The problem is that while people are hanging out at these churches they are getting constantly bombarded by not only absurd god stuff, but also by just down right lies about what is going on the in the world. The media and schools are almost completely out of the information supplying business. So people don't actually know.
Even if someone started off with a pretty rational liberal position, if all they hear is that bullshit, over time it will have an effect.
Guess that was a softball.
Steve
----- Original Message ----- From: "Chuck0" <chuck at mutualaid.org> To: <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org> Sent: Friday, February 25, 2005 12:43 PM Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] The Rapture Index & "white trash"
> Steven Gotzler wrote:
>
>> But most interesting is that people I have known for many years, people
>> with good educations, and better than average jobs are going to these
>> things. I get the sense that they are a little embarrassed to tell me
>> when they first have to. In conversation I often learn that they no
>> longer know much about the news, although years ago they did. And they
>> act, as in vote, by what they think they do know. We talk and if I can
>> keep from getting to self-righteous I make serious headway in getting
>> them back on track. Many of these people were people who were into new
>> age sort of things in the past. Remember the "harmonic convergence"
>> thing that never happened. People faded away from that stuff over time.
>> I wonder if a lot of this middle class evangelical stuff won't pass when
>> it turns out that it really doesn't deliver peace of mind?
>
> My bet on the cause of this trend is the lack of community in our highly
> alienating capitalist society. People are flocking to the mega churches
> for the social network and the amenities. But are they flocking to just
> any church?
>
> This is an important thing that the Left has overlooked--we just don't do
> a good job of creating community. Those of us who spend lots of time
> trying to create alternative institutions such as infoshops are berated
> for being lifesylists. What my critics don't understand is that I've been
> operating on a strategy of counter-insitution-building for the past decade
> based on my reading of what the labor movement had available to it a
> century ago. You can't make social change without resources and community.
> Meetings are not resources and community. The radical movements in the USA
> of a century ago were able to stand on a network of radical cultural
> institutions that ranged from union halls to free schools to cooperatives.
> In many big cities today, we are so lacking in resources that our activist
> groups meet in restaurants and people's homes.
>
> The right wing has churches, thinks tanks, and much more. What do we have?
> Some people can diss me on my fucking infoshop, but at least I've worked
> with activists in Kansas City to put together one radical space!
>
> Chuck
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
>
>
>