<\/p>\n
In a comment on my “Spiritual Warrior” pos<\/a>t Rombald suggested I was too concerned about the longevity of America’s religious liberty. Here is my answer, because to do the issue credit took me beyond a simple reply. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Rombald-<\/p>\n I wish I was a confident as you are about the religious and Here is why I am not as secure in my sense of safety as I 1. <\/b>For many years my politics tended to be classical liberal <\/span>That the people who were the <\/p>\n 2.<\/b> The Republicans are no longer acting like an American In the American system, when you have a disciplined party it 3<\/b>. This disciplined party is dominated by several groups 4<\/b>. The Weimar Republic was brought down not by riots, but by 5<\/b>. The Republicans, like the Nazis and Communists in the 6<\/b>. Out of power we see major conservative and religious 7<\/b>. Crisis usually elevates authoritarian leaders. <\/span>As continued crisis and Democratic 8<\/b>. A key part of the Republican coalition, reflecting its 9<\/b>. <\/span>The 10. A VERY IMPORTANT<\/b> thing to remember: In much of Europe 11.<\/b> They are allied with a large portion of big finance and This does not mean we are on the verge of a fascist take Our political system is far more secure than the Weimar Our Founders and succeeding leaders of our genuine 1.<\/b> The younger an American is the more tolerant they are<\/p>\n 2. <\/b>The younger Americans are the less truck they have to do 3.<\/b> We have a far longer and more successful democratic 4.<\/b> As I understand the Nazi rise, urban Germans far more So I am not simply being an alarmist. <\/span>But I think it is very important to Notice the reactions of most of the Christian who took the A<\/b>. place blame on us for intolerance and even “hate” without B<\/b>. deny we are really a religion or really worth taking C<\/b> say we practice evil.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n This is an attempt, deliberate or otherwise, to frame the The solution is to push back, and push back hard. <\/span>Not with lies, but in ways that Related to this, get involved in interfaith work, where we This does not mean we need to become political organizers or Two books that did a lot to shape my thinking are<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nphysical security of Pagans. <\/span>I
\nreally do. <\/span>A few years ago I would
\nhave shared your views completely.
\n<\/span>Now I do not.<\/p>\n
\nwas not that long ago, despite the very important ousting of Republicans from
\npower in 2008. <\/span>I will present them
\nas a list rather than a paper because it would take too long and I do not have
\nthe time. <\/span>I will end with a
\ndiscussion of the factors that push in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n
\nand strongly influenced by the principles of the American revolution (that last
\npart is still true). <\/span>While I did
\nnot agree with conservatives on many issues, we shared roughly similar
\ninterpretations of the constitution.
\n<\/span>Particularly starting with George Bush II, in a flash all of that
\nconservative veneration for the constitution and precedent and American
\ntraditions vanished in an orgy of flag waving breast beating, support for
\nsetting aside the bill of rights, and finally, aggressive war and torture. <\/span>Conservatives who raised concerns were
\ndenounced and fired<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nbiggest cheerleaders for all this had at one time seemingly sincerely praised our
\nconstitutional tradition and the rule of law shook me deeply. <\/span>Commitment to American values had
\nbecome a matter of partisan politics to be set aside upon finally attaining
\npower. <\/span>I became far less
\ncomplacent about my country’s commitment to democracy when it could be so
\nundermined by a bunch of guys with box cutters.<\/p>\n
\npolitical party – they are acting like a European one. <\/span>That means disciplined voting and a
\nbreakdown of the blurry boundaries between parties that have long characterized
\nAmerican politics. <\/span>The trouble is
\nthat while parliamentary regimes emerged out of struggled between disciplined
\nparties, and evolved ways of integrating this party discipline into democratic
