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Is there such a thing as "religious correctness"?

Asked by Zuma (5908points) February 6th, 2010

Recently, I forced myself to watch as much as I could of an episode of Glenn Beck (Ann Coulter was on, so I didn’t last long). One of the things that struck me, apart from their fevered conspiratorial tone and their repetition of conservative cliches, was their almost obsessional preoccupation with the Left’s “political correctness,” which seemed to be their principle mode of understanding the Left and framing their narrative that the Left is monolithic mindset of consisting of enforced politeness that stifles individual freedom of thought and expression.

When Beck called Obama a racist, it seemed very much as though he was projecting onto Obama very thing he was guilty of. So, I wondered if there might not be something equivalent to “political correctness” on the Right—which having been almost completely taken over by the Religious Right, might be called “religious correctness.” After all, the Right seems (at least to liberals like me) to be the regimented, cult-like mindset of dittoheads living in their own alternate reality, completely bereft of the critical thinking skills necessary to form an independent thought.

As it turns out, I’m not the first person to have this thought. But the literature is scant. What are the tenets of “religious correctness”?

It seems to me that one of them is that the separation of church and state is a lowdown dirty liberal lie, and therefore, the ACLU, which fights for the separation, is “against God.” Secularists believe in evolution, and don’t care for prayer in public schools; so they too are also “against God,” as are humanists who refuse to declare their fealty to God by turning their lives over to Jesus.

Anyone who is born-again Christian is, by definition, a “good person,” a “real American,” patriotic, pro-life and going to go to Heaven. It seems to follow that anyone who isn’t born-again isn’t really a Christian, isn’t a good person, isn’t a “real American,” is unpatriotic, is pro-death, if he’s a critic he is a communist, socialist or fascist, and, of course, is going to Hell.

One of the tenets of born-again evangelism is that human nature is basically selfish and depraved. Corporal punishment is Biblical. therefore parents should demand strict obedience from their children, using corporal punishment to compel instant, unthinking obedience. Adults who transgress should likewise be punished harshly. Those who criticize the born-again movement should be silence, And those who attack us should be tortured and killed. Harshness is good, empathy is bad.

Homosexuality is an abomination before God. Therefore homosexuals are selfish and inconsiderate because their acts so anger God that they risk calling down His wrath on the rest of us. Therefore, in order to discourage homosexuality (and please God) homosexuals should be shamed and deprived of their rights so that they stay out of sight, and if they disobey, kill them.

Abortion is likewise selfish and also murder, and also invites God’s wrath. Government is bad when it promotes rights and equality; it is good when the world is hurtling to destruction because that will trigger the Second Coming. Government is when it is used to purify the world of evildoers or unbelievers, then all manner of coercion and violence are desirable.

Please help me think through the rest of it, and develop it as a meme.

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