the difference between cats and dogs
Yesterday I outlined what it means to be a Christian conservative. In Point 15 of the part on conservatism, I stated that modern liberalism (or secular progressivism; the terms are interchangable) is entirely antithetical to the teachings of Christianity, the foundational principles of the American republic, and the beliefs of the Founding Fathers. I would like to go into more detail tonight on that point to show that Christian conservatives and the modern liberal are as different as cats and dogs.
It is important to understand that secular progressivism is actually a blending of two philosophies: secular humanism and progressivism. The Democrat Party of the 21st Century has been hijacked by this blended movement, which is why most Americans who identify themselves as Christian will not vote Democrat. This is a fact, by the way, that the Democrat Party has just recently acknowledged and has paid some lip service to.
According to www.secularhumanism.org/ (website for The Council For Secular Humanism), "Secular humanism is a way of thinking and living that aims to bring out the best in people so that all people can have the best in life. Secular humanists reject supernatural and authoritarian beliefs. They affirm that we must take responsibility for our own lives and the communities and world in which we live. Secular humanism emphasizes reason and scientific inquiry, individual freedom and responsibility, human values and compassion, and the need for tolerance and cooperation." The website goes on to say that "the Council for Secular Humanism campaigns for a more secular and ethical society. It presents the case for understanding the world without reference to a god, and works to separate Church and State and defend the rights of people who do not accept religious beliefs." Also, "The Council For Secular Humanism promotes rational, human-based viewpoints on important social and ethical issues. In particular, it tackles issues where traditional religion obstructs the right to self-determination, for example, freedom of choice in sexual relationships, reproduction, and voluntary euthanasia. The Council also promotes critical thinking about supernatural and paranormal claims." I think you could safely interpret that last sentence as a reference to the teachings of Christianity. Now, my purpose here is not to debate the merits of what secular humanists believe; there will be plenty of time for that in a future post. I'm just quoting right from the source to illustrate the major differences I am talking about. That's secular humanism, and clearly it is a very different thought process than Christianity.
The second part of the philosophy of modern liberalism is progressivism. Let's outline what the progressive believes and contrast that with the beliefs of the Reagan Conservative, outlined in last night's post. I think we would all be better served if you read for yourselves what the modern progressive believes. Go to www.congressionalprogressivecaucus.org/ and click the link on the left-hand sidebar labeled "Progressive Promise." That will bring you to a page that lists 27 foundational principles of the progressive movement. Again, I don't intend to get into the relative merits of any of these promises. Just compare the mindset revealed by these 27 principles with the mindset revealed by the conservative principles I outlined last night. The conservative and the progressive view the world in two completely different (perhaps even incompatible) ways. As an example, just look at the very first principle listed. It says that the Congressional Progressive Caucus promises "To uphold the right to universal access to affordable, high quality healthcare for all." The conservative would say, "What right? Where is that 'right' found in the Constitution? If a person wants affordable, high quality healthcare then they should stay in school, get an education, and then go to work for a company that provides affordable, high quality healthcare. That's the way that tens of millions of Americans of every race, color and creed go about it every day." You see why it's real hard for there to be any compromise between the people on both sides of this issue, don't you?
Let's wrap up tonight's post by summarizing the basic beliefs of the secular progressive, then you can compare to the Christian conservative. The secular progressive believes that....
1. there is no room for traditional Christian beliefs in a modern society. The beliefs of Christians obstruct the right of the human to decide for himself/herself how best to live, and they qualify as no more than silly superstition.
2. society is best served if all expressions of Christian faith are eliminated from the public square. Any public expression of Christian faith is an affront to all rational, reasonable people.
3. humans are best guided by reason and logic, and not by an irrational belief in some sort of "heavenly ghost."
4. their political beliefs are a natural extension of their beliefs concerning religion.
5. the Constitution is a constantly evolving document which must be continually reinterpreted according to our current beliefs about right and wrong.
6. there is no such thing as "right and wrong." There is only valid progressive thought and invalid conservative thought. Sort of like--"Rule #1: The progressive is always right. Rule #2: Whenever the progressive is wrong, refer to Rule #1."
7. the powers of government must be centralized in an unelected federal judiciary populated by secular progressive judges.
8. the role of the federal judiciary is to ensure that the rights of the various special interest groups that we have assigned "victim status" to are elevated above the rights of the tyrannical majority.
9. the central government must have the power to redistribute wealth and property so that the "disadvantaged" are properly cared for. This is best accomplished by imposing high tax rates on the "advantaged" in order to fund government entitlement programs.
