Comments on: Yglesias Award: No Non-Yglesiases Need Apply http://trueslant.com/ryansager/2009/08/10/yglesias-award-no-non-yglesiases-need-apply/ A newswire of human stupidity Sun, 15 Jan 2012 12:16:44 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: neuroskeptic http://trueslant.com/ryansager/2009/08/10/yglesias-award-no-non-yglesiases-need-apply/comment-page-1/#comment-756 neuroskeptic Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:44:41 +0000 http://trueslant.com/ryansager/?p=2757#comment-756 As always Yglesias is bang on target. But I don't think this is unique to conservativism. For example, most Democrats think abortion should be legal. But this is easy for them to think, because they are personally not averse to abortion, on an emotional level. In fact if abortion were made illegal, they would be outraged. If it stays legal they're happy. Republicans feel the exact opposite. Of course, that doesn't mean that they are right to find it outrageous. But given that they do and, realistically, that's not going to change any time soon, Democrats are asking quite a lot - they are asking Republicans to accept, as legal, something they find abhorrent. As always Yglesias is bang on target. But I don’t think this is unique to conservativism.

For example, most Democrats think abortion should be legal. But this is easy for them to think, because they are personally not averse to abortion, on an emotional level. In fact if abortion were made illegal, they would be outraged. If it stays legal they’re happy.

Republicans feel the exact opposite. Of course, that doesn’t mean that they are right to find it outrageous. But given that they do and, realistically, that’s not going to change any time soon, Democrats are asking quite a lot – they are asking Republicans to accept, as legal, something they find abhorrent.

]]> By: Michael Roston http://trueslant.com/ryansager/2009/08/10/yglesias-award-no-non-yglesiases-need-apply/comment-page-1/#comment-754 Michael Roston Mon, 10 Aug 2009 18:37:06 +0000 http://trueslant.com/ryansager/?p=2757#comment-754 I've blogged about <a href="http://trueslant.com/level/2009/03/02/they-dont-call-it-redtube-for-nothing/" rel="nofollow">this before,</a> and am reminded about a recent discussion about a family member who is born again. He's also twice divorced, a recovering alcoholic, alienated from his children, and a survivalist who literally calls people 'sheeple.' I really think that for him, and for many other people, 'family values' and all of the G-d talk is a way to restrict self-destructive personal behaviors. Whether or not it accomplishes that is another thing, but the motivation to believe in these things is a desire to have rules that apply to you in a world that's turned out much more chaotically than you expected it to. Why that jumps the curb, however, into a belief that you need to save unwilling others has never made sense to me. I’ve blogged about this before, and am reminded about a recent discussion about a family member who is born again. He’s also twice divorced, a recovering alcoholic, alienated from his children, and a survivalist who literally calls people ’sheeple.’ I really think that for him, and for many other people, ‘family values’ and all of the G-d talk is a way to restrict self-destructive personal behaviors. Whether or not it accomplishes that is another thing, but the motivation to believe in these things is a desire to have rules that apply to you in a world that’s turned out much more chaotically than you expected it to. Why that jumps the curb, however, into a belief that you need to save unwilling others has never made sense to me.

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