As most of society seems to be getting saner, are the loonies

[ChairmanAgnostic]

growing more strident, more obscene, in their religious based demands?

North Carolina wants to pass some official religion. They have pending legislation to ban sharia law, while they are fully willing to accept the more crazy parts of christian law and punishment.

Kansas? Too much to list here.

Texas? Let's just say that Perry is the sane and smart one from that state's roll of pols.

Michigan? 3 days for abortion after conception? The mind boggles.

Actually, the list is growing day by day. Does anyone else detect a note of fear underlying the recent growth of crazy legislative ideas from the ultra-right?

[cleanhippie]

1. I think the cause is two-fold; Being emboldened by the demands of liberal believers to respect

religious beliefs in general, and recognizing that their particular brand of belief is being marginalized. Thats power and fear, and together thats a dangerous combination.

What is so infuriating to me is how our believing friends on the left seem unable to recognize how their insistence that religion and religious views be respected and promoted only serves to give power and legitimacy to the Religious Right. One could say that the reason that the religious right has so much power is because of the religious left.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

5. good point.

but, I suspect that convincing them of that will be near impossible.

[rexcat]

8. Which has been proven time and again...

in another forum here on DU!

[2ndAmForComputers]

22. "Friends?" "On the left?"

Debatable and debatable, respectively.

[CrispyQ]

2. Unfuckingbelievable . . .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022607245

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. no kidding.

they are so afraid, so convinced of lies, so confused and irrational BECAUSE of their faith, that they have to do . . . . something. SO they first turn to their faith as the only thing that they can depend on.

[CrispyQ]

7. I've been so busy the past week I've hardly read any news.

You can't take your eyes off of them for a moment. I get FFRF's bi-monthly paper & every month there are new battles with local governments praying at meetings, religious stuff being posted in public schools, it just never stops. And their hate mail - it's worse than DUs. The language some of these religious folk use is worse than my own!

I wish every person who believes in God wakes up in The Riverworld after they die.

[Phillip McCleod]

3. i almost hope it passes just so SCOTUS will be forced to rule..

..once and for all..

NO state religion. the u.s. was IS NOT a CHRISTIAN country.

duh.

[gcomeau]

6. No

They've always been this strident and loony. As society grows more sane it just stands out more.

[progressoid]

9. I think they are becoming more desperate.

They know they are losing the game and have to up the ante. And this shows how extreme and out of the mainstream they are. They may have a few minor successes, but I think we're winning.

I'm not usually the most optimistic person, but it seems like our side is showing some advances. Especially with young people.

[Zoeisright]

16. I think you're spot on.

And their "faith" is so weak they get their panties in a twist whenever their religion is criticized even the tiniest bit. It's pathetic, really, if they weren't so dangerous.

[Kennah]

19. Absolutely correct! It is desperation.

Gay marriage legal in a few states. End of DADT. Pot legalization. Doubling the CAFE numbers. Endless war no longer the majority view. On the Affordable road to universal healthcare. Trickle down being questioned.

There are plenty of reasons why the Reich Wing is scared shitless as their hollowed out party searches and tries to figure out what the fuck they stand for--other than no regulations and lower taxes.

From Meatloaf singing with Mitt, to Eastwood talking with a chair, there were just so many signs during the campaign of a party lost.

[JNelson6563]

10. The gay marriage issue is a big thing.

Even Rushbo has admitted that battle is lost to them. They are no doubt convinced they didn't scream loud enough so their side lost.

I think that issue alone and the resounding support for it from the masses of sane people is scaring the crap out of them.

And now there's a new pope who, while wrong on some issues, goes around acting like helping the poor and disadvantaged is some kind of good thing, virtuous even!1!

Yes, the world is turning upside down in the eyes of fundies and others messed up by religion. Look for them to grow increasingly desperate.

Julie

[Curmudgeoness]

13. Interesting thought----they didn't scream loud enough.

I had not thought of that, and maybe it is because I feel like they have always been this way, but that definitely has merits.

