The Democratic Party and Elitism.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

I'm not sure that elitism is the right word, but it is something along those lines. The party has a stigma of elitism. Unfortunately, if one were to take DU as a sample, it is sometimes well earned.

We cannot discount people because they believe in God, like certain shows, listen to certain music...whatever. Yet over and over and over again, I see this happening. You can see it in the attitude that "we" take against Freepers. Freepers are all evil and Democrats are the knights in shining armor. We are the solution. We are the good. It's this black and white thing that is as dangerous as the "you're either with us or against us".

It's everywhere, in all things. In the lounge, someone asked about the Phantom of the Opera and the response was overwhelmingly that if you liked THAT show, you were "culturally retarded". And I don't have to tell any of you how often people who believe in God are dismissed immediately or how many threads label us as delusional or beiieving in fairytales.

People don't want to hear that they are flawed, but we are. We all are. HOwever, I don't think many see that. It has become so polarized that if the Freepers are all black than we must be all white. Im not sure how to deal with this.

[ElectroPrincess]

1. I understand your concern but worry not IMO ...

In huge forums like DU and Free Republic it's always the "fringe elements" that surface to the top. Look beyond the small percentage of aggressive and "all to frequent" posters and you'll see the reason and tolerance of the majority of both moderate democrats and moderate republicans. Yes, that's with both a small "d" and "r". <warm smile>

[mrgorth]

2. It's natural

THis is a website that is overwhelmingly populated by liberals. A certain amount of cultural elitism is to be expected just as a certain amount of veiled racism is to be expected at freerepublic.com. There isn't much you can do about it except give your opinions where appropriate and stand up for who you are. The anti-religiosity you see here is blowback from fundamentalists beating us. Again, to be expected. Stand your ground, just don't expect too much.