From: Arlo J. Bensinger (ajb102@psu.edu)
Date: Sun Nov 07 2004 - 04:12:52 GMT
Hi Scott,
> As Dorothy Sayers (detective novelist and Christian thinker) put it: there
> are seven deadly sins. Why all this emphasis on just one of them?
Oh, I'm just jiding the self-professed christian moralists. This whole thing was
about the claim that the election was over "morals" (as Platt put it, a victory
of social morality over biological morality). Since these "morals", as Platt
and the christian right profess them, are the age-old biblical admonitions
against homosexuality and sex, I find it so interesting they ignore the other
moralities of the religion they claim to hold high (or use to rally rural
support for their war agenda).
Of course, no wonder, as it would get icky for them to have to deal with the
entire christian moral code (wealth and unclean, menstruating women). For me
it's more about (1) showing the hypocracy of claiming "christian morality"
undergirded the election, and (2) pointing out that the "victory" Platt laid
claim to was not social-biological, it was social-intellectual (as in using old
static social patterns to restrain the intellectual goal of "freedom to marry
the person of your chosing in a free society"). Platt is very strong in
championing unrestricted financial freedoms, but seems content to let any
non-money issue be decided by the "social level".
I am certainly not against your right to earn a living, and profit from your
labor. I am not a christian, so the morality of Jesus in professing wealth to
be shunned is not really of concern to me. We've been down this road before,
Platt and I, but let me just tell you that I exist in the messy gray area
between Platt's definitions of freedom and tyranny. When I say I am for a
welfare/safety net, univerisal health care, and better access to education
(higher and trade), loosening information copyright and drug patents' lifetimes
so that lower-cost generic drugs can get to more people quicker, freedom to
choose one's life partner, fair wages for labor, protections against
exploitation, fair workers' compensation and labor conditions, and
cross-cultural education, I speak from a position of morality, not from an
"ammoral", "immoral" or "biologically moral" position. And what's funny,
outside of the whole gay issue, all of these items would be things Jesus would
certainly agree with as being "moral"... well, maybe not so much the
cross-cultural education, although there is evidence that Jesus' teachings
derived from the Mithraic traditions, which was Persian (if I recall),
certainly evidencing some support of cross-cultural learning, eh?
Sum, if "moral values in the election and in the bible" conflate entirely to
fear of gays, arabs and sex, then yes, Platt is right to make his claim that
morality decided the election. Some of us just think "morality" is a little
more than xenophobia propped up by static social patterns.
Arlo
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