Why I Am Avoiding the Religion Forum on A2K

Phoenix32890 wrote:

Intrepid wrote:
Just a point, Phoenix that not all of us who post in the religious forums are from the U.S. We have no agenda when it comes to American politics, which is what it seems to boil down to.

Intrepid- I think that you have a very valid point. American politics, IMO, has a lot to do with this change. For years, the secularists have dominated the political scene. Since the current administration, which has seen the strengthening of the power of the radical right, the ultra religious have become much more forceful in attempting to superimpose their agenda on the rest of the U.S.

Hi Phoenix,

You are bemoaning the polarization and the (sometimes) resultant rancor on these threads. Yet I think your post is a great example of why this may happen.

You use phrases such as:

"radical right"

"ultra religious"

"forceful......superimpose their agenda"

What do you really expect ? Don't tell me that you are using these terms in a complimentary or even a neutral way. You are not.

So, if you wanna see some changes, make some.

Don't get me wrong. You are not the worst offender when it comes to this sort of thing. You just happened to bring the subject up.

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real life- I understand your point. Although I make a concerted attempt to be as neutral as possible, often I find it a daunting task.

I have an idea. How would YOU rewrite my paragraph to make it as neutral as possible, but not changing the meaning of it? I mean this sincerely.

I remember a lesson that I once learned in school about how you can say the same thing, but the connotation of the words that you use will confer very different meanings. For instance:

I'm thrifty
You are frugal
He's cheap

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Real Life and Phoenix
Real Life and Phoenix, you asked for neutrality?

In life, the politics and religious conflict issues pendulum swings from Left to Right based on the scientific truth that an action creates a reaction. Currently, the pendulum has swung to the Far Right because of action. The expected reaction will cause the pendulum to swing back to the Left. Eventually, the pendulum will settle down in the Center as it must to maintain it's natural balance.

It's scientifically true and boring, but it is neutral.

BBB

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Phoenix32890 wrote:

real life- I understand your point. Although I make a concerted attempt to be as neutral as possible, often I find it a daunting task.

I have an idea. How would YOU rewrite my paragraph to make it as neutral as possible, but not changing the meaning of it? I mean this sincerely.

I don't know if I could since the paragraph contains assumptions that I think are incorrect.

For one thing, I don't see the political situation you refer to as a struggle between "secularists" (the political Left, primarily Democrats and their ideological partners) and "the religious" (the political Right, primarily Republicans and their ideological partners).

There are a lot of religious influences guiding the political Left. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and a host of others come to mind. Clinton and Gore were famous for campaigning in churches.

On the other hand, there are plenty of secularists among the political Right, both those who indifferent to religion and those who are hostile to it. Several of those are frequent posters here on A2K.

If I rewrote it , the meaning would definitely change.

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BBB- I understand the point that you are making, and you are absolutely right with respect to action/reaction.

I don't think though that this was exactly what real life and myself were trying to figure out.

What I meant was that when I write something, in most cases, I attempt to be as even handed as possible in the wording. I find it rather difficult at times not to let my own personal biases creep into the writing.

Why I Am Avoiding the Religion Forum on A2K

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