Wednesday, January 28, 2009

The Far Right/Christianists Still Don't Get the Message

Most of the far right fruit loops crowd do not seem to get what ought to be a very simple message: (i) Their team lost and (ii) the majority has rejected their desire to impose a Far Right/Christianist view of morality on everyone. They continue to be unwilling or incapable of grasping the concept that freedom of religion applies to others and not just them. A case in point is the bleating coming from Michael Novak at National Review who accuses President Obama of leading the country into a "relapse into paganism." Sadly, Novak is all too typical of the far right element in the GOP which cannot separate the desire to impose one set of religious beliefs - particularly a hatred of gays - on all citizens from the Founding Father's goal of having no one religion foisted on all. Here are some highlights of his bleating:
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The Obama presidency is only one week old, but it has already limned its main moral outlines: On January 20, President Obama called for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act. He also declared his intention to give multiple rights and privileges to homosexual couples. . . . On January 23, President Obama issued an order that authorizes tax dollars for abortions abroad.
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From these announcements we learn that President Obama recognizes no difference between the Jewish-Christian covenant between a woman and a man (a covenant that they will have and nurture children, if they are so blessed), and a civil contract between two persons of any sex, in order to set up a household of affection and sexual favors. This is a relapse into paganism. The point of monogamous family networks is to treat male and female with complementary and mutually cooperative dignity and to tie the power of sexuality (male, especially) to self-sacrificing communities of love.
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The first week did not have to begin this way. These first steps were unworthy of a great nation and unworthy of a serious leader. These decisions humiliated those who voted for President Obama because they had been assured, and assured others, that the new president would take seriously the culture of life.
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It is telling how Novak and the majority of those who remain Republicans continue to believe that the denigration of and hatred towards gays and a ban on abortions no matter what the circumstances are "godly values." Of course, they care nothing for children already born and resist funding for programs that would assist poor children and us gays are somehow less than human.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The religious right has and will continue to destroy the Republican Party. They will not be competitive on the national stage and might hold onto some individual seats as long as the candidate moves more towards the center. It is a shame. How far has the party come since Lincoln??