The reason Republicans "get away" with immoral behavior more than Democrats.

[CTyankee]

An article by Charles Blow in the NY Times yesterday, "The Prurient Trap," outlines how red states rank in 3 areas: Divorce rates, Teenage birthrates and Subscriptions to online pornographic sites.

"...According to the Census Bureau’s Statistical Abstract, states that went Republican in November accounted for eight of the 10 states with the highest divorce rates in 2006.

Conservatives touted abstinence-only education, which was a flop, when real sex education was needed, most desperately in red states. According to 2006 data from the Guttmacher Institute, those red states accounted for eight of the 10 states with the highest teenage birthrates.

And, a study titled “Red Light States: Who Buys Online Adult Entertainment?” that was conducted by Benjamin Edelman, an assistant professor of business at Harvard Business School and published earlier this year in the Journal of Economic Perspectives found that subscriptions to online pornography sites were “more prevalent in states where surveys indicate conservative positions on religion, gender roles, and sexuality” and in states where “more people agree that ‘I have old-fashioned values about family and marriage.’ ”

IMHO, this just shows that red state voters and other fundies across the country are keenly aware of their own shortcomings and consider their "fallen" leaders to be human, like themselves. When they see these politicans apologizing, admitting their "sins" they are just "being human." They also think the wayward Republican pol is sincere in his apology and that is enough for them. God alone will judge them.

Not so with Democrats. Spitzer was probably too quick to resign. Maybe he wasn't "really" sorry. Maybe the Democrats who err just care about damage control, not about making a public confession, which a real believer in God would do.

What you and I call hypocrisy may be basically a redemption narrative, deeply embedded in these people, always playing out in forgiveness for the Republican sinner, condemnation for the Democratic one...

full column here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/27/opinion/27blow.html?ref=opinion

[Lerkfish]

1. not really, the REAL reason is they control the media

[CTyankee]

3. Yep, the media carries the message. But of course how one VIEWS the media's interpretation

is hugely important. I think our basic thought processes are really at work here, as facts get interpreted one way by the fundies and another way by us...

[krabigirl]

7. Yep. And because not enough people on the left make noise about it.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

2. "Who Buys Online Adult Entertainment?" The suckers.

There's so much free, legal online porn it isn't even funny.

[Marr]

4. It's mixed up with in-group thinking as well.

A Republican politician can confess and receive fast forgiveness from Republican loyalists without so much as a question for details. A Democrat who did the same thing-- or really anyone who did not fit the white, Christian, male Republican profile-- would not receive an instant pardon. I suspect the hounding would simply be ratcheted up.

[Jade Fox]

5. This double standard has been clear to me for awhile....

"Not so with Democrats. Spitzer was probably too quick to resign. Maybe he wasn't "really" sorry. Maybe the Democrats who err just care about damage control, not about making a public confession, which a real believer in God would do."

Conservatives view their own sins as infinitely more forgivable than ours. Conservatives live in a world of sin/redemption, and no sin no redemption. So in a way, Conservatives even relish their sins.

We, on the other hand, don't feel adequately bad about our misbehavior, so don't deserve forgiveness.

[CTyankee]

6. Yup, the "redemption narrative" I mention. Exactly.

And you are right, they do relish their sins. This way they feel fully alive and their going back to Jesus is even more delicious and soul cleansing.

Do you recall the bumper sticker: "Christians aren't perfect. Just forgiven."?
That sums it up...

[Jade Fox]

9. It's the old "Saturday Night/Sunday Morning" dichtomy....

which has been a feature of the Bible Belt for eons. What it hides is a tacit acceptance of of sin, as opposed to expecting people to actually attempt to live a sin-free life.

[pretzel4gore]

8. "I said to myself, 'God!'"

i heard that in a fundy church once (during the drinking days, i was staying at a Sally Ann while waiting to ship out over the Xmas season many years ago- the Fundies took a van load of homeless types to their church for a turkey dinner etc, and the preacher at the service was explaining how he talked with the Lord etc when he committed the 'faux': needless to say, i was only one among the hundreds there who noticed!)

[CTyankee]

10. Not sure I get the reference. Are you saying he got the message that he was a sinner?

I don't get the reference to the "faux." Just me maybe...