RAT religion and politics

[Joel Mckean <iketips@earthlink.net>]

Thsimple@aol.com wrote:

> the other thing that interests me, tangentially, is for a country that
is
> technically based on the ideals of church vs state, how hardily folks
> personal faith(or lack thereof) is paraded for all to see. Someone
else want
> to take that on??? And what about those Vice president fellows? Tipper
vs
> Madame Cheney?
>

Lynn Cheney is Mary Tyler Moore in "Ordinary People" and Annette Bening
in
"American Beauty" rolled into one: she's in complete denial about her
daughter's
queerness. The Republicans want all the queers to die or otherwise
disappear;
ergo, if you have a queer child, he/she isn't really queer.
Tipper is an alcoholic/addict in recovery. She is in a twelve-step
program where she
regularly discusses her mental/emotional health with other recovering
addicts.
She is a real person in touch with her feelings.
The religious aspect of American politics is profoundly disturbing. In
the early
days of our republic, the Founding Fathers tended to be "deists"
(agnostics) who
wanted no church involvement in state affairs. The pious sanctimony we
wade
through today largely began a century ago with William Jennings Bryant's

candidacies and was invigorated a hundredfold in the fifties when we
struggled
against "godless communism."
America is perhaps the most church-going nation; look at the lack of
sophistication in dealing with gay issues relative to Europe. We are
very
backwards and uncivilized.