Although David Brooks may be an atypical "cultural warrior" -- he is the real deal. While t he absence of the crudity and vulgarity (of say, Bill O'Reilly and Bill Donohue), may be disarming to some he his soft and soothing, but nevertheless condescending observations are dressed to kill. But make no mistake about it (it could be fatal) twice a week in the New York Times op-ed pages, the war upon mainstream faith continues unabated.
On May 25, 2007, New York Times he wrote a piece with seemingly the innocuous title "The Catholic Boom": Quasi-religious people attend services, but they're bored much of the time. They read the Bible, but find large parts of it odd and irrelevant. They find themselves inextricably bound to their faith, but think some of the people who define it are nuts. Then the former Weekly Standard editor began extolling the virtues of Catholics like me--well, sort of:
Well, they started from their traditional Catholic cultural base. That meant, in the 1950s and early '60s, a strong emphasis on neighborhood cohesion and family, and a strong preference for obedience and solidarity over autonomy and rebellion. Ah yes, David Brooks, master of the backhanded compliment! At first glance, "The Catholic Boom" may seem complimentary towards the religious individual who does not buy into every single orthodox pronouncement, but in fact, it isn't. Just the labeling of moderate and progressive as "quasi-religious" betrays David Brooks' true feelings. The esoteric message in this piece is that those who dissent from orthodoxy are defined as truly religious, but quasi religious. This is a man who has a particularly nasty habit of pigeon-holing into categories based upon ancient notions of inequality. His past writings have described American society as simplistically divided into Red and Blue halves. And it is not too difficult to discern where his sympathies lie:
Red America is traditional, religious, self-disciplined, and patriotic. Blue America is modern, secular, self-expressive, and discomfited by blatant displays of patriotism. Proponents of this hypothesis in its most radical form contend that America is in the midst of a culture war, with two opposing armies fighting on behalf of their views. The historian Gertrude Himmelfarb offered a more moderate picture in One Nation, Two Cultures (1999), in which she argued that although America is not fatally split, it is deeply divided, between a heartland conservative population that adheres to a strict morality and a liberal population that lives by a loose one. The political journalist Michael Barone put it this way in a recent essay in National Journal: "The two Americas apparent in the 48 percent to 48 percent 2000 election are two nations of different faiths. One is observant, tradition-minded, moralistic. The other is unobservant, liberation-minded, relativistic." In a later piece, Brooks chastises the "quasi-religious," essentially telling them "you don't know how to be faithful." For example:
Fifth, the recovering secularist must acknowledge that he has been too easy on religion. Because he assumed that it was playing a diminishing role in public affairs, he patronized it. He condescendingly decided not to judge other creeds. They are all valid ways of approaching God, he told himself, and ultimately they fuse into one. After all, why stir up trouble by judging another's beliefs? It's not polite. The better option, when confronted by some nasty practice performed in the name of religion, is simply to avert one's eyes. Is Wahhabism a vicious sect that perverts Islam? Don't talk about it. This is a serious mischaracterization of a liberally democratic secular society, falsely casting it as one that is to be deemed hostile towards religion unless it is intolerant and orthodox in nature. Contrary to David Brooks' dissemblings, a truly secular society maintains religious neutrality in order to maintain civil tranquility. Would Mr. Brooks prefer a society that has the occasional religious civil war? Brooks' neoconservative hackery demonizes liberalism -- and leaves out a critical truth about secular societies. While liberal democracies such as ours' do "not judge other creeds" that does not mean that certain religious behavior -- that which tramples upon the rights of others -- is also not judged. Those of us who may not wish to judge the validity of a given creed do in fact enforce a just public order. We do not hesitate to punish any individual who, acting upon his creed, decides to crash an airliner into an office building or blow up a Planned Parenthood office. A just and religiously neutral society may not judge creed, but it does judge behavior contrary to the common good. (That said, individuals and groups may debate the merits of each other's creeds all they want -- because that is what free speech is all about. If Brooks has a critique of Wahabism, let's hear it.) And just as he demonized secular society, Brooks has back-handedly besmirched those who question orthodoxy. While he says some nice things about dissenting Catholics such as yours truly, there is still the not-so-esoteric thread running through "The Catholic Boom" that those who do not accept authoritarian religious leaders and instutions -- are something less than the genuine article. Leo Strauss, the philosophy guru to the neoconservatives, used to teach his students that in order to find the true message of the great philosophers their works had to be read in an esoteric manner. Code words and dual meanings had to be extrapolated. And while David Brooks is no Plato, the same can be said of him.
