johnhanks
Well-Known Member
There are, no doubt, some left-wing biblical fundamentalists, and some on the political right who regard Genesis as myth or allegory; but I would suggest that overall the correlation between fundamentalist religious views (including creationism) and right-wing political opinion is too strong to be coincidental: one is a powerful prop to the other.
The political right has a strong interest in maintaining the social status quo, including inequalities embedded in that status quo; and religious fundamentalism provides a powerful source of justification for those inequalities. In the past biblical fundamentalism has been used to justify slavery and racial inequality; more recently it has been used to justify keeping women 'in their place' as obedient home-makers, and at present it is still being invoked to justify unequal treatment of gays.
So which is the cart and which the horse in this relationship? Does a starting point in religious fundamentalism lead people to a right-wing political perspective, or vice versa? I'm inclined to think the latter: that a society with an entrenched conservative outlook, especially if it has social inequalities its upper castes will profit by preserving, will gravitate toward religious fundamentalism. The American bible belt comes to mind, as, perhaps, does the South Africa of a couple of generations ago, when apartheid was enthusiastically endorsed by the Dutch Reformed Church.
So, is the above merely a statement of the obvious? Or have I invented or exaggerated the correlation in question? All views welcome.
The political right has a strong interest in maintaining the social status quo, including inequalities embedded in that status quo; and religious fundamentalism provides a powerful source of justification for those inequalities. In the past biblical fundamentalism has been used to justify slavery and racial inequality; more recently it has been used to justify keeping women 'in their place' as obedient home-makers, and at present it is still being invoked to justify unequal treatment of gays.
So which is the cart and which the horse in this relationship? Does a starting point in religious fundamentalism lead people to a right-wing political perspective, or vice versa? I'm inclined to think the latter: that a society with an entrenched conservative outlook, especially if it has social inequalities its upper castes will profit by preserving, will gravitate toward religious fundamentalism. The American bible belt comes to mind, as, perhaps, does the South Africa of a couple of generations ago, when apartheid was enthusiastically endorsed by the Dutch Reformed Church.
So, is the above merely a statement of the obvious? Or have I invented or exaggerated the correlation in question? All views welcome.