Frank,
You're right when it comes to the International Socialists, as well as
other true marxist and trotskyist groups (As an aside, do you know Ross
Ashley by any chance?).
However, there's another branch of the radical left, often referred to
as Transnational Progressivists, who very definitely want to do what
Collin refers to. There are certainly a fair number of folks in the NDP
who fall into the latter category, but the NDP is officially a social
democraytic party, and thus tends to sit on people who expouse those
beliefs (you'll find them more often amongst the Green Party or the far
left of the Liberals, who can actually be further left of much of the NDP).
-Adam
frank theriault wrote:
On 2/16/06, Collin R Brendemuehl <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
<snip>
The Left wants to control culture and religious belief just as much
as do some religions.<snip>
Sorry, Collin, but you're simply wrong.
Many years ago, was a member of a radical revolutionary leftist group
(which I'm not anymore, for reasons that I won't get into) called the
International Socialists. It really doesn't get much farther left
than those guys.
In my several years as a member of that group, including a year on
branch committee, not once did I ever hear of any policy regarding the
control of religious belief, nor were any of several practising
Christians or Jews in that group belittled, chastised or ridiculed for
their beliefs. If they wanted to control religion, it was not merely
a hidden agenda, it was ~very~ well hidden.
In Canada, the New Democratic Party, a democratic socialist party
(which won some 40 seats in our latest election), is farther left than
anything you have in the US - they don't want to overthrow anything,
let alone religion.
Yes, Marx and Stalin and those boy abolished religion in the USSR.
Those guys were dictators, which had nothing to do with whether they
were on the left or right side of the political fence; dictators come
in all shapes and colours.
In my experience, among agnostics and atheists that I know, no one
wants to abolish religion or limit religious beliefs of others. I
don't mean to speak for all irreligious people, but for myself, I want
the religious to stop telling me what's right and wrong (which most
don't, it's the vocal few who do all the talking), and I want the
government to get out of the business of religion: that means tax
churches just like other property owners, that means all government
organs should have no reference to God - including prayers in schools,
using phrases such as "in God we trust", and refering to God in the
pledge of allegiance or the national anthem (as the Canadian one
does).
I'm not telling anyone what to do or how to worship, rather, I'm
telling them to leave me alone, and stop pushing their views on me.
cheers,
frank
--
"Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson
