Well,
said. I would like to think that
we are a long way from experiencing a serious religious movement in the West a
la Taliban (despite my frequently referring to the Religious Right as Taliban
in suits). However, the recent
history of the Southern Baptist Convention is a good example of how a small
group can take over a larger group and then maneuver it in less than ten years
into something altogether different.
It’s true,
society in general has become more tolerant and by comparison many evangelical
Christians appear to be more conservative. Nevertheless, when the growth factor
of these groups is considered you have an instant political base, which the
GOP has catered to successfully.
Pat Buchanon made this initial projection and is probably why some in
the GOP still give him any respect.
Now he is preaching that privatizing education is the
future.
Just as
Hitler tailored his speeches to a people devastated by defeat and the straight
jacket of the Versailles Treaty, a politician or party that convinces a large
block of disenchanted, zealous true believers that it is within their power to
convert their world for (insert cause here) - well, you see my
point.
In a monthly
publication that comes to my retired parents, I noticed an increase in the use
of the word Kingdom to describe Christian families, work, and cultural
identification. Raising Kingdom
Families. Finding work to do for the Kingdom. Setting up estate funds for the
Kingdom. Then look at the
Megachurches, new fangled fortresses being built with moats of segregation as
they worship, train, exercise and go to the movies together. There is a real branding being
applied.
There is a
different nuance about tolerance and intolerance than in decades past. I also suspect that fundamentalist
backlash has a suppressed rage to it in some quarters, much as the California
recall has an underlying, simmering resentment for Davis’s signing into law
that illegal immigrants could get legal driver’s licenses.
It’s
cross-denominational. Don’t forget what Philip Jenkins wrote in The Next Christianity, that the world
would be segregated by the more tolerant religious faiths of most of the
industrialized nations (Global North) and the less tolerant Early Church
conservatism of the Third World (Global South). Note how the conservative
Bishop from Africa angrily denounced the recent confirmation of a gay bishop
made world headlines. Note the
pope’s health is worsening. Remember the pope has promoted many conservatives
from South America and Africa. And they vote in secret, no hanging chads, no
paper trail. - KWC
Ed
wrote: I
guess I watch the wrong channels. I've heard the odd soldier in Iraq or
the odd fire fighter in British Columbia use "shit", but that's about
all. I rarely if ever watch sitcoms because I find them contrived and
phoney. Movies perhaps? I only watch those that I really want to
see. But I do know that porn has moved from something that, a few
decades ago, you might get to see in Copenhagen or Stockholm to something
that is now universally available and becoming totally available with the
internet.
What
may be happening is a split in western society between those who favour an
openess, even if this means the acceptance of profanity, on the one hand
and those who favour a tightening down on the other. The acceptance of
abortion and common law and same sex marriages, and the increased
tolerance of porn may be examples of the former. The growth of the
religious right and evangelical churches, which attract young as well as older
followers, may be examples of the latter.
Is
this split dangerous for those who believe in constitutionally guaranteed
freedoms? It would seem to depend
greatly on the ability of the religious (or even secular) right
to get organized into a movement capable of seriously attacking the
foundations of such freedoms and influencing legislative and judicial
decisions. Personally, I think we have a long way to go
before we are in that position.
Arthur
wrote: Swearing
and profanity at home or the schoolyard is one thing. It is quite
another when TV and radio ups the ante with simulated sex and lavish use of
profanity. This is a trend that is not self-limiting, it will only be
changed (I think) by some form of censorship, probably coming from a religious
angle.
