There. Let it never be said I didn't have gift for bluntness.
If he wasn't already a big enough tool for appointing young-earther Dan McLeroy to head up the State Board of Education — an act comparable to appointing a person who believes automobiles are powered by big wound-up rubber bands to the presidency of General Motors — Texas' kendoll governor Rick Perry has now, according to today's Austin American Statesman, written a book blasting the ACLU, "liberal elites," and anybody else who doesn't belong to his golf club, and he's done it to raise money for the Boy Scouts. Pompously titled On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting For, Perry's polemic essentially reveals that he thinks the most important and precious of those fine American values is hating anyone different. But of course, it's only because they're persecuting the poor widdle Christians! Right?
You got to love this button mashing bullshit:
Whether it is protecting the rights of pornographers, molesters, perverts, terrorists, garden-variety thugs, or those merely hostile to a belief in God, the ACLU is there to provide aid and comfort, in addition to a well-funded legal arsenal.
Hey, nice one there, asshat! Slip the atheists in with the perverts, terrorists, and "garden-variety thugs"! Tell me, who's the one making "unwarranted attacks" here?
If the blurbs in the Statesman article are anything to go by — and the article itself defines "puff piece" to a tee — the book is a veritable buffet of straw man attacks against the aforementioned "liberal elites" (is Perry suggesting there's nothing "elite" about the circle he runs in?), who apparently prefer to "worship the false idol of self." Well, I'm not sure if I belong to said group of elites or not by Perry's determination, but since I believe in elitist ideas like equal opportunity and treating your fellow man with respect and dignity (note: this does not mean I refrain from criticizing stupid beliefs and idiotic thinking), I guess I must. So I can only say that I certainly don't worship anything, let alone myself, but even if I were inclined to be the mindless worshipful sort, I would at least know that I exist, as opposed to the "idol" in the sky Perry and his ilk favor.
Then again, there are passages where Perry seems actually to have a clue.
The faith that permeates the lives of so many middle Americans is often derided as a crutch for weak people.... They think the public simply doesn't know better and is easily manipulated by the emotional appeals of troglodyte, conservative commentators.
Et tu, Ricky?
Like so many Christians in office, he's decided to sell out the constitution to his Christian base in order to get their votes and stay in office. And they wonder why us atheists hold believers in contempt.
ReplyDeleteI like to try this excercise: Instead of euphemisms for atheists and gays, plug in euphemisms for blacks and Jews and then read back the statement and see how nice it sounds then.
ReplyDeleteIf Perry had said "blacks" or "Jews" alongside child molesters and pornographers--it would be a media circus of criticism. I wouldn't doubt people would be calling for a resignation.
It suprises me how people can't recognize bigotry or prejudice until it's finally applied to a group that has struggled for years or been through hell to finally achieve something close to equality. It seems that unless you've got the blood of genocidal victimization or slavery still on your shirt, anyone can be bigotted against you and it's not a social issue.
Ironically, Hitler, like the BSofA, also had issues with gays and people of a different religious view. On the one hand, I certainly don't mean to imply that Perry or the Boy Scouts are genocidal criminals; BUT, people don't reach the point of targeting people for political persecution without starting out with justifying their individual hatred, bigotry and prejudice against other groups.
In other words, as horrid as he was, Hitler wasn't born into a culture where bigotry and prejudice against Jews and gays was totally absent until he created it. He just took the next step of hatred and resentment that was already simmering and used it to a very bad purpose. That's why such attitudes can never be allowed to go unchecked, and need to be identified clearly whenever they rear their hideous heads.
People have a legal right to be prejudicial bigots--but society has a right to label that as a negative value that leads to harmful ends and initiatives. Perry can be this way if he likes--but he shouldn't be admired for it, or praised. It shouldn't be considered an "American" value or an honorable human trait to be a bigot and to be prejudice.