COLUMN: Right may be anti-intellectual, but left is anti-religious
Cy Martz’ recent criticism of conservatives was thought provoking. Unfortunately, he failed to acknowledge that liberals are guilty of the same kinds of flawed reasoning that he rails against conservatives for using.
Mr. Martz argued that conservatives use fear, slander and God to make people not think for themselves and to blindly follow. He argued that Republicans don’t want people to think, but rather to just believe what their Hannity/Limbaugh propagandists tell them. He may be right, but it’s a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black. Democrats also don’t want people to think, but rather to just believe what their Jennings/Brokaw/Rather/etc. propagandists tell them.
True, Republicans may be guilty of using fear (fear of terrorism, etc.) to accomplish political ends. But using fear as a political strategy is also common on the left. Fear that Republicans will “take away your Social Security” and fear that Republicans will “reinstitute the draft” are but two of the ridiculous and blatant appeals to fear that were fabricated out of thin air by the Democrats in the last election. Legitimate issues are also framed by the left in the context of fear: fear that Republicans will “take away your right to abortion” (an alternative “non-fear” framing of that issue would be “extend the right of life to unborn children.”) Fear that Republicans will “stack the Supreme Court” (the use of the word “stack” belies the historical fact that Democrats have placed liberals on the bench whenever a vacancy has opened when a Democrat has been president.) Fear of guns, fear of war, fear that minorities cannot succeed without institutionalized preferences, fear, fear, fear.
Mr. Martz’ second complaint, hate-mongering by the right, reminds me of the story of the beam and the mote (forgive the Bible analogy, I know it’s offensive to some liberals to even mention the Bible in public discourse – apparently, God is not “intellectual” enough for them.) The blatant hate-mongering by the Democrats in the last five years would be invisible only to those who just acknowledge facts that advance their cause. The appeal to racism and class envy, the personal attacks on Republican candidates and nominees and the shocking lack of civility are obvious. Mr. Martz writes, “In order to make the political discourse become void of intellectual premise, conservatives have decided to frame intellectuals and higher learning as the enemy of the ‘common man.'” True, perhaps, but it can also be truly said that, “in order to make the political discourse become void of principles and values, liberals have decided to frame anyone with any religious beliefs as the enemy of the ‘rational man.'”
Which brings us to Mr. Martz’ third criticism: That the right uses God to accomplish political ends. Perhaps so, but I would argue that the left uses their substitute for religion – secularism – to accomplish theirs. The left consistently portrays anyone who expresses any religious beliefs as a superstitious, wacko, cult-crazed extremist. One can only wonder what today’s left would say about Washington or Lincoln, who both invoked references to deity in every public speech they ever gave. (Of course, the left has removed all their speeches from the textbooks for that very reason, with the predictable result that in a recent survey, Bill Clinton was rated higher on the list of the greatest presidents than either Washington or Lincoln!) The left has been on a crusade to remove God from political discourse for decades. Their professed reasons sound noble enough: “Separation of church and state,” (a phrase not found in the Bill of Rights, by the way) but their true motives are clearly political: God must be removed from the political equation to accomplish their social objectives, many of which conflict with religious values.
Mr. Martz complains that the right is anti-intellectual and propagandist. Perhaps there is an aspect of validity in this criticism. However, it would be equally valid to say the left is anti-religious and propagandist. Mr. Martz is correct in saying that only a balanced, fair, honest discussion based on accurate facts and rational thought will produce good results. I disagree with his implication that the left performs better in this regard than does the right.
Irv Nelson is an associate professor in the USU school of accountancy. Comments can be sent to irv.nelson@usu.edu.