|
walking this line was a central element of the christian coalition's organization building. the central claim was, if i remember, just because you're a preacher doesn't mean you're no longer a citizen. the dodge this sets up is obvious--if a candidate were to be endorsed by name, it would happen from the citizen side of the preacher, who presumably would be wearing a different hat while in citizen mode than would be the case in preacher mode. i like to think a racoon skin hat for citizen mode, but that's probably a private fantasy.
conservatives are worried about the reimposition of the fairness doctrine on the public airwaves, which would erase much of the space currently occupied by reactionary radio, and a reconsideration of tax-exempt status for conservative think tanks, which i think is long overdue. i've been too busy to maintain the "conservative post-mortems" thread over the past couple days, but there's been another such in the washington post by that tool peter weyner and a front page news article today in which the general question is posed about whether it makes sense for conservatives to cut mc-cain loose now in order to try to minimize congressional losses. so the right is definitely sweating the outcome of the election---but i don't think they're terribly concerned about tax exempt status for churches coming up as an issue any time soon.
try to imagine a more polarizing move. i can't, really. even though i'd like to see that tax exemption erased, personally, so that the united states could maybe catch up with the french revolution someday.
breaking the back of the christian right can happen through other means. the disappearance of the coherence of their brand and such political traction as it once had beyond the reaches of the paleo-right is probably more damaging than anything else.
__________________
a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear
it make you sick.
-kamau brathwaite
|