Wait, Really?

In a June 28 "Newt Direct" update on his website, Newt Gingrich wrote that "[r]adical Islamists see politics and religion as inseparable in a way it is difficult for Americans to understand." Really? It seems to me that it's incredibly easy for most Americans to understand how someone might believe that politics and religion are inseparable, because they believe it themselves. We're kidding ourselves if we don't admit that opposition to gay marriage--including Newt's own--is religiously motivated. I think the Christian Right and radical Islamists feel more or less the same about the proper role of religion in government. Let's just be grateful that the Christian Right's religion isn't quite as dangerous.

It's Time to End the Ground Zero Mosque Debate

The debate about the legality of the Ground Zero Mosque--which is quite a misnomer, given that it's not at ground zero and it's not a mosque--has been settled. Forbidding it's construction would be a textbook violation of our Constitution's religious clauses: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." All that remains is the debate over the advisability--or as Obama put it, the wisdom--of building the not-really-a-mosque. 

But what's the point of having that debate, on a national level, right before a crucial midterm election? If it's going to be built, who cares whether it ought to be built? I'm nonreligious. I don't think that any religious buildings ought to be built. I think all that money should go to curing esophageal cancer or feeding the hungry or at least full-size replicas of notable science fiction spacecraft and weaponry. But there's nothing I can do about it, and it wouldn't benefit anyone for me to prance around announcing that I oppose the construction of every new church or mosque or Scientologist Starship Voodoo Temple. It's their money, and they can do what they want with it.

So why are politicians so determined to make their views on the issue heard? Clearly, they want to score political points with their supporters; they either want to show their great respect for America's tradition of religious tolerance and diversity, or their staunch opposition to the encroachment of radical Islamism on American society. Their obsession with the mosque is a cheap, petty scheme to drum up support the easy way.

News Corp's RGA Donation

News Corp.'s decision to donate one million dollars to the Republican Governor's Association tells us nothing we didn't already know. Rupert Murdoch's corporation is a dutiful mouthpiece of the Republican party, and this financial donation is dwarfed by News Corp.'s real contribution to the GOP: round-the-clock, worldwide assistance in weaving their counterfactual, self-serving narrative. That's a gift of inestimable value to the Republicans.

Introduction

The last thing the world needs is another amateurish blog on politics and philosophy. But since I write compulsively on these topics anyway, I might as well unclutter my documents folder by dumping my writing here. If someone reads it, that's great. If no one does, at least it won't be any more neglected than it was on my hard drive. 

-Fizzy Fjord