One of the things I find rather disquieting about political conservatives here in the U.S. is their insistence that we have somehow been "chosen" by God to---(and here any number of ideas can be inserted, depending on the individual). It's that "to" that bothers me, because it seems to suggest we OUGHT to rule the world, that we are morally superior by reason of God's "grace" (again, depending on the individual, the word "grace" can be replaced by anything up to and including the idea of "design"), and that we seem to have the RIGHT to impose our will on others because, as God's "chosen", we can do no wrong. Of course I realize that many of you may be rolling your eyes right now, thinking this blogger must be nuts, or a sore loser over Bush's re-election, but hear me out.
I have received many a campaign flyer in the mail saying that this country has a "special relationship with God", going all the way back to my misguided days as a Reaganite, and I can assure you that the message in those flyers was quite specific as to our "duties from God". In fact, it was just this kind of messianic political message that made me switch back to the Democrats. Certain circles in the Republican Right Wing evidently believe God has ordered a religious CRUSADE, and they have been chosen as His Scourge. No, I'm not exaggerating, nor am I making this up. Would it were so. Unfortunately, these basically good, God-fearing Republicans see themselves as besieged by the Forces of Evil, which seem to include Liberals and anyone who criticizes Bush. I'm NOT going to suggest that EVERY Republican feels this way, as I know there are many Republicans out there as worried by this as I am. But when I listen to callers on C-Span describe Liberals and other critics of Bush as "self-hating Americans", or "atheists" (as if only Republicans can be said to believe in God), and WORSE, I tend to get anxious about my Constitutional rights.
Alexis deTocqueville spoke of our tendency to enshrine majority rule into an almost ruthless repression of minority opinion in his 18th century classic "DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA", and it still holds true today. He titled it "the tyranny of the majority", and described American public opinion as being so thoroughly self-righteous in its assumption to squelch dissent that he feared our democratic strength might yet become our worst nightmare. This was written WELL before the emergence of todays political parties, as I believe the book was published during THE ERA OF GOOD FEELING, some few years after John Quincy Adams (correct me if I'm wrong) was president. It was felt that "factions", as political parties were considered then, might even make democracy unworkable altogether, and that might NOT have been such a wrong idea---in the light of the kind of vicious partisanship we're seeing now. But this "tyranny of the majority" seems to be gathering steam, as the Right Wing professes a religious fervor about politics that could very well serve to deprive critics of any right to dissent. When a president announces that he believes God "wanted him elected", and Right Wing conservatives proclaim themselves as "defenders of Judeo-Christian morality", should we NOT worry that politics will become so identified with a particular religion that those of us who hold different beliefs will be stigmatized?
Europe has had a great deal of experience with "religion as politics", which is why it hews strictly to the side of secularism. Republicans, especially those of the Rumsfeld/Ashcroft stripe, view this with disdain, and routinely dismiss our allies as "tepid" at best, and at worst, as having no "backbone", etc. But Europe KNOWS the terrible price that "crusades" can cost in human lives, having waged religious wars that spanned decades and solved nothing in the end. Europe KNOWS the terrible cost of war, period. After all, were not World Wars I and II fought there? Except for the Civil War, we here in America have suffered NOTHING comparable---not even 9/11 came anywhere NEAR to the carnage and utter destruction of the two greatest wars of living memory. We SHOULD be listening to Europe, really, as we seem to feel war is something that "can't happen here", for some strange reason. Mixing religion with politics, especially in the defense of a particular religious "truth", often makes war simply a matter of time. When one's opponent becomes demonized as an "evil-doer" in the religious sense, it's but a short step to rationalizing that God requires retribution. Witness the assassination of Yitshak Rabin.
It's not God, or religion, however, that ultimately bears the blame for this (although religious fanaticism started with the bible, sad to say), but our penchant for using God and religion as a convenient excuse for doing what we want to do, lending our base desires and outright greed a kind of saintly "altruistic" sheen. As I said before, these Republicans are good people who honestly believe God wants certain things of us, but the shrill, condemnatory rhetoric of this "True Believer" Conservatism is dangerous, for it gives rise to an equally shrill and uncompromising rhetoric from those who feel threatened by it, and if neither side will stop long enough to LISTEN to the reasons WHY their opponents feel as they do, nor be willing enough to put rhetoric aside to HONESTLY discuss their differences, then I fear we may see a far less democratic America in the next four years. Certainly NOT a war, but what has been called a "chilling effect" on dissent and non-Christian beliefs---unless the more MODERATE wing of the Republican party can wrest back control. Frankly, they'd better hurry. When even a celebrated conservative as BILL BUCKLEY can wonder about where this next term may be taking us, it's time to stop marching mindlessly along with the parade and start figuring out where we, as a country, OUGHT to go. If God TRULY "wants" us to "spread liberty", then let's wait until he comes down to TELL us that, in person. No book has been so mis-quoted throughout history as the bible, and rabbis say many passages in it STILL cannot be adequately translated due to the fact that the Hebrew language has no fixed vowels, and the generally accepted Masoretic version is only one of MANY possible translations. Unfortunately, religious fanatics believe God PERSONALLY wrote the bible, so I doubt if they'd listen to THAT. Nevertheless, we CAN get through this next term if we only remember that, as Professor Zemo told my American Govt. class back at Cal State in 1970, "The right to extend your fist ends at the jurisdiction of my nose." Your fist isn't God's, and my nose isn't Satan's, either.
Blogging, evidently, can be dangerous if you reside in a country which frowns upon free speech---and that includes FRANCE, it seems. The banner is from a blog here which lists those bloggers who are or have been arrested for posting views that their governments find "objectionable". It's not surprising to find countries like China, Iran, etc. listed, but I was rather shocked to find that France ALSO harrassed a blogger recently. Makes you wonder if ANY of us are safe. At any rate, I'm not too good at linking websites, unfortunately, but if you search Blogger.com you should find it. They are trying to get non-profit status at the moment, which I asume means being allowed to collect funds as a recognized charity. It looks pretty good, and we can certainly use this kind of information. After all, who knows if any of US might be next, as many of us here reside in various foreign countries. I'm not expecting to be jailed anytime soon---unless Bush REALLY goes off the deep end concerning criticism. He probably won't, though. So far, the Bill of Rights has kept paranoid types like Richard Nixon from rounding us Liberals up, and I expect it will continue to do so a while longer. Check this blog out, though. Just in case...