10. all of our wants and needs can best be provided for by a large central government that creates taxpayer-funded programs which then dole out various goods and services to satisfy those wants and needs. After all, government has a limitless capacity for doing good, provided that everyone in government shares the same secular progressive beliefs.
11. America is the root cause of most of what's wrong with the world today. America is directly responsible for global warming, world hunger/poverty/disease, and Islamic terrorism. America is the single biggest human rights violator in the world today. America is evil because America is too rich, too powerful, too arrogant, and too big. It is absolutely vital that American power and sovereignty be reigned in by global rule, led by the United Nations. The world would be an infinitely better place with a weaker America that tried to fit in better with the global village.
Like I said before--The differences between Christian conservatives and secular progressives are like the differences between dogs and cats. The secular progressive is a whole different breed of cat.
It is important to understand that secular progressivism is actually a blending of two philosophies: secular humanism and progressivism. The Democrat Party of the 21st Century has been hijacked by this blended movement, which is why most Americans who identify themselves as Christian will not vote Democrat. This is a fact, by the way, that the Democrat Party has just recently acknowledged and has paid some lip service to.
According to www.secularhumanism.org/ (website for The Council For Secular Humanism), "Secular humanism is a way of thinking and living that aims to bring out the best in people so that all people can have the best in life. Secular humanists reject supernatural and authoritarian beliefs. They affirm that we must take responsibility for our own lives and the communities and world in which we live. Secular humanism emphasizes reason and scientific inquiry, individual freedom and responsibility, human values and compassion, and the need for tolerance and cooperation." The website goes on to say that "the Council for Secular Humanism campaigns for a more secular and ethical society. It presents the case for understanding the world without reference to a god, and works to separate Church and State and defend the rights of people who do not accept religious beliefs." Also, "The Council For Secular Humanism promotes rational, human-based viewpoints on important social and ethical issues. In particular, it tackles issues where traditional religion obstructs the right to self-determination, for example, freedom of choice in sexual relationships, reproduction, and voluntary euthanasia. The Council also promotes critical thinking about supernatural and paranormal claims." I think you could safely interpret that last sentence as a reference to the teachings of Christianity. Now, my purpose here is not to debate the merits of what secular humanists believe; there will be plenty of time for that in a future post. I'm just quoting right from the source to illustrate the major differences I am talking about. That's secular humanism, and clearly it is a very different thought process than Christianity.
The second part of the philosophy of modern liberalism is progressivism. Let's outline what the progressive believes and contrast that with the beliefs of the Reagan Conservative, outlined in last night's post. I think we would all be better served if you read for yourselves what the modern progressive believes. Go to www.congressionalprogressivecaucus.org/ and click the link on the left-hand sidebar labeled "Progressive Promise." That will bring you to a page that lists 27 foundational principles of the progressive movement. Again, I don't intend to get into the relative merits of any of these promises. Just compare the mindset revealed by these 27 principles with the mindset revealed by the conservative principles I outlined last night. The conservative and the progressive view the world in two completely different (perhaps even incompatible) ways. As an example, just look at the very first principle listed. It says that the Congressional Progressive Caucus promises "To uphold the right to universal access to affordable, high quality healthcare for all." The conservative would say, "What right? Where is that 'right' found in the Constitution? If a person wants affordable, high quality healthcare then they should stay in school, get an education, and then go to work for a company that provides affordable, high quality healthcare. That's the way that tens of millions of Americans of every race, color and creed go about it every day." You see why it's real hard for there to be any compromise between the people on both sides of this issue, don't you?
Let's wrap up tonight's post by summarizing the basic beliefs of the secular progressive, then you can compare to the Christian conservative. The secular progressive believes that....
1. there is no room for traditional Christian beliefs in a modern society. The beliefs of Christians obstruct the right of the human to decide for himself/herself how best to live, and they qualify as no more than silly superstition.
2. society is best served if all expressions of Christian faith are eliminated from the public square. Any public expression of Christian faith is an affront to all rational, reasonable people.
3. humans are best guided by reason and logic, and not by an irrational belief in some sort of "heavenly ghost."
4. their political beliefs are a natural extension of their beliefs concerning religion.
5. the Constitution is a constantly evolving document which must be continually reinterpreted according to our current beliefs about right and wrong.
6. there is no such thing as "right and wrong." There is only valid progressive thought and invalid conservative thought. Sort of like--"Rule #1: The progressive is always right. Rule #2: Whenever the progressive is wrong, refer to Rule #1."
7. the powers of government must be centralized in an unelected federal judiciary populated by secular progressive judges.
8. the role of the federal judiciary is to ensure that the rights of the various special interest groups that we have assigned "victim status" to are elevated above the rights of the tyrannical majority.
