Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Secular Humanism, or "Shafarism"

Most of my lefty friends/acquaintances and I agree on this:
Religious wingnuttery is patently, undeniably absurd, and its influence on our current political landscape is the death knell of progress.

And if anything makes me insane in debating with fundamentalists and/or O'Reilly parrots, it's the insistence that anyone NOT devoutly religious is directly responsible for the decline of American society. The much-maligned "secular humanists" represent not only a sizable portion of Yanks, but suffer from unmitigated smears and character assassination that's nothing short of Rovian.

Of course, the apt defense against such tactics starts with information. Sam Smith at the Progressive Review offers up a great essay describing just who these people are and reminds us that the best way to reserve a place at the policy table is to stand up and demand it. The wingnuts will continue to hog the mike and monopolize the spotlight only if we "Shafarists" stand aside and let them do it, and I think we can all agree, they've had their turn.

(thanks to Greenlily for the find)

1 comment:

Lily said...

Yes- we do not have to roll over and allow others to define us by their terms, nor do we have to preface our views with apologetic bullshit. (point made much better by Officious Pedant on "patriotism".