Mr. Brooks and the "Quasi-Religious" | 6 comments (6 topical, 0 hidden)
Mr. Brooks and the "Quasi-Religious" | 6 comments (6 topical, 0 hidden)
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Left Behind: Eternal Forces: Installments of Jonathan Hutson's Talk To Action expose series
on the "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" video game have been viewed by up to 1/2 million people. See our site section featuring Over 35 original articles covering the controversial "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" video game that has provoked a boycott by a coalition of religious groups and a letter writing campaign urging Walmart to stop selling the game. Media inquiries click here(image: detail from Francoise Dubois' rendition of the Bartholomew's Day Massacre reveals the actual nature of religious warfare)
Sarah Palin and the Servant Heart
<small>Senior Analyst, Political Research Associates (author info)</small>Sarah Palin's references to the Servant Heart comes from the idea that Jesus of Nazareth asked his...... By Chip Berlet (1 comment)
Short Takes: Sarah Palin Edition
Religion Dispatches: Kathryn Joyce profiles Palin -- as McCain's mad pander to the Religious Right continues to unfold. Gay City News: The accumulating evidence...... By Frederick Clarkson (2 comments)
Palin's Churches and the Third Wave
Part Two This posting documents the extensive involvement of several of Sarah Palin's churches in the Third Wave Movement, also known as the New...... By Ruth (1 comment)
Palin's Churches and the Third Wave
Part One History and Theology of the Third Wave Sarah Palin has refused to acknowledge belonging to any specific denomination or any particular religious...... By Ruth (2 comments)
What is Dominionism? Palin, the Christian Right, & Theocracy
Senior Analyst, Political Research Associates (author info)Sarah Palin is a "Dominionist" with an apocalytic End Times theological viewpoint that sees the war in...... By Chip Berlet (3 comments)
EVENT CANCELLED Speaking in Philadelphia on September 27th
Update [2008-9-5 12:26:36 by Frederick Clarkson]: Buzzflash has announced that the event has been cancelled, but that the themes will continue to be pursued...... By Frederick Clarkson (0 comments)
Sarah Palin's Theocratic End Times - UPDATED
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Dobson and the Religious Right Rally for McCain/Palin
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At Palin Church, Jews For Jesus Head Says Terrorism vs Israel Is God's Punishment
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Theocrats to Pray for McCain's Death
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Rest Assured New Orleans, I'm Sure Lt. Gen. Van Antwerp is Praying for You
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Sarah Palin and Christian Dominionist Theocracy
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Juno From Juneau, the Video
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Pregnant Pause: The Real Issue Worth Talking About Behind The Palin Story
The announcement by Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin that her 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is pregnant has drawn an interesting response from the Religious...... By Rob Boston (3 comments)
Palin Was a Member of the Constitution Party in the 90s --UPDATED
ABC News broke the story of Palin's 1990's membership in the Alaska Independence Party, which believes that Alaska should consider seceding from the Union....... By Frederick Clarkson (0 comments)
Future links to upcoming documentaries on Palin's Churches
Will live here, at this URL address. ...... By Bruce Wilson (0 comments)
Sarah Palin used AK tax dollars to fund dominionist churches
Over the past few days, I've done reporting on Sarah Palin's extensive dominionist connections--including the attempt to run her as a "stealth" dominionist candidate and her connections to some scary dominionist groups including not...... By dogemperor (1 comment)
Palin Steals Hockey Mom Joke from John Hagee?
Hockey mom Sarah Palin got a great reaction during her convention speech with an unscripted joke (which she also used somewhere the day before) addressed to her fellow hockey moms. Noticing the "Hockey Mom"...... By Chris Rodda (1 comment)
The Irony of Sarah Palin's "Choice"
Republican operatives and religious conservatives are ecstatic over Sarah Palin. Most of all, they are ecstatic that she is a "pro-life" mother who chose not to have an abortion after she found of she...... By tacitus (0 comments)
New revelations re "stealth dominionist" Sarah Palin
A few days ago, I wrote one of the first articles out there regarding Sarah Palin's VP nomination as a "stealth dominionist"--a "stealther" with extensive Assemblies connections (and to particularly scary segments of the...... By dogemperor (0 comments)
Sarah Palin: Dominionist Stalking Horse
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Richard Land Picks Republican Veep Candidate
Yesterday the media was all atwitter about Karl Rove's supposed Republican V.P. pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. However, it seems that instead SBC President Richard Land, well known among readers of Talk2Action for his...... By ulyankee (1 comment)
"Yes on 8" RSVP? Need your advice.
Schubert Flint Public Affairs has been hired to run the Yes on Prop. 8 ("Protect Marriage") initiative. If you've happened to notice the names Jennifer Kerns, Frank Schubert, or Jeff Flint in media coverage...... By Chino Blanco (2 comments)
Alabama PSC Cantidate Matt Chancey: His Views on Suffrage, Women, Marriage, etc.
