another tooth fairy dashed on the rocks

"And he's not just a Bible thumping hypocrite and zealot, he's a bigot as well, and is using "defense against terrorism" as a sleazy cover for his twisted evangelism. So now we have the true believers protecting us from other true believers."

John O. -- do you have any further analysis on this point? How specifically is defense against terrorism "a sleazy cover for his twisted evangelism?" Wouldn't a more common criticism be that provisions in the Patriot Act, and proposed extensions of those provisions, expand government power? Some argue that this expansion is unconstitutional; to argue instead that it's a cover for religious zeal seems more like a wild conspiracy theory, born out of fanatic hatred for disagreement.

I can see how, in your world, the Constitution is not a compelling standard for an argument; if everything is to serve political interests, then it's a tool and any possibility that its values are objectively Good and Truthful is rejected.
And once you've rejected an external vision of what is good, you can't argue based on it; you're reduced to sniveling complaints that people are religious extremists, for having faith in something, and that they're trying to impose values on others, since isn't that what everyone else does in your world? You shouldn't be so indignant or surprised, then, if Ashcroft really is doing what you say.

Too bad, John, that after demanding that we live in your world, you can't challenge Ashcroft by saying that the problem is power, not faith.

luke

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Received on Tue Aug 5 14:43:39 2003