Has anyone else noticed that the "thumper," craziest right-wing...

[OneGrassRoot]

types tend to be less than 60?

That's my experience, at least, and it only dawned on me yesterday.

The Free Republic types -- in the real world -- tend to be those middle-aged and younger: fervently, aggressively proclaiming Obama is the antichrist, that our country is a Christian country and we're all going to hell, etc., etc., etc.

I wonder why this is? I realized this when in a conversation with a wonderful 80-year-old woman yesterday, who early in the conversation mentioned her church and that it is a Southern Baptist church (it made sense mentioning it in the conversation...lol).

So, I sat there cringing in the waiting room of the garage when McCain came on TV announcing Palin.

Long story short, this lady doesn't agree with anything the Freepers spout. She even said one thing about church that makes her uncomfortable is she knows a lot of them sitting around her are racist and hypocrites...that Bushco was the worst thing to ever happen to this country and that McCain won't be any better...and so much more!

She was very soft-spoken and kind; she quoted the Bible once but not in an aggressive, preachy way at all.

What happened to the next generation that they became so blind and belligerent? Maybe the whole rapture thing took hold in the subsequent generation and they became obsessed.

:shrug:

[sendero]

1. What happened?

Right wing talk radio and self-serving televangelists, that's what happened.

[OneGrassRoot]

2. I thought about that after I posted...

whipping them into a frenzy. But they've been around for at least 20 years; wonder why they didn't affect the older population.

Even the older staunch right-wing Republicans saw through the BS that is Limbaugh, Dobson etc.

Interesting.

[Fumesucker]

5. It's much harder to influence older people with emotional appeals.

One people reach a certain age they pretty much have their weltangshauun formed and are largely immune to having it changed.

It's the young who are most amenable to brainwashing.

One of the few good things about getting older is that it gives one perspective.

[OneGrassRoot]

6. Cool, new word:

Weltangschauung: Expression of traditional knowledge.

Thank you! :hi:

[Fumesucker]

10. German has some cool words for concepts that require many words in other languages..

Like shadenfreude, taking pleasure in the pain of others.

I was actually using weltangshauung in the sense of "world view" but the other meaning kind of fits too.

But the German tendency to put together multiple words into a single long one is one of the reasons they lost WWII.. It's hard to tell someone to "look out for that tank" when "tank" is twelve syllables long. ;)

Obersturmbannfuehrer Fumesucker..

[kwolf68]

3. Because religion has become politics

This was part of the Raygun revolution. Turn politics into a religious fight. Carter was/is very religous but he never shoved it down our throats, but he goverened from what one could say a 'religious perspective' in that he worked for the poor, worked to be a good steward of the planet and tried to promote a world of peace and empathy.

My grandmother is almost 90...is from North Carolina, is DEVOUT as they come, baptist.

I asked her about gay people one time, and her response?

"I love them too, they are Gods children"

I nearly passed out in disbelief, but this is her frame of reference when it comes to the bible, she reads the entire thing for what it is and does not use it to advance any politic perspective. Her preachers evidentally didn't preach right wing politics from the pulpit, but rather preached about things Jesus fought for...peace, empathy, compassion, humility, not being judgemental.

These new aged Christians are radical, hateful, ready for holy war and they've been whipped into a frenzy by political charlatans.

[OneGrassRoot]

4. Bingo

"Turn politics into a religious fight...These new aged Christians are radical, hateful, ready for holy war and they've been whipped into a frenzy by political charlatans."

Bingo. Thank you.

[sofa king]

9. Oh, they were busy well before that.

One of the major steps in the direction of theocracy was Prohibition, begun in 1920. Not coincidentally, it was just about the same time that the godless, atheistic Communists first threatened America's freedom to repress the masses, and it was the clergy that proved to be the staunchest of cold-warriors, lining up behind the GOP in the 1950s. I think that if you were to look at the anti-suffrage movement in New Jersey in the early 1800s, you'll find God playing a large role there, too.

The politics of religion in America always walks hand-in-hand with the largest monied interests. The confluence of the anti-gay marriage movement and Gilded Age-style oligarchy that we see today is no coincidence. The Man has long known that the masses can be played for suckers by giving them a loopy clay-pigeon issue to shoot at while the real agenda quietly slides by underneath. So going back in time we see Jebus hating teh gays in the 00's; Jebus hating teh Communists from 1920-1990; Jebus hating teh women, immigrants, and black people in the 1800s. Yes, there is always a progressive counter-movement in the church, but it rarely has enough strength to contradict the wishes of God's true master: old money.

[mrcheerful]

7. Mainly because the older fundies lived before the religious right made a political

statement and power grab in the late 70's. I am 51 and remember that the only ones doing the door knocking for members drive was the Jehovah Wittinesses. That was in the 60's, then in the 1970's I remember the first mega type church going up and how even baptists said the thing looked like a pole barn that none of them would attend.

The "mega" church had a few scandals, in 1973 the church preachers son got arrested for manslaughter after striking a kid walking on the side of the road with his car, the speed he was doing was around 100+ mph in a 40 mph zone the driver was 17. Then a few weeks after that the preachers 14 yo daughter was snitched out for having an abortion, daddy paid for it because the father was unknown, seems the girl had so many partners she didn't know which group got her preggy. He was Fired.

His replacement was brought up on assault charges for cutting teens hair with a butcher knife after the teens stole gas out of the church bus. He was fired mainly because he had 6 body guards that kept members in line with church policies.

Then 1979 came along and Reagan pandering to the religious right convinced the faithful that they could over turn the Scopes monkey trial. Thus the push of church approved politicians started and what your seeing is a generation of fundies that haven't a clue about life before the attack on state/church separation. Remember fundies also started home schooling in the 70's then after Reagans attempts to fund religious schools the church started teaching some real dumb out of touch kids. Those are now in their 30's and haven't a clue.

[OneGrassRoot]

8. Thank you, Mr. Cheerful...

I wonder if anyone's done a nice, neat summary of all the scandals of the Moral Majority crowd over the last few decades. I may look into that later.