Friday, January 21, 2005

Letters

I just love reading whackos..

The Ridgecrest Daily Independent:


Newspaper shouldn't print Liberal voices

Editor:

Thank Goodness for such literate and intelligent men as Julius Wolfson, Derek Cooper, Ron Scott and May Shaw.

I just can't understand why more good conservatives haven't spoken out against the dangerous opinions of rabble-rousers such as Phyllis Lilly, Linda Robin and that R C Johnson person. Why does The Daily Independent print the degenerate views of poisonous Liberals who hate freedom?

As Mr. Scott points out, the glorious Constitution is there to protect the rights of Christians to profess their faith. This country was founded by good Christians and the Constitution guarantees our right to express our religion.

It just is completely beyond me how we have allowed Liberals to deny us this guaranteed right.

Oh, they raise ridiculous arguments like other (false) religions would be "upset" if they were forced to pray alongside the righteous in schools or council meetings.

Surely those others would appreciate the opportunity to be saved. As God's chosen people, we Christians have the right to express our religion and praise tolerant, patient and merciful God, and I don't want to read any more letters from Liberals suggesting non-believers should be allowed to express their superstitions just because we Christians can express ours.

The Founding Fathers were God-fearing men and never intended the first Amendment to promote other superstitious beliefs.

Ridgecrest used to be filled with right-minded, polite and decent people.

I can't believe the vicious slander of some people who have the nerve to portray or suggest Jesus behaved as a Liberal.

Jesus makes his position very clear. The wisdom of an "eye for an eye" would never occur to a Liberal.

Liberals are always talking about peace at any price, when Jesus said: Do not think I have come to bring peace, but a sword.

Liberals hate people who have managed to raise their station in life, and instead insist on giving money away to the irresponsible: Store yourselves treasures for Heaven for where your treasure is, there your heart is also.

No one can serve two masters, either your are a good conservative with God or you are not with God. Remember: A bad tree cannot bear good fruit.

Billie Miller

Ridgecrest
That's classic, and typical, which is why I'm posting it. It's really important for people to understand where the lines are drawn between rational discourse and out-right insanity. The right wing is pushing so far to the right that what used to be considered "out there" is now becoming the more reasonable position. It would be as if liberals suddenly went so far left as to try and define communism and total wealth redistribution as a moral imperative and the mainstream view point. If that were the case, it would make people like me seem more centrist, eh?

I have to admit it's really clever. During the election, John Kerry was often painted as the "most liberal senator" (which by the way was a bald faced lie). Wouldn't it be interesting if we took liberalism so far to the left that John Kerry would seem like a right winger? That would be an interesting tactic, and match what the right wing is doing.

Look, liberals will to try and hide those on the far left, and we understand they, for the most part, are nuts. For example, I understand concern for the environment, but chaining yourself to a tree? That's a little nutty. But, with the right wing, they have totally embraced those that are literally living in a fantasy world and like to Make Shit Up (MSU). It's a brilliant strategy.

People have asked me why I get so worked up by these types of people. I answer by saying that primarily, it's because I don't have much of a life and I have lots and lots of time to think about these things. In fact, I have so much time on my hands that I need to start thinking about some new things to do to fill the spaces. The other reason is that these people influence public policy decisions. These policies often directly harm people.

Example; in Michigan, the enlightened populace decided they would vote for a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Not only did it ban gay marriage, but it also banned any "legal incidents thereof". I really don't think the people that voted for it were smart enough (yes most people are really stupid - I finally said it) to understand what that meant. That meant that there can be no legal recognition of relationships for gay people. What was the first result? The companies in Michigan that had been providing health insurance to domestic partners revoked the coverage.

Did that have anything to do with marriage? Absolutely not. In Michigan, if one partner of a same-sex couple is in a hospital, the other has no legal authority to even visit their partner. The list of what that amendment impacts is endless. A total of 8 states passed that same amendment during the last election.

That's why I get so angry at people like the letter writer above. It's not just her "own personal opinion", it's a point of view (based in ignorance) that directly harms other people, and it has to stop.

There are some encouraging signs. Most other sane nations of the world are embracing equality and liberal social policies. Canada is in the process of approving full same-sex marriage rights, exactly the same as any opposite-sex couple. Many other nations are following suit. I'm also trusting in the younger generation. They tend to be much more "live and let live" and understand that liberal social policies are really the most effective way to address complex issues.

Geography tends to isolate us socially. In Europe, they have much more commonality of thought. Imagine if every nation in Europe but England had abolished the death penalty. Can you imagine what the pressure would be on England to follow suit? The United States is not subject to that kind of pressure, so we're the only Western industrialized nation that executes prisoners, and one of only 3 nations in the world that executes minors as a matter of public policy.

In another post, I'll directly address what that woman has written in her letter. But, my point is, we cannot tolerate this kind of viewpoint. If you don't think it has a real impact, you're wrong. They certainly have every right to express their viewpoint, but it's up to each of us to make sure they understand we think they're crazy.

Oh.. and I happen to work with a person like the letter author. Most everything he says has the word "God" in it at some point. He even says "God willing", which totally gives me the creeps because that's a very popular phrase with the Islamic fundamentalists. He's bat-shit crazy, and I kind of feel sorry for him, but this is work - I keep my viewpoint to myself, even while he does not. Somebody really screwed his head up..

Thank god (metaphorically speaking) that I wasn't raised by religious nut jobs, or red neck hillbillies. I sometimes wonder about my dad, but the one thing he never did was insist we think the same as him. We damn near had shouting matches and food fights at the dinner table, but we were never told what to believe. We decided for ourselves.


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