There seems to be a parallel between thinking our country was perfect when it was created, and thinking our world was perfect when it was created (according to the story in Genesis). In both cases, an evolving nation and an evolving universe are foreign concepts to the conservative mindset.
There seems to be a parallel between thinking our country was perfect when it was created, and thinking our world was perfect when it was created (according to the story in Genesis). In both cases, an evolving nation and an evolving universe are foreign concepts to the conservative mindset.
There are many counterfactuals: at the inception of our nation only white men who owned very large estates were allowed to vote, and it took more than a century to achieve a universal franchise. And the fossil record tells us that Earth is much older than the Abrahamic religions would have us believe.
Another dangerous idea that flows from the religious right is that the God described in the Bible intervenes in the physical world. The consequence for people who hold that belief is that they relinquish their moral agency. They throw up their hands, saying there is nothing we can do about climate change because it's in God's hands. (I heard that from a person with whom I grew up from first grade). One alternative to that notion is that all moral agency resides within human beings, and so it is our responsibility to work together toward a more perfect union, and a more perfect world.
The Scrooge party has been no help at all in taking on the existential problems we face as moral, ethical, empathetic Americans.
I agree. Granted its been a long time since Sunday School (not a church-goer anymore) but the God I was taught about seemed to me felt that it was our responsibility to work things out - not sit & wait for him to do it!
A recurring theme that often resurfaces in (what's left of) my mind is "psychopath!" No empathy, no sympathy. If there is any regard for "lesser mortals" it seems that it must be something like "How can I use them?"
No humanity either. Although “lessers” make good servants, especially women and others. But men have their uses too, as Hitler found uses for the strong. And don’t forget how the humanity has been squeezed out of religion so that the “prosperity gospel” is in line with the capitalist zeitgeist.
Maggie, you reminded me of an idea.
There seems to be a parallel between thinking our country was perfect when it was created, and thinking our world was perfect when it was created (according to the story in Genesis). In both cases, an evolving nation and an evolving universe are foreign concepts to the conservative mindset.
There are many counterfactuals: at the inception of our nation only white men who owned very large estates were allowed to vote, and it took more than a century to achieve a universal franchise. And the fossil record tells us that Earth is much older than the Abrahamic religions would have us believe.
Another dangerous idea that flows from the religious right is that the God described in the Bible intervenes in the physical world. The consequence for people who hold that belief is that they relinquish their moral agency. They throw up their hands, saying there is nothing we can do about climate change because it's in God's hands. (I heard that from a person with whom I grew up from first grade). One alternative to that notion is that all moral agency resides within human beings, and so it is our responsibility to work together toward a more perfect union, and a more perfect world.
The Scrooge party has been no help at all in taking on the existential problems we face as moral, ethical, empathetic Americans.
I agree. Granted its been a long time since Sunday School (not a church-goer anymore) but the God I was taught about seemed to me felt that it was our responsibility to work things out - not sit & wait for him to do it!
Love the Scrooge Party, but they are the Fat Cat Party for some
A recurring theme that often resurfaces in (what's left of) my mind is "psychopath!" No empathy, no sympathy. If there is any regard for "lesser mortals" it seems that it must be something like "How can I use them?"
No humanity either. Although “lessers” make good servants, especially women and others. But men have their uses too, as Hitler found uses for the strong. And don’t forget how the humanity has been squeezed out of religion so that the “prosperity gospel” is in line with the capitalist zeitgeist.