I do think that if things continue on the current trajectory, you'll start to see a "Great Unpurpling" occur fairly soon. Should some of these beliefs and attitudes become a matter of law (towards either extreme of the spectrum) you'll see a much greater incentive to relocate somewhere more idealogically amenable.
I wonder how much human migration is due to economic factors and how much is due to ideological factors. I moved to the Bay Area. Is that because I'm a liberal, or because I'm an actor/tech geek? Of course, maybe I'm a liberal because I'm an actor/tech geek, or perhaps I'm an actor/tech geek because I'm a liberal. The causal arrows would be difficult to sort out.
But if the near future brings rapid shifts in ideological environment while economic factors remain relatively constant, we may get some interesting data on the power of ideology to move people (literally).
12:24 PM, June 05, 2006
Actually, it’s not really “Creeping” anymore, is it? More like “Flagrantly parading”.
OK, via atrios, here’s more reason for any of you who believe in that quaint “state-church separation thang” to be very afraid. Remember, these aren’t some powerless fringe lunatics. People like this run our great nation (into the ground). From the Dallas Morning News: SAN ANTONIO – Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell offered a greeting to delegates to the Republican convention. "It's great to be back in the holy land," the Fort Worth native said to the cheers of the party faithful.For the 4,500 delegates at last week's biennial gathering, it was both an expression of conservative philosophy and religious faith, a melding of church and state. At Saturday morning's prayer meeting, party leader Tina Benkiser assured them that God was watching over the two-day confab. "He is the chairman of this party," she said against a backdrop of flags and a GOP seal with its red, white and blue logo. The party platform, adopted Saturday, declares "America is a Christian nation" and affirms that "God is undeniable in our history and is vital to our freedom." "We pledge to exert our influence toward a return to the original intent of the First Amendment and dispel the myth of the separation of church and state," it says. Will the decent, God-fearing folk of this land please stand up and denounce this majoritarian triumphalism and ludicrous “God is on our (Republican wingnut) side” crap? If the majority religion of this country were Islam, would it be OK for a political party to declare that America is an Islamic nation? Like I said before, you can’t rely on us secular liberal bloggers to stem the Christianist tide. You mainstream Catholics and Protestants better start throwing your weight in with us. We won’t force our theology (such as it is) into the apparatus of the state. James Dobson will, and from this account it is clear that people like him are already doing so. You may share parts of their religion, but trust me, you’d be better off with us. And we’d certainly rather have you in control than them.
Again, maybe federalism is the solution. Let some of the country become Christianist, if that’s what a majority of people in some states want. And then let people vote with their feet. But of course the whole Red State / Blue State divide is just a question ratios: even the reddest states have a large segment of the population that would definitely feel oppressed under a Christianist regime. It’s easy for me here in the Liberal bastion of the Bay Area to say: let those fundies legislate themselves back to the 1600s if they want! Greater federalism might allow California to be more progressive. But it also might allow other parts of the country to devolve into puritanical theocratic police states, if the rhetoric coming out of the Christianist noise machine is taken seriously.
"Creeping Christianism Watch"
2 Comments -
I do think that if things continue on the current trajectory, you'll start to see a "Great Unpurpling" occur fairly soon. Should some of these beliefs and attitudes become a matter of law (towards either extreme of the spectrum) you'll see a much greater incentive to relocate somewhere more idealogically amenable.
9:56 AM, June 05, 2006
I wonder how much human migration is due to economic factors and how much is due to ideological factors. I moved to the Bay Area. Is that because I'm a liberal, or because I'm an actor/tech geek? Of course, maybe I'm a liberal because I'm an actor/tech geek, or perhaps I'm an actor/tech geek because I'm a liberal. The causal arrows would be difficult to sort out.
But if the near future brings rapid shifts in ideological environment while economic factors remain relatively constant, we may get some interesting data on the power of ideology to move people (literally).
12:24 PM, June 05, 2006