[extropy-chat] FWD (SK) What's Going On?

[Terry W. Colvin]

The New York Times


          March 29, 2005

OP-ED COLUMNIST


    What's Going On?

By PAUL KRUGMAN 
<http://www.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/paulkrugman/index.html?inline=nyt-per> 


Democratic societies have a hard time dealing with extremists in their 
midst. The desire to show respect for other people's beliefs all too 
easily turns into denial: nobody wants to talk about the threat posed by 
those whose beliefs include contempt for democracy itself.

We can see this failing clearly in other countries. In the Netherlands, 
for example, a culture of tolerance led the nation to ignore the growing 
influence of Islamic extremists until they turned murderous.

But it's also true of the United States, where dangerous extremists 
belong to the majority religion and the majority ethnic group, and wield 
great political influence.

Before he saw the polls, Tom DeLay declared that "one thing that God has 
brought to us is Terri Schiavo, to help elevate the visibility of what 
is going on in America." Now he and his party, shocked by the public's 
negative reaction to their meddling, want to move on. But we shouldn't 
let them. The Schiavo case is, indeed, a chance to highlight what's 
going on in America.

One thing that's going on is a climate of fear for those who try to 
enforce laws that religious extremists oppose. Randall Terry, a 
spokesman for Terri Schiavo's parents, hasn't killed anyone, but one of 
his former close associates in the anti-abortion movement is serving 
time for murdering a doctor. George Greer, the judge in the Schiavo 
case, needs armed bodyguards.

Another thing that's going on is the rise of politicians willing to 
violate the spirit of the law, if not yet the letter, to cater to the 
religious right.

Everyone knows about the attempt to circumvent the courts through 
"Terri's law." But there has been little national exposure for a Miami 
Herald report that Jeb Bush sent state law enforcement agents to seize 
Terri Schiavo from the hospice - a plan called off when local police 
said they would enforce the judge's order that she remain there.

And the future seems all too likely to bring more intimidation in the 
name of God and more political intervention that undermines the rule of law.

The religious right is already having a big impact on education: 31 
percent of teachers surveyed by the National Science Teachers 
Association feel pressured to present creationism-related material in 
the classroom.

But medical care is the cutting edge of extremism.

Yesterday The Washington Post reported on the growing number of 
pharmacists who, on religious grounds, refuse to fill prescriptions for 
birth control or morning-after pills. These pharmacists talk of personal 
belief; but the effect is to undermine laws that make these drugs 
available. And let me make a prediction: soon, wherever the religious 
right is strong, many pharmacists will be pressured into denying women 
legal drugs.

And it won't stop there. There is a nationwide trend toward "conscience" 
or "refusal" legislation. Laws in Illinois and Mississippi already allow 
doctors and other health providers to deny virtually any procedure to 
any patient. Again, think of how such laws expose doctors to pressure 
and intimidation.

But the big step by extremists will be an attempt to eliminate the 
filibuster, so that the courts can be packed with judges less committed 
to upholding the law than Mr. Greer.

We can't count on restraint from people like Mr. DeLay, who believes 
that he's on a mission to bring a "biblical worldview" to American 
politics, and that God brought him a brain-damaged patient to help him 
with that mission.

What we need - and we aren't seeing - is a firm stand by moderates 
against religious extremism. Some people ask, with justification, Where 
are the Democrats? But an even better question is, Where are the doctors 
fiercely defending their professional integrity? I think the American 
Medical Association disapproves of politicians who second-guess medical 
diagnoses based on video images - but the association's statement on the 
Schiavo case is so timid that it's hard to be sure.

The closest parallel I can think of to current American politics is 
Israel. There was a time, not that long ago, when moderate Israelis 
downplayed the rise of religious extremists. But no more: extremists 
have already killed one prime minister, and everyone realizes that Ariel 
Sharon is at risk.

America isn't yet a place where liberal politicians, and even 
conservatives who aren't sufficiently hard-line, fear assassination. But 
unless moderates take a stand against the growing power of domestic 
extremists, it can happen here.

E-mail: krugman at nytimes.com <mailto:krugman at nytimes.com%22>

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/29/opinion/29krugman.html?th=&adxnnl=1&emc=th&adxnnlx=1112112128-MdzbQxkWmcdcO5UMpTrYYQ 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/29/opinion/29krugman.html?th=&adxnnl=1&emc=th&adxnnlx=1112112128-MdzbQxkWmcdcO5UMpTrYYQ> 


-- 
"Only a zit on the wart on the heinie of progress." Copyright 1992, Frank Rice


Terry W. Colvin, Sierra Vista, Arizona (USA) < fortean1 at mindspring.com >
     Alternate: < fortean1 at msn.com >
Home Page: < http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Stargate/8958/index.html >
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