Sure, Scientologists are crackpots. But does Germany really want to be known for religious persecution?
Religion
The Coalition Of Permanent Victims Now Victimizing Each Other
In case you haven’t seen it yet, this ought to please John. Honestly, try to write a narrative piled deeper with schadenfreude than these pitched battles within the religious right over who is and isn’t religious right enough.
On the one hand you have Catholic bigot and permanent victim Bill Donahue throwing down with young Earth creationist and anti-gay bigot Mike Huckabee. Donahue knows full well that the old protestant fundie position, which ranks Catholics somewhere between Jews and yard trimmings, never died so much as it went quiet from political necessity. The coalition held so long as it promoted vaguely Christian leaders like Ronnie and George Dubya who lay the Jesus on much thicker in their politics than in their lives (it matters that neither attended any specific church). But when a guy steps forward who isn’t afraid to wear hard-line sectarianism on his sleeve, Catholics like Donahue know full well their place in that hierarchy.
Then you have multiple-choice Mitt Romney’s battle with himself. Does he support religious tests for political office? It depends on the religious test. When it applies to muslims, you bet he does. Affirmative again when the question is whether America should pick leaders out of the the vaguely pan-Christian “people of faith” category that the religious right encompassed for a while. A guy who puts a tagline like “freedom requires faith!” into character-defining speeches is one rum-and-coke away from glossolalia.
Or anyway, so it would seem until someone brings up the LDS church. Then talking about a candidate’s religion is not just wrong but contemptible (and incidentally, death at the polls).
To sum up, judging Muslims, atheists and vaguely Christian “people of faith” is good. Judging Mormons is very, very bad. As with so many other issues Romney is like one body inhabited by two guys. Or just one of the smarmiest, most opportunistic, sucking character vacuums who ever lived.
The Coalition Of Permanent Victims Now Victimizing Each OtherPost + Comments (45)
Merry Christmas!
Personally, I see nothing wrong with this ad on its face. Huckabee is a Christian, and if he wants to use his campaign funds to wish America Merry Christmas, so be it – even if it’s probably not a genuine Christmas wish:
In fact, this ad is probably a more shrewd political move that you might think. You and I know there is no “War on Christmas”. That’s just silly. But all the talk about this ad from left leaning papers, Democrats – the controversy that is sure to come up over it – will certainly play into the irrational fearmongering by the right. They’ll see Huckabee as the person who’s not afraid, like so many candidates are, to come out and say “Happy Birthday, Jebus.” They’ll use the critical newspaper articles, blog posts, punditry, etc. to prove that there is a War.
On our side, we’d be much better off saying Huckabee has every right to air a commercial like this, and not give the right what they want. If you’re going to criticize the ad, do it by criticizing Huckabee’s obvious attempt to create a controversy using the partiarch of his religion.
You don’t think there’s a War on Christmas? Watch what happens when I do this ad!
He may be “Mr. Nice Guy,” but there’s no question in my mind that this is the motive.
Update: I already see this all over the morning news shows and newspapers. So yes, we’re playing right into it, aren’t we?
Mike Huckabee during the debate: “Jesus was too smart to run for public office.”
Mike Huckabee today: “Screw it! I’m recruiting him anyway!”
One Thing to Remember
While watching the Huckabee freak-out on the right, their contempt for the people they were pandering too was well known. Remember David Kuo? A flashback:
In the book, Kuo, who quit the White House in 2003, accuses Karl Rove’s political staff of cynically hijacking the faith-based initiatives idea for electoral gain. It assails Bush for failing to live up to his promises of boosting the role of religious organizations in delivering social services.
White House strategists “knew ‘the nuts’ were politically invaluable, but that was the extent of their usefulness,” Kuo writes, according to the cable channel MSNBC, which obtained an advance copy.
“Sadly, the political affairs folks complained most often and most loudly about how boorish many politically involved Christians were…. National Christian leaders received hugs and smiles in person and then were dismissed behind their backs and described as ‘ridiculous’ and ‘out of control.’ ”
The only thing that is new is that the inmates now appear to be running the asylum.
Why is Huckabee Doing So Well?
It’s God, I tells ya!
While I’m not too interested in seeing him elected, I’d love to see him kick ass in the primaries. He’s the only Republican I can stomach – and that’s only because of his support of the FairTax.
The Moral of “The Golden Compass”
“Children should be atheists and religion is evil.”
What’s the problem again?
Eight Crazy Nights
To all of you who celebrate, Happy Chanukah. Yes, it’s that time of year – 22 days left for Chinese restaurants and movie theaters to get their books into the black. Although I am probably the least religious person I know, I love Chanukah. I have Jewish heritage, but was never raised as a Jew; however, I have a blast spending time with friends. I do light my menorah. I had a real one in past years, but now I have a tenant with a rambunctuous dog, so I use the electric one. It’s really nice, but not the same. Better than setting the dog on fire though…
The highlight for me is spending time with my best friend Amy and her fiance Rich as they celebrate. Quite often I get to take part in all their family stuff – and usually gain a bit of weight from the greasy cooking! Why did it have to be oil that lasted for 8 days? Why couldn’t it have been Diet Coke or Splenda??? :-)
Consider this a Chanuka open thread.