[lit-ideas] Re: Not in the USA??
- From: John McCreery <mccreery@xxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2005 12:14:11 +0900
On 2005/04/02, at 9:24, Andreas Ramos wrote:
> I wondered about this: what's the unifying thread? anti-abortion,=20
> pro-death penalty,
> pro-feeding tubes, pro-war, anti-gay, anti-secularism, anti-SpongeBob.=20=
> It's obviously
> self-contradictory. What ties all of this together?
This is precisely the problem that George Lakoff addresses in Moral=20
Politics. Start with a Strict Father, a.k.a., rigidly patriarchal,=20
family as a model for the nation. The Great White Father has both (1)=20
an absolute right to demand obedience from his wife and children and=20
(2) an absolute responsibility to care for helpless dependents=81\but =
only=20
so long as they are members of the family! This follows from the=20
further assumption that the world outside the family is both (3)=20
hostile and (4) utterly amoral.
Protecting helpless dependents (but only inside the family, one of=20
"us")--> anti-abortion
Killing outsiders who threaten the family and have demonstrated their=20
hostile amorality-->pro-death penalty
Being prepared to fight against hostile outsiders-->pro-war
Opposed to anything that threatens Father's authority(a)-->anti-gay=20
(same-sex relations threaten threaten the sacred foundations of=20
Father's authority)
Opposed to anything that threatens Father's=20
authority(b)-->anti-secularism (secularism defies the notion of God the=20=
Father and promotes amoral individualism that erodes all hierarchies)
Authority dependent on repeating and protecting the Strict Father=20
model-->anti-Sponge Bob (or anything else that calls the model into=20
question.
John L. McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd.
55-13-202 Miyagaya, Nishi-ku
Yokohama, Japan 220-0006
Tel 81-45-314-9324
Email John.McCreery@xxxxxxxxxxxx
"Making Symbols is Our Business"
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
