On Jul 1, 2006, at 9:45 AM, Chip Berlet wrote:
> And, in case it is not obvious, the original subject line manages
> to be both homophobic, and insulting to organizers like me who are
> people of faith trying to organize within that community.
Please, oh please, can't someone stand up for secularism?
Aside from its intellectual appeal to me (and apparently about 14% of the American public, up from 7% a decade ago), there's a political point to having a good word for secularism. The influence of religion on the American left has been to promote an ideal of conciliation, of appealing to the better conscience of the ruling class. What a hopeless dream. Bracketing the point that the ruling class often uses religion to promote its own agenda, capitalism is a system based on structurally opposed class interests. The notion of the common good is a delusion. And even half-decent reforms of the present system are going to require a lot of conflict and militance - the kind of thing that makes the religious left nervous. To any book on why there is no socialism in America, religion would have to contribute at least a longish chapter.
Doug