Not Funny As A Crutch
A few days ago I wrote that Ann Coulter in her latest book seems to be using her religion as an excuse to be cruel. The book also features a very tired and absurd attack on evolution. (For a taste of her claims, see her latest column.)
I'm not sure which is worse--using one's religion to be nasty, or using it to be stupid.
posted by LAGuy @ 12:13 AM
4 Comments:
The former. But they're both pretty bad.
I also strongly dislike it when political extremists claim that America is worse than it is. If you want to buy guns to protect against the eventuality that America may someday become fascist: well, more power to you! But if you are one of those folks in Montana who claim that America is already fascist, then you're an idiot.
The same holds true when Coulter claims that conservatives and/or Christians (she may think these are synonyms) are being persecuted. Uhh, no. In fact, explicit Christian conservatives have a huge amount of clout in the party that currently controls 2/3 of Washington. Does this mean that we are in a theocracy, as the left claims? Of course not.
But religion is important in American in a way that it hasn't been since the Second Great Awakening. Even the Third, which gave us Prohibition, didn't dominate either party the way that the religious right does today.
Indeed, the heroes of the conservative movement for most of the 20th century -- Taft, Coolidge, Taft, McCarthy, Goldwater -- were barely religious at all. Reagan was more religious than them, but he still discussed his faith very little.
Anyway, I guess I'm wasting my breath to rebut Coulter here, but she is just so annoying....
Perhaps Anne is a cruel attention-loving media harpy looking for something, anything to back her insecurity. Since she's attacking something called "liberals" she beter seek support from something the other side thinks important (in her mind)--ah yes that Christianity thing'll do the trick.
If she hid her knockers, wore sensible shoes and no makeup- would anyone be listening?
Sure. Hidden knockers are among the best kind. Along with every other.
It is funny how so many people feel they have to exaggerate to make a point. And, I think, after a while, they don't believe they're exaggerating any more.
Look at Kevin Phillips, a well-respected political writer, who takes seriously the idea of an American theocracy. (In fact, that's the title of his latest.) I mean, I support the separation of Church and State (a concept the Founding Fathers understood, whereas if you said "Judeo-Christian values" to them they'd probably look at you quizzically) but I can tell the difference between too much religion in politics (or vice versa) and a theocracy.
The irony is some on the left fear American theocracy but don't seem able to condemn it in our enemies, where it's really happening.
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