Friday, December 17, 2004
Shoot Yourself in the Foot for Jesus
We've noted here (and so have others) that the post-election, in-your-face religiosity displayed by right-wingers isn't a genuine upwelling of belief as much as the swagger of a bully who thinks he's king of the block. So Bill O'Reilly makes dark threats against an anti-Christmas secularist minority that "must be dealt with," and lawsuits flutter down like snowflakes against anyone perceived as standing in the way of unfettered religious expression anywhere, anyplace, or anytime.
With so many godly people waving their faith around like a giant spanking paddle, it was only a matter of time before some of them inadvertently smacked themselves upside the head. The good Christians of Mustang, Oklahoma, upset that a local elementary school principal refused to allow a nativity scene to conclude the school's annual Christmas pageant, took out their holy revenge on him by . . . voting down an $11 million school bond referendum. Nobody in Mustang explained to the AP why it makes sense for voters to stand up for Jesus by denying their own children the school improvements they presumably need. It's likely that not many of them bothered to think it through. One who surely did is Tim Pope, a former Republican state legislator and leader of the anti-bond group in Mustang. "You've got to tell them you're not going to sit by and let them take away your rights," he says. And if standing up for your "rights" can be conveniently co-opted by anti-taxers who may not give a damn for Jesus except as a tool to get people to vote against their real-world interests, so much the better.
Quote of the Day: From blogger Matt Yglesias, writing at Tapped yesterday about the Defense Department's announcement that missile defense will go forward even if tests of the system fail: "On one level, of course, the fact that the system doesn't work is irrelevant--there's no actual threat for it to counter, it's just a political bludgeon and a piece of pork barrel spending, so a non-functional system will work just as well."
We've noted here (and so have others) that the post-election, in-your-face religiosity displayed by right-wingers isn't a genuine upwelling of belief as much as the swagger of a bully who thinks he's king of the block. So Bill O'Reilly makes dark threats against an anti-Christmas secularist minority that "must be dealt with," and lawsuits flutter down like snowflakes against anyone perceived as standing in the way of unfettered religious expression anywhere, anyplace, or anytime.
With so many godly people waving their faith around like a giant spanking paddle, it was only a matter of time before some of them inadvertently smacked themselves upside the head. The good Christians of Mustang, Oklahoma, upset that a local elementary school principal refused to allow a nativity scene to conclude the school's annual Christmas pageant, took out their holy revenge on him by . . . voting down an $11 million school bond referendum. Nobody in Mustang explained to the AP why it makes sense for voters to stand up for Jesus by denying their own children the school improvements they presumably need. It's likely that not many of them bothered to think it through. One who surely did is Tim Pope, a former Republican state legislator and leader of the anti-bond group in Mustang. "You've got to tell them you're not going to sit by and let them take away your rights," he says. And if standing up for your "rights" can be conveniently co-opted by anti-taxers who may not give a damn for Jesus except as a tool to get people to vote against their real-world interests, so much the better.
Quote of the Day: From blogger Matt Yglesias, writing at Tapped yesterday about the Defense Department's announcement that missile defense will go forward even if tests of the system fail: "On one level, of course, the fact that the system doesn't work is irrelevant--there's no actual threat for it to counter, it's just a political bludgeon and a piece of pork barrel spending, so a non-functional system will work just as well."
