<\/p>\n
UPDATE below<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
New conservative folk hero James O’Keefe is turning out to have been a <\/p>\n A few years ago I began trying to figure out in some depth why Southern pro-slavery leaders had explicitly denied the \n The prevailing view entertained by [Thomas Jefferson] Our new government is founded upon exactly the Thus our new government, is the first, in the history After the Civil War and slavery’s abolition, many white With Richard Nixon’s “Southern strategy” these folks (who The Southern Baptists are the leading denomination in the religious right. They have their roots in the split within This heritage is why someone like Rush Limbaugh can become a major figure in American conservatism. If Limbaugh stands for anhything, one of those things is contempt for black Americans<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/span>I suspect their openness to the spirit behind scriptural writings and the need for their interpretation is James O’Keefe seems to be a proud son of this anti-American <\/p>\n UPDATE<\/b><\/p>\n Controversy has emerged as to how deeply O’Keefe was involved with the racist conference. Did he participate or simply attend?<\/p>\n His supporters called out Blumentha<\/a>l as a liar, which was picked up all around the conservative blogosphere.<\/p>\n Three follow up stories are in the Washington Independent<\/a>, a piece at Salon’s ‘War Room<\/a>,’ and an older piece indicating an unusual concern for race<\/a> evidenced in O’Keefe’s since removed blog. When I was associated with conservative groups (yes, I was) maybe 40 years ago the only people I met who talked like this were serious racists.<\/p>\n At this point it is difficult for me to determine how deeply O’Keefe was involved.<\/p>\n Needless to say, this has relatively little bearing on the points I wanted to make as I used him as an entry point for a more fundamental discussion.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" UPDATE below New conservative folk hero James O’Keefe is turning out to have been a long time habitu\u00e9 of white supremacist gatherings and an associate of anti-Semites and racists according to a new report at Salon. If so he is a perfect representative for a disturbingly big current within modern “conservatism.” O’Keefe’s racist behavior long…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[111,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-events","category-social-and-political-theory"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nlong time habitu\u00e9 of white supremacist gatherings and an associate of anti-Semites
\nand racists according to a new report<\/a> at Salon. If so he is a perfect representative for a disturbingly big current within
\nmodern “conservatism.” O’Keefe’s racist behavior long preceded his being busted
\nat Senator Landrieu’s office or his undercover film of Acorn. <\/span>It seemed as if Acorn was breaking the
\nlaw, although it wasn’t<\/a>. <\/span>Further, there is plenty of evidence
\nthat the film itself was deceptive<\/a>. But that did not slow down his conservative cheerleaders<\/a>. <\/span>So current efforts to wash their
\nhands of Mr. O’Keefe after their collective orgasm over his Acorn stunt seem to be only because he was caught, and not because his views were held as
\nnoxious. <\/span>And yes, there is a
\nspiritual side to this.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nthe modern “conservative” movement was so virulently opposed to so many of
\nAmerica’s genuine traditions and to our Constitution and the principles of the
\nDeclaration of Independence. <\/span>At
\none time Conservatives held a particular interpretation of their meaning, but one with
\ngenuine substance, agree or not.
\n<\/span>But not any longer. Now they ignore it. <\/span>As I explored
\nthe history of all this over and over again I discovered the cultural hand of the
\nante-bellum South to be deeply involved. Attitudes developed in our first
\n“counter culture,” that of the pro-slavery South, have continued to infect the
\npolitics, religion, and morality of the area and now our country.<\/p>\n
\nprinciples of our Founding. <\/span>For
\nexample, Alexander Stephens, Vice President of the Confederacy, said in 1861<\/a>: <\/p>\n
\nand most of the leading statesmen of the time of the formation of the old
\nconstitution, were that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the
\nlaws of nature, that it was wrong in principle<\/i><\/span>, socially, morally, and politically. <\/span>It was an evil they knew not well how
\nto deal with, but the general opinion of the men of that day was that, somehow
\nor other in the order of Providence, the institution would be evanescent and
\npass away. . . . These ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong. <\/span>They rested upon the assumption of the equality
\nof races. <\/span>That was an error….<\/span><\/p>\n
\nopposite idea; its corner-stone rests upon the great truth, that the negro is
\nnot equal to the white man; that slavery – subordination to the superior race –
\nis his natural and normal condition.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nof the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nSoutherners practiced widespread murder and terrorism against their black
\nneighbors for over 100 years, all the way into the 1960s. <\/span>In 1948 the Southern “Dixiecrat” Party
\nwon Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Louisiana on a platform that
