Young women have to support Hillary Clinton…Hillary Clinton will always be there for you. And just remember, there’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other. – Madeleine Albright
When she was Bill Clinton’s secretary of state, I felt that Madeleine Albright’s last name was a 50% overestimate. Now I believe that I was being generous. Nevertheless, her remark at a recent Hillary Clinton rally reveals a crucial fact about liberals, or progressives, or – as Bernie Sanders frankly states – socialists.
Some time ago, I attended two funerals. At both, a child of the deceased gave the eulogy. At both, the praise of the parents included the fact that they were committed Democrats who despised then-President George W. Bush. And a long time ago, after my mother’s funeral, a relative handed out leftist flyers as we exited the funeral home. For years, I resented this intrusion of politics into religion. But those who did the intruding saw no contradiction. To them, politics and religion are identical.
Conservatives and liberals tend to think about politics differently. Conservatives tend to be more active in religion, or at least to take religion more seriously. On the other hand, religion tends to play a smaller role in liberals’ lives. But most people need something to hang on to, especially when things go wrong. Most people need something greater than themselves to give meaning to their lives.
For many liberals, that “something” is politics. For many liberals, politics is their religion.
Conservatives tend to have their political views influenced by their religious convictions. On the contrary, liberals tend to have their religious convictions influenced by their political views. These people may call themselves Christians or Jews, usually of the liberal denominations. They may go to church or temple. But even there, the main topic is politics.
If you doubt this, go to a mainline Protestant church, a liberal Catholic church, or a Reform Jewish temple. Close your eyes and listen to the sermon. You will have to open them again to remind yourself that you are not attending a Democratic Party rally. You won’t hear much about heaven and what we must do to get there, but you will hear a lot about “economic justice” and how to achieve it. You won’t hear much about hell and how to avoid going there, but you will hear a lot about “evil” Republicans and how to defeat them.
In poker, you can learn which hand beats which by watching people play. Thus three of a kind beats two pair. Similarly, when values conflict, you can tell which values people really hold dear by seeing which ones prevail − regardless of what people may claim.
● Take people who claim to be Catholics, but who consistently vote Democratic. These people vote to support slowly dehydrating and starving the severely disabled to death. And they vote to strengthen the “right” to abortion up to the time of birth, and even after. You may tell them that Barack Obama voted three times to defeat a law that would have required medical care for babies born alive after “failed” abortions. But if they still support Obama, you know that liberalism has replaced Catholicism as their real religion − even to the extent of extinguishing vulnerable human life.
● Or take people who claim to Jews, but who consistently vote Democratic. These people fear the best friends Israel has − evangelical Christians. You may tell them that for 20 years, Obama belonged to an anti-Semitic and anti-Israel church, which he left only when he decided to run for president. And you may tell them that Obama wants to slash our military, which may be needed to stop a nuclear Iran. You may remind them that Iran’s leader promised to wipe Israel off the map and spouts anti-Semitic venom at the U.N. You may point out that Iran sponsors Hezbollah, a terrorist gang whose leader promises to kill every Jew on Earth. But if they still support Obama, you know that liberalism has replaced Judaism as their real religion − even to the extent of enabling another Holocaust.
Strong beliefs have consequences, not all favorable. If we see politics as politics, we tend to see political opponents as misinformed, mistaken, and naive. So we try to inform them, persuade them, and defeat them at the polls. But if we see politics as a sort of religion, we tend to see opponents as malicious or actually evil. So we belittle them, defame them, insult them, and marginalize them. We see them as heretics, and history shows what true believers do to heretics when they get the chance.
If you doubt this, observe how liberals, including liberal blacks, treat conservative blacks. Clarence Thomas continues to be subjected to the vilest insults. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama’s pastor for 20 years, called him “Clarence Colon” and called Condoleezza Rice “Condamnesia.” I met a conservative African American who was called a “Klansman” by fellow blacks. He laughed about it, but his eyes weren’t laughing.
Observe how liberal women treat conservative women. Sarah Palin was deluged with insults, including advice to kill her baby with Down syndrome, as well as “jokes” on network TV about how her husband was having sex with their young daughters. In addition, she was told to go home and take care of the children. This isn’t criticism – it’s hate mixed with misogyny.
Observe how liberal Jews treat politically conservative Jews. I was called a “Nazi” twice, once by a colleague, once by a long-time “friend.” Of course, to liberals, conservatives aren’t “real” Jews, “real” women, or “real” blacks. But this is no surprise. Liberals claim the power to decide who is a “real” human being. They already exclude the unborn, the newborn, and the severely disabled. Who may be excluded from humanity tomorrow is anyone’s guess. Since liberals claim the power to define who is a “real” human, they assume they also have the power to define “real” blacks, “real” women, and “real” Jews. What colossal arrogance!
If political opponents aren’t “real” examples of whatever they may be, but are phonies, of course they can be subjected to torrents of vile abuse. And of course their arguments need not be met by counter-arguments, or even listened to. Listening to a heretic is dangerous − your “faith” might be challenged, and that would be intolerable.
Many liberals embrace politics as their religion, so they reject real religion as a threat to their beliefs. Traditional Christianity and Judaism are seen as dangerous. Thus liberal Jews fight to have the Ten Commandments removed from courthouses − you know, the Commandments their ancestors received at Mount Sinai. And liberal Christians view evangelical Christians as dangerous to our nation − you know, the Christians who go so far as to believe in the basic tenets of Christianity.
But oddly, liberals do not fear extremist Islam. Liberals have acute vision for past dangers. Thus they condemned the crimes of the Soviet Union − after it collapsed. But for current dangers they have severe myopia. They shirk their duty to fight evil. All they do is talk about past evils. They bray incessantly about the imaginary danger of conservative Christians reestablishing the Inquisition, but they remain silent about the real danger of extremist Muslims imposing Sharia law – which is happening in parts of Europe even as we speak.
During the recent debates of the Democratic presidential hopefuls, how many times did you hear the words “extremist Muslims” or “Islamo-fascism” mentioned? I didn’t hear them once. Does that tell you something about liberals’ grip on reality?
Modern liberals reject the best aspects of religion − moral principles based on faith in a just God. But they keep the worst aspects of religion − intolerance and a rigid belief system. Then they mix leftist dogmas into this toxic brew. Finally they top off the mixture with hostility to benign religion, but lack of concern about the threat of dangerous fanatics. That foul concoction is ruining the Democratic Party, and it can ruin our nation.
●
Contact: dstol@prodigy.net. You are welcome to publish or post these articles, provided that you cite the author and website.
www.stolinsky.com