What's the Matter With Kansas

Roger Ebert on a question I often ask here;

What's the Matter with Kansas?


As a liberal, I agree with about a third of the people in "What's the Matter with Kansas?" A conservative would probably agree with the others. What's interesting is that every single person in this film is seen as themselves, is allowed to speak and seems to have a good heart. I've rarely seen a documentary quite like it. It has a point to make but no ax to grind.

This is its point: Conservatives in the heartland have persuaded themselves to vote against their own economic and social well-being because they consider hot-button issues more important than their incomes, economic chances, educations and the welfare of society at large. Their positions dovetail seamlessly with evangelical Christianity, and they accept hardship as the will of God when it seems more clearly to be the working of a top-loaded economy.

It's well worth reading the entire thing.

There are a multitude of answers to the question, of course. Part of it is a fear of people who are not like them (aka, teh Gay). Mostly, it's a rationalization of suffering.

Suffering is a big component of religion. That's especially true of Catholicism. If you read Doug religiously (har) like I do, you see the theme from him as well. He suffers things.. all his life, it's one bout of suffering after the next. People like Doug wallow in it, so when it comes to politics, it's just as easy to allow themselves to suffer again just out of spite of the educated happy people, aka us Liberals.

Doug wears his suffering like a badge of honor. That's why he's always the victim.. and why the religious majority in this world are actually the used and abused victims of all the worlds conspiracies against them.

This will not change, of course. They must suffer. They must be the victims.. otherwise, there's no good excuse for advocating against their own self interests. It allows them to blame the nefarious Liberals, and call them "traitors" and suggest they all be put on trial.

The one thing that religion teaches you is that your suffering is not your fault, and "God" will make it all better eventually.. because those that you think are causing your suffering will get theirs in the end. That theme is the only thing that keeps Doug from losing his mind... the idea that people like me will "burn in a lake of fire for all eternity". That why he can never question his religion.

Otherwise, all his suffering is for naught.. and it is for naught.. that's how stupid people like Doug are.

/update


A comment I just left for Douggie, on yet another "Jews are awesome and Liberals want to kill all the Jews" post of his.

You do know that you are clinically insane, right?

You can keep making up what you think the "Liberal" view is, whilst simultaneously deleting off any retorts from real Liberals. That's simply a symptom of your clinical insanity.

By the way.. I wonder why you keep writing about the Jews, but never point out that those same Jews are all going to "burn in a lake of fire". Why is that Doug? Why do you keep neglecting to point out that one simple thing.. The one "unpardonable sin" is rejecting Christ, and all those Jews reject Christ. They're all going to burn.

Do you tell Jews that you meet in life that they're going to burn? You really should.. because they may not realize they're going to burn for all eternity.

Clinically.. insane Doug. Medications (try Thorazine) might help.

I've abandoned the rebuttal of his creationist "god did it" drivel. If he's going to declare "game on" and then delete my comments rebutting his points, then I'm just not going to bother. You, my dear readers, don't need remedial lessons on high school biology and mathematics.

He really is schizophrenic.. fluffing up his chest one moment, and then next turning back towards his usual cowardice.