No good Democrats–not one!

I was flipping through the AM dial the other day in my car and heard what appeared to be a promo for a talk radio station. The bit I caught went something like “There are no good Democrats – not one!” When I heard that I thought, OK this guy has a definite agenda and I’m assuming he must be a rabid Republican. So I put him into the junk pile of the rabid right.

It started me thinking, what constitutes a good Democrat or for that matter a good Republican? I could tell that this person didn’t have much love for any Democrat, good or bad. But what about his opinion of Republicans? Would he claim that all Republicans, by default, are good?

But looking at this a little more deeply, his comment was a reflection of what is going on in America and that is the deep polarization of the political and cultural landscape. Call me naive but long ago, Democrats and Republicans fought and traded insults, but now the discourse has gone beyond politics. Republicans, I assume, are white, Christian, rich and want power. Democrats are white liberals, mostly rich, many Christian, and push for more government spending. Or so the general trend goes.

What concerns me however, is that now it’s an “either or situation.” Either you’re with us (white, Christian, capitalist, etc.) or you’re against us (liberal, no good leach, non-believer, etc.) and we (the good ones) are coming after you! Also the GOP Right, and their Tea Party cohorts, have promoted a “just believe anything we say and don’t think” environment. To hear the drivel that comes out of many of the politicians and radio and TV people is frightening. You have to wonder if any of them have any grasp of reality. Obama is to blame for everything wrong all over the world, they spout, and the GOP darling of the moment will fix everything INSTANTLY.

I think the American electorate is setting itself for a big disappointment if Obama is replaced. By demonizing Obama to the extent it does, the far right is setting themselves up to be very, very disappointed. I don’t have time here to go into why Romney has no clue how to fix things but suffice it to say that Americans will be depressed for a long time by the person replacing Obama, if that happens. It’s like being told that the gala tonight will be the greatest thing since sliced bread only to find that no one arranged for food, forgot the tents as it is still raining, and the band consists of three teenagers who can only strum their cheap guitars. Oops, my bad! Think about it.

Atheist? – then you have nothing to live for.

I have read and heard it said that if you don’t believe in God than you have nothing to live for. You might as well kill yourself. They (those loving Christians) also throw in that Atheists have no moral compass without a supernatural Daddy to show them the way. If you’re an Atheist you must be an evil person!

It’s always bothered me that Christianity's main emphasis is that we human are bad from the get go and unless we bow down and confess to the  big guy in the sky that we believe he exists and we want forgiveness for being born, we will suffer the most unimaginable punishment ever conceived and for eternity to boot! The song “Amazing Grace” say it all -  “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me....” “A Wretch like me”, that says it. God created wretches.

It’s been part of the 2,000 year old plan of Christianity, to make sure the scum we call humans know they are crap and that we (priests, ministers, etc.) will save them and give them a reward. But only after they die! Talk about having nothing to live for!

Paula Kirby, in a January 18, 2012 Washington Post blog entry on faith, wrote a article entitled “How do atheists find meaning in life?” In it she says -

“We atheists find purpose in the world as it is, and in our real lives; we see living beings as valuable in their own right, deserving of our concern and compassion simply because they share our capacity for pain and pleasure. It is hard to imagine a position less moral, less conducive to empathy, than this inherently warped and uncharitable view of humanity proposed by Christianity.”

I think that sums it up for me. Think about it.