Jousting At Ghosts

I've blogged here a few times about Rod Dreher and his posts over at his blog.

Lately, as the Supreme Court has been reviewing the question of Marriage Equality, Dreher's been amping up his usual posts on how the "barbarians" -- that's his word, not mine -- of Liberal culture are going to destroy (Christian) America.

I add Christian there in parenthesis, because for Dreher, you don't need to add Christian; obviously Real America is Christian.  It's the barbarian American that is the fallen, and therefore Not-Real America.

Today he has another post -- this one about how important it is to Have That Talk to Your Kids, which basically boils down to, once again, Christians v. the Barbarians.

Why am I writing this post?

Not because I'm much concerned about Rod Dreher or his ilk.  As he himself recognizes, his (parochial and frankly exclusionary) culture has lost this battle. I like to read his blog, now and then, because -- though this may be difficult to believe! -- he is one of the more rational and least hateful of the Conservative bloggers; and because I like to read blogs from all over the political spectrum.  (I used to read Michelle Malkin, Ann Althouse, and RedState, but there's only so much misogyny and stupidity I can handle, okay?)

No, I'm writing this because, more and more on my FB page, I'm seeing posts show up expressing much the same sentiments as those Dreher expresses: that our country is in peril, specifically due to the gays and feminists and liberals and atheists*; that the barbarians are at the gates; that only by teaching your children to be soldiers for Jesus can we save America.

The obsession these posters have with (1) women (2) black people (c) atheists (d) immigrants (5) well,anyone at all except themselves is revealing.

That is, their posts all locate all the problems in America with those other people. The only task given to their soldiers for Jesus is to fight those other people -- or, at best, to convert those other people.  (But usually the job is to fight and destroy them, since those people are, after all, barbarians.)

• It is those gay people, those trans people, those queers, with their ridiculous demands for Marriage Equality, whatever that even means, they are destroying America.

• It is those women, with their abortions and their use of birth control and their feminism: they are destroying America.

• It is those immigrants, coming in here, wanting jobs, wanting to be treated like people -- they are destroying America!

• It is those atheists, complaining that they have rights even though they're not Christians!

• It is those liberals, always wanting to change things!

It can't be something more central to America.  It can't be something more systemic.  And God knows it can't be something about me.

And, of course, there is no sense that those people are American citizens, with equal rights, with agency, with lives like their own; that liberals too love America?  That black people also want good lives?  That LGBT people might also have a right to a life with the person they love, not to mention a family?

Nah.  That's crazy talk.




*Sometimes due to those black people wanting free stuff also.  Because black culture.  Like Rod Dreher, many of the people on my FB feed seem convinced that black culture is made up of young black men who are criminals and young black women who are having babies so they can be on welfare, and riots.  Oh, and they are all standing around demanding white people apologize for slavery, and give them free money.  THE END.