Make Jesus Do What You Want or The Church of Orwellian-Machiavellianism
“A prince,” wrote Niccolo Machiavelli in 1532, “must appear to all who see and hear him to be…pious…faithful…honest…humane, and completely religious. And nothing is more important than to appear to have that last quality.”
A prince need not actually be religious, the Renaissance political analyst hastened to add, and will probably be more effective as a ruler if he is unencumbered by genuine religious scruples. But a prince must appear to be religious “because the masses always follow appearances…and the world is nothing other than the masses.”
George Orwell coined the term doublethink in his classic novel 1984. Doublethink is the power to hold two completely contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accept both of them.
This word has made its way into the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
Winston Smith the novel's protagonist, described doublethink in this fashion:
"To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was impossible and that the Party was the guardian of democracy, to forget whatever it was necessary to forget, then to draw it back into memory again at the moment when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again: and above all, to apply the same process to the process itself. That was the ultimate subtlety: consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed. Even to understand the word 'doublethink' involved the use of doublethink.'
The gospels record that Judus betrayed Jesus in order to get Jesus to do what Judus wanted. Betrayed with a kiss whereas men now use language. Why I’m I bring this up for discussion, because After two devastating defeats one in 2000 and again in 2004 in the early months of 2005 Democrats studied polls, conducted focus groups and visited clergy... to repent of their sins?
Naw get serious! To strategize silly, party leaders believe that they lost the value vote and if they are going to win the Congress back in 2006 and the White House back in 2008 they had better learn how to make Jesus do what they want him to. You know, they need to talk like they have the same values as Conservatives when in fact they really deplore Conservative values.
This is pure Orwellian- Machavellian fascist politics at it’s ultimate, let’s see how it works.
The Democrats now realize that they can't win by narrowing their appeal to their base they realize that they must reach out to those that they have up to now demonized and belittled, Christians.
So they have paid people to listen to Rush, to learn not only what Christians care about but also what Christians were being told.
What they found is that there was a growing God-gap between them and the voters, particularly “middle to lowerclass economic white voters,” who see the Democrats as Godless and hostile to traditional values and “anti-religious”; they’ve also found that married women, who are increasingly voting Republican, place moral values at the top of their list of concerns; and that Bush had managed to win 64 percent of non-college, nonunion white voters in 2004, 41 percent of whom attend church at least once a week.
The most significant finding was that voters were making choices based more on their faith than on their physical needs, said House Democratic Caucus Chairman James Clyburn (D-S.C.).
So what’s the fix? How are Democrats going to win in 2006 and 2008 they believe that all that they must do is change the way that they speak about religion.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), the Democrats’ presumptive front-runner in 2008, has called abortion a tragedy while endorsing pregnancy-prevention programs, including legislation to require insurance coverage of contraceptives. Like the RU-486, the morning after pill. Well isn’t that two contradictory ideas? Yes but that’s perfectly fine Democrat Orwellian politics or Clintonese as we use to call it.
When the voters listen to Democrats speak in 2006 and again in 2008, some party veterans and strategists worry about what they will hear.
In their report titled “The Politics of Polarization,” released in October, William Galston and Elaine Kamarck warned that “relying on language and ‘framing’ can be a surefire recipe for disaster in an electorate that values personal honesty and integrity even more than experience or positions on issues.”
Indeed, one veteran House Democrat said he is worried the attempt may appear manufactured.
“What worries me about the Democrats is that just when the Christian conservatives realize they have been used by Republicans they are going to see the Democrats using the same phrases and making hollow gestures,” the Democrat said.
Well, Christian conservatives have not been used by Republicans that is just another example of Democratic Orwellian speak by a Democrat who wishes that he could use the Christian conservatives to win in 2006 and 2008 but can’t so he states that Republican are using them to create the thought in the minds of some Christians in order to create a rift between Christian and conservatives. This statement was made to exploit that vurnability, if it happens, at some time. Will it work? Democrats are hoping.
What about homosexuals will Democrats leave their commitment to homosexuals to court the Christian conservative. No get real, They’ll just tweek the language just a bit.
Dan Gerstein, formerly communications director for Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) and now an independent consultant and commentator, said tolerance of the civil rights of homosexuals should not turn the Democrats into an intolerant party. He means intolerant of Christian Conservatives.
“It’s an arrogant presumption that if you are opposed to gay marriage you are ipso facto a bigot,” he said.
Gerstein said he blames the “angry and activist” the netroot or leftist bloggers like the daily Kos the core Democratic base for hindering the party’s ability to connect with values voters because they have placed freedom, individual rights and tolerance before morality, fracturing the necessary balance. Democrats intend to narraw the faith gap.
“We don’t have the luxury of narrowing our appeal. We have no choice but to broaden our appeal and be more inclusive,” Gerstein said. “And there is a way to do so premised on respect that won’t require us to change or fudge our principles.”
Yes there is, and that is to hold two completely contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accept both of them. Orwellian Democrats can do this but doing this is exactly the opposite of having conservative Christian values.
Democrats just haven’t figured that out yet.