\nopposed federal anti-lynching laws, and argued for perpetual white supremacy<\/a>
\nand denying Black Americans the vote. <\/span>To see these views explicitly stated on
\nthe Party’s documents, it wasn’t subtle, see here<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nuntil the advent of Civil Rights issues had automatically voted Democratic
\nbecause Lincoln was a Republican)
\n<\/span>were deliberately appealed to in the name of “values,” eventually
\nbecoming a dominant force in the Republican Party and the conservative movement
\nconsidered more generally. <\/p>\n
\nAmerican Christendom between Northern Christians opposed to slavery and those
\nin the South who thought it part of God’s Will. <\/span>The split has never fully healed although in 1995 the
\nSouthern Baptists formally repented of their defense of slavery, <\/span>about 130 years after its
\nabolition. <\/span>But insofar as it
\ndiffers from Northern Christianity, much Southern religion still proudly wears attitudes towards Biblical literalism once used to defend slavery. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n
\nwhy many Pagans have had pleasant encounters with more liberal Northern
\nchurches. I also suspect their commitment to so-called literal meanings is why Pagans have had such unpleasant experiences with one with Southern origins,
\nwherever their congregations might be located. <\/span>From a Pagan perspective they worship different Gods, one a defender of slavery, the other its critic. <\/span><\/p>\n
\ntradition.<\/p>\n
![see here<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\nWith Richard Nixon’s “Southern strategy” these folks (who\nuntil the advent of Civil Rights issues had automatically voted Democratic\nbecause Lincoln was a Republican) \n<\/span>were deliberately appealed to in the name of “values,” eventually\nbecoming a dominant force in the Republican Party and the conservative movement\nconsidered more generally. <\/p>\nThe Southern Baptists are the leading denomination in the religious right. They have their roots in the split within\nAmerican Christendom between Northern Christians opposed to slavery and those\nin the South who thought it part of God’s Will. <\/span>The split has never fully healed although in 1995 the\nSouthern Baptists formally repented of their defense of slavery, <\/span>about 130 years after its\nabolition. <\/span>But insofar as it\ndiffers from Northern Christianity, much Southern religion still proudly wears attitudes towards Biblical literalism once used to defend slavery. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\nThis heritage is why someone like Rush Limbaugh can become a major figure in American conservatism. If Limbaugh stands for anhything, one of those things is contempt for black Americans<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/span>I suspect their openness to the spirit behind scriptural writings and the need for their interpretation is\nwhy many Pagans have had pleasant encounters with more liberal Northern\nchurches. I also suspect their commitment to so-called literal meanings is why Pagans have had such unpleasant experiences with one with Southern origins,\nwherever their congregations might be located. <\/span>From a Pagan perspective they worship different Gods, one a defender of slavery, the other its critic. <\/span><\/p>\nJames O’Keefe seems to be a proud son of this anti-American\ntradition.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nUPDATE<\/b><\/p>\nControversy has emerged as to how deeply O’Keefe was involved with the racist conference. Did he participate or simply attend?<\/p>\nHis supporters called out Blumentha<\/a>l as a liar, which was picked up all around the conservative blogosphere.<\/p>\nThree follow up stories are in the Washington Independent<\/a>, a piece at Salon’s ‘War Room<\/a>,’ and an older piece indicating an unusual concern for race<\/a> evidenced in O’Keefe’s since removed blog. When I was associated with conservative groups (yes, I was) maybe 40 years ago the only people I met who talked like this were serious racists.<\/p>\nAt this point it is difficult for me to determine how deeply O’Keefe was involved.<\/p>\nNeedless to say, this has relatively little bearing on the points I wanted to make as I used him as an entry point for a more fundamental discussion.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UPDATE below New conservative folk hero James O’Keefe is turning out to have been a long time habitu\u00e9 of white supremacist gatherings and an associate of anti-Semites and racists according to a new report at Salon. If so he is a perfect representative for a disturbingly big current within modern “conservatism.” O’Keefe’s racist behavior long…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[111,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-events","category-social-and-political-theory"],"yoast_head":"\nJames O'Keefe, Conservatism, Racism and a Religious Connection - A Pagan's Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/apagansblog\/2010\/02\/james-okeefe-conservatism-racism-and-a-religious-connection.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"James O'Keefe, Conservatism, Racism and a Religious Connection - A Pagan's Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"UPDATE below New conservative folk hero James O’Keefe is turning out to have been a long time habitu\u00e9 of white supremacist gatherings and an associate of anti-Semites and racists according to a new report at Salon. 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