Redemption (Part 3)

From a memo ABC purports to be "Republican talking points" in the Terri Schiavo case: "This is an important moral issue and the pro-life base will be excited that the Senate is debating this important issue."

On this I'm very much inclined to agree with John Hinderaker, who says "It does not sound like something written by a conservative; it sounds like a liberal fantasy of how conservatives talk."

It's an invocation of a liberal boogeyman, you see. Republican Senators pander to a right-wing, Christian, ultra-conservative base - Jesusland. Jesusland was last invoked in strength in the aftermath of the Democrat's November meltdown, a handy excuse for missing the mark, for failing to resonate with voters. Quality of candidates and platforms meant nothing - moral values were the hinge on which the elections turned. Iraq meant nothing to the average voter. The New York Times even went so far as to claim that gay marriage was the only issue that really mattered to GI's deployed there. The drooling fanatics of Jesusland, you see, are running this country. In fact, they are running it into the ground.

The Democrat's embrace of post-election denial was painfully obvious to everyone who saw it. Most observers turned away wincing, hoping to spare them some shred of dignity. Now in the Schiavo case the specter of the Boogeyman of Jesusland rises up again and folks from all over are eager to believe. The left again, of course, but they are eager to believe virtually anyone or anything that trots down the pike under the banner of notBush. But for others there's a different sort of catharsis involved. Having sided with the powers that be for so long they need redemption, they must do something - perform some act of contrition to show they aren't becoming that way. Kicking an imaginary Boogeyman from Jesusland seems like a fine tonic for those who still haven't completely come to accept that whether one is a progressive or an entrenched zealot or something in between has nothing to do with degree of religious faith, any more than one's degree of gullibility does.

Speculation about a 'fracturing coalition' of libertarians and conservatives then follows.

To blame the political abuse of the "religious right" for the prolonging of the drama surrounding Terri Schiavo is to ignore the fact that responses to the case are no doubt the most personal of feelings, coming from some deep well of the human soul where politics can't reach. Whether you're for or against sustaining Terri Schiavo's life is no predictor of your demographic; political, religious, geographic, or otherwise. For most the decision is tough. Perhaps more so for those who'd say "let her die". It's hard for fundamentally decent, caring people to reconcile their humanity with letting someone starve to death, so it helps to create a Christian boogeyman that they can oppose. Starvation is certainly preferable to what the Boogeyman from Jesusland has in store for her, after all.

The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

Let's run through the big (say, in the top 500 of all blogs) conservative Christian right wing moral majority bloggers for an overview of their thoughts on the Terri Schiavo situation. The real Bible thumpers, the fire-and-brimstone guys that are just as much a threat to our freedoms as Islamic fundamentalists who'd kill us all if they had a chance because religious zealotry in all it's forms is bad - you know, the sorts of characters we all love to hate. Here they are:

Well, that's the end of that list. Like a punch from Mohammed Ali - you wanna see it again? Even though there are now over 8 million blogs listed on technorati none of the top blogs is in that category. Perhaps these people don't have computers yet?

Ann Coulter - someone I've taken to task on this site for other issues - devoted a chapter of a recent book (search inside at the link for Shadowboxing the Apocryphal "Religious Right") to effectively debunking the notion of the powerful religious right. Financially they don't come close to the political contributions of Unions and other professional organizations. And as bloc voters they fail to approach the homogenous activity of virtually any other group you could name.

Meanwhile, the left doesn't get it. Don't believe me? Check the title of this book. God's Politics : Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It. From the book's description:

While the Right in America has hijacked the language of faith to prop up its political agenda -- an agenda not all people of faith support -- the Left hasn't done much better, largely ignoring faith and continually separating moral discourse and personal ethics from public policy. While the Right argues that God's way is their way, the Left pursues an unrealistic separation of religious values from morally grounded political leadership. The consequence is a false choice between ideological religion and soulless politics.

What the left really doesn't get though is that Christians really aren't poorly educated and easily led halfwits duped by a Bible-thumping president into hijacking America. So they're not going to get anywhere 'enlightening the heathen' with God's true word. And for every "religious right" voter there's already at least one member of a congregation across town who'll make that Jesus-as-socialist argument too. Still, this book should appeal strongly to all religious Democrats who didn't know that John Kerry spent every Sunday of last year making political speeches from the pulpit's of America's churches.

Note the fire sale price.

Back to the top of the blogosphere's MIA religious right. One could argue the religious right as a massive and coherent political force actually does exist but hasn't reached the level of political savvy or internet sophistication to blog effectively. This of course refutes other myths regarding funding, power, and organizational skills of this group.

But those religious right nuts are on the internet, of course. How else to explain these comments at the Reverend Don Sensing's blog, in response to his post in support of withdrawing Terri Schiavo's feeding tube:

Nice try, Donald. This was a typical moronic post by a typically morally brain dead fool. The more you shit expose yourselves the more us on God's side look forward to the judgment and the metaphorical pulling of all you liberal shit's feeding tube. Good riddance, filth. Christian | 03.26.05 - 12:56 pm | #

Signs of the fracturing coalition? Remarks of a true Christian? No - because that comment is not made by a Christian, regardles of what the signature block says. Like the highly touted memo from ABC, this doesn't sound like a Christian - it's a liberal's fantasy of a Christian.

So where are the real Christians? If you aren't one of them, rest assured that although not a majority there are some within a few hundred yards of you. And Christians everywhere in America are busy this weekend praying. For America, for the world, and for peace for Terri Schiavo and her family. Yes, even for Michael.

And celebrating a season of rebirth, and redemption.