Promoted from the diaries -- FC Alabama voters should be made aware that Matt Chancey opposes"one person, one vote" suffrage, apparently on religious grounds. Matt Chancey, a Republican, is running for president of the...... By CynthiaGee (2 comments)
Jews and Christians Unite against the Empire of Neo-cons and 'Christian' Zionists
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Patriot Follows the Money and Exposes Foreign Agents
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The Alleged "Church of Liberalism"
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Hope Never Dies for Extremists
The extreme political Religious Right hasn't given up hope of getting something out of this election. Their latest ploy involves petitioning the parties for a "True Christian" in the vice-presidential slot. The Christian Anti-Defamation...... By John McKay (0 comments)
Catholic religious right wing: Legion of Christ
Frank L. Cocozzelli's weekly series of posts on "The Catholic Right" (listed here) includes quite a few posts about Opus Dei. There's another, similarly ultra-orthodox Catholic religious order he might want to examine in...... By Diane Vera (3 comments)
Prosyletization in Iraq: A threat to national security
As amazing as it sounds, dominionists may in fact be fomenting terrorism--not just the domestic terrorism like bombings of women's clinics we normally associate, but the very "Islamist terror bombings" that the GOP loves...... By dogemperor (0 comments)
Proselytization in Iraq: A minor history
The recent incident where a Marine was recently found distributing "Bible coins" promoted by a fundamentalist "Bible church" is, sad to say, far from the first incident of overt prosyletisation in Iraq. The truth...... By dogemperor (1 comment)
Source of "Bible coins" distributed by USMC in Iraq discovered
In what is--sadly--yet another case of the extent of which blatant prosyletisation is tolerated in the modern US military, a recent incident where members of the US Marine Corps were handing out coins to...... By dogemperor (0 comments)
What Does the Religious Right Fear the Most?
A poll that one of the giants on the right, Coral Ridge Ministries, sent to their members gives a revealing insight into their world view. ...... By John McKay (3 comments)
UK Abortion Limit Stays at 24 Weeks Despite Washington Think Tank's Tactics
IN GOD'S NAME is a revealing documentary about how the Alliance Defense Fund is using its tactics to try to restrict abortion in Europe as well as in America. Watch this trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeTfW8-dCNE ...... By TMurray (3 comments)
'Christians United For Israel' Joyfully Sing of Israel's Invasion and Destruction
An open letter, from Ray McGovern, a 27-year intelligence analyst with the CIA, to Admiral William J. Fallon, warns of an impending US attack on Iran. If such an event occurred, the resulting war...... By Bruce Wilson (3 comments)
The Petrification of John McCain
We are very pleased to welcome Frederick Lane as a guest front pager. He is the author of several books,most recently, The Court and the Cross: The Religious Right's Crusade to Reshape the Supreme...... By Frederick_Lane (3 comments)
More Biblical Precedent for Allowing Abortion
This is a follow up to my most recent diary entry. ...... By TMurray (3 comments)
John Hagee Says God Made AIDS and Bird Flu But Lord will Protect Him Personally
John Hagee claims 1) that he knows with absolute certainty the will of God (as he told a BBC interviewer in 2003), is 2) sure that he, John Hagee, has a place in heaven...... By Bruce Wilson (0 comments)
Biblical support for abortion, who knew?
It turns out that our present legal understanding of when a life is entitled to legal protection is consistent with the Old Testament Biblical understanding of when a fetus becomes a 'life' warranting legal...... By TMurray (2 comments)
2001 John Hagee Film Shows Gangsterish Rabbi, Foppish Catholic Priest In League With anti-Christ
The following somewhat satirical video is built around a brief excerpt from Texas megachurch pastor John Hagee's 2001 55-minute film "Vanished", which followed the prophetic, premillennial plot line of Tim LaHaye's and Jerry Jenkin's...... By Bruce Wilson (0 comments)
PBS "Carrier": A Mixed Blessing
Watching the PBS miniseries "Carrier" was a revelation, but not always a pleasant one... ...... By bughouse square (0 comments)
Will We Ever Learn?
Ever looked at something or did something which at the time seemed good and beneficial only to learn that it was not what you thought? If we could all have the opportunity to live...... By truthngrace (0 comments)
McCain-Endorser's Church Casts Out "Demon of Anal Fissures", Teaches Vomiting Evil Spirits
[NOTE: for a related story, see Mai Tai Dogs: Pics Show Bush Administration, McCain-Endorser Hagee Schmoozing at Chinese Restaurant] I have to admit, on one level it sounds more entertaining than a church full...... By Bruce Wilson (3 comments)
Bush 41 salutes Sun Myung Moon's effort to subdue the planet.
Sun Myung Moon's end time political front, the Universal Peace Federation had a summit from April 28 to May 2 in Washington DC. The participants took a tour of the Moon owned Washington Times...... By Lou (2 comments)
Advancing The Kingdom
Over the past four years, I've researched the darkest regions of the Christian right for the non-fiction film Silhouette City. The film tracks the movement of apocalyptic Christian nationalism from the margins of American...... By MichaelWWilson (2 comments) More Diaries... |
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