Peeved

(My hackles have been raised after listening to provocative shows on NPR all week dealing with these issues.)

I am so sick of this idea of "culture wars," especially when issues such as same-sex marriages and teaching evolution are lumped under this heading.

Same-sex marriage is not a "culture" issue. It's an equal-rights issue. That would be like putting racial equality under the "culture war" heading. It's ridiculous. And shame on John Kerry for speaking out against Massachusetts Democrats for putting their pro-gay marriage stance on the state platform. I used to stick up for Kerry. Back in the primary days I thought he was a good guy who started his career from pure motives. I still think he began his political career with the best intentions, but now I think he's a mess, and I wish he would just go away.

Teaching evolution... I don't even know where to start. Of course you teach evolution--it's a science class. There is nothing scientific about the Bible. When I was a school this just wasn't even an issue. I think I had one science teacher, Mr. V, who mentioned in passing that there were people who choose a relgious view of the universe's beginnings, but that's not what this science class was about. And that was it. That's all. I mean, if you take a science class, if you're teaching science, that's exactly what you should do. If parents want their children to receive religious education, be exposed to religious viewpoints, send them to a private, faith-based school. Or send them to Sunday School every week--that's what my Mom did. And it never occurred to me as a child that what I learned during the week was in any way conflicting with Sunday school. It just wasn't an issue.

I read an article in which a religious conservative (and I wish I could remember the source of this) equated the "liberal agenda" with the Taliban. That we (as I consider myself liberal--perhaps radically so, in a commonsense kind of way) are like the Taliban is the most ridiculous thing. If anything, we're the opposite. The Christian Conservatives who are trying to push religion to the forefront of law-making and politics, they're like the Taliban, and other Muslim extremists who want a government based on the Koran. How do they not see that?

OK, I know I need to stop now. I'm getting all worked up. I just don't understand how they can be so unreasonable and so single-minded. I find such people scary, to tell the truth. On a fundamental level I'm afraid of about half of the U.S. population. So bizarre.

It's Friday. Finally. It's the weekend and I've decided that I'll just not think about this anymore.