No Ideas? Insert Religious Dogma

Progressives need to develop better talking-point techniques. They are way behind conservatives in that category, and have lost the battle to control the debate, any debate. Democrats seem not to embrace the concept of party unity which shows to some extent they are a big-tent party that at times uses logic to advance programs and agendas. But they often lose standing on important issues to people who have no idea what they’re talking about, who depend on emotion and, worst of all, religion, to press their points.

Religious fervor has to be the weakest possible element in discussions about the course of human events. It is a thankless task to dispute the Bible as a reliable source for today’s complex problems or to question that faith should guide public policy. But it grows increasingly clear that religious fanaticism can be as insidious in our own culture as in other lands and, at times, just as violent. Many on the right say Government should stay out of their lives, yet they choose to vote about the definition of marriage and when life begins. Democrats should take every opportunity to expose the hypocrisy of those who rage about personal liberty and responsibility but then seek to impose their will with intrusive legislative measures that support narrow religious views.

Alexander Pope told us “a little learning is a dangerous thing” an assertion that is made obvious every day by the wild notions that drive debates in Congress about climate change and other matters. Faulty research into an issue often leads legislators into a thicket of irrational conclusions. Intercepted e-mails among scientists regarding global warming, for example, have been seized upon to suggest that global warming is just a hoax - - the indignant stand taken by some of the most under-informed, intellectually challenged members of Congress and the media.

Thus Republican Joe Barton of Texas, who sits on the Energy and Commerce Committee, disputes what most experts agree is happening to the oceans and global land mass. Republicans are “open-minded” he says but refuse to be fooled by environmental alarmists. He dismisses Al Gore’s study of climate change as just a way for him to make money investing in green projects while Gore’s investments are in fact one way of encouraging the growth of companies engaged in research and development of new technologies he supports.

Barton then adds to a fund of disinformation by claiming that the oceans are in a “cooling period” when it is generally believed that ocean temperatures have been rising. And while pollutants in the atmosphere blocked the sun and produced cooling effects in some areas, efforts to reduce pollution have tended to reverse this trend and allow warming conditions to prevail. As for efforts to develop new non-carbon energy resources he has said that “Wind is God’s way of balancing heat” and that “not even the Democratic majority in the U.S. congress can regulate God.” When common sense and meaningful processes fail, up jumps the religious ogre to muddy the waters once again.

The most curious aspect of the religious right is its tendency to side with an absolutist view of society and to hide personal transgressions behind a wall of religious certitude. One e-mail response to an article about creating a more just society claimed “worship” was a more important measure of Christian values than “deeds.” Apparently people are to be recognized not for their good or bad works but rather for the level of their piety and their allegiance to formal church doctrine - - a bit outside most accepted standards of belief but not by all that much.

The O'Reillys and other shrill media types, for instance, rant about how the essence of Christmas is being trampled by a secular national mindset that denigrates a sacred tradition, as if there were no other traditions worth observing. A recent e-mail forwarded to me said the person was going to make a point of saying “Merry Christmas” to everyone she meets this holiday season even if they could be celebrating Chanukah or maybe just the winter solstice.

We have ventured a far distance from JFK’s reflection that “here on earth God’s work must truly be our own” a kind of ‘everyman’s’ approach to good works that cross the sectarian divide. Democrats these days have been slow to respond to the religious fanaticism that often animates political debates. They need to question more directly declarations of piety by people who tend not to address the needs of their fellow citizens.