re: #168 realwest

But - LGFer Freetoken today and yesterday, linked to some Gallup Poll numbers that seem to indicate that a large percentage - a majority - of Republicans believe in creationism NOW - as do a surprising number - though a distinct minority - of Democrats.

Over the years I had forgotten about these controversies… and when I lived in the Orient the issue was just not on the table.

Since being back here, and seeing how the public/political discourse has developed over the past couple of years, it is no wonder that Charles returned to this topic (apparently a favorite of his from years ago.)

There are threads (philosophical, not a blog entry) in American public life regarding religion, a national religion, and extreme independence from central authorities that make up the American society and is in contrast to others’.

Other societies certainly place high premiums on religion, even Christianity. E.g., Mexico, but there the Catholicism dominant society appears to keep sectarian issues from being a major player in political life (though general religious beliefs are very important in other aspects of that society.)

I’m one of those independents that some party faithful may scorn… I’ve registered for a party once, Republican, and that was during the Davis recall era when I wanted to vote in the Republican primary. Other than that, even though I’d say the majority of the candidates I’ve voted for during my life were listed under the (R) on the ballot, I hold no allegiance to the Republican party. I vote for the person.

My parents families in great part were all FDR Democrats, coming from that era. That was so common for many Americans coming from not-so-rich working families in the midwest.

To me, if the GOP does not get ahead of this issue - that of wanting to turn the clock back (or as Charles calls it, Atavism) on society, then I strongly suspect that the GOP will force many of us “independents” to go elsewhere. As a group the independents in the US often keep many Americanisms (such as desire for local government vs. central authority), but are very very averse to sectarian religious intrusions.

Those Gallup polls indicate this. Though not greatly different than the self-described Democrat respondents, the independents did poll as being more averse to the entry of creationism into public education.

For me, I am finding it hard to vote for the Republicans if their platform indicates they want to try and re-create a 1950’s style America. That time is gone, most of those people are gone. We live in the 21st century, and we (as a citizenry) have to address the problems of our day. It has been 8 decades since the Scopes era - we have to move on.