Critical Exponent

Plans have been developing for a counter-inauguration. Perhaps it won’t be of much practical use, but it will be a chance for us to lick our wounds and commiserate with like-minded folks…

Dec. 27, 2004 | Washington — Opponents of gay marriage concede victory will not be swift in their attempt to amend the U.S. Constitution, even after prevailing in all 11 states where the issue was on the ballot last month.

This is the central message in Bill Moyers’ speech upon receiving the Harvard Medical School’s Global Environment Citizen Award on Wednesday, December 1, 2004. It is a scathing indictment of the head-in-the-sand mentality of the Christian conservatives who believe that the second coming of Jesus Christ makes it unnecessary to preserve the environment and desirable to hasten the turmoil in the Middle East.

Dec. 18, 2004 | TACOMA, Wash. — A judge Friday granted a state Republican Party request to block the counting of hundreds of recently discovered King County ballots in the governor’s race, which the GOP’s candidate is winning by just a few dozen votes.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 - A military appeals court has overturned the conviction of a soldier for heterosexual sodomy in a decision that legal scholars and advocates for gay rights say may have broader implications for gays serving in the armed forces.

The New York Times editorial page has a link to its archive of articles on the flaws of our electoral processes.

In this article, Frank Rich of The New York Times further explores the crescending voice of religion in the American public sphere. As Unitarian Universalist Rev. Debra Haffner says in the article, there is ‘an overall “understanding” in the media that religion “is one voice — fundamentalist.”‘

Rich ponders:

What is this about? How can those in this country’s overwhelming religious majority maintain that they are victims in a fiery battle with forces of darkness? It is certainly not about actual victimization. Christmas is as pervasive as it has ever been in America, where it wasn’t even declared a federal holiday until after the Civil War. What’s really going on here is yet another example of a post-Election-Day winner-takes-all power grab by the “moral values” brigade. As Mr. Gibson shrewdly contrived his own crucifixion all the way to the bank, trumping up nonexistent threats to his movie to hype it, so the creation of imagined enemies and exaggerated threats to Christianity by “moral values” mongers of the right has its own secular purpose. The idea is to intimidate and marginalize anyone who objects to their efforts to impose the most conservative of Christian dogma on public policy. If you’re against their views, you don’t have a differing opinion — you’re anti-Christian (even if you are a Christian).

The New York Times is reporting on the Right Wing’s rally to “save” Christmas from those heathen PC liberals who are out to prevent the God-fearing faithful masses from celebrating their holiday (see my previous post). No matter that many of the attacks are unfounded or distorted (from the article: “The A.C.L.U. defended the child in Massachusetts who wanted to distribute candy canes with a religious message” and “the performance [of "A Christmas Carol" at a school] was canceled because the group wanted to charge admission, against school policy”).

As the article points out,

Of course, for many conservatives, this controversy is not just about Christmas; it’s a way to talk about a whole float of issues. Bill O’Reilly warned viewers that store clerks no longer saying “Merry Christmas” foretold the imminence of “a brave new progressive world” where gay marriage, partial birth abortion and legalized drugs run rampant.

Once again, we see the Religious Right in this country successfully portraying itself as the victim of liberalism run amok. Never mind that the Right has been on an upswing in America over the past twenty years, gaining power in Congress and control of the White House. Never mind that the recent election indicates at worst a nation very evenly split on social issues. No, as the social conservatives see it, civilization itself is on the line and they, the long-suffering defenders of all that is good and righteous, are under siege.