I'll grant you that fundamentalism is a minority, but not Christianity, which is where Republicans seek out a lot of their base. I am not saying that all Christians are fundamentalist, but I am saying that there are a hell of a lot of people in this country who hold on to the so-called Christian values.
I (and probably a number of people reading this) am not into those "values", nor do we tend to surround ourselves with it. But that does NOT negate the fact that A LOT OF PEOPLE DO. As frightening as it may sound, a hell of a lot of people are fans of people like Jerry Falwell and Rush Limbaugh and even Presidente himself.
In this country, for a long time, "religious freedom" really meant "free to be any time of Christian"
Throughout US history, intense conservatism tends to rear its head when a lot of social change happens. When nothing changes, the majority doesn't feel threatened. They don't need to grasp onto something bigger than themselves.
At this point, a lot of white heterosexual americans feel threatened, to some extent. threatened by this gay marriage thing, threatened by the WAR, threatened by the shitty economy. A return to "OLD FASHIONED CHRISTIAN VALUES" sounds pretty appealing, even if that means returning to a "good ol' days" of the US that never really existed.
But these values are so appealing in a time of social and political confusion that both republicans and democrats seek them out to some extent.
The result is a very fuzzy line between democrats and republicans. babble babble babble i gotta pass out medications now. woo!
in any case, i'm Jewish and i'm registered as a Green.
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ninetydegrees
no subject
on 2003-11-19 04:36 pm (UTC)I (and probably a number of people reading this) am not into those "values", nor do we tend to surround ourselves with it. But that does NOT negate the fact that A LOT OF PEOPLE DO. As frightening as it may sound, a hell of a lot of people are fans of people like Jerry Falwell and Rush Limbaugh and even Presidente himself.
In this country, for a long time, "religious freedom" really meant "free to be any time of Christian"
Throughout US history, intense conservatism tends to rear its head when a lot of social change happens. When nothing changes, the majority doesn't feel threatened. They don't need to grasp onto something bigger than themselves.
At this point, a lot of white heterosexual americans feel threatened, to some extent. threatened by this gay marriage thing, threatened by the WAR, threatened by the shitty economy. A return to "OLD FASHIONED CHRISTIAN VALUES" sounds pretty appealing, even if that means returning to a "good ol' days" of the US that never really existed.
But these values are so appealing in a time of social and political confusion that both republicans and democrats seek them out to some extent.
The result is a very fuzzy line between democrats and republicans.
babble babble babble i gotta pass out medications now. woo!
in any case, i'm Jewish and i'm registered as a Green.