I heard a minister the other day talking about the great injustice and evil of the men in white robes, the Ku Klux Klan, that roamed the country in the South, and they did great wrong to civil rights and to morality. And now we have black-robed men, and that's what you're talking about.
Nice isn't it. Grownups? Anyone? This attack on the judiciary is going to have unintended consequences. You people really don't understand our democracy very well, do you? Sometimes the judges are going to make decisions that we don't like. That is why we have judges and that is why they are not elected in some popularity contest. We sometimes need a judge to step up and say, "hey, you can't just discriminate against Blacks because the majority of the community wants to" or "just because it is popular, doesn't mean it is constitutional." This particular court has ruled on death penalty cases in ways that have infuriated me. Never once did I call for the impeachment of Scalia. I disagree with him on most every case, but he is there as a part of our system and he has done nothing worthy of impeachment (even duck hunting with Cheney).
But the religious right "knows" what God thinks and therefore their "opinion" is not like mine. It is truth (spelled T-R-U-T-H) and mere mortals like myself need to get out of the way. It just galls me. Our judicial system is the envy of the world. All across the world, judicial pronouncements are met with scepticism because the political arm has such power that the courts defer. Yet, our conservatives--the ones who claim to be protecting tradition and country--want to do away with that. They want Judicial rulings to be overruled by people like Tom Delay. Drop back 45 years and that body overrules the Supremes and we still have "white only" water fountains. But no need to have historical memory or humility. When God is whispering in your ear, it is your word that carries the day, right?
It isn't democratic and it isn't Christian. It sucks, pure and simple. Grownups? Still waiting for you to call on Cornyn and say there is no justification for violence against judges. Waiting for you to call Bush and say that we really do care about our veterans and disabled poor--even more than we want that tax break to spend on a new SUV. Still waiting for you to call Dobson and say that with his fame and celebrity comes great responsibility, and it is time for him to actually demonstrate the love of Christ, not merely use his bully pulpit to bash gays and undermine democracy.
Still waiting.....
8 comments:
Streak, I enjoyed this post alot. I'm not clear on blogger etiquette so rather than take up a full page for a comment i chose to blog a little on the subject on my site. I did want to suggest a couple books that you might enjoy if you aren't aware of them yet. Charles Kimball's When Religion Becomes Evil: Five Warning Signs and James Limburg's The Prophets and the Powerless are excellent reads, in my opinion, regarding the responsibilities and dangers involved in theocratic leadership and politics.
BB
I'll join you in the waiting room, Streak. Not holding my breath for the Christian right to get a sudden attack of maturity, though.
Hi Streak,
I find your assessment and review of the current situation to be very disturbing and, unfortunately, mirrors my own impressions of what is happening in our government and society. I am also of the belief that there is nothing new under the sun and that by studying the past, we can get a pretty good idea of what the future may hold. As a scholar of history, American and otherwise, can you comment on whether there is there any precedent in the historical past that is similar to what we are experiencing now? Can we find comfort in history? Does what has gone before suggest that things will turn out OK? Or am I justified in this sick feeling that will not leave the pit of my stomach as I follow, with horror, the current trends in our government and society? GirlGrace
girlgrace, you raise an interesting question. I need to think more about this, but here is my response this morning. I think that we can learn a lot by studying the past on religious movements in our country, but we have to remember that this time is pretty new. Whatever religious movements we had in the past, we didn't have this kind of sophisticated spin and mass media to accompany it. All of those variables really complicate the issue.
The Good news is that most Americans really don't align with Dobson and Barton, but are distracted by other things. We all worry about morality--it just takes different forms. We all worry about family--we just disagree on what that family should be. My sense is that this will come around, but I have no idea when that will be.
That is a horrible response, but it is early. :) btw, girlgrace, you have left good comments here before, but I don't know your story. What is your experience?
BTW, Bootleg Blogger, thanks for your comments and I have been reading your blog and think you have some interesting things to say. You are always welcome here and you can leave long comments or short. That is up to you. Thanks for the consideration.
