The Battle Against Belief

I think this column in today's NY Times addresses an interesting issue.

I've thought about this myself to some extent. It's disheartening to know that Rove may have been mostly right about this, that you can divide an electorate on issues of faith and "morality", and stir your base to show up to vote by appealing to their desire to battle against gay marriages or unions, abortion rights, or prayer in school(and the complementary strategy of siezing a mandate based on this narrow victory.)

Unfortunately, this battle between enlightenment and faith(or belief)is a battle that has probably been waged in one form or another since the beginning of American history. Don't forget the real reason the pilgrims came over; to be free of religious oppression yes, but also to freely oppress those who disagreed with them. And it probably will be waged as long as our country exists, as it's waged in other countries and other societies the world over. The simple fact is there are always those who will value personal liberty to some degree more than "traditional" moral values...and vice versa. And those two elements will always compete, to some degre or another, on the political battlefield. Certainly those traditionalists, the "faithful", have the upper-hand now with their representatives domination Congress and the White House.

But we should also not forget that over time, history bends to those who believe in greater personal liberty and responsibility. Those with faith continually harp on the degredation of morality in America, but the simple fact is that they have yielded time and time again to a more modern, and sensible, position on morality and faith. And they will again. I have a strong feeling that in 25 years people who fought against gay marraige will be remembered along with those who battled against segregation, as standing on the wrong side of history.

Let's not forget though that this is not a natural phenomenon. This adjustment takes place over time because people like us, day in and day out, work to persuade those who stand on the edge that our view is one of true moral purpose. So there's no excuse to sit back and dally while "true belivers" storm the halls of Congress and the White House and try to roll back history. If anything, it should be more encouragement to go out and fight against these beliefs, and to show to our fellow Americans that what we hold as moral values is not an absence of belief, but a belief in and of itself that is even stronger.

Those are my thoughts; the issue is much more complicated and deserves uch more treatment.. But it's certainly a place to start.