Political Diagnosis..."Paranoid Republiphrenia"

Two ideas came to my mind after reading the editorial blog “Paranoid Republiphrenia” by my classmate Cecily Josephine.  The first was that I completely agree, and the second was that “paranoid republiphrenia” is definitely going into my word bank to use again later!  As I read Cecily’s blog I found myself smiling at her very direct and witty approach. 

For me to express myself properly I need to explain where my thoughts are coming from by mentioning that I recently wrote an editorial blog called “Freedom vs. Equality in America” where I talk about the gay rights movement and about SB 1062 (commonly called the Arizona “Anti-Gay” Bill, which Cecily also makes mention of in her blog).  Another classmate, Jen, wrote a wonderful rebuttal in which she accurately points out that the legislation did not contain any wording relating to the LGBT community, and says that the author of the bill, Rep. Senator Steve Yarbrough explains that “the measure is more about protecting people of faith from discrimination.” 

Fast forward a bit and I come across “Paranoid Republiphrenia,” a blog that focuses on religion in U.S. politics.  Religion AND politics are two topics that many people have very strong opinions about.  Religion IN politics is truly a recipe for disaster. 

Our history has taught us that the U.S. is a country founded on religious freedom.  I have learned that religious freedom is important even to the some agnostic and atheist people because they have the freedom to dispute religion.  Americans should be protected from religious discrimination just as much as from ANY other form of discrimination.  But I think there is a very valid point in Cecily’s blog, beginning with her quote of Barry Goldwater, that our elected representatives are being bullied by religious extremists who perhaps contributed greatly to their being elected to begin with and therefore expect certain legislation to be forthcoming. 

I have known people on both sides of the religious spectrum, from agnostic / atheist all the way to full blown, holier-than-thou bible thumping (insert religion here), and in my opinion both extremes are dangerous in our government.  Just to clarify, I believe that people have the right to their beliefs no matter how mild or extreme.  But in my experience, the people I have known on both extremes are absolutely intolerant of anyone with any other beliefs.  It is this intolerance that behooves these folks to get involved in politics and whether they intend to or not, push their views onto others and reject any view that disagrees with their own.  This is what creates such heated, ugly and often violent division in our society.  To protect and strengthen our society we need our laws to allow us to celebrate our diverse cultures and religions, and prevent any laws that leave too much wiggle room for division and discrimination.