It sure does feel like a culture war. What if Obama loses? What if McCain and Palin win? I am not saying I am going to riot, necessarily. But I will definitely be feeling riotous. Maybe either way.
Joel and I were talking about the culture war. We were lamenting the fact that the war tends to play out in the binary realm of blue vs. red. That is how it breaks down. In actuality, things are not this simple.
Good old EO Wilson did a marvelous thing when he addressed the endless culture war and asked people to try and work together on protecting biodiversity. Something that clearly isn't a partisan issue. Sadly, people still see some environmental groups as a dark force on the other side that doesn't believe in god, thinks abortion is wonderful, and that married gay's should be our nationally designated babysitters. He did a nice job rounding up all these faith groups and scientists to work on protecting biodiversity, citing, simply, that this is something we should all care about, regardless of world view. The overwhelming consensus from the faith groups--mostly christians--was that they were delighted to be a part of it. They appreciated being asked to help.
So my thought on this is that the culture war can be solved but it has to happen outside of politics. it can't be a single (or a series) of "healing" politicians who bridge the gap. but rather a wide effort to reconcile differences and make people more apt to see the world in its full spectrum, rather than our two-toned political collage.
We wouldn't want to be afraid to appoint a thoughtful republican in office for fear of his supreme court appointee or stance on Gay Marriage. And we don't want someone to vote against their financial best-interest because they think something like gay marriage is wrong. It is a sad state where a devout Christian might have to do that in order to feel pious.
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Joel and I were talking about the culture war. We were lamenting the fact that the war tends to play out in the binary realm of blue vs. red. That is how it breaks down. In actuality, things are not this simple.
Good old EO Wilson did a marvelous thing when he addressed the endless culture war and asked people to try and work together on protecting biodiversity. Something that clearly isn't a partisan issue. Sadly, people still see some environmental groups as a dark force on the other side that doesn't believe in god, thinks abortion is wonderful, and that married gay's should be our nationally designated babysitters. He did a nice job rounding up all these faith groups and scientists to work on protecting biodiversity, citing, simply, that this is something we should all care about, regardless of world view. The overwhelming consensus from the faith groups--mostly christians--was that they were delighted to be a part of it. They appreciated being asked to help.
So my thought on this is that the culture war can be solved but it has to happen outside of politics. it can't be a single (or a series) of "healing" politicians who bridge the gap. but rather a wide effort to reconcile differences and make people more apt to see the world in its full spectrum, rather than our two-toned political collage.
We wouldn't want to be afraid to appoint a thoughtful republican in office for fear of his supreme court appointee or stance on Gay Marriage. And we don't want someone to vote against their financial best-interest because they think something like gay marriage is wrong. It is a sad state where a devout Christian might have to do that in order to feel pious.
what are you, a bodhisatva?
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