Here’s an idea: civil rights for everyone!

You know, everyone. Including those everyones who are female.

Rights are the solution to the Todd Akinses of the world, and it would be unspeakably obvious if people could remember that rights matter.

For some reason, even people on the left don’t get it. I had somebody say, when I was carrying on about free speech rights and Pussy Riot, “Fuck theories of speech. Free Pussy Riot.” So, let’s see. “Forget about rights. Give ’em their rights.” Uh huh. That makes a lot of sense. And that’s the “thinking” on the left.

People don’t even get it when it concerns their own rights. There are way too many examples, but here’s just one from Lexia commenting at Reclusive Leftist: “…the woman’s mother, who had worked as a nurse (she had wanted to be a doctor), but mostly as a wife, and so was left at retirement age, divorced, impoverished and living in a trailer with thirty seven leaks….

“The woman’s mother said to me, in response to some remark I made about women’s rights: ‘But that has nothing to do with us.'”

I’m not sure where this reluctance to think about principles comes from, but that’s why we have a problem. That’s why we can’t see that

SOME RIGHTS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN OTHERS.

I know we’re not supposed to shout, but, honestly people, what is so hard about that concept?

Take religion, for instance. At this point, it’s enough to say, “But it’s my religion!” to excuse just about anything. The media just stand there, being respectful, when a Todd Akin says “Women don’t count. I’ll tell ’em when they’ve been raped. I’ll tell those uterine incubators what to do. It’s my religion.” The Left mostly nodded along when Obama quite agreed that Catholic bishops shouldn’t have to put up with anything so anti-religious as female citizens making their own medical decisions. (But because he’s such a nice guy, it won’t be as bad as if that horrible Other Party was giving the bishops their wishes).

May I make a suggestion? I think we need a Church of Savage Death to all Godbags. They’re interfering with my religion, which is that we all leave each other in peace.

Yeah, I know. That’s about as logically consistent as destroying women while Allah is said to be Merciful and God is said to be Love.

It always takes only about one step to fall into complete logical absurdity if religion is put above civil rights.

It’s obvious if you think about it at all. No other right means anything if you are not, as the old language had it, secure in your own person. If you can be imprisoned until you agree with me, you have no freedom of thought. If I can requisition a kidney from you (because I’m dying and my life is at stake and you’re a perfect match and my religion is pro-life), you’re nothing but ambulatory organ storage.

If all that drivel was understood in the context of rights, the Todd Akinses and their spiritual cousins, on up to the mild-mannered and socially acceptable versions in the White House, would all be obvious for the antidemocratic throwbacks they are. They’d never get near the teevee. Because the media are dimly aware that no religion is so important that it can demand human sacrifices. Not even female ones.

Crossposted from Acid Test


15 Comments on “Here’s an idea: civil rights for everyone!”

  1. bostonboomer says:

    Sorry I stepped on your post Quixote. Civil rights for everyone is a wonderful idea. Until 2000, I thought we had that, but I was so wrong.

  2. Obama should have stood up to the Catholics…during the birth control objections. No doubt about it. It has opened a shitcan of worms…

    This mess with Akins, it is nothing new and we have been on about the fucked up beliefs of PLUBs for so long. No surprise that Romney has met and kissed the ass of the doctor who pushed the crap about women and their anti-rape secretions.

    It makes me so angry!

  3. Not sure where to put this link: Top Five Worst Planks in GOP Platform | Informed Comment

    Top Five Worst Planks in GOP Platform

    Posted on 08/23/2012 by Juan

    These are the promises that the Republican Party is making to us if it wins:

    1. Outlawing abortion altogether, with no exceptions for the life and health of the mother, incest or rape.

    2. Preventing the Department of Homeland Security from monitoring far right-wing hate groups (Republican House majority leader John Boehner said that the DHS unit looking at these groups was casting veterans as potential terrorists). Well, very few veterans are dangerous, but undeniably some are, and white supremacists often seek out military experience for the weapons training.

    3. On the whole and by and large, the GOP is in favor of promoting biological illiteracy and denying the theory of evolution, among the most robust and well-established scientific theories. (Gravity is also a ‘theory’; the word doesn’t mean what they think it means.)

    4. Promoting hatred of and fear of Muslims. While not all Republicans are in the same league as Michele Bachmann, Peter King of New York, or Joe Walsh of Illinois, the party has a severe problem with indulging in and enabling hate speech toward millions of American citizens of this faith. The Republican House has had 5 hearings on the alleged radicalization of American Muslims (which is not in evidence) but none about white hate groups. Some observers hold GOP demonizers responsible for the spate of attacks on mosques in the past month, since their discourse excuses hate speech.

    5. The GOP stands for repealing the Affordable Care Act, “Obamacare,” and indeed want Todd Akin now not to run for the senate in Missouri out of fear that his foot in the mouth disease on rape and abortion will make him unelectable and then the Republicans won’t get control of the senate and won’t have the votes to repeal the ACA. That is, the RNC isn’t really horrified at what he said, they are just afraide enough women in Missouri will be to stop them from taking health care back away from 44 million Americans.

    I had to quote it all…

    • HT says:

      If this had come from anybody but Juan Cole, I would have been searching for supporting documentation, but I don’t have to – Juan has already done the work for me and he’s one that I trust most of the time.

      JJ – I had hoped you would take some “me” time in order to rest and regroup, but I’m very glad that you are still active. Just do not overdo it – mental/emotional stress is every bit as bad as physical stress – I knew that long ago, but it was really brought home to me this year. Take care of yourself.

  4. NW Luna says:

    Civil rights for all! How straightforward and simple. And right.

    • HT says:

      Absolutely! Civil rights for all would deprive all those hateful drum bangers of their podium yet it would give us a period of peace before they regroup and rise up again trying to take over the gubbmint again. (hopefully the Teaparty will fail this time around)
      Bet Jesus would be for civil rights for all.

      • quixote says:

        You don’t have to bet. It’s quoted in one gospel or the other: “What you do unto the least of these, you do unto me.”

  5. northwestrain says:

    Often the simplest solution is the best one.

    Sort of like single payer and put the Insurance companies out of the “health” looting business.