> >From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org on behalf of Dwayne Monroe
> >
> >Now although there are quite a few Christians who can accurately be
> >called all sorts of hard ass things (fascists, extremists, snake
> >handlers, etc, etc) it's also true there are quite a few who, like my
> >family, have no interest in ruling the globe or *taking the culture back
> >for Jesus* or any of the other things the power grabbers go on about ad
> >nauseam....
>
> Great, I commend your family on their rich fantasy life. I think religion
> is fine as long as it's practiced in private. But I am completely opposed
> to religion sticking its nose into the res publica. Religion has no place
> in politics, period.
<snipping long story we all already know>
ok, not only is this unnecessarily insulting (which makes one wonder whether you're more interested in persuasion or in scoring cheap points), it also betrays a complete and utter misunderstanding of religion. if religion is fundamentally about assigning the cosmos meaning, how can it not affect everything you do if you take it the least bit seriously? while i have more issues with fundies where the rubber meets the road, i have more trouble in principle with quietistic private religion dorks who think that meaning is something you keep to yourself. i suppose, carl, that leftist christians (see, for only one example, the liberation theology movement squashed by the current pope) have no place in politics, either, because their politics is poisoned by religion. this makes absolutely no sense to me.
i wonder if you apply the same kind of ideological litmus tests to secular leftists, and if not, why not. and if you do, how you think that helps build mass movements.
j
-- Among medieval and modern philosophers, anxious to establish the religious significance of God, an unfortunate habit has prevailed of paying to Him metaphysical compliments.
- Alfred North Whitehead