The Islamic State has said, “Secular statists are destroying America,” and that “God is not finished with the U.S. yet.” When religious extremists make such proclamations we should take them at their word. Equally we should demand “moderate Muslim” voices to denounce such affronts to America’s secular values.
The above paragraph is true except for one notable exception: the above proclamations are not attributed to Islamic extremism or the Islamic State. They’re respectively owned by the 2012 GOP nominee runner-up Rick Santorum, who provided the first quote, and potential 2016 GOP front-runner Ted Cruz, who gave the second - on day one of the 2014 Value Voters Summit.
America, your religious extremists are already inside the “Homeland,” so what are we going to do about it?
“Obama’s agenda is not based on the Bible,” Santorum said. “Iran is dangerous because it’s a theocracy,” warned Cruz. It doesn’t take a clinical psychologist to detect the cognitive dissonance that the combined statements display.
Any American with even a smidgen of secular sensibility should be deeply troubled by the maniacal religious radicalization of the Republican Party’s most reliable and agitated voting bloc. While ISIS is a rag-tag bunch of tens of thousands of Sunni extremists, who get around the Arabian Desert on the back of Toyota pick-ups, the Values Voter Summit is an audition for those who wish to represent hundreds of millions of Americans, as they get around the continental U.S. in the back of Air Force One.
We are not talking about a fringe minority of disgruntled religious extremists. We are talking about swaths of the electorate who wish to transform America’s secular democracy into a tyrannical theocracy, and if the 2000 general election taught us anything, it’s that America is but one low-turnout election away from electing a religious extremist who wishes to impose the biblical equivalent of Sharia law on gays, minorities, liberals, atheists, Muslims, academics, immigrants, and anyone else they deem undesirable.
Well great, now who is going to rock me to sleep tonight?
Ok' I HATE the far right. But honestly, do they behead people? Do they do suicide bombings in the name of God? There have been some violent episodes here but lack of education, stupidity and woefully poor mental health treatment here are big factors.
ReplyDeleteYou are incredibly naive if you think they are equal to or worse than Muslim fundamentalists. I'm liberal (very) but I find so many liberals so uneducated about this. If you did some serious reading about Middle East issues and terrorism there, there is a HUGE difference. Yes the far right has to be dealt with and they are dangerous, but saying they in any way compare is absolute fantasy and partisan IMO.
Seriously?
DeleteYou know if the far right had managed to win either of the last two elections we would very likely be in the middle of at least three full on wars. One in Afghanistan, on in Iraq, and a new one in Iran.
This would undoubtedly result in the killing of dozens, if not hundreds a day, most of who would either be innocent civilians, or had been radicalized by our presence in their country.
Over here we would be seeing an increased attack on our education system, the vilification of the LGBT community, the continued oppression of women, and possibly internment camps for Muslims.
Sure our radical religious extremist may not yet be actually cutting peoples' heads off in America, but I think that might have less to do with the fact that they are not as extreme, and more to do with the fact that it is simply not part of our culture in this country.
However it should be remembered that death is death. Whether it rains down from the sky in the form of a drone attack, or comes as the result of a sharpened blade slicing through a neck, the result is quite the same.
"might have less to do with the fact that they are not as extreme, and more to do with the fact that it is simply not part of our culture in this country."
Delete"it should be remembered that death is death. "
Preach it, Gryphen!
This is so basic and so completely ignored by our media and politicians.
I guess you could ask the families of dead abortion doctors. Maybe you could talk to Gabby Giffords,or the families of those killed in the Oklahoma bombings. Then again you could talk to the families of those murdered in the Sikh temple massacre where they were mistaken for Muslim.Or the Sikhs murdered at their temple in Wisconsin. Then again you could ask those survivors of the Knoxville Unitarian attack where the RWNJ walked into a children s play and started shooting.Or maybe check out the survivors of the Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta.How about the Teavangelical who flew his plane into the IRS building in Texas?Maybe the small children,toddlers even,accused of being witches and tortured,abandoned,and murdered by ministers and congregations in Africa?Maybe Anders Behring Breivik,the terrorist who murdere 100 people in a mass shooting in Norway?Maybe Willie Ray Lampley,or maybe not because he was caught before using the weapons and explosives he had purchased to blow up Gay bars,abortion clinics,and the Southern Poverty Law Center?
DeleteThis is just a small handful of terrorists in the name of God. There are many more.
I find the religious right as frightening as any terrorist, foreign or home-grown. They are the group that lives and works along side most of us. If you aren't one of them, you are an enemy of God, and therefore of theirs. I see more and more extremism in my rural area. Members of local law enforcement, local pastors, home schooled children, raised to believe that the government is the enemy, and being armed to the teeth. We worry about every foreign face in our communities, but these cultists go somewhat unnoticed. They deem themselves as "armies of David" and it gives them purpose and power and glory (how is that not like foreign groups?). I am not a religious person, but I have always respected the teachings of Jesus. Why do so few Christians choose to emulate their Christ?
