ironlock (a conservative) made what in my opinion was the best post in the history of Mad Jack's a few years ago. He posted a speech given by Dennis Prager (a noted conservative) that absolutely blew me away. The speech was made in the early part of this decade and it argued that America was becoming too secular. A return to religion was the only answer, Prager said. It contained such piercing insight that it literally changed my life (no shit).
One of the most striking parts of the essay was his assesment of liberal Jews. He said that liberal Jews had become much more liberal than Jewish. That a liberal Jewish mother would be more aghast if little Ari brought home a conservative than if he brought home a Catholic. I can tell you that this is true in a disturbing number of cases. Hell, Chioma is Catholic and I honestly believe she wouldn't care what religion I believed in as long as I wasn't a conservative. (hey, she's young and silly)
A half decade later, conservatives have fallen into this same trap. I mean, you see it everywhere. Look at this forum. Conservatives take far more care to promote a right wing agenda than they ever would to promote their religion. Lunatic fringe professors and solicitors for charities draw more Christian conservative ire than the crisis of priests in the Catholic Church ever could.
They'll tell you otherwise. To a man, religious conservatives will profess that worship comes first and all secular aspects of life come second. For many, this is true. But for many more, it's a hollow claim. Their money, their energy and their general behavior is much more pointed towards the conservative movement than the any religious movement.
This is not to say things have reached the point that they have with liberals and their religion. It's still a wide margin. But as this, "cultural war," heats up and ConservativeMatch.com draws more and more JDate alumni, religious conservatives are going to continue to let their secular interests take precedence over their faith.
One of the most striking parts of the essay was his assesment of liberal Jews. He said that liberal Jews had become much more liberal than Jewish. That a liberal Jewish mother would be more aghast if little Ari brought home a conservative than if he brought home a Catholic. I can tell you that this is true in a disturbing number of cases. Hell, Chioma is Catholic and I honestly believe she wouldn't care what religion I believed in as long as I wasn't a conservative. (hey, she's young and silly)
A half decade later, conservatives have fallen into this same trap. I mean, you see it everywhere. Look at this forum. Conservatives take far more care to promote a right wing agenda than they ever would to promote their religion. Lunatic fringe professors and solicitors for charities draw more Christian conservative ire than the crisis of priests in the Catholic Church ever could.
They'll tell you otherwise. To a man, religious conservatives will profess that worship comes first and all secular aspects of life come second. For many, this is true. But for many more, it's a hollow claim. Their money, their energy and their general behavior is much more pointed towards the conservative movement than the any religious movement.
This is not to say things have reached the point that they have with liberals and their religion. It's still a wide margin. But as this, "cultural war," heats up and ConservativeMatch.com draws more and more JDate alumni, religious conservatives are going to continue to let their secular interests take precedence over their faith.
