Moyers on Fundamentalist Facism
These are words from a speech given by Bill Moyers the week of 5 September 2005 at Union Theological Seminary. The speech was called "9/11 And The Sport of God".
Before the main excerpt, here is a short quotation from near the end of the speech, a statement of the impediment that right-thinking Americans must overcome to prevail:
Our democratic values are imperiled because too many people of reason are willing to appease irrational people just because they are pious.
Now, the larger excerpt, which more or less summarizes the thesis of the speech.
We can’t wiggle out of this, people. Alvin Hawkins states it frankly: “This is a problem we can’t walk away from.” We’re talking about a powerful religious constituency that claims the right to tell us what’s on God’s mind and to decide the laws of the land according to their interpretation of biblical revelation and to enforce those laws on the nation as a whole. For the Bible is not just the foundational text of their faith; it has become the foundational text for a political movement.
True, people of faith have always tried to bring their interpretation of the Bible to bear on American laws and morals—this very seminary is part of that tradition; it’s the American way, encouraged and protected by the First Amendment. But what is unique today is that the radical religious right has succeeded in taking over one of America’s great political parties—the country is not yet a theocracy but the Republican Party is—and they are driving American politics, using God as a battering ram on almost every issue: crime and punishment, foreign policy, health care, taxation, energy, regulation, social services and so on.
What’s also unique is the intensity, organization, and anger they have brought to the public square. Listen to their preachers, evangelists, and homegrown ayatollahs: Their viral intolerance—their loathing of other people’s beliefs, of America’s secular and liberal values, of an independent press, of the courts, of reason, science and the search for objective knowledge—has become an unprecedented sectarian crusade for state power. They use the language of faith to demonize political opponents, mislead and misinform voters, censor writers and artists, ostracize dissenters, and marginalize the poor.
And now, from the concluding moments of the speech.
As I look back on the conflicts and clamor of our boisterous past, one lesson about democracy stands above all others: Bullies—political bullies, economic bullies and religious bullies—cannot be appeased; they have to be opposed with a stubbornness to match their own. This is never easy; these guys don’t fight fair; “Robert’s Rules of Order” is not one of their holy texts. But freedom on any front—and especially freedom of conscience—never comes to those who rock and wait, hoping someone else will do the heavy lifting.
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on Tuesday, 13 September 2005 at 21.51
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Great post, excellent speech. While I'm tossing rose petals, here's a few for the seminary.
I have just one question for Moyers:
You're knowledgeable, articulate, experienced, full of insights exemplary values and fighting spirit. You're what Democrats need. So, why don't you run for Congress?