The Non-Religious Right and the Militant Left

A twofer:   Two different subjects.  What can I say?  I'm tired and there have been some really good articles lately.

Issue #1: Goldberg has posted a little piece musing on why the GOP might be alienating Asians.  Dennis Prager (in addition to Goldberg) and S.E. Cupp have both spoken out in support of the cultural roots of America... Prager being a religious Jew and Cupp being a self-professed atheist; neither being threatened by leftwing rumors of a theocracy.  Many like to point out that several Founding Fathers were Deists.  Some certainly were, but there were many public and government-supported expressions of (general) faith from the very beginning that show that they had a very different take on "the separation of church and state."  However, America wasn't then a theocracy, and it has since relentlessly secularized from fear of being mistaken for one.

I can't go into all the complexities of the relationship between the Christian culture and the distinctly American  elaboration of the British conception of political rights.  Most conservative Christians, I think, have a tenuous grasp of the basis of their conservative principles and would do well to understand that they are not straight out of the Bible.  (Christian socialists would do well to do the same.)

It is the social conservatism that is often a hard sell, and one of the problems with it is that conservatives haven't embraced Reagan's New Federalism (really, just a reaffirmation of the Tenth Amendment) and pushed for greater local autonomy and greater state autonomy in social issues.  When they do, they have difficulty not getting browbeaten by liberals with "states' rights" being equated with racism.

Communities need to have leeway in deciding what is appropriate expression of religion and First Amendment practices.  States need good rules to protect individuals in the process.  This is better than having 9 unelected experts-in-all-things-wise apply the same bad political theories to all Americans.  This is something that is arguably of great interest to other traditional cultures that come here.

I think social conservatism needs to be advocated in terms of allowing parents and communities of parents create an atmosphere in which their children can be raised in their values instead of the values of professional educators and entertainers.

Issue #2:  I think I've mentioned before recently the way the media and liberal pundits (but I repeat myself) have hyped any bad vibes at any event related to the Tea Party movement, while having a very different attitude toward the general awfulness of the Occupy movement and union activists all over the country.  The success that many states have had in getting their financial ducks in a row has followed clipping the hitherto unfettered power of various unions (especially in education).  Considering what has been attributed as "brownshirt" tactics of the Tea Partiers, the recent union tantrums should get a lot of notice.  But don't expect them to.