The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    I am my own 501(c)(3) religious institution: why Christians and rich people are OK even if they don't pay taxes

    By erica20 on Wed, 09/19/2012 - 4:12pm |

    In my last post, I noted that the grating thing about Mitt Romney is that he seems to be like the person in one's office who believes he's the only guy doing any real work.

    This makes me wonder (in this post) why Mitt thinks he's so special, and why his supporters don't believe they're part of the "bad 47%,"  EVEN IF THEY DON'T PAY INCOME TAX THEMSELVES! The special-ness applies to them, too. Why?

    It's interesting to note that over there in Republicanville, being rich and/or being Christian appear to confer some sort of unspoken 501(c)(3) status, thereby removing rich people and Christians from the ranks of the moochers whether they pay taxes or not. (Of course, if a rich person or Christian makes the unfortunate choice of being a Democrat, moocher status is retained.)

    I think this is why Republican non-taxpayers remain untroubled by the seeming paradox of the 47% figure--they know there's an unofficial deal that makes generating measurable revenue and paying taxes on it entirely optional for them. Taxes are for Caesar, or some such thing.

    I believe this goes back to the Lucrescenti's decision, sometime around the Reagan years, to heavily court the Christian right for the votes they needed to achieve and maintain power in what remains, unfortunately for them, a one-person-one-vote society. The deal was that in return for vast numbers of votes, the Lucrescenti would support the Evangelicals on the hot-button issue of abortion and spread the meme that being Christian is just as good as being rich. Why, some of the rich would even pretend to be Christian, and some Christians would get rich!

    All this led to an unusual, perhaps unprecedented, and (some might say) obscene glorification of wealth and Christianity in American society, and here we are today.

    The wheels and decorations, of course, are falling off the deal now--partly as a result of the effort to include Libertarians under the tent and turn Jesus into some sort of bizarre John Galt hero with Ayn Rand in the Mary Magdalene spot, but I digress. The point is that even though the thing is clearly on its last legs, the sense of special-ness remains out there in its ugly voting coalition glory, and that is what we're seeing from the Mittster and his unlikely allies in this election season.

    With any luck, this is the last we'll see of it.

     

     

     

    Comments

    Well you give me hope for chrissakes! ha

    Jones and a number of other nutjobs (like Robertson is not a nut job praying for the deaths of Supreme Court Justicies) just say:

    HEY, I'M A NEW RELIGION!

    So what?

    I am the way, the light and the truth...

    Okay...

    Why?

    Religion and other conspiracy theorists will always be with us!

    In the beginnings of this country, people came supposedly mocking or eschewing El Papa or other kings who claimed the power of El Papa.

    Every time I see the King or Queen of England (UK or Great Britain or whatever) claim some sort of authority, I throw up.

    Princess Diane--who gives one goddamn?

    We have freedom of religion in this country (and thank the good lord we have this right compared to the Saudis for chrissakes) but we do have the freedom of non religion.

    I hate to just defer to the late Hitchens, but I really do not give a damn.

    hahahahahah

     


    by Richard Day on Wed, 09/19/2012 - 6:14pm

    But I don't think this is a post about religion. My point is that the mutual bestowal of "specialness" was a way for the rich to hand out a provisional membership in the tribe in exchange for votes, without handing out much by way of actual money or favors. Think of a country club membership that only allows people to walk through the club when no one else is around, and maybe be on a list of members that all the REAL members know is bogus. Except that it works! Like a charm! The lineup for bestowal of unimportant privilege reaches all the way out the door.

    Until now.

    Democrats, on the other hand, have been very challenged when it comes to vote-buying. If you're a Democrat, you've had to get votes by doing the right thing, which is very difficult and expensive, or purchase them by handing out huge amounts of pork, which tends to call into question the motives behind any "right-thinging" you did before handing out said pork. It makes it almost impossible to put together the kind of casually immoral coalition that the rich and the religious right have had for the past generation.

    Until now.....


    by erica20 on Wed, 09/19/2012 - 7:15pm

    I say we start the dagblog church and obtain our credentials on the internet, because don't we 'minister to' those in need of a 'spirited revival' of their senses?  And we have 'services' everyday.  And definitely non-profit.angel

     


    by Aunt Sam on Thu, 09/20/2012 - 12:04am

    "With any luck, this is the last we'll see of it."

    Erica,  History is on our side.  Every 30 to 40 years in the country politics realigns its self.  Southern influence with it's backlash has run it's coarse.  It started to take hold with Carter's election and the wealthy jumped on the bandwagon with Regan to form the partnership. The election of Obama marked the beginning of a new political era. Only they are being very noisy and ugly as they get pushed out of power.  The uber rich will take more time to wind down but their smack down is coming. 

    I keep watching the House races.  That is starting to look better also.  This could very well be the last hurrah.  


    by trkingmomoe on Thu, 09/20/2012 - 7:06am

    I WAS gratified by the failure of the Koch brothers to get much traction despite the huge amounts of money they've spent trying to buy respect for their chosen candidates. So I hope, like you, that this is the end of it.


    by erica20 on Thu, 09/20/2012 - 12:26pm