The idea is to keep from controlling carbon. The religionists are useful dupes only for that part of it.

religious belief does not respond to things like logic, compassion - or anything other than their own religious belief. It is a brick wall.

They play the faith card -- they just have to believe.

From my standpoint that is a cheat, in Dennett's words, an exclusionary move. We don't have to take anybody serious when they play that card.

What's worse is the claim of authority of a holy book. That's just a pack of outright lies, as anybody with an even cursory knowledge of the Bible could tell you.

ALEC and other similar sources of conservative political funding are not only driven by religious belief. They appear to have larger economic agendas. The attack on Environmental Science has been well documented as conceived and run by the Oil interests. The recent attacks on Women's rights have been coordinated, well funded and persistent. I suggest they have similar sources for similar reasons. There is an over all process of redacting the economic and political gains resulting from the New Deal and the Great Society initiatives being run by ALEC, Karl Rove and other Neo-Conservatives. In practice they have resorted to many versions of the same old fascist dogma: initiate hate and fear among voters by any means available. The coordinated legislative attacks on reproductive rights make no sense in any other context. They do not represent any majority view regardless of political affiliation.

It is the political equivalent of starting many wildfires over a large area. Each fire requires energy and resources to put it out. When you are engaged in fighting those wildfires you cannot devote time and energy to other issues. It also creates the false impression of a widespread majority where none really exists. The point of these programmed attacks is to divide and exhaust progressive political forces and to generate political conflict. It amounts to political terrorism.

because that's what motivates this.

If people already are proud of believing irrational and unprovable things then they are primed for further irrational and unprovable beliefs, all it takes is a constant dogwhistle of propaganda tuned to the particular frequency that they hear.

This, without a doubt.

I mean, obviously, they don't want to clean up their pollution. But what do they gain economically from attacking women in this manner?

Sure, some brands of fundamentalism are wrapped around this axle. I think the war on women perhaps sources more from the fundy camp than the war on science as there is little economic incentive for it.

The war on science is fundamentally economic in origin. Protecting the environment has costs, and businesses do not want to pay them. They have managed to sell this to some fundys as a religious matter, but it existed as an economic argument first.

Idiotic, anti-scientific beliefs are not the sole province of the Right.

But with the left it's a bug, with the right a feature..

They created think tanks to deny science in order not to be regulated.

Last edited Thu Apr 5, 2012, 09:50 AM - Edit history (1)

The bulk of these people are not "fundies".

And this is NOT a new policy for them.

The problem is that they run a great many hospitals
and schools and agencies.

They historically spend much of their time making sure
that women stay in their place of second-class citizenship.

SOMEONE'S got to sacrifice their lives to the family, and
it AIN'T gonna be Dad!

want to exploit those beliefs for political gain.