A Hateful Cult

[phantom power]

I don't think that there is any prospect of conservatives declaring peace on the safety net. The conservative movement has become a cult that is unmoored from Christian teachings about helping the needy. Their need to punish anyone who has fallen on hard times is almost limitless. I don't even think it is connected anymore to a desire to use church charity as a substitute for government assistance. That used to be the idea, but a different value system has been internalized. Now, the overriding ethos animating conservatives is the "takers vs. makers" meme, which argues that people who need help are fundamentally unworthy and should be considered political adversaries.

It used to be that a lot of conservatives thought they could improve their position vis-a-vis God by devoting some of their time to helping the poor, the mentally ill, the drug-addicted, and the homeless. I think that idea has been replaced by the idea that they can kick those people in the teeth until they die, and then they can light them on fire.

I don't expect Catholics to support the new conservative movement to the same degree that they have in the past, and I think the evangelicals will start moving away soon, too. We're already seeing the division on immigration reform.

I mean, it shouldn't be necessary for the president of the American Enterprise Institute to tell conservatives that "this war against the social safety net...is just insane." The fact that he feels the need to say something like that tells you all you need to know.

The conservative movement has crossed some invisible line and they are now one of the most malevolent and dangerous and anti-American movements that we've seen arise in this country.

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2013/11/1/101340/244

[uponit7771]

1. Yeap, I don't think people see that conservatives have rose to this level yet. They are culturally..

...hateful and should be called on it.

[wandy]

2. Just one more way that the GOP appeals to a darker side of humanity.........

It is not just the need to be better than some "other". Its difficult to not help, especially if you have little resources to give.
It becomes easier if you can hate those less fortunate or that are somehow different than you.
With their constant messages of fear and hatred the GOP have been able to attract many who succumb to that weakness.
They have made it easy to turn away.

"On The Turning Away"

On the turning away
From the pale and downtrodden
And the words they say
Which we won't understand
"Don't accept that what's happening
Is just a case of others' suffering
Or you'll find that you're joining in
The turning away"
It's a sin that somehow
Light is changing to shadow
And casting it's shroud
Over all we have known
Unaware how the ranks have grown
Driven on by a heart of stone
We could find that we're all alone
In the dream of the proud
On the wings of the night
As the daytime is stirring
Where the speechless unite
In a silent accord
Using words you will find are strange
And mesmerised as they light the flame
Feel the new wind of change
On the wings of the night
No more turning away
From the weak and the weary
No more turning away
From the coldness inside
Just a world that we all must share
It's not enough just to stand and stare
Is it only a dream that there'll be
No more turning away?