Why Twitchy, and the right, got the “oscar god shout-out” debate wrong….
The right has an ‘imaginary friend’. No, not god: merit.
Merit is the empty place setting at the table. The uncomfortable hole that sits between logic, and the ‘god of the gaps’. Today, Twitchy was effused with schadenfreude :
Matthew McConaughey rattles Oscar crowd, wins hearts by thanking God
Actor Matthew McConaughey won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance in the Dallas Buyers Club. He rattled Hollywood by first thanking not his agent or famous celeb pals, but his friend…God.…….A few cheers and claps were audible during his moment of gratitude. But as expected, the tolerant Left showed its true colors.
However, this kind of cheerleading for public exclamations of faith do a serious disservice to that other right-wing mantra: merit.
Either, McConaughey deserved to win on merit, and merit alone, or he did not deserve to win. For as long as i can remember, the Oscars have been a means to reward extreme accomplishments in the art and science of movie-making. That, hard work, determination, elan, creativity and ability were the making of the measure. Considering this, it is difficult to countenance the idea that McConaughey needed god’s help to win. For, if he did in fact need help, then he did not deserve to win, based on the merits.
If the right wants to live in a world where faith is the determination for excellence, not merit, then they need to drop all the pretense that poor people are lazy, unmerited, and lacking in creativity. Instead, to remain consistent, they need to make the 2014 and 2016 conservative platforms one that highlights exactly how they really feel: that rich people have god’s favor, and the poor just do not ‘have god on their side’.
Not that you need proof to understand this mutual exclusivity between ‘god-given’ success and merit, but if you do - here is an easy, and logical thought experiment to help you:
Imagine if it was a non-Christian god getting the plaudits…. turn it on it’s head…
luckily we already know how the right reacts in this situation: when Keith Ellison, took his oath of office on the Qur’an , the response was decidedly different…
Dennis Prager noted “America, not Keith Ellison, decides what book a Congressman takes his oath on”
Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) wrote a missive to his constituents that “Ellison’s decision to use the Qur’an is a threat to “the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America…[and] if American citizens don’t wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran”.
And, indeed, our erstwhile producer of “Twitchy”, Michelle Malkin, went as far as to create an “Ellison Watch” on her personal webpage.
Which brings me to another schadenfreude moment: Tim Tebow must have really angered the gods at some point.
So, whether it be sports, politics, or acting, the right and god are having a party, but merit, and by virtue, logic, are not invited…
