Flush with a stolen victory and a deeply divided America, the right has declared war on the left and specifically on the ACLU and non-Christians
I’m not sure if the right is feeling galvanized and emboldened after the election, or if they are trying shore up support because they are feeling vulnerable. My guess is the former. It seems that Christian Conservatives are using the Christmas season to wage a war on non-Christian liberals and the ACLU. Why they are choosing to go after the ACLU is beyond me since they have defended Christians right to their religion pretty often too.
This attack is too coordinated for it to be coming from a single high ranking member of the religious right. Time and time again, the White House has pushed the more extreme planks of its agenda using Christian Conservative mouthpieces and an emasculated press which does no reporting of its own. Press releases are being issued by churches and Christians claiming that the ACLU is threatening to sue them over all sorts of nonsense things. A teacher in San Francisco tried to teach his social studies class that America is a Christian nation and they Christianity is the one true religion. The result, he was fired. He is suing the school claiming that he was just teaching the constitution. Of course he issued a press release that he was fired by a “liberal” school board because he was religious. The right-wing-nut talk show hosts picked up on it and now they are spinning it. There are about a million stories like this floating around this year.
I think that the rest of us can’t let this go by, it is unfortunate that there isn’t some sort of coordination across liberal groups, it makes it very difficult for concerted action, which is exactly how the right continually trashes us. Maybe it is time for us to get more organized to counter this liberal-bashing. Maybe it is time for us to start bashing the right more publicly. Maybe it is time for a showdown.
Randi Rhodes has been covering this in excellent detail on her show for the last couple weeks.
Here’s some examples I’ve found in disperate parts of the web, but with eeriely similar ideas and wording.
A Letter to the editor of the Southern Illinois University student paper
A poll conducted by a Conservative media watchdog group (lots more creepily evil articles here)
Some complete asshole’s blog
Another sheep brainwashed by right wing blog
A bunch of idiots protest the ACLU for something that hasn’t happened
Another moron’s blog (this site gives me some kind of Timothy McVeigh vibe, I’m not sure why)
A scary, 38 year old single man defends family values and attacks liberals for hating christmas
Now, how can YOU help?
Join the ACLU if you aren’t a member! If you hear someone on a radio show or around you attacking the ACLU or liberals, point them to the website and challenge them to find evidence of any of the right wing’s claims that the ACLU hates Christmas. Show them all the many times that ACLU has defended people’s ability to worship as they please (including Christians). Most importantly, make sure your voice is heard! The right and religious zealots rely on the fact that they can drown us out, show them that they are wrong!
Remember:
First they came for the socialists,
and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me.
–Pastor Martin Niemoller, Nazi Germany, circa 1945.