2aguy
Diamond Member
- Jul 19, 2014
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This is a fairly good piece on the left wing religion......
ERICKSON: Secular Ecclesiology
Meanwhile, on the political left, a secular ecclesiology is cementing. In an age where members of the Democratic Party could boo the inclusion of God in their platform and Barack Obama could proclaim the state is the only thing to which we all belong, government is replacing God, abortion is becoming the chief sacrament and tax paying is tithing. The left is sorting out how government will stand in for the church and, like the Spanish Inquisition, the leftwing Torquemadas will burn at the stake any who dissent. Conservatives are the new heretics.
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As secularism takes on the form of religion in this country, one religious tenet is that the more people dependent on government, the better life is.
Mick Mulvaney, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, is challenging that religious tenet. He thinks the appropriate measure for a government program is how many people the government can elevate out of poverty and off government dependence.
Jesus said, "The poor you shall always have with you." Mick Mulvaney and conservatives believe that means we will always have a class of poor people who must be helped.
Secular progressives believe it means we will always have the exact same people poor who will never be elevated out of government dependence.
The idea of getting people off welfare and decreasing dependence on government is anathema to people who have come to believe dependence on government is akin to dependence on God.
As a result, there is a newfound hysteria among secular progressives. They are convinced Republicans are going to kill people by consolidating, eliminating and streamlining government programs. If one is convinced greater government means more salvation, a reduction in government means more damnation. This is akin to Christian concerns about saving and losing souls.
Likewise, as abortion becomes the chief sacrament of the left, letting government cut Planned Parenthood is akin to denying a church of its funding. Conservative areas of the country give more to charity because they have maintained a distinction between charitable aid and government program. Liberal areas of the country are the least charitable because secular ecclesiology has eliminated that distinction and any reduction in funding to any program is an attack on the liberal church.
This leaves us, as a nation, unable to proceed with civility. If one really believes Republicans want to starve old people and throw grandma off the cliff, hysteria and violence are the logical outcome. So too is bankruptcy.
The president's budget is a compassionate budget because it seeks to elevate the poor into the middle class, not keep them dependent. But to the left, that is heresy.
ERICKSON: Secular Ecclesiology
Meanwhile, on the political left, a secular ecclesiology is cementing. In an age where members of the Democratic Party could boo the inclusion of God in their platform and Barack Obama could proclaim the state is the only thing to which we all belong, government is replacing God, abortion is becoming the chief sacrament and tax paying is tithing. The left is sorting out how government will stand in for the church and, like the Spanish Inquisition, the leftwing Torquemadas will burn at the stake any who dissent. Conservatives are the new heretics.
--------
As secularism takes on the form of religion in this country, one religious tenet is that the more people dependent on government, the better life is.
Mick Mulvaney, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, is challenging that religious tenet. He thinks the appropriate measure for a government program is how many people the government can elevate out of poverty and off government dependence.
Jesus said, "The poor you shall always have with you." Mick Mulvaney and conservatives believe that means we will always have a class of poor people who must be helped.
Secular progressives believe it means we will always have the exact same people poor who will never be elevated out of government dependence.
The idea of getting people off welfare and decreasing dependence on government is anathema to people who have come to believe dependence on government is akin to dependence on God.
As a result, there is a newfound hysteria among secular progressives. They are convinced Republicans are going to kill people by consolidating, eliminating and streamlining government programs. If one is convinced greater government means more salvation, a reduction in government means more damnation. This is akin to Christian concerns about saving and losing souls.
Likewise, as abortion becomes the chief sacrament of the left, letting government cut Planned Parenthood is akin to denying a church of its funding. Conservative areas of the country give more to charity because they have maintained a distinction between charitable aid and government program. Liberal areas of the country are the least charitable because secular ecclesiology has eliminated that distinction and any reduction in funding to any program is an attack on the liberal church.
This leaves us, as a nation, unable to proceed with civility. If one really believes Republicans want to starve old people and throw grandma off the cliff, hysteria and violence are the logical outcome. So too is bankruptcy.
The president's budget is a compassionate budget because it seeks to elevate the poor into the middle class, not keep them dependent. But to the left, that is heresy.
