I just read Frank Rich’s Times piece on America’s history with Schiavo-like situations (It just occurred to me that I shouldn’t know how to spell Terri Schiavo’s name. That’s how little we should be involved in her case). I’ve pulled some quotes:
On the small number of people who are making this a national issue: “…a majority of American colonists didn’t believe in witches during the Salem trials either - any more than the Taliban reflected the views of a majority of Afghans. At a certain point - and we seem to be at that point - fear takes over, allowing a mob to bully the majority over the short term.”
On the power of the religious right in other areas: “Faith-based science has in turn begat faith-based medicine that impedes stem-cell research, not to mention faith-based abstinence-only health policy that impedes the prevention of unwanted pregnancies and diseases like AIDS.”
On the selectivity of the MSM: “Faith-based news is not far behind. Ashley Smith, the 26-year-old woman who was held hostage by Brian Nichols, the accused Atlanta courthouse killer, has been canonized by virtually every American news organization as God’s messenger because she inspired Mr. Nichols to surrender by talking about her faith and reading him a chapter from Rick Warren’s best seller, “The Purpose-Driven Life.” But if she’s speaking for God, what does that make Dennis Rader, the church council president arrested in Wichita’s B.T.K. serial killer case? Was God instructing Terry Ratzmann, the devoted member of the Living Church of God who this month murdered his pastor, an elderly man, two teenagers and two others before killing himself at a weekly church service in Wisconsin? The religious elements of these stories, including the role played by the end-of-times fatalism of Mr. Ratzmann’s church, are left largely unexamined by the same news outlets that serve up Ashley Smith’s tale as an inspirational parable for profit. ”
Now, I am wary of painting with too broad a brush, but fundamentalism is on the rise in our country. Fundamentalism is fundamentally opposed to democracy because it rejects compromise and alternative view points.
I have to revisit some things before discussing this at length, but there are many examples of religious movements having horrible effects on democracies. Off the top of my head I can list
- The BJP Hindu party in India
- Gush Emunim and other extreme groups in Israel (I don’t list Palestinian groups because Palestine is not really a democracy yet)
- Bosnia (Croats vs. Serbs vs. Muslims)
These are all cases when former neighbors who had lived in peace suddenly found themselves killing each other. America is not headed towards a civil war but it is important not to overlook violence perpetrated in the name of God (abortion clinics, for example) and cases when secular law is subverted by religion (pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control, Terri’s Bill).
The culture war is taking on starker religious tones, which has only caused harm in other democracies.
~The Stuffed Tiger
