On a very basic level, I agree with most of the core platforms of the Democratic party. I'm abstractly Democratic, even if I don't always tow the party line. I believe in social programs, and that a large government is just fine as long as it's doing things that are actively pursuing the improvement of the common good.
But I have zero faith in the current Democratic leadership, or their ability to tell right from wrong when behind closed doors. I agree with their principles, but I know they, like me, feel the pressures of daily reality and sometime don't live up to what they wish to be.
There's lots of little things, minor platform issues, that they piss me off about the Democrats. While I have more in common with your average Democrat than I do with your average Republican, the truth is I often find myself feeling like an outsider with either group. There's a number of issues where my personal beliefs are more in line with the Greens, the Libertarians, or even anarchists. Overall, I'm really not in sync with the majority group-think of the Democratic Party.
But at the same time, I was raised Democrat. If they currently stood opposite to what I believe in, then perhaps I'd feel inclined to rebel and distance myself. But since it's only a partial disconnect, I still maintain my heritage.
I don't go to Democratic fundraisers, but I do keep tabs on the party's platforms and speak well of them whenever I'm able. And it's not just empty traditionalism that puts me in that camp, either. It's not like Greens or Libertarians would be a perfect match for me either, and I'm certainly not going to change titles for the sake of scoring points with my friends. What's more, I have specific, concrete, personal reasons to believe and feel the way I do. Ways the Democratic party has benefited my life.
When I had that life-threatening tumor, and there was no way that my crappy little job with it's lack of health insurance was going to cover it, it was a government program that pulled my ass out of the fire. A program authored and installed by Democrats in the state legislature. I mean sure, maybe there was some other way I could have afforded those tens of thousands of dollars for surgery and radiation. I'm sure there was some other group that could have helped, or some way I could have pulled myself through on my own (or rather, just me and my wife, working together). But I didn't have to, because some Democrats in Santa Fe decided it was more important for me to live than for their wealthy buddies to save a few more percentage points on taxes.
And so I thought "Man, am I ever proud to be a part of the Democratic Party". I still think it, even when I'm wishing somebody would forcefeed Nancy Pelosi a spine and a conscience.
I look at the flawed but lovable heroes of the democratic party (Kennedy, Wexler, Kucinich) and I aspire to to walk the path they emblazon, even if I do so to the beat of a slightly different drum.I look back at an earlier Kennedy (both of 'em, really) and I think "Well, he's no God, he's just a man, flawed as I am. Just the same, I admire the way he stood up for what he believed in, the way he fought for what was right, and the way he inspired so many others to do the same. He was so exceptional, so powerful. He's my martyred hero, and I love him." Acknowledging that he had human flaws and couldn't shoot lasers from his eyeballs in no way diminishes the power of his message.
When someone drags the Kennedy name through the mud, it pisses me off. Whether that's a tabloid getting smarmy about their sexual indiscretions, a Republican calling them names, or a corrupt Democrat trying to cash in on their legacy whilst actually betraying everything they stood for, it torques me off in a very primal way. Worse yet, when someone throws down a blanket statement that besmirches Democrats of every stripe, it fires me up to an obnoxious level.
All the above holds true for my views on Christianity, too. Of course, since we have cameras and newspapers these days, I've never had to research and decide for myself whether or not I think there's enough evidence that John and Bobby existed.
6 comments:
Fascinating, even though I think the point you were trying to make was too subtle for me to figure out what it was. :) I mean, you could have written this article with several different intentions, and I don't know which it was: venting about being generalized? pointing out a relationship between politics and religion? Making the point that you don't fully identify with a
group, but still feel allegiance to it? Or something else I didn't detect at all? :)
I'd like to say, though, where the article took my mind.
I hope you don't mind if I gently break my earlier promise not to tread on religion, and take a stab at this. ...I will try to be as nice as possible. If you think this is a breach of etiquette, please delete this comment and I will understand 100%, and say nothing more of it.
I recently landed on a particularly nasty page about atheists. It was pretty difficult to sit through. But I also found it an interesting thought-exercise in trying to decipher what it is that some people hate so much about atheism. ...Which is to say, for me at least, I find people's criticism to be helpful insomuch as it helps me understand what the underlying differences are. ...And also to say that I can see what you mean about it being hard to listen to such rants: I ended up being quite depressed for the next day or so, after reading it. That said, I'm never going to claim that atheists get bashed harder than Christians. I know that's not true.
When you're talking about religion, you're talking about a person's core beliefs. ...Really, what it is that drives them. There's a taboo placed on this: the whole idea of religious tolerance sits here.
Politics, though... whoa, that's very different: it's almost your civic duty to take a side and argue vehemently about why you're right and the other person is wrong. It may be socially acceptable to state very hurtful things about politics in public.
And yet, there's still the fact that politics are *almost* like religion, in that they represent your guiding principles. In fact, I've argued before and still believe that political leanings are and always will be a reflection of one's religious beliefs, and it's a little naive, even if it is noble, to try and separate the two. ...But that's getting side-tracked, sorry.
