The Main Reason for Leftist Hatred

Senator Al Franken (D-Minnesota, a/k/a Stuart Smalley) recently declared that "If Republicans take back Congress they’ll implement a truly dangerous agenda". Hyperbole side, in today's article, columnist Larry Prager examines the root cause of intense dislike of the Right by those on the Left...

"From its inception, leftism has been a secular utopian religion. As Ted Kennedy, famously quoting his brother Robert F. Kennedy, said, "Some (people) see things as they are and say why? I dream things that never were and say why not?" That exemplifies left-wing idealism – imagining a utopian future. There will be no poor, no war, no conflict, no inequality. That future is only a few more government programs away from reality. And who stands in the way of such perfection? Conservatives. How could a utopian not hate a conservative?

To put in another way, the famous '60s left-wing motto "Make love, not war" embodies the problem as the left sees it: The left makes love in the world and the right makes war in the world. How could you not hate the right? The right, with its beliefs in a strong military; in individuals, not the state; taking care of themselves, their families and their neighbors; and in punishing criminals, is the anti-Love, a figure as reviled on the left as the antichrist is to Christians."

I agree with Prager's asessment. It almost seems that those on the Left would lke to replace the Judeo-Christian ethic with a statist model in which the government is seen as the ultimate source of good and provision in people's lives. This gives one some fresh perspective when considering why the US Justice Department is being accused of providing a less than vigorous defense of legal challenges to the National Day of Prayer...

"A coalition of legal and pro-family groups says the Obama Justice Department is putting forward an inadequate legal defense of the National Day of Prayer, and they are asking a circuit court to allow them to participate in oral arguments.

At issue is an April ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Crabb that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional and tantamount to a government establishment of religion. The Justice Department appealed the case to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and filed its brief in early July, but the groups say the government's brief -- while at 73 pages -- is lacking in certain areas.

In short, the groups say the Justice Department failed to cite three specific Seventh Circuit cases, all from 2007 and 2008, that are binding precedent on the three-judge panel and would lead to a quick dismissal of the case. The Freedom from Religion Foundation, which filed the lawsuit, lacked standing to sue, the groups say....

The groups' argument focuses on a technical legal question at the heart of the three Seventh Circuit cases and a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court case, Hein v. Freedom from Religion Foundation. Those three Seventh Circuit cases -- citing the Supreme Court decision -- ruled that an Establishment Clause challenge could not be brought if Congress did not appropriate any funding in the challenged statute. Because Congress did not set aside any money for the National Day of Prayer when it passed the Day of Prayer statute, the lawsuit should be dismissed, the groups say. The Justice Department's brief does not make that argument. Crabb's decision overturned the Day of Prayer statute.

The three cases are Hinrichs v. Speaker of the House of Representatives (2007), Freedom from Religion Found., Inc. v. Nicholson (2008), and Laskowski v. Spellings (2008).

Asked if he thought the Justice Department's failure to cite the cases was intentional or simply an oversight, Klukowski said, "At this point, I would want to give them the benefit of the doubt. They did present an argument that would result in a win in this case. But, nonetheless, the argument that we put forward in our brief would be a much broader and robust victory to protect the First Amendment rights of Christians and people of all faiths going forward."

A wise man recently said that "Christianity in the United States is about 2000 miles wide... and about half-an-inch deep" and I concur. There is still a remnant of the Christian ideals and values that this country was founded upon in American culture and to stamp it out completely might prove to be difficult at this point in time. We live in times in which the only thing that can help society is a fundamental change in the human heart. Government offers nothing like that and to subsidize irresponsible behavior and decisions that people make will only make matters worse for generations yet to come.