\nsystems, our constitutional system was developed before the rise of
\nparties. <\/span>It has worked well with
\nthem anyway, when they were what political scientists call “weak” which means
\nnot particularly cohesive and disciplined. <\/span>But if you read James Madison’s Federalist 10, you will see
\nthat the logic of our most famous document written in defense of the American
\nsystem is directly contradicted if we have disciplined parties.<\/p>\n
\ncan cause our kind of government to break down, as we are seeing today in the
\nSenate. <\/span>This is because the
\nconstitutional ideal is practical consensus. <\/span>Laws get passed when different kinds of majorities elected in
\ndifferent ways can all agree: the House, Senate, and President. <\/span>This consensual bias is what has made
\nthe Senate so vulnerable today. A Senate that operated on the democratic
\nprinciple of majority vote would have been vastly more effective than the
\nassemblage of tired old men and women and the ideologues that stymie them that
\nwe have as “representatives” today.<\/p>\n
\nwith a very weak commitment to constitutional democracy, if they can be said to
\nhave any commitment at all. <\/span>Not
\nleast is the “Christian” right. <\/span>So
\nwe have something rather alien to our history, a disciplined party with plenty
\nof control over members’ funding at the national level, a party that would be
\nan irritant in a parliamentary system but is a serious problem in our
\nconstitutional one. <\/span>The contemporary
\nRepublican Party, by historical standards, is un-American.<\/p>\n
\ntypical democratic coalition politics combined with efforts of the
\nanti-democratic parties on the right and left to bring about a state of
\nperpetual crisis, from which they hoped to gain power. <\/span>They generated enough crisis that
\ngenuine conservatives brought Hitler into the Chancellorship legally. <\/span>Then a new crisis – the Reichstag fire
\ncaused by arson by a particularly stupid communist -led to Hitler declaring a
\nstate of emergency and the Nazi dictatorship.<\/p>\n
\nWeimar Republic, have acted to make any government they do not control
\nungovernable. <\/span>At the same time
\nwhen they were in power, the Republicans and their allies continually
\nquestioned the patriotism of even their gentler critics, talked crisis non
\nstop, and did all they could to spread fear of terrorism, politicized the
\nJustice Department, and sought to create a national machine for perpetual
\nrule. <\/span>They were acting as if they
\nwanted to prepare popular sentiment for a elective dictatorship – something
\nlike Mexico’s old PRI system. <\/span>Their
\nown excesses brought them down in 2008, but down is not out.<\/p>\n
\nright leaders like Limbaugh and Beck and Palin and too many others talk about
\nthe possible need for armed insurrection, the deliberate treason of Democrats,
\nand similar sentiments<\/a>. <\/span>This
\nerodes the foundation for a democratic government: that the opposition is
\nloyal, but has different ideas about policy, and if they win we have another
\nshot in the next election. <\/p>\n
\nincompetence (which is not the fault of the Republicans by any means) continue,
\nmany people will seek a simple solution.
\n<\/span>Certainly that has been the case in many countries in the past. <\/span>The “strong manly” leader able to kick
\nass and whip everyone into line that appeals to such voters will almost
\ncertainly be a Republican. <\/span>Such a
\nleader is a threat no matter what his party, but this is a continual Republican
\ntheme. <\/span>Hence their continual claim
\nthat people who disagree are either wimpish men or lesbians.<\/p>\n
\nSouthern un-American roots, is the “Christian” right. <\/span>One of their major tactics has been to spread fear and
\ndistrust of citizens they disapprove.
\n<\/span>This culture is responsible for almost 100 years of terror against black
\nAmericans in the south. <\/span>It is
\nbased on reading the Bible in such a way that it will <\/span>ALWAYS be a threat to democracy because it cannot admit that
\ndifferent points of view are truly legitimate.<\/p>\n
\nChristian right, in their own groups, have frequently spoken of the need to
\n“dominate” the country and rule it by “Biblical” values. <\/span>History tells us what those values are
\nwhen mixed with political power.
