Religious right, Atheist left

Vanity | 4 December 2005 | Self

[ChessExpert]

Several years ago (1996-97), I was thinking about the term “religious right.” It seemed that there should be some contrasting term, but none came immediately to mind. So I had to make some up: agnostic right, atheist right, atheist left, etc. I had the benefit of a university’s library services at the time, so I asked for a count of the term “religious right” in American periodicals. The annual count was in the hundreds per year. Contrasting terms had a combined count of under twenty. I’d only heard the term religious right as an attack term back then. This seemed to suggest that American periodicals, considered as an entity, didn’t like the religious right, but had little problem with, for example, the atheist left.

Rather than view politics as being a one dimensional left-right continuum, I’ve come to think in terms of a two-dimensional quadrant: religious right, atheist right, religious left, atheist left. I think that religious right and atheist left are dominant in terms of population, influence, and perhaps, intellectual consistency. Below are a few items that I associate with the terms left and right, and each of the four quadrants. I hope you see some merit in this post. This way of thinking about things works for me.

Left:
Socialist by any name:
Socialist, National Socialist (Nazi), Communist, Progressive, Liberal, etc.

Right:
Small Government
Limited by Law - Constitution
Limited by structure - checks & balances
Low taxes, low spending, little regulation

Religious right
“Classical” liberalism, modern conservatism
United States from founding to ?
Founding Fathers, Adam Smith
Self rule by a morale people
Recognized (attacked) by American periodicals about 500 times per year
Personal (free) charity, often through church
Faith in God

Atheist right
Libertarian
Ayn Rand, Some Freepers
Small population worldwide
Confuses Liberty with Libertine
Recognized (attacked) by American periodicals less than 10 times per year
Personal (free) charity
Faith in the individual

Atheist left
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), other communist nations.
Engels, Marx
Admires the French Revolution
Belief in “benevolent” dictatorship
Promises forced economic equality
Recognized (attacked) by American periodicals less than 10 times per year
Faith in Government

Religious left
Churches that Hilary would attend
Church and State joined, theocracy
France before the Revolution, Taliban, Islam
Belief in “benevolent” dictatorship
Recognized (attacked) by American periodicals less than 10 times per year
Government mandated charity
Faith in Government

[johniegrad]

Do you have problems with handwashing, checking, or counting rituals?

[furball4paws]

You left out the Luddites, Left and Right.

"Open the H file, sack, sack, mate" - RJF

[stuartcr]

If you must label people, why not just say they are people with different beliefs?

[balrog666]

Obviously a one-dimensional scale (left-right) is a factually worthless descriptor.

And that's why the MSM keeps it around.

[Berosus]

I would also include anything that would be considered "New Age" in the "Religious Left" category.

[Oztrich Boy]

Atheist right: Confuses Liberty with Libertine

Actually that's the Religous Right. The merest suggestion that people make their own choices instead of the Government gets the accustation that you want people/yourself to become heroin using homosexuals

[furball4paws]

Is it fair that we're both here to chew?

[ChessExpert]

I certainly respect Bobby Fischer's advice in attacking the Sicilian Dragon. I've put it to use myself, with generally good results. Yet the Dragon is still around.

On political matters, Fischer seems to be a fruitcake, sad to say.

I suspect modern day Luddites can be probably be found in all four quadrants.

Thanks for your note.

[Sam Cree]

***"Right:
Small Government
Limited by Law - Constitution
Limited by structure - checks & balances
Low taxes, low spending, little regulation***

---

The above sure rules out George Bush and the Republican Party

Nor would I consider either most of the Religious Right or most modern conservatives to be classical liberals.

[furball4paws]

Atheism = Libertine? If you're going to do this kind of thing thoughtfully, you have to learn to leave your personal prejudices behind.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Unfortunately some Freepers seem to think that if you don't accept creationism and intelligent design as fact, or don't think that a brain-dead woman can magically come back to life, you belong in the Aethist category.

[kcar]

Except for the "Confuses Liberty with Libertine" dig, this was pretty useful.

[furball4paws]

Bobby always was a fruitcake, but over the board. Played against him in a simul. Ignominious defeat.

You will find no Luddites in the Atheist Right. If you know one let me know.

[ChessExpert]

"I would also include anything that would be considered "New Age" in the "Religious Left" category."

That's interesting to think about. If by "right" one means conservative, and by "left" one means a predilection for the new, I agree. But I'm thinking of right and left in terms of stance on government. In the most extreme sense, free (right), totalitarian (left). Marx recommended "dictatorship of the proletariat." The search for "true" communism; has been about as rewarding as the search for "real" unicorns. But there is no denying that communist regimes have been dictatorships.

[satchmodog9]

yup

[ChessExpert]

I like your tag line.

One thing your post brings to mind is a limitation of a quadrant. It does suggest four mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive categories. Well, that is almost what I mean. But there should also be a continuum along each axis. So, for example, between believing and atheist, there would be agnostic. Likewise in the political realm, there are varying degrees of reliance on government, not just two categories. Thanks.

[Sam Cree]

As far as I can see, the "Left" includes all those who adhere to socialism or any of its derivatives, modern liberalism being an example. I agree with you on that.

The "Right," OTOH, isn't so easy to pin down, it must include anything that's not left, and that's a lot, as this forum makes clear every day. Everyone has their own idea on what "right" means or what "conservative" means.

[ChessExpert]

"Except for the "Confuses Liberty with Libertine" dig, this was pretty useful."

Yes, that one element was a little controversial. But I'm glad you liked some of the post.

Did you own a K car?

[Right Wing Professor]

Played against him in a simul. Ignominious defeat.

Wow. You lucky bastard.