>Christopher Rhoades Dÿkema wrote:
>
>>But this is too optimistic:
>>
>>> A bit too much concern is expressed over the religious right. I'm
as guilty of this as anyone.
>>
>>It is just when they feel threatened that they are liable to do the
most
>>dangerous things, use their institutional power to attack civil
liberties, etc. It is now, when their social psychological base is
ebbing, that
we should be most forceful about them.
Sorry to Dykema for missing your original post. In regards to what's said here...
I'm not saying that the religious right should be completely ignored. However, their agendas on homosexuality and abortion usually take a back seat to the deregulation crusades of the Republican Party's corporate sponsors.
When I look at the religious right nowadays, I'm reminded of Thomas Frank's analysis concerning the mix of countercultural rhetoric and absolute faith in the marketplace. If Paul Weyrich does succeed in creating a viable fundamentalist "counterculture," I can see the business community mining it for the same purposes as before. Instead of Tom Peters talking "revolution" and "destruction," the new management gurus will speak of community and family togetherness. Of course, whether they're quoting Abbie Hoffman or Ecclesiastes, business will play the same global games.
And the fundamentalists will be helpful participants in the process. When describing her goals as a "Christian activist," a guest on The 700 Club declared, "I want to set up my booth in the marketplace." That's all? Who could be scared by that?
>Our chief law enforcement officer is a religious fanatic who holds
>prayer meetings in his office. Our president claims to be a
>born-again Christian who seems only to read the Bible. I think a
>little concern is in order.
Right. A *little* concern. I personally find Dubya's paeans to Christ as convincing as his "compassionate conservatism." Defense contractors come first. The Prince of Peace comes second.
And define "religious fanatic." If Martin Luther King had denounced abortion with the same fervor he denounced the Vietnam War, the term "fanatic" would be applied to him.
-- David