(derekbaker)

Let's get one thing straight -- even if it leaves everyone dead

logmodel Mudge -- which has a very different meaning than, for example, "supermodel Mudge," as he'd be the first to admit -- has written a great post about how right-wing Christians are putting the country at risk by continuing to demand that the military kick out anyone who is gay. That many of these people are sorely needed specialists in such fields as, oh, say, Arabic language translation makes the practice more than "merely" unjust. It makes it dangerous.

The American Taliban, however, isn't really interested in protecting the country. They get as much mileage out of militant Islamists as the neo-cons do, partly because they share much the same approach to faith as the neo-cons do to international threats: the only "constructive" thing they know how to do is hate on people. "Defend the country against terrorism? We don't need brainiac homos translating Farsi, we just need to go into a Muslim country and kick some ass. Protect heterosexual marriage? That's easy: smack down the gays." Every solution to every problem for them involves beating up on somebody or beating them down -- blacks, women, gays, non-Christians, progressive Christians -- sometimes all at once, or by following a tacit hierarchy of hate: gays trump Muslims, who trump women, who trump Jews, who trump blacks...or variations thereof -- and that's about the extent of their "policy."

Like the man said, I too have a dream that one day we'll all be judged only by the content of our characters. But I'm beginning to realize something more clearly: Conservatives created "identity politics" themselves by hating on various groups -- and then they decry its use when those groups have had enough and won't stand for more.

To their credit, I don't think they actually hate the poor, however, unless they also fall into one of the other groups above. Otherwise, they just don't care about them.

Labels: issues, politics

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