COMensarations
Monday, June 30, 2008
The ‘Danger’ to Democracy — Part 3
What is really damaging—downright dangerous—to democracy.
So....
...what is a more serious ‘danger to Democracy’ than the musings of one religious leader, e.g., Dobson, or another, e.g., Wright?
There are quite a few of them, if you think about it. I’ll mention two of those I consider more dangerous than others, as they tend to be root-causes of so many other dangers.
In my opinion, one of these REAL dangers is that neither Dr. Dobson nor Reverend Wright, or any of those how identify with them, listen to each other.
In his speech of 28 Jun 2006, Senator Obama calls upon everyone to engage in a dialogue about the role of religious belief in making policy. Whether or not he is being honest about engaging others in dialogue about this remains to be seen. But that’s beside the point I’m attempting.
The truth of the matter is that when people no longer listen to each other in the exchange of ideas, they are then ‘telling’ each other. It becomes a one-way communication. Not a dialogue. And, if they realize the the other party in the dialogue is not listening either, then they tend to be come angry. And from there, thinks go down hill. And we end up with 60 vehicles in vandalized with anti-Obama and racist spray-paint jobs....or worse....bullet-riddled cars ....or much worse....people.
Another REAL ‘danger to democracy’ is someone saying that someone else’s voice should NOT be heard. It’s called ‘intolerance’ and it has been a serious problem of human nature for as long as people can recollect.
Anytime someone says that someone else’s honestly held views should not be heard they are tearing at the very fabric of democracy. And once the fabric is torn enough, on the other side you find totalitarianism.
UPDATE As I Was Saying.... 301221 Jun 08: No sooner do I post this and within a few hours here is evidence of what I was talking about immediately above.
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