Religious right, Atheist left

Vanity | 4 December 2005 | Self

[johniegrad]

Do you have problems with handwashing, checking, or counting rituals?

[furball4paws]

You left out the Luddites, Left and Right.

"Open the H file, sack, sack, mate" - RJF

[stuartcr]

If you must label people, why not just say they are people with different beliefs?

[balrog666]

Obviously a one-dimensional scale (left-right) is a factually worthless descriptor.

And that's why the MSM keeps it around.

[Berosus]

I would also include anything that would be considered "New Age" in the "Religious Left" category.

[Oztrich Boy]

Atheist right: Confuses Liberty with Libertine

Actually that's the Religous Right. The merest suggestion that people make their own choices instead of the Government gets the accustation that you want people/yourself to become heroin using homosexuals

[furball4paws]

Is it fair that we're both here to chew?

[ChessExpert]

I certainly respect Bobby Fischer's advice in attacking the Sicilian Dragon. I've put it to use myself, with generally good results. Yet the Dragon is still around.

On political matters, Fischer seems to be a fruitcake, sad to say.

I suspect modern day Luddites can be probably be found in all four quadrants.

Thanks for your note.

[Sam Cree]

***"Right:
Small Government
Limited by Law - Constitution
Limited by structure - checks & balances
Low taxes, low spending, little regulation***

---

The above sure rules out George Bush and the Republican Party

Nor would I consider either most of the Religious Right or most modern conservatives to be classical liberals.

[furball4paws]

Atheism = Libertine? If you're going to do this kind of thing thoughtfully, you have to learn to leave your personal prejudices behind.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Unfortunately some Freepers seem to think that if you don't accept creationism and intelligent design as fact, or don't think that a brain-dead woman can magically come back to life, you belong in the Aethist category.

[kcar]

Except for the "Confuses Liberty with Libertine" dig, this was pretty useful.

[furball4paws]

Bobby always was a fruitcake, but over the board. Played against him in a simul. Ignominious defeat.

You will find no Luddites in the Atheist Right. If you know one let me know.

[ChessExpert]

"I would also include anything that would be considered "New Age" in the "Religious Left" category."

That's interesting to think about. If by "right" one means conservative, and by "left" one means a predilection for the new, I agree. But I'm thinking of right and left in terms of stance on government. In the most extreme sense, free (right), totalitarian (left). Marx recommended "dictatorship of the proletariat." The search for "true" communism; has been about as rewarding as the search for "real" unicorns. But there is no denying that communist regimes have been dictatorships.

[satchmodog9]

yup

[ChessExpert]

I like your tag line.

One thing your post brings to mind is a limitation of a quadrant. It does suggest four mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive categories. Well, that is almost what I mean. But there should also be a continuum along each axis. So, for example, between believing and atheist, there would be agnostic. Likewise in the political realm, there are varying degrees of reliance on government, not just two categories. Thanks.

[Sam Cree]

As far as I can see, the "Left" includes all those who adhere to socialism or any of its derivatives, modern liberalism being an example. I agree with you on that.

The "Right," OTOH, isn't so easy to pin down, it must include anything that's not left, and that's a lot, as this forum makes clear every day. Everyone has their own idea on what "right" means or what "conservative" means.

[ChessExpert]

"Except for the "Confuses Liberty with Libertine" dig, this was pretty useful."

Yes, that one element was a little controversial. But I'm glad you liked some of the post.

Did you own a K car?

[Right Wing Professor]

Played against him in a simul. Ignominious defeat.

Wow. You lucky bastard.