revolution|journal=Popular Music. A Changing Europe|volume=11|issue=2|date=May 1992|pages=187–203|doi=10.1017/s0261143000004992|s2cid=154964927 }}</ref> Under pressure from Secretary of State, [[James Baker]], Zappa's posting (as Czech 'Special Ambassador') was withdrawn.<ref>{{cite book|title=Negotiated Revolutions: The Czech Republic, South Africa and Chile|first1=George|last1=Lawson|publisher=Ashgate|date=2005|isbn=978-0-7546-4327-2|page=103|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YrRdTA-B6PcC}}</ref> Havel made Zappa an unofficial [[cultural attaché]] instead.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|357–361}} Zappa planned to develop an international consulting enterprise to facilitate trade between the former Eastern Bloc and Western businesses.<ref name="Pulse1993">{{cite news|url=https://www.afka.net/Articles/1993-08_Pulse.htm|last=Ouellette|first=Dan|title=Frank Zappa|newspaper=[[Pulse! magazine|Pulse!]]|pages=48–56|date=August 1993}}</ref>