9. the central government must have the power to redistribute wealth and property so that the "disadvantaged" are properly cared for. This is best accomplished by imposing high tax rates on the "advantaged" in order to fund government entitlement programs.
10. all of our wants and needs can best be provided for by a large central government that creates taxpayer-funded programs which then dole out various goods and services to satisfy those wants and needs. After all, government has a limitless capacity for doing good, provided that everyone in government shares the same secular progressive beliefs.
11. America is the root cause of most of what's wrong with the world today. America is directly responsible for global warming, world hunger/poverty/disease, and Islamic terrorism. America is the single biggest human rights violator in the world today. America is evil because America is too rich, too powerful, too arrogant, and too big. It is absolutely vital that American power and sovereignty be reigned in by global rule, led by the United Nations. The world would be an infinitely better place with a weaker America that tried to fit in better with the global village.
Like I said before--The differences between Christian conservatives and secular progressives are like the differences between dogs and cats. The secular progressive is a whole different breed of cat.
posted by hondo at 8:57 PM
6 Comments:
Wow. You had a great post until you got to the bottom and began spewing pure garbage. How can you take a set of ideals and then generalize them to a complete extreme and then apply that label to an entire population? That is absurd! Example, your rule #1: “there is no room for traditional Christian belief in a modern society.” How dare you make that generalization! I think it’s undisputed that Christianity plays a major role in America’s cultural makeup. No progressive (or at least none that I know) wants to “do away” with Christians. If your rule would have been stated differently to say “there is no room for traditional Christian belief in modern day policy making.” Then I would agree that this is a progressive ideal. Furthermore, it just so happens that the logical and reasoning skills that you mention in rule #3 are those very skills required to get an education in order to hold a decent job that provides adequate health care. Unfortunately, for those 15.5 million people that make between $5.15-6.15 an hour make only $10-12k a year – that qualifies as poverty folks. I’m sure that these folks (many of whom are single mothers) have the time and money to continue their education so that they can get a better job which provides the luxury of health care. (I sincerely hope that the sarcasm made it through) I’d love to write more, but I have no time at the moment.
I never said that progressives want to do away with Christians. I said that secular progressives want to do away with all forms of Christian expression in the public square, and I stand by that statement. It's the truth.
You also criticized my points about the poor, and provided the perfect illustration to prove my point. The secular progressive looks at America's poor and sees helpless sheep that don't have the ability or the desire to move up the economic ladder. Hence the need for government programs. Christian conservatives look at the poor and see people who just need a hand up, a little temporary assistance. With that hand up, the poor can, through hard work and determination, move up the economic ladder and carve out for themselves a piece of the American Dream. We just happen to have two completely different worldviews.
Do you actually KNOW any poor people? I do. When I lived in Florida during the 1990s, my neighborhood was filled with them, and many of my co-workers at various nursing homes were poor. Here, lots of my patients are poor.
Two countries, two sets of poor people, but one thing in common: these impoverished buggers were too disorganised to ever get it together. They drank too nuch booze, did drugs, were stupid, mentally ill or just too scattered to ever get up the ladder. Yet they were still humans, some of God's creations if you want to see them that way.
In the U.S., where your "let them pull themselves up by their bootstraps" attitude prevails, these poor people suffered. There were few programs to help them, so they went hungry, couldn't keep their utilities on, their kids got crummy educations... And the so-called Christian nation of America said "It's OK for you to suffer."
Here in non-religious Australia, people like that get assistance to keep their lights on. The government makes extra efforts to see that the kids get fed and educated. The authorities don't do it perfectly, but the official attitude is at least that they should try. And taxes are high. But I have not heard a single Aussie say "Those people should live crap lives so my taxes can be lower. They deserve to suffer so I can have it better."
You see, Australians like each other, even all the immigrants they let in here. Americans basically hate other Americans.
Man, I love socialist Australia! It's so much more Christian than the USA.
A Zionist Christian is an oxymoron. Also an apostate to Christianity.
Great blog regarding progressives. Thanks.
Regarding Anonymous's posting that Zionist Christian is an oxymoron; I am a Christian, have been for over 20 years. I am a geezer now and I support the state of Israel. I have supported Isreal since I was saved at 33. Christians, in my mind, should be fervent supporters of Israel. Zionism is described as an "international movement originally for the establishment of a Jewish national or religious community in Palestine and later for the support of modern Israel" - Webster's.
Don't forget in the 12 chapter of the first book of the bible the Lord said to Abraham "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." God bless Isreal.
Segue
Thank you, Segue. Of course Anonymous is wrong, because liberals are wrong about most things. I have found that it is pretty easy to refute liberal lies with the plain old truth, and you have re-proven that. Thank you!
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