The more America hears from an a-hole like Harris, the more we win! ************************************************************************ "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of Democrats." - Sarah Palin, Sept 4, 2008
Right Wing Mike http://www.cafepress.com/rightwingmike --- On Tue, 9/23/08, Helio Wakasugui <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > From: Helio Wakasugui <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [OT] When Atheists Attack - Sam Harris > To: "ProFox Email List" <[email protected]> > Date: Tuesday, September 23, 2008, 4:48 PM > When Atheists Attack by Sam Harris | NEWSWEEK Thanks to > *Florian > Widder*for the link. > > http://www.newsweek.com/id/160080/page/1 > > *When Atheists Attack* > *A noted provocateur rips Sarah Palin—and defends > elitism.* > > Let me confess that I was genuinely unnerved by Sarah > Palin's performance at > the Republican convention. Given her audience and the needs > of the moment, I > believe Governor Palin's speech was the most effective > political > communication I have ever witnessed. Here, finally, was a > performer > who—being maternal, wounded, righteous and sexy—could > stride past the > frontal cortex of every American and plant a three-inch > heel directly on > that limbic circuit that ceaselessly intones "God and > country." If anyone > could make Christian theocracy smell like apple pie, Sarah > Palin could. > > Then came Palin's first television interview with > Charles Gibson. I was > relieved to discover, as many were, that Palin's luster > can be much > diminished by the absence of a teleprompter. Still, the > problem she poses to > our political process is now much bigger than she is. Her > fans seem inclined > to forgive her any indiscretion short of cannibalism. > However badly she may > stumble during the remaining weeks of this campaign, her > supporters will > focus their outrage upon the journalist who caused her to > break stride, upon > the camera operator who happened to capture her fall, upon > the television > network that broadcast the good lady's > misfortune—and, above all, upon the > "liberal elites" with their highfalutin > assumption that, in the 21st > century, only a reasonably well-educated person should be > given command of > our nuclear arsenal. > > The point to be lamented is not that Sarah Palin comes from > outside > Washington, or that she has glimpsed so little of the > earth's surface (she > didn't have a passport until last year), or that > she's never met a foreign > head of state. The point is that she comes to us, seeking > the second most > important job in the world, without any intellectual > training relevant to > the challenges and responsibilities that await her. There > is nothing to > suggest that she even sees a role for careful analysis or a > deep > understanding of world events when it comes to deciding the > fate of a > nation. In her interview with Gibson, Palin managed to turn > a joke about > seeing Russia from her window into a straight-faced claim > that Alaska's > geographical proximity to Russia gave her some essential > foreign-policy > experience. Palin may be a perfectly wonderful person, a > loving mother and a > great American success story—but she is a beauty > queen/sports reporter who > stumbled into small-town politics, and who is now on the > verge of stumbling > into, or upon, world history. > > The problem, as far as our political process is concerned, > is that half the > electorate revels in Palin's lack of intellectual > qualifications. When it > comes to politics, there is a mad love of mediocrity in > this country. "They > think they're better than you!" is the refrain > that (highly competent and > cynical) Republican strategists have set loose among the > crowd, and the > crowd has grown drunk on it once again. "Sarah Palin > is an ordinary person!" > Yes, all too ordinary. > > We have all now witnessed apparently sentient human beings, > once provoked by > a reporter's microphone, saying things like, > "I'm voting for Sarah because > she's a mom. She knows what it's like to be a > mom." Such sentiments suggest > an uncanny (and, one fears, especially American) detachment > from the real > problems of today. The next administration must immediately > confront issues > like nuclear proliferation, ongoing wars in Iraq and > Afghanistan (and covert > wars elsewhere), global climate change, a convulsing > economy, Russian > belligerence, the rise of China, emerging epidemics, > Islamism on a hundred > fronts, a defunct United Nations, the deterioration of > American schools, > failures of energy, infrastructure and Internet security > … the list is long, > and Sarah Palin does not seem competent even to rank these > items in order of > importance, much less address any one of them. > > Palin's most conspicuous gaffe in her interview with > Gibson has been widely > discussed. The truth is, I didn't much care that she > did not know the > meaning of the phrase "Bush doctrine." And I am > quite sure that her > supporters didn't care, either. Most people view such > an ambush as a > journalistic gimmick. What I do care about are all the > other things Palin is > guaranteed not to know—or will be glossing only under the > frenzied tutelage > of John McCain's advisers. What doesn't she know > about financial markets, > Islam, the history of the Middle East, the cold war, modern > weapons systems, > medical