[Greetings again, Pharynguloids. If you want to know what kind of shitstorm news coverage this begat, think "Larry Craig in a bathroom". Yeah, like that.]
You know, I've always wondered whether there was a right-wing position so indefensible, so appalling, so absolutely batshit crazy that even the Blogging Tories would finally pull up short, saying, "No, I don't think so. That's too stupid, even for us." And I believe we've finally found it.
God help us, even the usual Bible-thumping suspects have finally had enough.
halls of macadamia:
Sorry Mr Tory... I can't get behind this
Kitchener Conservative:
Can't Vote for the Ontario PC's this time
The Atheist Jew:
John Tory Just Committed Political Suicide
The Atheist Conservative:
Tory promotes ID in Science class
The He-Man Woman Hater's Club:
China or Bust!: John Tory keeps digging
Matthew Siscoe:
The Day John Tory lost the election
BC Tory:
Congratulations, John Tory...
You know, with these signs of intelligent life over there, maybe -- just maybe -- I'll stop saying such snarky things about them.
PSYCHE!
You people are so gullible.
AND THEN THERE ARE THE AIRHEADS. Do I really need to explain how you end up in this column?
grey canada:
Several people seem to be upset about John Tory wanting intelligent design taught in a religion class in private religious schools that he wants to be funded publically. Let's just look at the numbers. According to the 2001 census only 16.2% of the people who answered the census identified themselves as no religion. How can alienating only 16.2% of the population be such a horrible set back?
How many of that 16% would have voted for him in the first place? Conversely, how many of the other 84% be more apt to vote for him? Surely much of that 84% are centrists. Besides, what else would you expect from private religious schools? How is this any different from the previous debate about funding private religious schools?
Who is preaching intolerance now?
Feel free to enumerate the logical atrocities in the above. Be concise. Be specific. Give examples.
P.S. We're not even remotely done with this clusterfuck. More to come.
5 comments:
Credit where credit is due, CC. Those blogging tories who refuse to back teaching creationism should get one get-out-of-ridicule-free card for showing that even they have limits to the level of dumbness they will put up with. He may get La Shaidle vote (like she'd vote for any other party, except maybe Christian Heritage) but he's just lost every non-religious Bill Davis conservative voter in the province.
What do you think of the groups who are backing him in this, though? Like that coalition of religious groups that got together a week or two ago.
I still don't know the Ontario climate well enough to guess whether they've got a lot of clout behind them, or if they're really a tiny minority.
I'd also be a lot more hopeful if I thought the other parties had the smarts or the wit and vigour to push this issue properly.
I'll be very interested to see what my own MPP, George Smitherman, will do with this juicy tidbit. I'm generally not-pleased with him these days, but I might relent a bit if he can really push this issue sharply.
they've got a lot of clout behind them, or if they're really a tiny minority.
The issue is that, with the existence of Catholic public education, these marginals have a moral argument (which is the clout they have), but barely any legal one, not under the laws of Canada, anyway. So it's hard to oppose them, but you still can: "Sorry, we're not going to resolve your moral argument by making a bad situation worse. Don't like that? Too bad.
The anti-science from John Tory certainly helped things, though.
With the religious right and the "values" conservatives in an irrational panic over the looming 'moral collapse" of Western society, this is really not the time for this debate.
Yeah, but when are they not in "an irrational panic over the looming 'moral collapse' of Western society"? We were being fed that stuff at a hysterical level in my fundie church in the 80s and before, and I know from my nieces and nephews that it hasn't stopped (even when Jesus inconveniently refused to perform the Rapture by 1988, as they'd pencilled him in to do).
If we'd abolish funding the Catholic schools and make everything public, that would of course take the wind out of the sails of the people yelling, "You fund them, you'd better fund us!" (Because, frankly, they're right.) But you can imagine the furor that would raise at this point.
We were being fed that stuff at a hysterical level in my fundie church in the 80s and before...
That wingnut fundamentalism never had the currency in public discourse in Canada as it has had since 9/11 and the rise of the Reformies in Canadian politics.
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