2010 elections - What will they tell us?

From one card carrying atheist to another. If you havent noticed the religious rights influence on the GOP then you have not paid enough attention to politics in general for the last 12 years or so. They influence a majority of the republican agenda, look at stem cell research, abortion issues, GWB even called the war in Iraq a crusade to rally them. Republicans started to rally them during the Clinton years with the whole blowjob non-issue and have strung them along ever since. They have since won the republicans 2 presidential elections and countless local. Both parties kind of influence each other, one with lies of what they will do for fundamentalist agendas, the other with the hope of a lily white world the way their god intended.

 

they will tell us that everything is going ahead as planned...

 

@ Individual;

That's a good way to put it. That's exactly what I meant :]

I'm glad we agree! haha

 

I tend to give attention to the major issues more so than the minor ones.

 

Their all tied together, the smaller issues combine to influence the larger ones.

 

Are you referring to the "butterfly effect"?
"Does the flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?"

 

Well kind of, does the flap of an evangelicals gums in Texas set off a shitstorm in Washington? Yes, it does. Praying in public schools, anti gay marriage, immigration, theres more but I cant think of them offhand. But all this combined has a heavy influence on republican agendas and comes directly from the religious right. They are a very powerful force that wants their America back and can be very dangerous. They get their flock together on Sunday and make sure everyone votes as one, feeding the flock whatever their croneys in Washington are stirring up that week.

 

So, in a bipartisan way, are you simply saying the opposition should just shut their mouths and go along rather than try and achieve consensual agreement?

I've been an atheist since birth, or at least for certain since around age 6 when I vividly still remember being told of a God. At the same time, when I went to school, each day began with the pledge of allegiance to the flag, followed by a short verse read from the Bible, and a moment for silent prayer. As this obviously did me no harm, and likely there were others in class, perhaps even the teacher, who were not believers, it displays the tolerance that previously existed in the U.S. for those who had beliefs that differed. I was raised knowing that "sticks and stone could break my bones, but names could never hurt me." But I do agree that disparaging words can make it quite difficult to resolve differences intellectually.

 

I,m saying that the religious right has no business in the formation of this countries laws or policies. Separation of church and state, remember. The one nation under god thing always confused me also, although the moment of silence I just used for reflection so that did not bother me so much. But I definitely do not want creationism taught in place of evolution. Look at what is going on with the school books in Texas, thats what they want our kids to grow up learning. And its little bones like that throw by republican policy makers that erode everyones civil rights.

 

When you refer to the "religious right" are you speaking of other human beings? When you mention "separation of Church and State" where do you find that in our Constitution, and explain how it is you obtain your interpretation?

Personally, I would not like creationism taught in place of evolution, or in a science class, however I have no problem with a class on religion and its many variant forms, as religion played a large part in our earliest forms of government across the world, and continues to do so in a growing number of countries. Education is a learning process, and ignoring or altering facts of history diminishes rather than expands ones knowledge.

You'd have to elaborate on the Texas school books, I live in Asia.

You'd also have to expand on what you define to be "civil rights" for me to fully understand the last sentence.

 

When you refer to the "religious right" are you speaking of other human beings?

No. Speaking for myself only... the way I see it, human beings can reason. Members of the "religious right" in America very clearly cannot. They look first to their faith, and to reality and reason only as a backup.

When you mention "separation of Church and State" where do you find that in our Constitution

It's in every sentence of the entire document. It places responsibilities into the hands of the people via three branches of government, rather than in the hands of Gawwwd, Jesus, and scripture. If our government was meant to be non-secular, Jesus, Gawwwd, and the god damned Bible would be in every sentence.

religion played a large part in our earliest forms of government

A monkey shoves his fingers up his ass, then sniffs his fingers. A perfect analogy for the role of religion in government. Religion is represented by the monkey's stinky ass, religion is represented by the monkey's stinky finger, and religion is represented by the act of sniffing it.

 

I came across a televangelist late last night named Jack Von Impe and his wife Cruella(or some such) and he made the statement that Obama went to Egypt and "bragged Christianity was just about over in the US". This kind of divisiveness did not exist when I was young and it's troubling to me that these kinds of untrue statements are allowed to be said on public airwaves without any repercussions. I know for whom they're aimed and this shows just how political discourse has been cheapened. The man's organization is probably a tax free one, so in the first place his nose should be out of politics entirely and into the god biz only. He was also pushing his book about Socialist america. I suppose he hasn't put much thought into wether his jesus represented a form of socialism or a form of capitalism. So I guess this coming election will tell us how long people can remember the results of the last 8 years and how much influence people like Von Impe and other right wingers have been able to gain by their nefarious statements

 

No matter what party gains or loses spots in 2010, America seems to be leaning rightward for the foreseeable future.

Everybody assumed Obama was going to bring in a leftward shift, but he hasn't. The Dems aren't to the left of Republicans. They're just slightly less to the right.

 

My question, if you parse it properly, was "Are you speaking of other human beings? when referring to the religious right."
Your initial response is "No."
As we both appear to be without religious (God based) beliefs, we cannot, or at least should not deny the fact that we have beliefs that affect our decision making. Faith, reality, and reason are employed by each of us to varying degrees depending upon the questions we are trying to answer.

That sounds like a twist on the religious response of "Just because you can't see or hear God doesn't mean he doesn't exist." I think most of us who were schooled half a century or more ago understand that the Constitution only upholds the right to believe as you wish, and that the government had no right to impose any one religion upon the citizens over another. A little history reading would make it quite clear why that is true.

All your analogy proves is that you are quite disdainful of religion.

 

It depends upon your point of view, how far left or right you are. There are probably some who would consider Obama a right wing extremest.

 

Our incumbent politicians are craving to run an election against the Religious Right. An old standby.

The Koran burning florida pastor is a gift to the incumbents; A Straw-Man / piniata representing all of the idiots in flyover country.

Incumbents want to speak about anything, except money. The 2010 election will be about giving new respect and attention to money. Tax money, goverment spending money.

After a generation of media driven focus on social issues race, gender and class, our electorate is focusing new attentions on goverment expenditure and the corruption it generates. Individual State elections are reflecting this trend. Media is begining to play catch up.

Holders of goverment bonds are showing some concern about default. The City of Harrisbuurg, PA received a bail-out this week to help meet is bond payment obligations. States like California, New Jersey and New York are broke, voters are begining to notice.

 

agreed; it certainly is looking that way.