1/1/11

The Revolt of the Fanatical Non-Thinkers

If you are one those critical thinkers who cruises the commentary sections on the Internet seeking to engage followers of Evangelical political leaders in a rational debate, you are wasting your time. Once such leaders claim, or truly believe, that God is on their side and, by virtue of their charisma, convince their followers that they are divinely inspired modern-day prophets, then they can do no wrong. Their most egregious flaws, their biggest lies, their worst legal and moral transgressions are idolatrously rationalized or overlooked.
Bring up, for instance, Sarah Palin’s lack of education or Michele Bachmann’s false interpretation of the Constitution, and their followers will deflect your comment with irrelevant counter-comments about Barak Obama’s ties with leftist radicals, or else assail you with epithets, like “Communist, “traitor,” “fool” “retard,” and worse. Never mind that you might be a Republican fiscal conservative, a devoted student of Adam Smith, a happy family man, a decorated war veteran, and a Math Ph.D. who voted for Ralph Nader. Questioning Godly leaders is nothing less than a sacrilege.
And if you persist in your sacrilege, you are branded a “hater.” Recall how during the Bush years, right-wing talk show hosts—Limbaugh, Boortz, Hannity et. al. insisted, as if reading from the same script, that if you opposed the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, it was because you hated George Bush. Never mind that you liked the guy as a person. If you thought those wars were a mistake, then you hated him. Period. Ergo, you were despicable “hater.” The same applies today to anyone who dares criticize Evangelicals ordained by The Lord to do His work.
Then usually chiming in is a group of equally devout, equally irrational left-wing types who, though they have no equivalent for the “hater” brand, they will similarly deflect criticism by dredging up the corruption of conservative politicians and call you names-- “fascist,” “bigot,” “red-neck bumpkin,” “Limbaugh ditto-head” –- if you don’t happen to agree wholeheartedly with them.
All of which would make for great entertainment were it not for the disturbing fact that such non-tinkers on both fringes of the political and social spectrum are called to serve on juries and have voting rights.

No comments:

 
#bookmarks-footer{ display: none; }