I think you're right Roger. We should be concerned. I think there are certain issues that have created the opportunity for some questionable agendas to be shoved down our throats.
I really don't like the way some on the Right promote the idea that siding with left leaning ideas or politicians contributes to moral decay. This is a key point in the Rove agenda and I think that it promotes a volatile atmosphere. You have to see that this creates the idea that each side is fighting a sort of life or death struggle (in the case of abortion issues Kevin G would tell you just that) where the outcome is critical.
Notice the stuff Bushco has promoted...
Legislation to promote marriage
A constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage
Rights for the fetus
Indecency fines for the entertainment industry
That they represent God and for the most part speak for God (God is on their side)
The last one is evidenced by a variety of issues including how they aligned themselves so closely with the religious right (a Rove plan). They speak their language. Using good vs. evil as often as possible. In doing so it's obvious that the message they want to send is the Conservative Right=Good, Moral, Decent and the Liberal Left=Evil, Perverse, Twisted.
The big issue is that you can't legislate goodness. You can't create a complex system of laws to build better people. Each time we allow something that seems to jibe with our personal or religious beliefs to be used as a battering ram to create legislation we lose sight of what its effect on the whole is.
It opens the door for someone else to use their personal or religious beliefs to tear down or create even more twisted legislation. It's not what our government is supposed to be about.
So when someone with an interest in the abortion issue or the gay marriage issue believes they scored a victory because some politician manipulated the laws or his position to ban abortion or allow gay marriage...if they did so without clear intent of the betterment of society as a whole...well, guess what...that change will only be temporary. Society will continue to fight the battle until it reaches the resolution that suits it best.
What's sort of amusing is that those that want to fight to ban abortion or those that want to force gay marriage through at any cost are exactly alike. They will both dance in the streets to celebrate any victory no matter how it was won or what we lose as a whole to get there. They both ignore the big picture in favor of a narrow agenda. So really they should join up and be on the same team. If they stood face to face it's like looking in a mirror.
Really, that's where we come to the bottom line. We are all in the same boat like or not. The ones that are really against us are the ones who struggle to separate us and tear us apart due to our minor differences. They are the ones guilty of destroying our chance for reasonable dialogue. They are the ones that prevent us from reaching that common ground. How easy it is to turn a woman's breast into a reason to prevent certain types of speech or free expression. If Ashcroft had his way many works of art would be shrouded by blue drapes tomorrow.
Only fools and fundamentalists find victory in folly.
