Damian Thompson is Editor of Telegraph Blogs and a columnist for the Daily Telegraph. He was once described by The Church Times as a “blood-crazed ferret”. He is on Twitter as HolySmoke. His new book is called The Fix: How addiction is invading our lives and taking over your world.
By Damian ThompsonUS politics Last updated: November 7th, 2012
Guys – have a quick puff of your joint before heading down the aisle with your boyfriend. In addition to re-electing Obama, various American states voted to legalise dope and gay marriage. OK, so they weren’t necessarily the same states, but you get the picture. Last night was a victory for secular liberal America – or, to put it another way, America’s emerging secular liberal majority. The United States is still pious by European standards, but the gap is narrowing every year. You cannot visit American bookshops without being struck by the popularity of atheist cheerleaders or agnostic self-help gurus; when I meet a young New Yorker or Californian I assume – as I would in Britain – that they don’t go to church, have liberal positions on abortion and homosexuality and generally despise the conservative religious activism that, until so recently, had the power to elect presidents.
Two points worth noting about this election. First, the Religious Right – and how dated that phrase already sounds – united around a candidate who, by most standards, is not even a Christian. The lack of an anti-Mormon backlash among orthodox Catholics and Protestants who were brought up to regard Latter-day Saints as sinister cultists tells its own story. Also, and here I’m going out on a limb, America has just re-elected its first post-Christian president (unless you count Jefferson). I’ve never thought that Barack Obama’s churchgoing was anything more than Chicago politics: why else would a sophisticated Harvard-educated lawyer sit through years of incoherent ranting by the Rev Jeremiah Wright?
I’ll return to this theme, but even the Tea Party wasn’t the Religious Right – at least, not at first. When Christian fundamentalists jumped on board, that’s when public support began to bleed away.
Americans: welcome to Europe. You may miss the City on the Hill but, hey – no one’s going to give you a hard time if you stay in bed on Sunday morning.
- Samuel Alexander
15 minutes agoSecular liberal majority?
Obama didn’t win the election because secular liberals outnumber conservatives or ‘the religious right.’ He won because of demographic changes in the US. He’s the divisive race bloc President who can count on 99% of black voters and the overhwleming majority of hispanics. Without them – Obama would have lost convincingly.
Blacks voted for him purely because they’re racist and tribal – they think Obama’s their man in the White House, a man who will keep the welfare and undeserved sympathy they rely upon to subsist.
Hispanics chose him for similar reasons and because he presents himself as pro-immigration to the detriment of America’s interests.
A secular liberal majority has nothing to do with Obama’s victory.
Romney a fost votat de același număr de albi non-hispanici care i-a asigurat lui Ronald Reagan landslide-ul presidenției. Problema este că acum, componența populației este alta, cu un mare număr de minorități: negrii, hispanici și asiatici, care l-au votat de Obama. Partidul Republican riscă să fie condamnat de istorie ca partidul albilor lipsiți de sensibilitate pentru cei din jurul lor. Este un lucru la care trebuie să meditîăm fiecare dintre noi. Cum stați cu atitudinea față de cei de dincolo de grupa voastră etnică?
- Citiți deasemenea și un punct de vedere analitic aici:
The election is over and the elitists have won
Categories: Articole de interes general
Barzilaiendan 
Din cate inteleg sunteti dezamagit de faptul ca Obama a fost reales presedinte.
Cand am citit cartea lui Charles Colson “Iertat de doua ori” – eram si tanar – am fost entuziasmat cum e posibil ca in zilele noastre un popor sa fie condus de oameni cu frica de Dumnezeu. Si nu orice popor, ci cel american. Apoi am aflat cum Nixon, impreuna cu echipa lui, printre care si Colson, a facut lucrurile pentru care a si fost demis. Si atunci lucrurile nu mai pareau atat de clare. George W. Bush se lauda ca primul lucru pe care-l face in fiecare dimineata era sa se roage lui Dumnezeu. Apoi a atacat Irakul pentru armele de distrugere in masa pe care aceasta tara le detinea si care nu au fost gasite niciodata. Si scuzele se lasa inca asteptate.
Ce vreau sa spun, si sunt sigur ca stiti lucrul acesta e ca din exterior realegerea lui Obama ca presedinte e o mare usurare. Si ca Dumnezeu nu e neaparat si in inima daca e pe buze. Sau viceversa.