'Culture of Life' is a Culture of Fear

[rodeodance]

.....On one side are the religious and social (no, they aren’t all religious) conservatives who wave the “culture of life” banner. Basically, they are people who are afraid of uncertainty, ambiguity, and change in the realm of moral values. Their position is simple:

* moral values must be universal, timeless, unchanging truths
* we should receive them from religious traditions or authority figures
* once we get fixed truths, we should stick with them, no matter what

A society that doesn’t believe all this is in great danger, they warn. Why? Listen to a delightful story told by George W. Bush’s friend Richard Land, who heads the Southern Baptist Convention. Land recalled what his wife said when Bill Clinton became president: “She said, ‘The people that were sitting around in Volkswagen vans, smoking pot with peace symbols on their vans and hanging around their necks, are running the country now, aren't they?’ I said, ‘Yes, they are.’ Basically, it breaks down to this enormous fault line. On one side of this fault line, you have people who have a traditional view of morality: Some things are always right; some things are always wrong; and if you accept a society in which that's not true, then anything becomes possible.”

That’s just what thrilled those people sitting around in Volkswagen vans, smoking pot with peace symbols. Anything becomes possible -- even a world of peace and love.

For the right-wingers, though, the idea that “anything is possible” is terrifying. Their “culture of life” is really a culture of fear. They believe that human nature is basically selfish, competitive, and aggressive, If anything is possible, who can predict what crime or evil will happen next? How can anyone feel safe? The world would be spinning out of control. We need fixed rules that come from unquestionable authority. That’s the only way to keep us all from running amok.......

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0401-32.htm

Published on Friday, April 1, 2005 by CommonDreams.org

'Culture of Life' is a Culture of Fear
by Ira Chernus

[politicaholic]

1. Thanks for that...

Yup, I'm definitely afraid.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

2. Sheeple.

They are the same people who have always existed in societies throughout history.

Funny, April Fools, I believe is a negative Xtian reference to the pagans who "clung to their beliefs" despite the "new" religion of Christianity.

[kliljedahl]

3. Well written

I copied it to a word document to print and pass out. Excellent piece.


http://www.kliljedahl.net

[Coastie for Truth]

4. To me their "Culture of Life" is a "Culture of Premature Death"

for Americans with Parkinson's Disease, ALS, Diabetes, Alzheimer's Disease, spinal cord injuries (all conditions that have responded - in a statistically significant way to STEM CELL RESEARCH DERIVED THERAPIES.

But based on false science and false pseudo theology -- they have conflated "stem cell research" to "abortion" and have condemned Americans with Parkinson's Disease, ALS, Diabetes, Alzheimer's Disease, spinal cord injuries to life times of suffering and to premature deaths.

This is just plain Godless, atheistic, evil in the name a false God. It is blasphemy and heresy and worshiping false gods, and taking God's name in vain, and building idols.

[Larkspur]

5. Good article!!! "Culture of Life" is really New Age Pharisism

Jesus called the Pharisees of his day a "brood of vipers" (boy not much has changed), and he also compred them to white tombs -- pretty on the outside but full of death and corruption on the inside. That best sums up the Religious Right of today.