The Clash of Conservatism and Theocracy
By Joel McDonald • Dec 21st, 2009 • Category: Blog, Related News & Events
While the axiom that conservatives are a self fulfilling prophecy in their claims of not trusting the government, and then becoming the untrusted when elected is humorous; the reality of the longtime ongoing conflict between conservatism and theocracy isn’t funny at all.
I’m not saying that going to church and fervently believing in your chosen faith is bad. By all means, worship as you please. If your faith genuinely makes you a more whole and better person, I’m all for it.
What I’m not for is the constant churning of fundamentalist evangelism, the remnants of the so called “moral majority”, in the far right wing of the Republican party. What I can’t tolerate is the notion that faith, and values and morality rooted in that faith, should be forced onto the nation.
Far-right Republicans like Senators Jim DeMint and Sam Brownback, and House Representatives Michelle Bachmann and Randy Forbes, seem to be flirting fundamentalists in their attempt woe far right-wing voters, supposedly represented by protesters holding signs depicting the President of the United States as a murderous clown, and crying that their freedom is being taken away somehow by an expansion in access to health care. There’s also something about Hitler and the Nazis that they like to talk about as well.
All four of the mentioned elected officials attended a national prayer event, broadcasted from Washington throughout the nation. The “prayercast” was led by Lou Engle, founder of The Call and leader at IHOP (International House of Prayer). While the focus of much of the praying at the event was to prevent the Senate from passing health care reform without abortion limits, Engle also likes to talk about his son who in in California to “cast out homosexual spirits out of our new converts.” In other words, Engle believes LGBT peoples are possessed by demons.
Classy coming from a spiritual leader acknowledged also by the likes of Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee.
Is it any wonder why so many Republicans work against the passage of legislation that would provide additional protection for people who are being beaten or losing their jobs based solely on who they date or love? Is anyone really surprised, with Republican leaders allying themselves with the likes of Engle, that they are satisfied with the discharge of thousands of troops due to their sexuality?
Where exactly is the conservatism in this? If Republicans are supposed to stand for small government and individual liberty, why are they aligning themselves with zealots who push them to restrict the liberty of people based on who they are?
The thing is, it’s not about being conservative at all. It’s about being able to use the emotions of the faithful to win elections. It’s about being able to use the fear enhanced by the imagery of the devil allegedly behind the scenes of liberalism pulling the strings, especially on social issues.
Related posts:
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- Political Cowardice: Public Option Opt Out Option
- Nye gives answers, but many questions remain heading into 2010
Joel McDonald has been following Virginia politics since February 2008, starting with the Democratic Presidential Primary. Since then, he has been the primary new media contact for progressive district and statewide campaigns.
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Maintaining the moral base of society is not only essential to our nation, but perfectly conservative. If we fail to do so, the ensuing moral cesspool would require a ballooning amount of social spending to deal with the damage.
In the end, an ounce of moral righteousness saves us a pound of expanding government.
There is a difference between building a society on the foundation of personal liberty with laws based on the harm principal and legislating the morality of religious institutions. Yes, there are commonalities between secular law and religious morality, but there is a line that should never be crossed, and that line where religious morality infringes upon personal liberty when that liberty causes no harm.
Mr. Ryto, I have a problem with your phrases “moral cesspool and moral righteousness”. I’m thinking you still rock with the days of the “plantation mentality” down here. You are the kind of person who parks your butt in a pew on Sunday yet goes to work on Monday to deny your employees a living wage because your interpretation of The Bible informs you of “moral hazards”. It would be nice to have Political representation in Virginia that works to create reliable public transportation, investment in quality public education. To name just two of many needs of taxpayers in southeastern Virginia. Enough with the religiousity and the saving of souls by our elected representatives. Don’t pray for us, just create and pass legislation that improves the quality of our lives provided by the taxes we pay. Otherwise, go away, pray your prayers in the state tax subsidized church of your choice. So far, using your words, you represent the moral cesspool that has prevented this area from ever realizing it’s full potential.
Frances,
Thanks for proving how clueless that liberal Democrats are. As to a couple of your points:
1. You accuse me of subscribing to a “plantation mentality” when in fact I’ve had a working relationship with Virginia Beach’s African-American community leadership since 2001. (Ask either Georgia Allen, Carl Wright, or Andrew Jackson about me.)
2. You think I don’t want to expand mass transit?!? ROFL! I’m Chairman of HRT’s Transit Riders Advisory Committee (TRAC). (Check out TRAC’s page on HRT’s website.)
Government has a finite amount of revenue to work with. Many of those issues that this region sorely lags on (mass transit, lower-income housing, quality jobs creation, etc.) can’t be met if what money is available is having to be spent on problems that stem from the moral decomposition of society.
Mr Ryto, Thanks for your timely reply. Are you saying that supporting legislation that would remove discriminatory policies from the gay community would cost us more money? Gay people, last time I looked are not asked to identify as anything but citizens on their tax filings. Make the wage, pay the amount. Yet in their case, no civil protections. I take umbrage in your reference to moral cesspool and your desire for moral righteousness. I don’t care how many “Black” friends you have. If you want only “morally righteous” earned money to fill our tax coffers then you might want to reconsider Virginias’ Business Friendly wage policies and the predatory Payday Lenders that our legislature continues to take contributions in election campaigns. Pay attention Mr. Ryto, the great Moral Cesspool pays taxes at the same rate you do. If you and your ilk could get past the Bible and the Civil War, we here in southeastern Virginia might accomplish meaningful things that could change all of our lives.