Catholic Girl, I enjoy your blog too and have been thinking about you everytime I hear speculation on the next pope. NPR had an interesting report on it this morning and the most disheartening thing was how many people in Latin America are leaving the Catholic Church (though I have problems with it too) for the Pentacostal church and emotional worship and prosperity theology. That sucks.
GirlGrace -
Not to step on Streak's highly qualified shoes, I would love to hear his perspective on your answer as well. But you can take comfort in the fact that after similar "activist judge" bashing, interracial marriages still became legal, segregation in schools and public facilities became outlawed, it became legal to teach evolution as a scientific theory, and oh yeah, the Supreme Court took the initiative in Marbury v. Madison to establish the courts' power of judicial review as a crucial part of governmental checks and balances. We may not be happy or agree with all decisions, and the Supreme Court has made some doozies and reversed itself on many on occasion. But for the most part, they get it right and make sure the minority is protected from an overzealous majority. My fear in all this is that the majority will, even for a short time, gain enough power and influence to do some serious damage to our government and judicial system. I am heartened by the fact that fellow Republicans are coming down on DeLay for his tactics, and that Bush doesn't seem to be completely caving to the conservatives on major issues...yet.
Great commentary here, Streak!
Heh - sorry Streak, you must have posted while I was typing. NOt a bad response for early in the morning! There are certainly lots of factors, especially the media, that complicate this more than in the past. The public opinion polls do keep my hopes alive to some degree. We'll see what the public really thinks after Bush is done for, and we have two fresh candidates to choose from. Thank goodness we don't elect presidents like popes!
Thank you, Streak and Joeg, for your excellent replies to my somewhat plaintive wailing. Sometimes I have this absolutely terrifying feeling that 50 years from now, this time will be compared and contrasted to pre-Nazi Germany and the near future will be compared to the Third Reich. Or, that we will end up resembling the theocracies in the Middle East. Or worse. I have read enough Karen Armstrong to understand how the fear of modernity can send us back almost into the dark ages (e.g. creationism being taught in science classes) and I feel that there is so much fear in people today. Fear makes people say and do terrible things. I especially get the chills when I hear the heated rhetoric about removing judges in all ways from impeachment to murder. It just makes my blood run cold. So, thanks for your thoughts on this. I will try to quell my admittedly overactive imaginination.
I also worry because human beings, as a species, have a long history of taking any idea, whether good or bad, to the ridiculous extreme. When I imagine the extreme of where we are trending today, I think about moving to Canada.
As to my story, I am just your average, middle-class midwestern female professional. My background is the natural sciences and I work in public health. I am married to a great guy and we don't have any children. I grew up in the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Church, but would now classify myself as a "believer in exile," per Bishop Spong. Theologically, I am somewhat right of Spong and probably closest in view point to Marcus Borg, who has influenced me a lot. I continually seek new spiritual perspectives and insights.
Politically, I would call myself an old fashioned liberal (I am still a Hubert H. Humphrey fan) in that I believe in government as an extension of the people and in its dominant role in assuring some minimal standard of living for everybody. I also think that this type of government positively contributes to an environment that supports all people to succeed to the limits of their potential in their life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. We all win when nobody loses.
I found Streak's blog when I googled "progressive christian weblogs" and have been a regular reader and occasional commenter for the last couple of months. Thanks for asking. I hope that gives you a bit more insight of who I am and where I am coming from. Thanks, too, for doing this. I enjoy reading your commentary and viewpoints, a welcome oasis in the vastness that is the worldwide web. GG
JoeG, no need to apologize. You make great points here. I think also that there is hope that the grownups will show up.
girlgrace, thanks for the info and thank you for your nice and thoughtful comments. You are always welcome here. I think it might have been you who suggested that this community of bloggers constituted some of what we look for in church. I hope so. It is also so very nice for me to hear from and "meet" all these people around the country who have the same concerns as I do.
Anyway, all are welcome and thanks for coming and contributing.
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