Sharia Law

Sharia Law

It's no wonder that people from these places hate those of us who live in the free world. Their self-imposed strict moral code must be like wearing a chastity belt that is three sizes too small. They pride themselves on adhering to devout religious teachings and the law of God but they all seem miserable and uptight to me. Whenever I read news reports from these awful, far away places I shudder with fear. I certainly would never consider living there and I don't have much interest in even visiting. Yes, South Dakota is really a shit hole.

The governor just signed legislation that would ban most abortions in that state. South Dakota only has a single clinic which performs legal abortions. It seems to me that by closing this clinic what the governor is doing is giving every forward-thinking adult in that state even one less reason to stay in South Dakota. I have news for you Gov. Rounds, Mount Rushmore is not going to keep the best and the brightest in your state from exiling themselves to liberal enclaves like San Francisco and Seattle.

If you live in downtown Seattle like I do we just take it for granted that almost everyone around us is hyper-liberal. Encountering a conservative is about as likely as coming across a dead body. In both instances no one would blame you for poking them with a stick. You have as much chance of spotting a rare arctic owl on the streets of Seattle as finding someone who still clings to the idea that the war in Iraq was a good idea. Rarer still is anyone who believes that abortion is anyone but a woman's business.

I think that the religious right's entire idea for a more moral America is analogous to conservatives' views on the war in Iraq at its onset. As with the war they are trying desperately to impose their will on the country while those of us with a clearer grasp on reality can see that the outcome will be disastrous.

I think it is fair to ask just how far to the right do conservatives wish to take this country. What model do they hold up as an example of the kind of country they want us to become? As a liberal I would cite countries like Finland or The Netherlands as the kind of country I think that we should emulate, at least in some ways. If you listen to the leaders of America's religious right you would think that Afghanistan under the Taliban would be the model they are trying to copy. The governor of South Dakota has pushed his state a little closer to that ideal.