Friday, September 02, 2011

Christopher Hitchens on Rick Perry

I wish I wasn't such a big fan of Christopher Hitchens. The man can write better than just about anyone that I know and, even if I disagree with his religious perspectives, he is very insightful and thought-provoking.  About Rick Perry, he writes:
Is there any evidence, if it comes to that, that Perry has ever studied the theory of evolution for long enough to be able to state roughly what it says? And how much textual and hermeneutic work did he do before deciding on the "inerrancy" of Jewish and Christian scripture? It should, of course, be the sincere believers and devout faithful who ask him, and themselves, these questions. But somehow, it never is. The risks of hypocrisy seem forever invisible to the politicized Christians, for whom sufficient proof of faith consists of loud and unambiguous declarations. I am always surprised that more is not heard from sincere religious believers, who have the most to lose if faith becomes a matter of poll-time dogma and lung power.
More is not heard from sincere believers because, despite his ignorance of modern science, Perry resonates with his evangelical base. He hasn't said anything that a large majority of them would disagree with. In most of rural America (fly-over country for the DNC), young earth creationism is lingua franca and this is the base he is trying to reach. He also knows, however, that he can't alienate the rest of the country so he hedges his bets by waffling on the age of the earth. I doubt he knows what that is, either.

6 comments:

  1. Exactly right. He's preaching to a very enthusiastic choir that rejects any Christian who does not fall in line with their "values".

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  2. I am still not convinced that Perry is electable but we shall see.

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  3. I've got grave concerns about every one of the GOP candidates right now....They all appear to be pandering to the same group, as though there were no other kind of conservative that the religious far-right. Is it possible that they are right?

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  4. Color me “independent”

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  5. I don't see Hitchens as this great guy you all seem to. He preaches hate, and you could not kill Muslims fast enought to keep him happy.

    He was gung ho for all the Bush Wars, and supported all the actions in support of them.

    The former Trotskyist now turned Christian hater is not an example for anyone.

    Fortunately, he has had to shut up lately.

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  6. By the way, we here in the Heartland are indeed Fly Over Country to the DNC.

    They don't care about us...they would sacrifice us in a minute to save themselves; my dad pointed out thats why they placed all the ICBMS here in Mo. and Ks. back in the 60's when those things were still useful.

    Why are you suprised that many of us despise them?

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