From: mike@gordian.com (Michael A. Thomas)
Subject: Re: Okay, what makes a Gay or Lesbian turn Republican?
Organization: Gordian; Costa Mesa, CA
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 18:16:28 GMT

In article <1992Nov9.204713.15833@spdcc.com>, dyer@spdcc.com (Steve Dyer) writes:
> In article <1992Nov9.190700.25354@gordian.com> mike@gordian.com (Michael A. Thomas) writes:
> >  You really think that the republicans indifference is born out of
> >"I've got mine"? Not moral repugnance? 
> 
> As I pointed out, I was speaking in general, and not simply about gay
> people or AIDS.  Yes, I do think that "I've got mine" was a big part of
> their (lack of a) reaction, though I think sanctimonious repugnance and
> a general xenophobia was equally rampant.  

  Boy you could have fooled me. Maybe the three republicans in Cambridge
have a different tenor than the ones around here. Randall Terry's 
(I think) little rant about seeing "a divine hand in this AIDS thing"
seems to sum up the attitude far more accurately than "I've got mine". 
Plus or minus the religious indignation, it really doesn't matter.
  It seems that your "I've got mine" characterization is an all 
encompassing pan of the republicans which in this case falls completely
flat.

> The Reaganite Republican
> party is populated with people filled to the brim with complacency and
> devoid of empathy.  They can't conceive of a life experience outside
> their upper-middle-class mold.  They've got theirs; they were either
> born to it, or _EARNED_ (emphasis theirs) their privilege.  Who cares
> about the downtrodden?  Er, I mean, WHAT downtrodden?

  And wasn't the thought that Gay people deserved exactly what they
got in the way of AIDS? Believe it or not, a lot of people think that
empathy is not unconditional and should be earned. Whether their
indignation was warrented is seperate issue, of course.
  What you call the "Reaganite Republican" was in fact a broad
base of support from the religious right to pretty mainstream
democrats -- the same folks who voted for Johnson's War On Poverty
and the Great Society. Perhaps these same folks decided that 
the downtrodden should have some incentive to pull themselves
up by the bootstraps rather than blanket handouts devoid of
any value judgements?
 
> >  You can be disgusted at their morality (as I am) which is largely
> >religious, but to say that isn't the root is rather naive. Really,
> >I'm sure you can come up with a better example of the "I've got mine"
> >syndrome than this. 
> 
> Well, is this any clearer?  I think religion has very little to do with it.
> Nancy "Let them wear off-the-rack" Reagan is not a religious person by any
> stretch of the imagination, unless you count her whorship of Mammon, yet
						   ^^^^^^^^
  Was this intentional? :-)

  I think that religion plays a pretty significant role in the propogation
of hatred and bigotry toward gay people. I will not dispute that it has
a life of its own though. 
-- 

		Michael Thomas	(mike@gordian.com)
	"I don't think Bambi Eyes will get you that flame thrower..."  
		-- Hobbes to Calvin
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