[Warpy]

11. They know damned full well their days are getting short

and they want to ram as much of this garbage through as they can before they get tossed out in the vain hope that some of it will go before the conservative Roberts court and survive.

It stinks of desperation because yes, they are desperate. They know nothing will get through Congress. They have to pin their hopes on the court.

Of course, every bit of idiocy they try to cram down our throats just shortens their days more rapidly. That's actually a good thing because it will hasten the loss of theocrats from government.

[Phillip McCleod]

12. i think they do feel cornered by history..

..and it feeds the self fulfillment of prophecy. It's the end of their world, not the world.

[Curmudgeoness]

14. My thoughts....

I think that this is fueled in the same way that the teabagger fear is being fueled. The loud mouths have so much air time, and the true believers have stopped listening to anything but the fearmongers. So it is compounding itself. The ultra-conservatives and the ultra-religious are being convinced that they are under attack.

[dimbear]

15. In the 19th century, the Catholic church finally lost the last of its significant territory and

retreated into Vatican City. As a result of this temporal lambasting, the Pope became inerrant. Consolation prize.

I'm willing to give that much up to get out of the clutches of the rest.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

17. after 5 disastrous centuries of dark

created by them, more often than not.

[backscatter712]

18. I think a good number of them are likely to crack.

We're making them shift paradigms without a clutch.

We very well may see more religiously-motivated violence.

[Arugula Latte]

20. Seems like the younger generations are much saner.

Last edited Thu Apr 11, 2013, 03:41 PM - Edit history (1)

So maybe most of them will just croak within the next few decades.

(The loonies will croak, I meant.)

[Rob H.]

21. You should include Tennessee in that list

In 2006, 81% of people here voted to amend the state constitution to define marriage as only between a man and a woman, never mind that same sex marriage here was already illegal. That means Democrats voted for it in large numbers, too, which really bums me out--I was one of the 19% who happily voted against it.

We also had the Monkey Bill, which passed into law without our dumbass governor's signature because he was both too cowardly to embrace it openly or veto it outright. It basically lets teachers give time to "alternative theories" (read: anti-science religious bullshit) about evolution, the origins of life on Earth, and global climate change.

There was also the "Don't Say Gay" Bill, which failed last year but was resurrected in an even worse incarnation than before. The latest version would have given schools the authority to contact the parents of students who spoke to school counselors about their sexuality or if they think the child might be gay. Fortunately, it failed again. Republican (duh) homophobe (double duh) Joe Ragan, one of the bill's sponsors, said, "I’m disappointed. I thought it was a good bill. It was about school safety” when the bill died. He plans to reintroduce it next year.

Oh, and the "Don't Say Gay" Bill's lead sponsor, Republican Stacy Campfield, also said, “My understanding is that it is virtually—not completely, but virtually—impossible to contract AIDS through heterosexual sex. Most people realize that AIDS came from the homosexual community—it was one guy screwing a monkey, if I recall correctly, and then having sex with men. It was an airline pilot, I believe.”

If only there were some sort of information repository on the internet where he could go to learn about things before he opens his mouth--some sort of, I don't know, digital encyclopedia that people all over the world could add to and edit for accuracy? Or maybe a website that debunks urban legends? Somebody should really get to making something like those.

We have a lot of redneck lunkheads running the show down here--I really need to move!

[Manifestor_of_Light]

23. I got noplace to move to.

No kinfolks in other states, or in laws, that I would associate with frequently.

I have mostly-outdoor cats and I talk to them. I am actually a dog person. Always have been. Now I've bonded with the oldest cat who is 2 this month. Never bonded with a cat before.

I just don't talk to the locals.
It is your usual dead little town destroyed by Wallyworld.

I've got a cool house that's been in the family for several generations, on 2 acres, and room for my gardening. It's not quiet b/c of the BOOM-THUMPA-BOOM cars that roar by, but it's tolerable. And the train goes by 1/4 mile behind the house at 4 am. I can sleep through that.

Fortunately they just opened a community college branch nearby and I'm going to school 3 nights a week for fun.