I guess what I am trying to say is that it's not strange for you to feel the same way about both things. ...Though I wonder which approach is better: the open-ness of politics, or the close-lipped-ness of religion.
It's hard to imagine anyone saying "everyone has a right to their political beliefs, and those beliefs should be respected absolutely." ...Because, of course, that's trying to say the laws of each group should only apply to themselves. ...It doesn't work that way.
And, of course, we need only take a brief glance at history to know what happens when being openly critical of religion is the norm.
I think the underlying phenomenon here is "us versus them". It's a human universal, I think, for a group to say "this is we", and "they are not us", and thus "they do not have the same rights as we". A throwback to our tribal days, no doubt. These waters get severely muddied when one speaks of their core beliefs: what they believe to be truth... and someone else is telling them that they are wrong.
[shrug] It's a difficult thing to forgive.
Okay, so I don't have a coherent point... just a mush of thoughts. :)
Interestingly enough, you start out by saying you don't know what my point was, but then proceed to touch upon the heart of everything I was trying to communicate. I'm glad you shared. I'd rather you speak your mind, 'cause I value your opinion and your friendship.
Religion and Politics. The two are similar, and the two are desperately different. Intolerance of both sorts ticks me off, yet I sometimes succumb to the temptation of criticizing entire groups when I should be criticizing specific individuals. I also tend to criticize entire people where i should be criticizing the actions they have taken. It's hard to separate these things.
I may disagree with you about whether or not a higher power exists, but it certainly gives me no right to treat you like shit, which, I'm afraid, I've done at last once. I've got a temper, and it's pretty foul when it's raging.
I guess there's one point I was trying to make in my post that you didn't respond to, and so it may have been lost. I'll state it more clearly now:
I'm amazed at how often I find myself engaged in Atheist vs Christianity debates, especially considering that the specifics of my actual beliefs are so far afield from what people tend to think of when they describe either of those two groups.
My political beliefs are most strongly identified with Democrats, but have common ground with Greens, Libertarians, and Anarchists, in roughly that order. By a similar measure, my foundations were laid by Christianity, but many of my beliefs have much common ground with Buddhism, Euro-Paganism, and some Agnostics, in roughly that order. Pelosi would probably label me a fringe-ultraliberal and a conspiracy-theorist, just as the Pope would likely find me curiously unchristian.
So now the question remains, should I continue to self-categorize in ways that so badly confuses people, or should I perhaps just call myself an Independent?
Okay, just really quick: I don't think you treated me like shit, you just pissed me off: there's a difference. :) If anything, I was
the one who applied the shit treatment, and I am sorry for it. Okay, moving on.
To answer your question: absolutely. You should absolutely identify yourself as independent. Better put, you should refuse to allow any
such labels to be applied to you. I say this because of your obviously-strongly-held belief, explcitly stated in the same message, even,
that actions are to be condemned, not people, not ideologies, and not groups of people. Actions are at the center of your belief
structure, it seems. And as such, it would best represent those ideals if you yourself shed all the labels you could as an individual,
and invite people instead to label each of your actions, thus: "I voted Democratic on such-and-such and issue." "I support Greens in
so-and-so." "I appreciate the Libertarian ideal of thus-and-such."
That may have come out a little awkward, since it's not something I share with you. I believe in labels, flawed as they may be, and I
believe it's okay--in appropriate cases--to condemn people, ideologies, and groups. I say this not to argue that labels are good (I don't
think that would be worthwhile), but to strengthen the argument that you should lean toward independence and away from labels: I don't
think it's the "right" thing to do, but as objectively as I can, I think it best suits your beliefs.
Perhaps a totaly unhelpful comment, since you seem to have answered your own question, but there it is.
Actually, very helpful. Thank you.
And about that other thing. Don't worry about it. Moved on.
I hope you don't mind if I gently break my earlier promise not to tread on religion
Dude, I had no intention of ever holding you to that promise.
Hmm, what do the Violent Femmes have to say about all this?
I-m-n-o-t-h-i-n
I-m-n-o-t-h-i-n
Im nothing
Im nothin
Are you a republican or a democrat
A liberal fascist full of crap
Im nothin
Im nothin
Somebody somewhere might be something
But everybody everywhere
Knows that Im nothin
Politics and dirty tricks
I got no time for stones and sticks
Politics and dirty tricks
I got no time Im chasing chicks
Im nothin
Im nothin
Somebody somewhere might be something
But everybody everywhere
Knows that Im nothing
Im nothing but Im not proud
cause being nothing its not allowed
Are you a gay or are you straight
Do you believe in love
Or do you believe in hate
Im nothin
Im nothin
Somebody somewhere said he was something
But to everybody everywhere
Im saying Im nothing
Im nothing. Im like a cloud
Im free to be alone in a crowd
Whats your reality. its not real to me
Whats your anomaly. it is my destiny
I-m-n-o-t-h-i-n
I-m-n-o-t-h-i-n
Im nothin
Nothin
Nothin
Im nothing now and Ill be nothing when
This nothing world has its nothing end
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