Comments on: What would a 21st century democratic theocracy look like?

By: Where’s the “Spiritual” in Atheism? | Edger

Where’s the “Spiritual” in Atheism? | Edger — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:55:42 +0000

[...] is perhaps the best for modern society, as AC Grayling highlights – and colleagues here at Edger naturally. Reason is the best tool we have, and we must protect it. We can let it lead us to the [...]

By: Barry Greenstein

Barry Greenstein — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 06:30:44 +0000

Only those in the secular left who fail to realize that utopian thinking, not religion, is the problem. Religion tends to exacerbate it but totalitarianism doesn’t come from religion. It just happens to be religion’s logical extreme.

By: Spike

Spike — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:26:41 +0000

Barry wrote: Salvation theology (I’m not sure if this is a term picked up by others or if I’m the only one to use it) would be the basis of “national” morality: we are a nation of sinners working toward salvation.

“Would be”? It is already the case among the major political divisions in the USA.

Obviously so for the religious right.

Not so obvious, but quickly to be discovered with a few short questions among those of moderate Xtian views, right or left. Try a little Platonic Method on your moderate Xtians friends next time. Start out talking about some social issue of international scope, like AIDS. After acknowledging how terrible it is and that there needs to be something done, ask open ended questions about solutions. Then ask about the cost of those solutions and how we should prioritize them. As you progress, keep your questions pointed to discovering why we should even make the effort. Within a short time, any Xtian will have to answer something along the lines of, “It’s what we do to be good Xtians,” which means, “God’s will.” Try it.

It’s also pretty obvious that the non-theistic left thinks that we could have a progressive eutopia on earth if all those other sinners would just get with the program.

By: The omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, loving superintelligence drinking game | Edger

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 03:16:56 +0000

[...] of my last few articles have been either essentially academic statements on religion or politics, or they have been current events. But I, like most college students, do (somehow) grow tired of [...]

By: Barry Greenstein

Barry Greenstein — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 04:28:49 +0000

I have had the same exact thoughts, Chris. The conclusion I came to is that a democratic theocracy would be a form of self-imposed and evolving totalitarianism. As totalitarianism grows and evolves, it comes to incorporate more people: religious minorities like the African American churches for example latch onto the “softer” theocratic notion of a “Christian Nation” in a similar way that conservative catholics like Bill O’Reilly have unwittingly allied themselves with the protestant Dominionist movement. The truth about fascism (for our purposes the extreme right spectrum of totalitarianism) is that all fascisms are inherently self-contradictory because they seek to seduce large pluralities. As this phenomenon expands, fewer and fewer people are likely to notice or be adversely affected during the “democratic” stage of theocracy. But I doubt the “democratic” stage would last.

Theologically I think the democratic theocracy would be beholden to a kind of conservative ecumenicism, in which as many of the “apocalypse” theologies (post-tribulation, pre-tribulation, preterism, futurism, millenialism, etc…) would become the basis of the dominant language of public discourse. Salvation theology (I’m not sure if this is a term picked up by others or if I’m the only one to use it) would be the basis of “national” morality: we are a nation of sinners working toward salvation.

I don’t think a democratic theocracy can stay democratic for long. I should note that I consider theocracy to be a form of totalitarianism.