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Politics : About that Cuban boy, Elian -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (3816)	5/1/2000 11:14:00 AM
From: X Y Zebra	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9127

Thank you for writing what you do. You do it well, and along with marcos and a few others makes this thread, (to my surprise), fair reading and informative, (not necessarily about the subject matter of the thread, which to me the so "called right thing to do" is clear in my mind. This child belongs with his father, the rest is irrelevant political rubbish). I want to comment on the following paragraphs: Unlike you, I am not a member of a political party, although the Republican Party would be my natural home. I couldn't possibly join a party that has been co-opted by movements that scare me to death. The religious component of the far right is scary because it's not feasible to have a public debate and reach any consensus on issues with people who rely on the supernatural for absolute and incontrovertible authority on public issues. The "paranoid" component of the far right is scary because it ironically directs its energies against the very government that sustains all our rights, and because its motivation is so totally incomprehensible. I agree with this statement and reflects, (for the most part), my own thinking. I would only add that they think of themselves as the "anti-government party" yet they are ready to regulate morality based on their particular kind of "morality". Attempting to impose and shove it down everyone's throat with the impunity of the best tyrannical government one could find. They claim to be "against", such "big government", furthering their claim, to be the champions of "reasonable government". Except that one has to agree to their agenda, at all costs. All this, courtesy of the religious [so called] 'right'. To me, they are no different in their fanatical extremism, and fundamentalism that the most radical middle-eastern fundamentalist clan. And yes, I consider them very dangerous. A form of 21st. century Inquisition. It would be easy to dismiss them as paranoid (take a pill) if there were not so many of them and if they did not have so much influence. So I keep trying to understand their point of view. Do not dismiss them. I truly believe them to be dangerous. As for understanding them, I would not place much hope of achieving such. Any extremist reaches that point because he/she does not use reason to arrive at his conclusions, so without the use of reason how can a specific position be understood ? Increasingly we live in a world in which more and more people of different backgrounds and ideologies are capable of reaching larger audiences. This implies that in order to "get along in this world" a deeper attempt to understand other points of view requires of us to be more "open". The common denominator to be capable to achieve such understanding, in my eyes, is the use of reason in order to "negotiate" a better deal for all concerned, to 'understand' each other's motivations, concerns and objectives. I do not believe the religious right who seems to dominate the Republican party is capable of using reason. Not that I agree with, or support Clinton, but I have to appreciate the fact that because of his deeds, he has been capable of exposing what the religious right is capable of doing. I consider such exposure, one of the best public services a politician has ever achieved. I also believe that reasonable Americans have taken notice.