ILL WINDS FROM IOWA
Two statements of personal belief:-
1) Believes in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
2) Believes that ‘Intelligent design’ “is a legitimate scientific theory that should be taught in science classes.”
It is possible to be a serious person and it is possible to believe in either of the statements above, it is not possible to do both. Such beliefs would be disconcerting in an aspirant for the post of parish councillor,* however the first statement forms the core belief of Mitt Romney, the second is held by Rick Santorum, both aspiring to be President of The United States, who have, as I write this, tied in the Iowa caucus.
Now I am not interested in America bashing, a sport that already boasts an overcrowded field, for the most part filled with individuals with all the penetrating insight of the over exited juvenile. I also believe that Jeffersonian democracy to be one of the finest legacies of the enlightenment, not least because of its espousal of republican virtues and its wrenching apart of church and state, moreover our own political system which has led us to be lorded over by a tiny elite, not only from the same privileged class background but overwhelmingly from the same school and even the same university college in Oxford, a system which also contains an unelected second chamber, hardly commends itself, but you do not have to be a rabid placard waving opponent of Yankee imperialism to recognise that something has seriously gone wrong. On present trends it looks as if very soon the most powerful public office in the world will be occupied by someone in daily communication with the tooth fairy.
Colloquially I was about to say God help us, but I fear that this is already forming itself into the campaign slogan of a presidential candidate in 2012.
*The lowest form of public office in the UK.
1) Believes in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
2) Believes that ‘Intelligent design’ “is a legitimate scientific theory that should be taught in science classes.”
It is possible to be a serious person and it is possible to believe in either of the statements above, it is not possible to do both. Such beliefs would be disconcerting in an aspirant for the post of parish councillor,* however the first statement forms the core belief of Mitt Romney, the second is held by Rick Santorum, both aspiring to be President of The United States, who have, as I write this, tied in the Iowa caucus.
Now I am not interested in America bashing, a sport that already boasts an overcrowded field, for the most part filled with individuals with all the penetrating insight of the over exited juvenile. I also believe that Jeffersonian democracy to be one of the finest legacies of the enlightenment, not least because of its espousal of republican virtues and its wrenching apart of church and state, moreover our own political system which has led us to be lorded over by a tiny elite, not only from the same privileged class background but overwhelmingly from the same school and even the same university college in Oxford, a system which also contains an unelected second chamber, hardly commends itself, but you do not have to be a rabid placard waving opponent of Yankee imperialism to recognise that something has seriously gone wrong. On present trends it looks as if very soon the most powerful public office in the world will be occupied by someone in daily communication with the tooth fairy.
Colloquially I was about to say God help us, but I fear that this is already forming itself into the campaign slogan of a presidential candidate in 2012.
*The lowest form of public office in the UK.
