General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSo say some politician is endorsed by the Religious Right
because of his or her so-called righteousness. So reply that Religious Right preachers and politicos have proven themselves incapable of distinguishing right from wrong even before 2016.
Buckeyeblue
(5,499 posts)Nothing more than bigotry in a cloak...
Proud Liberal Dem
(24,412 posts)Yup
LakeArenal
(28,817 posts)SoonerPride
(12,286 posts)spot on
Newest Reality
(12,712 posts)The Religious Right here in America is largely a power seeking, fundamentalist Evangelical minority. The actual "religious" part is not really the essential point or they would be following their teachings more and imposing on society less.
Any form of fundamentalism, to me, often turns into extreme and negative manipulation, whereas there are kind and compassionate religious people that put an emphasis on living their values and honoring others with some larger sense of community, etc.
Today's American fundamentalism is mirrored in other countries where a religious faction considers itself the one true version of what the rest of the population should think and believe and strives for political and economic power in order to establish a theocracy if possible. This appears to be one of the important factors in the Religious Rights love affair with Trump and why he courts them, of course.
In fact, any ideology could have the same goals, so it is a matter of utility. In this case, the Evangelicals display a penchant for believing over knowing and reason, believing the two are incompatible and even fostering a strong, distrust in knowledge and anti-intellectualism. Rather than disparaging them, let's say they are prone to manipulation and less informed.
One thing is for sure and we should remember this: Oligarchy and theocracy are not at all compatible with democracy. They are its antagonists and a countervailing force against it. Democracy, for instance, can be an umbrella for religion and wealth, but it does not really work the other way around.