“Whatever became of Agnew?” – Robert A. Heinlein, 1960
You pushed one of my buttons, JayJay
[ul][li]Solar power? Check.[/li][li]Urban sprawl along routes connecting major cities, with concomitant shrinking of central cities? Check.[/li][li]Resurgence of interest in witchcraft? Check.[/li][li]Spread of fundamentalism outside the Bible Belt? Check.[/li][li]Streaking? Check.[/li][li]Recrudescence of Neonazism? Check.[/li][li]Life prolongation by intensive invasive devices when the body is no longer self-sustaining? Check.[/li][li]TV ads for birth control? Check.[/li][li]Earrings on males as part of a macho image? Check.[/li][li]Household automatic cleaning devices and CAD systems? Check.[/li][li]Televangelist running for President? Check.[/li][li]Kettle-Belly’s shopping list of" hallmarks of a sick culture"? Check.[/li][li]A chief executive whose wife advises him on the basis of what her astrologer tells her?!? Check.[/li][/ul]
…and that’s only a partial list.
I hate playing Cassandra. But I don’t think your hope is particularly well-founded any more.
Hell, if we’re going to bet on Heinlein, I want to be a Howard!
And there are quite a few points where, while I can understand Heinlein’s point of view and acknowledge that it’s valid, there are others where I’m distinctly uncomfortable offering my imprimatur, so I’ll continue to be foolishly optimistic on the Scudder point.
You know, left to my own devices, if I hadn’t opened this thread, the only naked man I would have pictured this evening is the lovely, slender, hairy, rather muscular one I’ve been dating. Instead, you two’ve given me Pat Robertson?!! :eek: :eek: Polycarp, I can resume work on the pi shawl!
Getting back to the OP, as the whole Terry Schiavo mess reached it’s peak, I remember thinking that some of our politicians are about to learn an important lesson. Summoning the demon is easy. Getting him to do what you want is the hard part. It’s also dangerous.
Now I’m picturing the Christian Coalition’s next television ad campaign…
[Clean-cut young man is walking down the path, reading his Bible. He nears a group picketing an abortion clinic. Clean-cut young woman holding a picket sign with the slogan “Aren’t you glad your mother was pro-life?” comes into view. Clean-cut young man and clean-cut young woman collide, sending the Bible and sign flying.]
CCYM: Hey! You got your politics in my religion!
CCYW: You got your religion in my politics!
CCYM: Wait…that looks pretty good to me.
CCYW: Me, too!
CCYW & CCYM: Two great tastes that go great together! Faith-based politics…try it today!
Religion is used as a club and a cloak by both politicians and moralists, all of them lusting for power and most of them palpable frauds. H. L. Mencken
