journalistic crackpots in public life (was: religious crackpotsin public life)

Eric Beck rayrena at accesshub.net
Sat Jul 8 16:21:05 PDT 2000


Chip Berlet wrote:


>She said was exploring a paticular subculture that is
>growing within certain evangelical circles: separatism.

But she never proves or even remotely tries to show that it is growing. She *says* it is, but that's not enough to convince me. I've been a recovering Catholic for 14 years now, so I'm quite vigilant about taking things on faith.

What she does thoroughly--just as you do, Chip--is report the words and deeds of a few prominent religious crackpots, Weyrich, Thomas, and Dobson. That's fine, but that doesn't make it a trend. You and Talbot seem to attribute this burgeoning subculture to Weyrich's letter and Thomas and Dobson's book, which were both published in the spring of '99. So in less than a year Talbot was able to spot this trend, find an appropriate sample family, and get her piece published in the Times. Doesn't that seem a little, I don't know, quick? Sorry for the obsessive calendar-watching, but I think it gets to the heart of what I'm trying to say: that Talbot found the trend in Weyrich's words; in reality, it may or may not exist.

Perhaps I'm being a pain in the ass. Yes, the Christian Coalition is in shambles, and yes, some Christians are questioning their commitment to politics. But still, I've seen nothing that convinces me this equals "growing separatism."


>This view is not, in fact, new. In 1996 militant Protestants and Catholics
>unhappy with the pragmatism of the Christian Coalition began to question the
>legitimacy of electoral politics, the judiciary, and the government itself.
>These groups began to push openly theocratic arguments. A predominantly
>Catholic movement emerged from this sector to suggest civil disobedience
>against abortion is mandated by the primacy of natural law over the
>constitutional separation of powers which allowed the judiciary to protect
>abortion rights.

Do these groups have names? Are they still around? Did they remain together longer than the week of the Republican Convention?


>The Free Congress Foundation has held a conference on the subject:
>
>"On June 18 and 19, 1999, the Free Congress Foundation hosted a roundtable
>gathering on the subject of cultural separation -- or, as the roundtable
>came to call it, cultural Independence. About 40 people attended, most
>self-selected: they were people who had read Paul Weyrich's February letter,
>agreed with it, and told the Foundation they would like to be involved in
>moving the concept of cultural Independence forward."

Forty people, huh? Boy, is my face red.

Eric



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