DeleteYou guys really are very naive to compare any of the misc and fairly rare violent acts of anyone affiliated with the religious right in this country to islamic extremism. I don't like the bible thumpers either, and they have done harm and killed, rarely, and usually by nut-jobs within- but they are like an annoying fly when compared to the islamists. And they are not about to take over this country by a long shot. And 1:10, Gabby Giffords? She and others were shot by a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic who had completely lost all touch with reality.
DeleteWhich is more dangerous, the enemy who has identified himself to you or the one who silently lives among you? I agree one is more brutal, but as has been pointed out, death is death. Both are fighting the same enemy, the "infidel". And, most of us are infidels to one or both.
Delete12:13, you are quite correct - as far as you take your argument. Yes, the middle-eatern terrorists are seemingly more brutal. They DO behead. But you are forgetting that the French did it publicly and made, basically, a party out of the executions, so it isn't anything new.
DeleteIn fact, it is a punishment that has existed for thousands of years.
No, it isn't the brutality that bothers me. What bothers me about your entry is a single fact you don't seem to grasp: ISIS is OVER THERE! NOT HERE!
The extreme religious right IS here and its sole intent appears to be to turn this country into a non-secular one. Do they care how they accomplish that? For the moment. ONLY for the moment!
Should they finally realize that the courts are (hopefully) repeatedly denying them their desires simply because they refuse to read the black and white words in the Constitution, then those of them who have been buying all those wonderfully cheap weapons suddenly being sold with the gleeful encouragement of the NRA, may just decide to try to TAKE what they want.
Simple words? Okay. Religious Right? HERE. ISIS? THERE.
ave mass murder going on in the middle east, either.
DeleteJust what I needed: more reasons to have insomnia.
ReplyDeleteM from MD
Stephen Colbert mocks Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin and Bobby Jindal in epic Values Voter Summit takedown
ReplyDeletehttp://www.salon.com/2014/10/01/stephen_colbert_mocks_ted_cruz_sarah_palin_and_bobby_jindal_in_epic_values_voter_summit_takedown/
I know, it does seem like things are going to get a whole lot worse before they get better, if they ever do, even with a changing population. I fear for this country.
ReplyDeleteI think I am a bit insulated from religion here in the Great State of Maine. I just looked it up and Maine is the 3rd least religious state in our Union according to a couple of studies. And who is the #2 and the #1 least religious states? Well, that would be the two states that share a border with Maine; the States of New Hampshire and Vermont.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that religion can be a very dangerous thing. I just don't see it on a day to day basis as the Northeast is full of folks who either don't have a belief or keep their belief to themselves.
I really don't worry about extreme groups. If any show up here, I know we will deal with it just like we dealt with the British all those years ago. But I am not in favor of going into the Middle East and getting into a religious war. Let the folks in the region figure that one out. This is no time for the Crusades to start again. If Sarah Palin and Teddy Cruz want to fight ISIS, I suggest they get on the next plane and go. My sons will not be going.
Maybe the rapture will come before the elections....
ReplyDeleteI know, wishful thinking.
Can we limit it to Republicans? I still have things I want to do.
DeleteImagine how many fewer terrorists there would be in the world right now if Dick Cheney hadn't wanted more money from his Haliburton stock. Or if George Bush was smart enough to not believe the lies he was told.
ReplyDeleteImagine and then don't let them or their cronies in power ever again.
DeleteBoth of these should have been charged and found guilty. Both of them should be behind bars NOW.
It won't happen but it should
I despise them with all my being.
One of my strongest memories after converting to Christianity and joining a church was hearing constant warnings about the dangers of secular humanism. It was baffling then and now.
ReplyDeleteThe opposite of secularism is theocracy--anti-democracy and anti-freedom. Our media is skittish when it comes to religion which means politicians...mainly Democrats...must insist on discussing the theocratic nature of the GOP agenda and dare to equate the fundamentalist Christians and Muslims.
It doesn’t take a clinical psychologist to detect that both Santorum and Cruz are dangerous to the well-being of America and its people.
ReplyDeleteNot sure what Atheists say, but AMEN!
ReplyDelete"God is not finished with the U.S. yet" is the depths of ignorance. Right down there with denying evolution. Or gravity.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes that statement terrifying is its author is in government and wants to be President.
For me, the greatest threat to the security of the US and the greatest harm to the daily lives of its citizens comes from the religious right. This is a huge and well organized and well funded terrorist group that seeks to deprive everyone else of freedom.
John Lennon can make you sleep soundly G. i have linked the only 'Imagine' tune I could find by John on You Tube that didn't have a commercial.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2hvkPyiAFE
Atheist since birth, and that makes me both empathize with the religious but also unable to feel sympathy for them because they could fix themselves but they are somehow unable to see reason. Given the general degradation of mental acuity here in these United States it may get worse before it gets better but the only way mankind will survive is if religion is put to bed and mankind relies on his own wit and wisdom and not superstition and fairy tales to make both political and personal decisions.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, the religious right is ripe for the taking for the oligarchical right, realizing that they question little and are very vocal and if their corporate overlords feed them their pablum and pretend to be "one of them" they have a built in voting base, a base who will do their bidding and ask for very little in return.