Thursday, May 27, 2004
Misunderstood on America's secularization: I agree with Bill O'Reilly! (for once)
Since I seem to be taking issue with some of Jody's points that take issue with my points that take issue with his points, I figure I might as well jump on another one right now, since I'm listening to the Radio Factor, and actually heard Bill O'Reilly say something that I could agree with on the subject.
Jody's original assessment is made here; again, for simplicity, I will quote him here:
Here is what I said originally; you can read it here:
But (for me) to listen to Bill, every single thing that anyone ever does is designed to remove the Deity from every aspect of society, which (to Bill) is always a bad thing. I don't see that. It's sort of like the boy who cries "Secularization!" Or something like that. It becomes easier to ignore the good points he might make, because (it seems to me that) every other word out of his mouth is "Secularization, Secularization, Secularization."
Recently, the ACLU has threatened to sue the county of Los Angeles over the use of a cross in the county's official seal. Today on the Radio Factor, Bill quite astutely made the observation that the elements of the seal represent diverse elements illustrating the region's history, geography, economy, and culture. I agree with him that this represents a silly attempt by the ACLU to erase recognition of a region's history simply they because they have a religious underpinning. Anyone who knows the history of California knows that that very history has religious underpinning, and that that history can't be rewritten at this point. Sweeping that history under the rug because of its religious quality represents the sort of short-sighted secularization that does go on, and should be checked.
Now if only Bill would fine tune that message a little...
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Since I seem to be taking issue with some of Jody's points that take issue with my points that take issue with his points, I figure I might as well jump on another one right now, since I'm listening to the Radio Factor, and actually heard Bill O'Reilly say something that I could agree with on the subject.
Jody's original assessment is made here; again, for simplicity, I will quote him here:
1. There is no ongoing secularization of America because we were not previously a theocracy. (Emphasis added.)Whoa, whoa. Wait.
Here is what I said originally; you can read it here:
It often confuses me when people like Bill O'Reilly rail against the so-called secularization of America.As far as I am concerned, that is a far cry from saying that there is no ongoing secularization of America. It says just what it says: that it confuses me that Bill O'Reilly rails against it so extensively. Maybe the fact that I referred to it as "so-called" suggests that I think that it doesn't exist. That's not the case. If I were to give the matter some more thought, I might give the phenomenon a different name: one that recognizes that there are certain instances in which it should be perfectly acceptable to live out the creed of a secular state, while allowing for the fact that there are religious bases for certain elements of our history and common culture that shouldn't be so quickly torn down.
But (for me) to listen to Bill, every single thing that anyone ever does is designed to remove the Deity from every aspect of society, which (to Bill) is always a bad thing. I don't see that. It's sort of like the boy who cries "Secularization!" Or something like that. It becomes easier to ignore the good points he might make, because (it seems to me that) every other word out of his mouth is "Secularization, Secularization, Secularization."
Recently, the ACLU has threatened to sue the county of Los Angeles over the use of a cross in the county's official seal. Today on the Radio Factor, Bill quite astutely made the observation that the elements of the seal represent diverse elements illustrating the region's history, geography, economy, and culture. I agree with him that this represents a silly attempt by the ACLU to erase recognition of a region's history simply they because they have a religious underpinning. Anyone who knows the history of California knows that that very history has religious underpinning, and that that history can't be rewritten at this point. Sweeping that history under the rug because of its religious quality represents the sort of short-sighted secularization that does go on, and should be checked.
Now if only Bill would fine tune that message a little...
Comments(0) |