research, environmental science or emerging > technology? Her relative > ignorance is guaranteed on these fronts and most others, > not because she was > put on the spot, or got nervous, or just happened to miss > the newspaper on > any given morning. Sarah Palin's ignorance is > guaranteed because of how she > has spent the past 44 years on earth. > > I care even more about the many things Palin thinks she > knows but doesn't: > like her conviction that the Biblical God consciously > directs world events. > Needless to say, she shares this belief with mil-lions of > Americans—but we > shouldn't be eager to give these people our nuclear > codes, either. There is > no question that if President McCain chokes on a spare rib > and Palin becomes > the first woman president, she and her supporters will > believe that God, in > all his majesty and wisdom, has brought it to pass. Why > would God give Sarah > Palin a job she isn't ready for? He wouldn't. > Everything happens for a > reason. Palin seems perfectly willing to stake the welfare > of our > country—even the welfare of our species—as collateral > in her own personal > journey of faith. Of course, McCain has made the same > unconscionable wager > on his personal journey to the White House. > > In speaking before her church about her son going to war in > Iraq, Palin > urged the congregation to pray "that our national > leaders are sending them > out on a task that is from God; that's what we have to > make sure we are > praying for, that there is a plan, and that plan is > God's plan." When asked > about these remarks in her interview with Gibson, Palin > successfully dodged > the issue of her religious beliefs by claiming that she had > been merely > echoing the words of Abraham Lincoln. The New York Times > later dubbed her > response "absurd." It was worse than absurd; it > was a lie calculated to > conceal the true character of her religious infatuations. > Every detail that > has emerged about Palin's life in Alaska suggests that > she is as devout and > literal-minded in her Christian dogmatism as any man or > woman in the land. > Given her long affiliation with the Assemblies of God > church, Palin very > likely believes that Biblical prophecy is an infallible > guide to future > events and that we are living in the "end times." > Which is to say she very > likely thinks that human history will soon unravel in a > foreordained > cataclysm of war and bad weather. Undoubtedly Palin > believes that this will > be a good thing—as all true Christians will be lifted > bodily into the sky to > make merry with Jesus, while all nonbelievers, Jews, > Methodists and other > rabble will be punished for eternity in a lake of fire. > Like many > Pentecostals, Palin may even imagine that she and her > fellow parishioners > enjoy the power of prophecy themselves. Otherwise, what > could she have meant > when declaring to her congregation that "God's > going to tell you what is > going on, and what is going to go on, and you guys are > going to have that > within you"? > > You can learn something about a person by the company she > keeps. In the > churches where Palin has worshiped for decades, > parishioners enjoy "baptism > in the Holy Spirit," "miraculous healings" > and "the gift of tongues." > Invariably, they offer astonishingly irrational accounts of > this behavior > and of its significance for the entire cosmos. Palin's > spiritual colleagues > describe themselves as part of "the final > generation," engaged in "spiritual > warfare" to purge the earth of "demonic > strongholds." Palin has spent her > entire adult life immersed in this apocalyptic hysteria. > Ask yourself: Is it > a good idea to place the most powerful military on earth at > her disposal? Do > we actually want our leaders thinking about the fulfillment > of Biblical > prophecy when it comes time to say to the Iranians, or to > the North Koreans, > or to the Pakistanis, or to the Russians or to the Chinese: > "All options > remain on the table"? > > It is easy to see what many people, women especially, > admire about Sarah > Palin. Here is a mother of five who can see the bright side > of having a > child with Down syndrome and still find the time and energy > to govern the > state of Alaska. But we cannot ignore the fact that > Palin's impressive > family further testifies to her dogmatic religious beliefs. > Many writers > have noted the many shades of conservative hypocrisy on > view here: when > Jamie Lynn Spears gets pregnant, it is considered a symptom > of liberal > decadence and the breakdown of family values; in the case > of one of Palin's > daughters, however, teen pregnancy gets reinterpreted as a > sign of > immaculate, small-town fecundity. And just imagine if, > instead of the > Palins, the Obama family had a pregnant, underage daughter > on display at > their convention, flanked by her black boyfriend who > "intends" to marry her. > Who among conservatives would have resisted the temptation > to speak of "the > dysfunction in the black community"? > > Teen pregnancy is a misfortune, plain and simple. At best, > it represents bad > luck (both for the mother and for the child); at worst, as > in the Palins' > case, it is a symptom of religious dogmatism. Governor > Palin opposes sex > education in schools on religious grounds. She has also > fought vigorously > for a "parental consent law" in the state of > Alaska, seeking full parental > dominion over the reproductive decisions of minors. We > know, therefore, that > Palin believes that she should be the one to decide whether > her daughter > carries her baby to term. Based on her stated position, we > know that she > would deny her daughter an abortion even if she had been > raped. One can be > forgiven for doubting whether Bristol Palin had all the > advantages of > 21st-century family planning—or, indeed, of the 21st > century. > > We have endured eight years of an administration that > seemed touched by > religious ideology. Bush's claim to Bob Woodward that > he consulted a "higher > Father" before going to war in Iraq got many of us > sitting upright, before > our attention wandered again to less ethereal signs of his > incompetence. For > all my concern about Bush's religious beliefs, and > about his merely average > grasp of terrestrial reality, I have never once thought > that he was an > over-the-brink, Rapture-ready extremist. Palin seems as > though she might be > the real McCoy. With the McCain team leading her around > like a pet pony > between now and Election Day, she can be expected to > conceal her religious > extremism until it is too late to do anything about it. Her > supporters know > that while she cannot afford to "talk the talk" > between now and Nov. 4, if > elected, she can be trusted to "walk the walk" > until the Day of Judgment. > > What is so unnerving about the candidacy of Sarah Palin is > the degree to > which she represents—and her supporters celebrate—the > joyful marriage of > confidence and ignorance. Watching her deny to Gibson that > she had ever > harbored the slightest doubt about her readiness to take > command of the > world's only superpower, one got the feeling that Palin > would gladly assume > any responsibility on earth: > > "Governor Palin, are you ready at this moment to > perform surgery on this > child's brain?" > > "Of course, Charlie. I have several boys of my own, > and I'm an avid hunter." > > > "But governor, this is neurosurgery, and you have no > training as a surgeon > of any kind." > > "That's just the point, Charlie. The American > people want change in how we > make medical decisions in this country. And when faced with > a challenge, you > cannot blink." > > The prospects of a Palin administration are far more > frightening, in fact, > than those of a Palin Institute for Pediatric Neurosurgery. > Ask yourself: > how has "elitism" become a bad word in American > politics? There is simply no > other walk of life in which extraordinary talent and > rigorous training are > denigrated. We want elite pilots to fly our planes, elite > troops to > undertake our most critical missions, elite athletes to > represent us in > competition and elite scientists to devote the most > productive years of > their lives to curing our diseases. And yet, when it comes > time to vest > people with even greater responsibilities, we consider it a > virtue to shun > any and all standards of excellence. When it comes to > choosing the people > whose thoughts and actions will decide the fates of > millions, then we > suddenly want someone just like us, someone fit to have a > beer with, someone > down-to-earth—in fact, almost anyone, provided that he or > she doesn't seem > too intelligent or well educated. > > I believe that with the nomination of Sarah Palin for the > vice presidency, > the silliness of our politics has finally put our nation at > risk. The world > is growing more complex—and dangerous—with each passing > hour, and our > position within it growing more precarious. Should she > become president, > Palin seems capable of enacting policies so detached from > the common > interests of humanity, and from empirical reality, as to > unite the entire > world against us. When asked why she is qualified to > shoulder more > responsibility than any person has held in human history, > Palin cites her > refusal to hesitate. "You can't blink," she > told Gibson repeatedly, as > though this were a primordial truth of wise governance. Let > us hope that a > President Palin would blink, again and again, while more > thoughtful people > decide the fate of civilization. > > Harris is a founder of The Reason Project and author of The > New York Times > best sellers "The End of Faith" and "Letter > to a Christian Nation." His Web > site is samharris.org. > > > -- > > "Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges." > - Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome. > > > --- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts --- > multipart/alternative > text/plain (text body -- kept) > text/html > --- > > _______________________________________________ > Post Messages to: [email protected] > Subscription Maintenance: > http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox > OT-free version of this list: > http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech > Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox > This message: > http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[EMAIL PROTECTED] > ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are > the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or > medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for > those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious. _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[EMAIL PROTECTED] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
