Rare political post
Aug. 6th, 2004 11:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
emmagrant01I usually try to restrict my posts here to fluffy fandom things, but I feel compelled to do this. I'm angry. I'm disillusioned. And I'm really motivated to do anything I can to get W out of the White House.
I know there are people on my f-list who are Republicans, and who support Bush. If you like, you can skip the stuff behind the cut. ;-)
I was raised as a Republican. I was also raised as a Southern Baptist, and I think part of my issue with the Republican party is its alignment with the religious right.
I'm an atheist, but I'm pretty quiet about it. In general, I don't like it when anyone pushes their religion in my face, and most people don't, to be fair. One of my best friends is a minister, so I don't have a problem with people being religious. I think my big problem with the religious right is their assumption that it's perfectly fine for an entire country's laws to be based on their religion's holy book. I'm tired of being forced to pray at public functions (including the state Democratic convention, where I was a delegate), and I'm sick of the continued attempts to oppress people who are gay, bisexual, or transgendered. I'm pro-choice, I support gay rights, and am deeply offended that anyone would use the Bible to justify discrimination against any group of people in the form of controlling their bodies. (I know many Christians who agree with that sentiment, of course.)
I also have major issues with the war in Iraq, and Bush's horrid ignorance of the world outside our borders. It makes me sick to my stomach that my government has kept hundreds of people locked up in an internment camp in Cuba for two years, without charging them for any crimes or allowing them any defense. Geneva Convention? What Geneva Convention? It doesn't apply to us, you know. (And I don't count this latest attempt to satisfy a Supreme Court ruling, thank you very much. That's a farce, IMO.) It's un-American, and if any other country in the world did that, we'd probably invade them. We're holding these people based on what, our intelligence? The same intelligence that told us there were WMDs in Iraq? Yeah, I trust them.
Another part of my reluctance to support Republicans comes from my up-bringing, again. I grew up in the south, and many of my family members are Republicans because they see the Democratic party as belonging to African Americans and other minority groups they view with suspicion. In my family, being a Republican is definitely associated with being racist. I realize that represents a small minority of Republicans, but I can't separate my family's small-mindedness and racism from the issues they talk about. For example, they're against welfare and other public aid because of the stereotype of an unemployed black woman with eight children getting a monthly check. Telling them that welfare accounts for a miniscule portion of the budget in comparison to social security doesn't seem to make a difference. None of them have ever been on welfare. Those people are just lazy, they say. This is America, after all. The land of opportunity! You just have to work hard enough!
Of course, my own stories about working with battered women and teaching in gang-infested urban schools don't garner any sympathy for people who don't have the same opportunities as middle class folks. My family doesn't have any concept of the playing field not being level, because they won't even drive on that side of town for fear of being mugged. They just believe the stereotypes, and don't bother thinking for themselves.
I'm a big supporter of many causes the Democratic party traditionally champions, even though I disagree on free trade. (I think globalization is inevitable, and we'd best find a way to deal with it.) I'm all for tax cuts, as long as they go to the middle classes, where the people are actually likely to spend the money and contribute to the economy. (I'm a little tired watching people get trickled down on.) And as long as children don't go without free lunches or after-school programs as a result, or firefighters don't lose their health care, or senior citizens don't lose their access to medication. I'm more than willing to pay my share of taxes to help people who need it. I don't like my money going to support an invasion of a country based on a lie, so I totally understand where they're coming from. I just think they're wrong! ;-)
So I'm not a Republican for all of those reasons, and I hate W for others I won't bother detailing here. Mostly, I'm tired of being ashamed of the actions of my country. I really want to fly the flag outside my house again without feeling like I'm a hypocrite.
So that was more than you wanted to know, I'm sure! I do wonder about slashers who are Republicans, though. I mean, this president just tried to amend the Constitution to discriminate against gay people! How do you reconcile the anti-gay and anti-"porn" rhetoric of the party with participating in an internet community that embraces gay rights, women's rights, and free speech?
I really want to know, so please comment here. I'd love to have a thoughtful and reasonable discussion of this topic.
I know there are people on my f-list who are Republicans, and who support Bush. If you like, you can skip the stuff behind the cut. ;-)
I was raised as a Republican. I was also raised as a Southern Baptist, and I think part of my issue with the Republican party is its alignment with the religious right.
I'm an atheist, but I'm pretty quiet about it. In general, I don't like it when anyone pushes their religion in my face, and most people don't, to be fair. One of my best friends is a minister, so I don't have a problem with people being religious. I think my big problem with the religious right is their assumption that it's perfectly fine for an entire country's laws to be based on their religion's holy book. I'm tired of being forced to pray at public functions (including the state Democratic convention, where I was a delegate), and I'm sick of the continued attempts to oppress people who are gay, bisexual, or transgendered. I'm pro-choice, I support gay rights, and am deeply offended that anyone would use the Bible to justify discrimination against any group of people in the form of controlling their bodies. (I know many Christians who agree with that sentiment, of course.)
I also have major issues with the war in Iraq, and Bush's horrid ignorance of the world outside our borders. It makes me sick to my stomach that my government has kept hundreds of people locked up in an internment camp in Cuba for two years, without charging them for any crimes or allowing them any defense. Geneva Convention? What Geneva Convention? It doesn't apply to us, you know. (And I don't count this latest attempt to satisfy a Supreme Court ruling, thank you very much. That's a farce, IMO.) It's un-American, and if any other country in the world did that, we'd probably invade them. We're holding these people based on what, our intelligence? The same intelligence that told us there were WMDs in Iraq? Yeah, I trust them.
Another part of my reluctance to support Republicans comes from my up-bringing, again. I grew up in the south, and many of my family members are Republicans because they see the Democratic party as belonging to African Americans and other minority groups they view with suspicion. In my family, being a Republican is definitely associated with being racist. I realize that represents a small minority of Republicans, but I can't separate my family's small-mindedness and racism from the issues they talk about. For example, they're against welfare and other public aid because of the stereotype of an unemployed black woman with eight children getting a monthly check. Telling them that welfare accounts for a miniscule portion of the budget in comparison to social security doesn't seem to make a difference. None of them have ever been on welfare. Those people are just lazy, they say. This is America, after all. The land of opportunity! You just have to work hard enough!
Of course, my own stories about working with battered women and teaching in gang-infested urban schools don't garner any sympathy for people who don't have the same opportunities as middle class folks. My family doesn't have any concept of the playing field not being level, because they won't even drive on that side of town for fear of being mugged. They just believe the stereotypes, and don't bother thinking for themselves.
I'm a big supporter of many causes the Democratic party traditionally champions, even though I disagree on free trade. (I think globalization is inevitable, and we'd best find a way to deal with it.) I'm all for tax cuts, as long as they go to the middle classes, where the people are actually likely to spend the money and contribute to the economy. (I'm a little tired watching people get trickled down on.) And as long as children don't go without free lunches or after-school programs as a result, or firefighters don't lose their health care, or senior citizens don't lose their access to medication. I'm more than willing to pay my share of taxes to help people who need it. I don't like my money going to support an invasion of a country based on a lie, so I totally understand where they're coming from. I just think they're wrong! ;-)
So I'm not a Republican for all of those reasons, and I hate W for others I won't bother detailing here. Mostly, I'm tired of being ashamed of the actions of my country. I really want to fly the flag outside my house again without feeling like I'm a hypocrite.
So that was more than you wanted to know, I'm sure! I do wonder about slashers who are Republicans, though. I mean, this president just tried to amend the Constitution to discriminate against gay people! How do you reconcile the anti-gay and anti-"porn" rhetoric of the party with participating in an internet community that embraces gay rights, women's rights, and free speech?
I really want to know, so please comment here. I'd love to have a thoughtful and reasonable discussion of this topic.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-08-06 11:31 am (UTC)I grew up in California in the seventies in an atheistic, semi-communal group of friends bound together by their ideas of living life fully and embracing all it has to offer. It's hard to get more liberal than that. As a teenager, I rebeled and went to live the "normal" suburban life with my dad and step-mother. They were republicans based solely on their wallets.
When I was finaly able to vote, I had to examine what was inmportant to me.
