Democrats: Stop Playing at Being "Good Christianists"

Like any true-blue American, I don't really concern myself with religion much — literally, but that's another post — until it starts insinuating itself into politics and public policy.  That's when I start to get downright obstinate and feisty.  One thing I have observed over the years: being a Christianist zealot politician is like having jazz chops.  You've either got it or you don't.  Someone needs to tell Nancy Pelosi that she don't got it.

“Science is a gift of God to all of us and science has taken us to a place that is biblical in its power to cure,” said Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, arguing for the bill’s passage. “And that is the embryonic stem cell research.”

Personally, I'd rather see my Democratic leaders putting forward this theme:

XKCD: Science. It works, bitches

 

 

 

 

 

 

But seriously, when Pelosi and other democrats try to ape the religious right in order to “triangulate” with the vast middle, they just make themselves look like insincere whores.  And besides, I think that — as ususal — most of the strategists who are urging their candidates to do this vastly underestimate the level of the backlash going on against the Christianist right, even among non-secularists.  Everyone is tired of these hand-clapping, if-you-beleive-hard-enough-it-will-be-true idiots.  Message to strategists: Doing what makes the other side successful is NOT automatically the right thing.  Sometimes you have to do the OPPOSITE thing really well.

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cman

  • I think you are being too harsh

    When I think of "Christianists," I think of people who believe that Biblical teachings, taken literally, should be the law of the land in this country, trumping the U.S. Constitution.

    Saying that science is a gift from God doesn't imply that everyone has to follow Christian teachings, or that the government should intervene to enforce Christian standards of morality on adults.

    I think that what Pelosi was trying to convey is reminiscent of that old joke about the guy trapped in his house during a big flood. He makes his way to the roof, and the water is still rising. A boat comes by and offers him a ride, and he declines, saying he believes God will save him. A second boat comes by and offers him a ride, but he says his faith is strong that God will save him. Finally a helicopter comes by, and again he says God will save him, so he doesn't need a ride.

    The man drowns. When he gets to heaven, he is disappointed in God and asks why God didn't intervene to save him. God answers, "Well, I sent two boats and a helicopter."

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