Krugman

Paul Krugman at the New York Times has a new column posted today. It's a very good read. Here's a link: Go read it, seriously.

Truly, America needs to be less tolerant. Woah.. a liberal saying that? Yes - it's true.

Everywhere you turn in the media lately there are articles dealing with religious issues. It is simply dominating right now. Krugman says, and I agree (obviously), they we simply must stop being passive to the evangelical Christian agenda. I'm not so liberal that I simply turn a blind, tolerant, eye to "other points of view" when those points of view directly attack the American way of life.

How crazy has this country become? Congress met in a special session to pass a law, George Bush left his vacation to sign it, for one woman going through the same thing countless others go through in this country every year.

Understand this - the Christian right wing got Congress and the President of the United states to do something completely extraordinary in attempting to circumvent the the rule of law in the United States.

George Bush did not end his vacation when a tsunami killed hundreds of thousands of people. He did not utter a word until nearly a week after 9 people died in a school shooting in Minnesota. But, he sure got his ass in gear when the Christian's freaked over one brain damaged woman.

The Christian extremists have targeted the judicial branch of government. They have not a shred a credible law to back them up, but they are waging an enormous PR campaign. The Republicans in Congress are even trying to do away with a 200+ year old filibuster rule so that they can continue to stack the courts with hard core Christian extremists.

Evangelical Christians make up a very small minority in this country, yet they wield the most incredible power to move Congress and the President. They are having laws passed in state legislatures all over this country intended to directly harm people.

It's just so anathema to moderates and liberals to want to mute a groups point of view. I want to hear all thoughts and ideas and consider their benefit. That's the liberal way of life. But, as Krugman says, we have to stop giving the evangelical Christians the benefit of the doubt.

I read a number of other blogs on the right, including one that I have this ongoing discussion about Schiavo. What strikes me is that the arguments are no longer pretending to care about the facade of the "culture of life". They simply value the "Christian moral" ethic over what is plainly stated in law, and what the traditions of the rule of law are in the United States. In fact, most of them don't understand the rule of law. They are driven by "God" and "morals".

They know what they attack - and they don't care.

We are probably at the height of it right now, as I expect the '06 mid-terms will send a message to the Republican's that allying with the crazy people is not good politics anymore. Then I think we'll probably see a Democratic President in '08, which should help empower moderates and liberals alike to finally stop being nice to the evangelical Christians.

If you respect the laws and the Constitution in this country - if you have love and respect for all races, religious beliefs, both genders and sexual orientations - if you believe in science, education, striving for knowledge: stop the passive tolerance of Christian extremists. When they push, push back.