Saturday, June 23, 2012

Illusions and perspective . . .



BIRTHERS, BAGGERS and all sorts of wackos from Hannity to Limbaugh have turned US politics into the sort of sanity observed in midget wrestling. It seems that reality for the US voter is based on an illusion as you see above, courtesy of Connect-the-dots-usa. The egalitarian Republic is a fairy tale.
Now, add religion to this, and hoowee! Religion and Politics takes a close look at Gopper fundamentalism. Courtesy of The Motley Cow. It seems that believing in talking snakes helps one believe in dumpster-diving as a societal ideal.
In recent decades, “big tent” conservatism has seemed on the brink of collapse, its poles buckling under competing constituencies with “values” voters in one corner pitted against fiscal conservatives in the other. Discussions among academics and media pundits suggest these are two distinct categories of Republicans—the former made up of mainly working-class white evangelicals and the latter historically comprised of higher-income whites. Republican politicians must seek the favor of both special interests, appealing not only to traditional social issues—gay marriage and abortion—but also to economic fare such as reducing government and lowering taxes.

• • •

In fact, for many white evangelicals, religious and economic spheres are conceptualized as two sides of the same coin. They describe their worldview as one in which the spiritual and the material are mutually dependent and interactive. And the popularity of this worldview cuts across social class.

November's election is going to be the Greatest Show on Earth . . .

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