Right-winged American politics are plagued and ruled by paranoia, with an ever-changing enemy of attack with a target on their back as described in Goldburg’s “Kingdom Coming”(Ch.2). The hypocrisy and paranoia fuel the Christian–Rights fire to the extreme of brainwashing their worshiper's into believing and thinking the worst. Whether phrased as views on homophobia, anti-gay sentiment or same sex marriage. Paranoia beliefs range from “the abomination of a civilization" to conservative lawmakers in Tennessee attempting to ban homosexuals from living in Rhea County. Churches, new super Mega-churches are set up in rural areas to unite the worshipers by instilling fears, exclaiming that they must fight back and reclaim their Christian nation which is under attack! The conservative-right fuel the fire of intolerance and discrimination. “Homosexuality has become the mobilizing passion for much of the religious right. A populist movement needs an enemy, but one reason the Christian nationalist are so strong is that they’ve made peace with old foes, especially Catholics and African Americans. Gay people have taken the place of obsolete demons.” (Goldburg 52)
The conspiracy theories play out as pastors around the country send their top representative to meet with representatives from D.C. to align issues and set up a strategic plan to back their votes. Worshipers respect and fear the holy and untainted words of their minister without doubt or question. It's the word of God, right? ”So gay people become a threat to the most important thing conservatives have-their families. In standing up to that threat, they see themselves as heroes. Loathing is transformed into virtue.”(Goldburg 69) Therefore, uniting them to take a stand and vote! An anti-gay marriage vote! The hot button issue is no longer segregation or abortion, the country must take back Christian America and protect the tradition of family values. Where does the first amendment come in? Who gets to choose how you live and the choices you get to make in a free and civil society. The hypocrisy in the church has been going on for centuries and so has homosexuality. It is just a matter of time before it will be an issue of the past, yet people are just not ready to go there yet! Close-minded conservatives rule the White House and it is the liberal lefts fault for not being as organized as the conservative right. Due to popular or unpopular belief, trying to find a non bias scholarly article was near impossible. Each article makes references or questions the relevance for today's society; Pro or Anti Homosexual writers take examples from the Bible's Old Testament, Plato's Symposium, Genesis or the story of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Goldberg, Michelle. "Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism". W.W. Norton and Company, Inc. New York, NY. 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree with your opinion that there is a lot of hypocrisy within the church. I can't help but roll my eyes whenever I hear Christians/Conservatives proclaim that gay people are ruining the American family, or "the tradition of family values." This is a country with a soaring divorce rate--if anything is responsible to the decline of the traditional American family, it's that.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I found an interesting article the other day which stated that Atheists and Agnostics have a lower divorce rate than Christians. I'll try to find it again and post a link.