“Drink Entire:

Against the madness of crowds.”

That’s the title of a story by Mr. Ray Bradbury that came floating back to when I saw this wonderful, thoughtful piece by commentor Midwest Meg deep in the thread of this post over at Mr. Gilliard’s Shoppe (same as the one linked to two posts below).

Take a moment and give it a read: I guarantee you’ll be richly rewarded.

Here’s Midwest Meg:

Great post by Steve and great comments too.

I especially agree with the comments that these folks are totally driven by fear and rage. But fear is their first and deepest emotion. Which is why I like seeing the blogs call 'em bedwetters

I may have posted about this before, but about eight years ago, my Baptist minister cousin sent me a letter saying he was praying that all liberals like me be eliminated but a few left alive and put in cages on the Capital Mall, so that people could walk by the few caged survivors and point at them and say they never want to allow those people to "return" to America.

I don't know what set my cousin off. He was fund-raising for a Bible college at the time, so I suspect he had just spent long hours driving around in a car, listening to Rush Limbaugh and working himself into a rage. (Which is pretty much like masturbating while driving all day.) Got to the hotel at night and needed to pound his way to his glorious release. I'm probably the only liberal he actually knows, so I got the letter even though I barely know him. I've only see him every few years at family reunions or weddings when we were always friendly to each other.

My cousin is about 60, so he wrote me this piece of hate mail in his mid- 50s. In many ways, his bio fits what you’ve all been saying about right-wingers: he was a sensitive, pudgy kid who was often teased, he didn't do well in school, went to Bible college, became a Baptist minister, always serving at small rural congregations. He was not a great success as a pastor, so he switched over to fund-raising and has done okay. Not super. Just okay.

So by almost all cultural standards of success, he’s pretty mediocre. But he married a good, smart fundie woman and raised three nice kids who are now adults---albeit adults who went to Bible colleges, got married, attend conservative megachurches and are now homeschooling their kids or sending them to Christian "academies." etc. It's really closed- loop, reinforcing kind of culture.

In short, I think my cousin is a right-wing conservative because i it appeals to all his rage and fear. But also because right-wing Republican stufff is emotionally engaging in a way that liberal stuff is mostly not. My cousin is not a thinker. He's all emotion.--especially darker untapped emotions.

Both fundies and Republicans know how to directly appeal to people’s emotions. In fact, that’s their main appeal, since their actual policies and theology aren’t particularly sane or even attractive.

I come from a fundie family. I'm convinced a lot of fundies struggle with undiagnosed clinical depression. Fundies talk obsessively about Joy and Victory Through Christ and praising God. But God is not to be questioned and any anger at God is immediately shut-down. God is like the ultimate Bad Date or Bad Boss: a needy, egotistical, rageaholic Deity who needs needs constant adoration and is too fragile to handle the least bit of criticism. So we always had shut-up, suck up and give God lots of praise. You know, the old Praise Jesus Or He'll Torture You To Death in Hell.

(Sort of like the Freepers, Christian wingnuts approach to George W. )

As a fundie, once you've accepted Christ as you personal saviour and Lord, you're saved. You're a new person who puts on a happy face and talks about the joy, joy, joy, joy down in your heart.
But of course, all your old rage, fears and loathings don't go away. They just lie there in the dark. Which is why it's so easy to get fundies whipped up about liberals and gays and brown hordes coming across the border. It’s just redirected rage.

I'm now Episcopalian, so I regularly listen to Episcopalians shake their heads over the growth of conservative megachurches. I don't think evangelical churches---or the Republicans and the corporate media—have power because of their theology or politics. I think they get power because they emotionally engage people while mainline churches---and Democrats—don’t They talk feelings. We talk about intellectual stuff like policy.

Any time any group can't deal with an essential part of being human---emotions, intellect, spirituality, sex--they will pay a price.
Right-wingers are intellectually dishonest and dysfunctional to their very core. They have no policies beyond short-term greed and hate. They'll pay their own price for that. (Also for their hang-ups on sex.) They're building their own house on sand.

And I'm not saying Dems and Epsiscopalians have to go into total emotion. But we have to get a balance back into our groups and start emotionally engaging people on a deep level. We also have to learn to deal with folks' darker emotions as well.

Because that's where a whole lot of people---like my cousin and his Freep fellows--live.

People like Steve and so many others in the lefty blogosphere are giving us great, daily examples on how to be emotionally engaged and intellectually tough. Now we have to get the Democratic party to do it---probably by electing a whole new crew of leaders. Which means this is a long-haul job.

Might as well turn up the music, have a good time and get started.
Midwest Meg