General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIn the end, it's all about the fight between Church and Science...
The current focus is on women's health care issues, of course, and a fight that we libs desperately need to win for all women everywhere. But the roots of all this goes back hundreds of years, back to the Middle Ages and the Enlightenment.
What we're currently seeing is a movement of Evangelicals, Fundamentalists, and all the various permutations of Talibangelicals attempting to turn back the medical calendar by decades, if not centuries. It's roots go back to putting Gallileo on house arrest for saying that the earth revolves around the sun. During the Enlightenment, numerous philosophical and scientific scholars started applying rational thought to all fields of scientific investigation and research. Amazing advances were made in science and medicine, culminating during the 20th Century in actually providing relief from many of the worst scourges of disease that afflicted less advanced civilizations throughout history.
Coupled with that came advances in women's health, starting with doctors and researchers actually starting to acknowledge that many of the things that make women's lives shorter and less enjoyable were separate from male problems and actually working on solving some of them. Throw in the ability to avoid and terminate unwanted pregancy and methods to solve the problems of inability or difficulty to start and nuture desired pregnancies. It has all helped to make women's lives more livable, productive, and just more full.
And therein lies the basic problem. Right now, it's the driving issue behind the current attacks on women's health, the problem being, of course, that all of this is basically thwarting their vision of "God's Will." In their minds, we're supposed to leave all of that up to their invisible friend in the sky. Let go and let God.
It drove the anti-vax crowd that cost untold thousands of lives in the Covd pandemic, and now it threatens thousands more, both in that and in the thousands (millions? ) of women needing health care in all of it facets. If God "gifted" a woman with a body that has difficulty getting pregnant, well suck it up, it's God's Will. If a woman hasn't found "the right man" to join with and have children together, he'll send you a rapist to handle the job...and don't you dare to thwart God's Will.
Abortion is important as a singular issue, but it's really just the tip of the iceberg threatening the Titanic ship of state. All forms of modern medicine and scientific research is threatened, because it undermines their ideology. We've suffered real setbacks in these basic advances in modern science and medicine. We need to fight back because yes, the specter of a Gilead-like society is a real threat.

OnDoutside
(20,850 posts)Roy Rolling
(7,293 posts)The church vs science can be refined into unsubstantiated faith versus evidence.
And we all know how that should end.
OnDoutside
(20,850 posts)campaigns, being fed nonsense by charlatans, on the pretext that they are doing the Lord's work. It's so hard to counteract this with facts alone.
cbabe
(5,237 posts)they can keep us divided into factions over culture wars et al, we arent paying attention to them and their power over us.
Irish_Dem
(72,217 posts)They use the same divide and conquer strategy.
The GOP fascists want total and permanent power.
RickHworth
(137 posts)If there's no test for religious beliefs, how can we pass laws based exclusively on religious beliefs?
rubbersole
(10,095 posts)And believe everything they say. Because god.
dchill
(42,660 posts)Irish_Dem
(72,217 posts)A fall back into the dark ages once again.
DJ Synikus Makisimus
(1,074 posts)Sibelius Fan
(24,718 posts)DET
(2,108 posts)I never quite thought of it like that - that scientific progress conflicts with Gods will and is therefore unacceptable. Youd think that self-preservation would come into play at some point, however. I guess the wingnuts feel that if they get Covid and die, then its Gods will. Cant interfere with the process by taking a vaccine. Makes sense in its own bizarre way. I have a really hard time wrapping my brain around how the religious right thinks, especially when they insist that the rest of us should think the same way.
Who's to say that God didn't send the scientists to us to help make our lives better? Makes as much sense as anything else.
3catwoman3
(27,132 posts)If you want to look at medical interventions as interfering with gawd's will, ask these folks how they feel about these interferences:
-if they had a cardiac arrest, would they want to be defibrillated and have CPR done?
-if they had a ruptured appendix, would they want a surgeon to remove it?
-if their child had a painful ear infection, would they want an antibiotic and some Tylenol for the child?
-if they or a family member had cancer, would they want an oncologist involved?
-if they were nearsighted, would they want glasses so they could drive?
-etc, etc, etc - all medical interventions interfere with "gawd's will."
Martin68
(26,146 posts)the MAGA movement and the GOP don't really believe in Christianity. They only believe in power.
Wounded Bear
(62,480 posts)and herd the sheep.
GB_RN
(3,399 posts)Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.
Appropriate.
Initech
(105,632 posts)
GB_RN
(3,399 posts)As a Christian nation! Dont you know that?!?!
Ligyron
(7,948 posts)For just one day I'd like to hear no appeals or references to an invisible entity that no one has ever produced any good evidence that a rational person would accept for it's very existence.
I wish we could somehow drag this into a courtroom and make its apologists provide such evidence and when they couldn't, all references and appeals to it removed from public life forthwith.