For the most part, I agree with the policies of the democratic party. I like the fact that I when I ask questions of my candidates, I get well reasoned answers that address the topics at hand. Mostly, I agree with their goals. As someone who needed the safety net that welfare provides when I found myself pregnant in the middle of college, I have seen how it can be used as a temporary measure to help someone climb out of poverty and desparation. I liked that giving birth to my daughter was my choice, and not something forced upon me.
But I also see that government is not going to be able to fix all social ills in this country. There are things that people and communities must take responsiblility for themselves.
So several things that republicans are traditionally known for make sense to me. I'm all for having less government influence in our lives and allowing people to sort it out themselves on the state or local levels. Even though I spent years living hand to mouth and am still struggling under the weight of vast student loans, I come from a very comfortable middle class family, and many of my extended family are now very wealthy, so I understand the appeal of the tax cuts.
But what the republicans, under the influence of the religious right, actually do disgusts me.
How can they claim to be trying to keep government out of our lives if they force us to have unwanted children? And then try to get access to our medical records so they can see who has had an abortion?
How, exactly, does two men or two women pledging to spend their lives together threaten a man and a woman doing the same enough to justify a contitutional amendment?
How dare George W. Bush usurp power in a government that was founded on the principles of the equality of all men and a separation of church and state and tell us that God is directing his presidency and have such clearly defined views of 'them' vs 'us'.
This list of quotes from presidents through out history is chilling.
"The government of the United States is in no sense founded on the Christian Religion."
- President George Washington -
"I do not find in Christianity one redeeming feature."
- President Thomas Jefferson -
"The Bible is not my book, nor Christianity my religion."
- President Abraham Lincoln -
"A just government has no need for the clergy or the church."
- President James Madison -
"I believe in an America where religious intolerance will someday end... where every man has the same right to attend or not attend the church of his choice."
- President John F. Kennedy -
"The United States is a Christian nation founded upon Christian principles and beliefs."
- President George W. Bush -
(Continued 'cause I got too ranty)
Part 2
Date: 2004-08-06 11:35 am (UTC)How dare this man come in to MY government and tell me that MY country is founded on beliefs that are not my own?
On beliefs, which according to him, state that I am wrong and going to hell?
On beliefs which allow him to start an unnescissary war which boils down to a new jihad?
How can this man expect to run a multi-racial, multi-cultural, multi-religious country in a global environment when he closes his eyes to anything outside of his comfort zone?
WOW. Sorry. I'm not sure that really counts as thoughtful or reasonable. If you didn't get my drift, I am very vehemently for kicking this idiot out of our White House.
To that end:
Sunday, August 29th is "The World Says No To Bush Day"
Many cities are holding marches to coincide with the march in New York City at the onset of the Republican National Convention.
You can check to see if there is one you can join in your town or contact your local Democratic or Progrssives organisations about organizing one.
(See, according to this administration, you are evil incarnate. And I love you for it!) *snogs*
Re: Part 2
Date: 2004-08-07 01:18 pm (UTC)I agree with everything you said about Bush. And yes, I am evil incarnate! :-P
no subject
Date: 2004-08-07 04:36 pm (UTC)In some cases, it's very directly traceable there -- "under God" in the pledge of allegiance, for example. Happened in the '50s, I believe, as a direct response to the Communist non-religious thing.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-07 05:16 pm (UTC)*uses spiffy new "God" icon, for no reason whatsoever*
no subject
Date: 2004-08-07 05:44 pm (UTC)You know, one thing that I don't like about writing RPS is I've gotten back into the habit of using JudeoChristian swear words. (I pick up a lot from my museboys!) It's interesting writing KA fic, because those boys aren't Christians (except Arthur), and so I have to stumble around for appropriate curses for them. I went through several years where I tried to excise JudeoChristian curses from my vocabulary because it seemed so silly for an atheist to use them. I just wish there were a better all-purpose curse along the lines of "Damn!", because there again... religious-based. Darnit.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-07 06:47 pm (UTC)LOL! I haven't thought about that for a while, but I went through a phase where I tried to remove all references to religion from my vocabulary. I wasn't successful, clearly, but you're right that it's difficult. What curses do we have that aren't Judeo-Christian in origin?
Shit.
Fuck.
Asshole.
Bitch. (That one's questionable.)
Is it just "damn" and "hell" that are Judeo-Christian in origin?
no subject
Date: 2004-08-07 08:25 pm (UTC)