I got into a discussion with another political writer this week about the old right vs left brain functions. He was looking for a connection between liberals who think in terms of government control and conservatives who used to think of limited government and would it be possible to connect the brains in hopes of changing the whole political process. I would like to take this on another road and hope he will forgive me for using his hypothesis and changing the brain division in a different direction.
I am seeing a different division in American politics at this time. Forget Republicans versus Democrats and let’s get into the crux of the problem. Just in the last couple of weeks we are seeing our government in action trying to locate two replacement judges for Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justice O’Conner. What is the division problem? Can we be honest and admit it is the prohibition of abortions?
Let’s step back and look at which side stands for the legal prohibition of the procedures. I went on line in 1993 and ran head long into the Christian Coalition. I have been in politics so long that I knew they existed but in my history of political analysis, they never were a voting bloc. In 1993 I saw an angry gang of righteous religious people who could not accept that a fetus could be expelled and simply washed away.
I had read about the Prohibition of alcohol and wondered if a federal prohibition of abortions would cause the same gathering of criminals that grew in America during the time of Prohibition. How would our federal government handle the enforcement illegal abortions? I have asked this question of a lot of people and the answer is always that they would handle the situation violently. The reference to the bible always was presented and the death penalty for doctors and prison terms for the women seemed to say it all. Something else was presented in this discussion that needed to be analyzed.
Abortions….pro-life….Christian Conservatives all became part of the dialog and triggered a mind set of an automatic hatred for anyone not of the same political design. It became a litmus test for candidates, friends, employers/employees and which newspapers were pro life and which were not. It grew out of the old Republican/Democratic arguments and ended up even dividing the Christian Churches into which ones would ban abortions and which would not. It has expanded into the subject of gay rights versus Christian rights. I dare think how much further this division can go.
Just in the last week we have seen the multiple indictments against Congressman Delay and the argument is not whether he is innocent or guilty but that it is a liberal conspiracy and nothing less. We had two people appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court and the only concern that caused the questioning from the Senate is will this judge recognize the privacy of a women and when that is destroyed will it then be possible to repeal Roe v Wade?
Now we have an appointee from President Bush who, it was discovered, voted for Al Gore in the late 80s. If she did, she must be a liberal therefore she must be pro-choice, therefore she must be destroyed! .But this is just current problems, let’s look a little deeper into the minds of the Christian Conservatives and see how they think about other subjects.
Two books have been mentioned on just about all the internet sites. The first one is a huge best seller called “The DaVinci Code” but it was not the first one to investigate the story of the holy grail but it was the best one written for the period of time it was published. I know it went through my family immediately after being published. The previous book by Dan Brown “Angels and Demons” took on the Vatican with a fabulous murder mystery included. The argument is never whether these books are worthy of a good read but which one is better? It is a wild ride through the bible and the Vatican and I dare anyone not to head to their internet Google programs to search out the locations for a closer look.
The religious community slams shut any discussion of these books as they force the reader to look with a little more depth at the death of Jesus and his disciples. The books were taken from books of the bible that the Vatican chose to leave out as these books tended to give another kind of life of Jesus and the potential of his leaving an offspring after his death.
The problem is not just a disagreement on the concept of the books but has managed to split up good friendships and even families whose members might dare to see the value of Mr. Brown’s writings. It is turning into a book burning possibility with the religious right wanting this book destroyed before some unsuspecting Christian reads it.
On many discussion forums it is becoming a fight to the finish between Christians and Secular Humanists. It is now extending into our public school classrooms and nearly every television talk show is divided up on whether Creationism is a Science or not?
The Humanists are also sensitive to the Christians because for the first time in American history the Separation of Church and State is in jeopardy and both sides want their philosophy to rule as number one. Since the Inauguration of President Bush 43, it is assumed that America is a Christian Nation and there is nothing anyone can do about it. The Christians handed him a blank check and when he took our forces into Iraq they backed him all the way. They slam their minds shut to the lies and manipulations of this terrible man and that is the end of the argument. He is pro-life and he can kill as many men, women and children as he wants!!! They were so thrilled with his war that they actually put him back in office because he was pro-life.
Is this division of political points of view found in rational thoughts or have these people been brain washed by their clergy? For the first time that I can remember, the political candidates actually spoke in the churches and gathered a lot of donations while they were at it. Did Bush buy these voters with his faith based grants? Is it right that we tax payers will reimburse the churches for their help with the victims of Katrina?
If anyone has ever tried to have a political discussion with a Christian Conservative you must know that they are determined to prohibit abortions and that is the end of it. One tries to explain that many women would not survive if they had to go back to the dirty motel rooms for an illegal abortion and they smile and say “good riddance.” I often bring up the subject of the morning after pill but that would get those tramps out of trouble and we can’t have that! They want the women to pay for their crimes and they want to watch it happen!
What frightens me is that this group is starting to sound like the Islamic leaders who are determined to destroy the infidels of the world. It seems to be a mindset shared by both factions; the Christian conservatives and the Islamic terrorists. Both are determined to destroy infidels which leave most of America trying to figure out the lesser of two evils. Both sides will destroy our American Constitution so how do we choose?
Who will win be the Republican candidate in 2006 and 8? Will it be the Christians or Humanists? How will the Jews and other less emotional Christians vote? We have a lot of Buddhists and 7th day Adventists and the only ones who we will ignore it are the Jehovah’s Witnesses who do not vote.
Who will vote as Democrats in 2006 and 8? Will they automatically vote against the Christians in fear? What about the Blacks, Mexicans, and Orientals. Americans all, how will they vote? How will the Muslims vote? It is much too complicated since this move by the Christian Conservatives to force their doctrines on an entire political party.
Do we let our political parties tell us which books to read? They have done a job on Harry Potter and gotten nowhere. “The DiVinci Code” is still on the best seller list so they haven’t put a dent in that one yet. They tried to destroy the works of Ayn Rand in the 60s and she is still one of the best known American writers around.
Will our American Government go down the tubes due to Roe vs Wade? In the last 5 years it is very close to happening. The energy wasted in this ongoing argument could be better spent improving the education of the children already born in America. Is there anyone who really wants Creation taught as a science? Can’t we leave the science classes alone and teach creation from home? Can’t we ask our children and grandchildren to not get themselves into trouble and simply not get pregnant? Can’t we offer our children goals instead of allowing them to look like tramps when they leave the house? Do we need the constant bad examples found on the television to blare in our homes night and day?
Forcing another prohibition on the American people will only repeat what we learned with the prohibition of alcohol. Every motel in America will have a dirty abortionist just waiting for your little girls instead of a clean hospital facility. Are you really interested in bringing those terrible days back to America?
Come on, let’s blend our brains into one fully working organ and try to see other alternatives to the problem rather than giving the government the authority to prohibit abortions and bring back another level of the criminal cartel we still have running the drugs on our streets.
In my opinion, what the Christian Conservatives have done to the Republican Party is a forced takeover resembling the days of the Communists doing the same thing.
“Published originally at EtherZone.com : republication allowed with this notice and hyperlink intact.”