\n<\/span>In this post Nazi era, why would Pat Robertson, long a major Christian
\nright leader, speak of the need for a “Godly fumigation”?<\/p>\n
\nbefore the rise of the Nazis, German Jews were considered among the MOST
\ncompletely assimilated Jews in all of Europe. <\/span>They were more accepted in society than in most other European
\ncountries. <\/span>Even after the Nazi
\nrise to power, many said that conditions were worse in Poland. <\/span>Few left because it was inconceivable
\nthat what eventually happened could happen. <\/span>Pagans are more easily demonized and less well understood
\nthan were Jews. <\/span>Any population
\nthat can believe that Obama hates whites, was born in Kenya, and is a socialist<\/a>
\nis a population so stupid they will believe anything told them by authorities
\nthey trust. This mass of ignorance, actively promoted by major right wing leaders, <\/span>is a big big chunk of the Republican
\nParty – depending on the question from about 1\/3 to 2\/3. <\/span>Interestingly, the men who have done
\nmuch to encourage such views are now attacking public confirmation<\/a> that much of
\ntheir audience believes the. They are trying to manipulate millions into mindless fear of anyone not like
\nthem while hiding it<\/a> from the rest of us. <\/p>\n
\nthe military industry.<\/p>\n
\nover, but it does mean we need to keep our eye on the ball. And any American
\nfascism would have a strong “conservative” Christian component. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nRepublic was, in part because while we have a revolutionary right, like the
\nWeimar Republic did, unlike them, we have no significant revolutionary
\nleft. <\/span>On the other hand, our
\nsystem is easier to push into chaos than was Weimar because it is
\ninstitutionally not well equipped to handle a large disciplined party seeking
\nto destroy the government, as the Republicans are. Weimar required communists
\nand Nazis working together to bring down.
\n<\/span>Here the Republicans could do it themselves unless Democrats come to
\nunderstand what is afoot, and most so far appear too venal, isolated, and
\nself-absorbed to do so. <\/p>\n
\ntraditions have told us over and over again that “eternal vigilance is the
\nprice of freedom.” <\/span>What we have
\ngoing for us is<\/p>\n
\nwith this kind of degenerate religion.<\/p>\n
\ntradition than did the Weimar Republic and even in Europe before WWII many
\nfascist movements failed to come to power.<\/p>\n
\nanti-Nazi than other Germans. <\/span>I
\nthink this was not accidental, and happily we are far more urban than Germany
\nwas. <\/span>Cities breed tolerance. <\/span>So does higher education, and a great
\nmany young Americans have gone to college.<\/p>\n
\npush back strongly to attacks on us, to call them what they are, to defend
\ncivilized values against home grown barbarians who hold them in contempt.<\/p>\n
\ntime to respond to the post on the desecration of a Pagan site at the Air Force
\nAcademy. <\/span>They tended – with some
\nwonderful and principled exceptions – to<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\never copping to intolerance or hate themselves or in their communities. <\/span>This was so prevalent as to be
\nstriking. <\/span>This tactic turns
\nattention away from Christian right misbehavior by focusing on us as the bad
\nguys. <\/span>It is standard right wing
\noperating procedure – as when Kerry was attacked in terms of his service during
\nVietnam, while never mentioning Bush’s avoidance of service. <\/span>Basically, accuse the opposition of
\ndoing what you are guilty of doing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nseriously.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nterms of the discussion so that WE are on the defensive. <\/span>If they succeed, people remember us as
\nthe problem, not the acts of desecration.
\n<\/span>It is important that this not happen.<\/p>\n
\nemphasize we are not the threat, they are. <\/span>That we are not intolerant, they are. <\/span>That we are not trouble makers, they
\nare. <\/span>That we are not
\nanti-American, they are. <\/span>And more
\nand more I think it important to try to separate them from the larger Christian
\ncommunity of decent people. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nmeet Christians and others who are fine with working with people of different
\nfaith traditions. <\/span>This is a very
\ngood corrective to any tendency to demonize all Christians or any other faith
\ntradition. <\/span>There is wisdom in them
\nall in my view. <\/span>One of the best
\nmoments in my life was helping to organize an interfaith tree planting of
\nnative oaks in the Berkeley Hills by the Berkeley Area Interfaith Council. <\/span>Each faith tradition did their own
\nplanting in their own way, but we all did it together on the same day. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nanything of the sort, but I think it does mean we need to be strong defenders
\nof our path as worthy of respect by everyone.<\/p>\n