final post on this matter

Here’s the scoop on the fanatical Religious Right person that thinks you have to vote GOP if you are a Christian:

I am not going to get to talk to him. It is not clear to me if he refused to contact me, or if my friend did not really press that issue. My friend tells me that the conversation veered off into some sort of La La Land, and the alleged nut directed my friend to this site which encourages you to be a good Christian and vote Republican. Which really proves nothing, as I can direct you to this site which encourages you to be a good Christian and vote Democrat.

In closing, my friend asks “I'm kinda curious now, don't you know any people that think God wants you to vote Republican?”

I do not know anyone who thinks that way. The most devout person I know closely is my father. He actually historically votes Democrat, and that is based on Union loyalty, not on religion. And I can honestly say that the most politically activist Christians I ever encountered were in the UCC, the “Religious Left”.

That is why I am baffled by all of the fretting over the “pushy” Religious Right.

But hey, it’s not a big freakin deal. I’m just following up on some unfinished business.

NEXT WEEK:

5 comments:

James Robert Smith said...

A very simple fact that has always influenced my opinion of religious people is that the more devout a person is, the more racist that person is. This is from personal experience from living here in the Bible Belt. (Part of the Union/Confederacy reason you stated above.) Most of the southern white folk who used to vote Democrat out of hatred for all things Yankee now vote Republican out of hatred of all things non-white.

And, yes, I have known deeply religious black people and, no, they have not proven themselves to be terribly racist. But by and large, my opinion of religion in general, and Christianity specifically, is that it forms a philosophical bedrock that breeds ignorance on just about everything, and intolerance for anything different.

And it also breeds folk who, by and large, vote Republican, since Republican politicians tend to appeal to their base via various forms of hate-mongering.

Mark Martin said...

My dear James

I love ya buddy, but that's one of your craziest rants yet. The vitriol you spray as you accuse others of hate-mongering and stereotyping always amazes me. You go on about intolerance of anything different - do you not see the irony?

My dad is/was loyal to LABOR unions, not the confederacy. He was the head of the local LABOR union where he worked.

I'm not sure I even understand the points you are making, but I'll tell you the same thing I told my friend who started this: I challenge you to introduce me to someone who actually thinks the way you think they think. Other than the obvious David Duke or skinhead fringe wacko - how many people do you actually KNOW who hate all things non-white? Please have one of them contact me.

Thanks! Always fun to hear from you!

SRBissette said...

The most religiously devout person I ever knew -- in terms of living his religion, and making it part of his every action/deed -- was a Rastafarian. I've also known a devout Buddhist or two. That all three were among the most peaceful and centered folks I've ever had the privilege to cross paths with spoke volumes.

Racism is neither a religious nor a Southern 'thang.' I've lived in Vermont almost all my years, and have met more casual racists, bigots, homophobes and zealots up here than I can count.

Given the absolute dirth of any other than white New Englanders (and come this time of year, we're all grub-white), one can't connect the racism to direct experience: it's prejudice in its rawest form, in a way, based on nothing but growing up among adults with prejudices that are passed on, generation to generation. A few have limited experience via their stints in the military, and will talk fondly of soldier buddies who didn't happen to be white, but those are exceptions, mind you -- and didn't seem to be sufficient to challenge racist prejudices instilled in childhood based on -- well, nothing, really.

James Robert Smith said...

"I challenge you to introduce me to someone who actually thinks the way you think they think."

You don't think I'm actually friendly with these folk, do you?

Pull back the gossamer veil on a Republican and I'll show you a Nazi.

Jed Alexander said...

You have hereby once again proven the rule (albeit, prematurely) that all internet threads eventually lead to comparisons with Hitler and/or Nazis. Congratulations.

I don't think it's devoutness, so much as fundamentalism (of any stripe, be it Muslim, Rastafarian, vegetarian or carnivorous) that tends to lead to narrowness of mind.

This narrowness could be possitive even. Such as the statement "I love everybody". Can you really love everybody or do you just think you love everybody? Do you love Hitler? Do you love the Nazis? Isn't this just as extreme as the statement, "I hate everybody" in its own way?

Fundamentalism:

A USUALLY (my caps) religious movement or point of view characterized by a return to fundamental principles, by rigid adherence to those principles, and often by intolerance of other views and opposition to secularism.

Key word here is "intollerance" which doesn't necessarily take the form of racism. Heck, it's a form of intollerance to believe that everyone should love everybody. This, if rigidly adhered to, implies that you are intollerant of people who don't love everybody, who refuse to love everybody, and who don't love you.

Take the statement:

"Pull back the gossamer veil on a Republican and I'll show you a Nazi."

That's a whole hell of a lot of gossamer veils. What are you, some kind of fundamentalist? Relax already.

Also, your "personal experience from living in the Bible belt", is still just anecdotal. It aint scientific, mister guy who (I assume) believes in science. Give me some facts if you're truly a man of science. Otherwise you're just another fundamentalist.