CONSISTENCY

Charlie Fuqua an Arkansas legislative candidate endorsed the idea of stoning disobedient children to death.  While his view may seem shocking to some, it is completely consistent with biblical law.  The Ten Commandments, as delivered by Moses directly from God, are not requests.  They’re commandments.  The violation of any one of them, including honor thy father and thy mother, are considered by god to be offenses worthy of death.  If we are a Judeo-Christian nation, bound by these beliefs, then stoning an unruly child to death should not be considered abhorrent but merely a manifestation of God’s will.

When would-be Senators Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock made their statements concerning rape they too were being consistent.  If a mother carries a baby created from rape to term she has no right to kill it because of the way he or she was conceived.  If life begins at the moment of conception then there is truly no legitimate reason to kill that life because it was created from a rape. 

Furthermore, when Representative Joe Walsh claimed that there should be no exceptions for the health or life of the mother he too was being consistent.  A mother has no right to kill her baby if the baby is posing a health risk to her.  “I was losing sleep” or “He has lots of germs” are not considered defenses for infanticide.  So health or life of the mother should not be a valid reason for abortion.

Here’s the problem with everything I just said: IT’S FUCKING INSANE!

Even if you accept the premise that we are a Judeo-Christian Nation (which I don’t) it is insane to believe we should base our laws on a book written thousands of years ago.  Any belief that calls for the stoning of unruly children is insane, regardless of what book it is derived from. 

If you believe that a blastocyst is the same as a baby you believe a crazy thing.  An apple seed is not the same as an apple tree.   A fetus is not the same as a baby.  The potential of becoming a thing is not the same as being a thing.  You may fervently believe that life begins at conception. You may fervently believe in Santa Clause.   Past a certain age, that belief makes you worthy of scorn, contempt or ridicule.   The more fervently you believe this, the more worthy you are of ridicule.  In a rational world this belief by itself would render you ineligible to serve in any leadership capacity.

The problem with Charlie Fuqua, Todd Akin, Richard Mourdock and Joe Walsh isn’t that they say crazy; it’s that they think crazy.  When they say crazy it’s a reflection of their crazy heads.

This is important.  The above were not elected because they said some crazy shit.  But what they said was merely a consistent application of their fucked-up heads.  What should of disqualified them is their heads not their statements.

In a way, the above persons deserve to be commended.  They stated what they believe consistently and honestly.  If you want to use biblical law to discriminate against homosexuals, why not use it to stone children?  If a blastocyst is a baby then it deserves the same rights as a baby.  The fact that they said things consistent with that belief is not the scary thing.  The belief is the scary thing. 

By making the statements the thing we are missing the crux.   Paul Ryan, James Inhofe, Orin Hatch and a host of other Republicans- perhaps most Republican- believe the exact same crazy things as the gentlemen mentioned above.  Yet they’re still in office.  Why?  Because they’ve learned how to conceal the crazy. 

We reward the liars and punish the honest.

We must stop this.  We should be as forthright and bold in stating sane things as they are in stating insane things.  The American people should have a sanity litmus test:

1. If you believe that life begins at conception- that a blastocyst is the same as a baby- you are crazy and are ineligible for higher office.

2. If you believe that the bible has a place in jurisprudence, you are crazy and should be barred from higher office.

We should endeavor to be as consistent with our sane beliefs as they are with their crazy beliefs.   If we rally to keep Mr. Akin and Mourdock out of higher office because they believe crazy things then we should do the same to Mr. Ryan and Inhofe who believe the same things but just haven’t had the guts to state it as forthrightly.   However, they are currently legislating based on the same insane beliefs.   

We must gain the strength to call out the crazy with the same fervor in which they advocate it.