Greatest Hits -- Where On The Spectrum of Theocracy Is The Fight?
Originally published on May 5, 2005.*******************************************************
I have friends who send me articles from Cohen, Krugman, Dowd and others of similar tastes, with their endorsement. These columnists have been quite active recently writing about the movement in our country towards, gasp, a theocracy. This issue is covered nicely by villainous company blog princess Cassandra. One of her sources is a well written piece by John Phillips, a former NYT writer.
You will note, perhaps, if you are inclined to, a distinctly less course conversation from Cassandra and Phillips than from Cohen, et al, much less the leftist blogging community on this subject. But according to Bill Maher, it is the "right" that needs anger management therapy.
Although my neo-libertarian orientation occasionally puts me at odds politically with some in the religious right, I know where we have been and where we might go. The current fight over religion in the public square is significantly left of center historically, and left of where it was when I was a child when a prayer was said before the college football games I went to each Saturday, creches appeared in the public square in July, and prostitutes were stoned to death prior to the St. Patrick's Day parade.
Sure, within a range, the pendulum swings to the right and left on certain issues, but the focal point of the pendulum is still left of center historically. To hear the NYT and WaPo tell the story, we are fighting at the edges of theocracy. That position is, to say the least, uninformed and not well researched. To say more than the least, it is intentionally misleading.
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Note from tee bee: I thought I'd throw this back out there for review in light of the Roberts Confirmation hearings and the cry from the left, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, for the Bush Administration to take on more responsibility for citizens. What do you think?
posted by Jane Bellwether @ 11:09 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I read Bush is praying today. Once again, the Theocrats force their views on us by practicing their religion. He's probably praying that more poor people and minorities die.
Well, like Maher is saying, we believe in God, so it's like believing in voodoo dolls which are mean and silly. And we believe in sin, which is a guilt complex we work out by making life hard on certain scapegoats such as the poor and minorities. That's what most religious people believe and advocate, right?
The developing dichotomy of the spring - among the neo-libertarian conservatives I read - has been defining cons and social cons. Social cons are the evil twins who think in "moral" terms and want to use government to control people just like in a theocracy, by, you know, making abortion illegal, allowing (gasp) prayer and God in school and intellectual discourse (titter, titter). Unlike the free speech of the left and neolibcons, social cons want to control speech that endangers our war effort and they want laws to reflect morals like murder and abortion.
They're bad, those social cons.
I couldn't remember either Cass. And I have about 17 posts.
I'm still too busy to blog. I need a week to get my work out of the way that piled up last week. Keep me afloat tee bee!
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