Differences

My previous post bidding farewell to the pope, led to a comment by a French gentleman that highlighted a very distinct argument that I have been perplexed with since the passing of the pope. Basically, how can people who do not like Neocons like the pope?

This morning I was engaged in a conversation with a friend of mine who is Republican and he said that he too couldn’t understand all these Democrats expressing their condolences for the pope. My friend is under the belief that only far-Right conservative minded people can admire the pope- or do so genuinely.

Again, this probably all goes back to the “values,” and “morals” podium from the 2004 presidential election. Aside from the election, what we had in America was a debate about who holds mainstream morals and values- Democrats or Republicans, Liberals or Neocons?

I will probably get a lot of people disagreeing with that last sentence, but essentially, and in the background, that debate took place and is still taking place.

I think it’s absurd to think that Democrats or Liberals do not have morals or values. It is just as ridiculous to think that only Republicans and Neocons do. However you feel about the pope, I would hope that your political ideologies, or politics at all, do not affect your mindset. Not everything is political, and certainly God is not Democrat or Republican.

I admire anyone, or any person, that speaks with conviction. Conviction is something that today’s generation lack. We are bombarded everyday with all sorts of images and people who do not practice what they preach. I believe the pope spoke with conviction. He showed this with his actions everyday. There is little that I agree with the pope on, but I did take into account everything that he said and did, because he surely did it with faith and commemoration.

It is possible to not be a conservative and still respect the pope.

Now on to a different tangent, but still to do with this debate.

I also believe, and I hope this comes across in my posts, that there is a difference between Neocons and Republicans. Not all Republicans are Neocons and vice versa. Recently there has been a new definition for the word Neocon. And it has to do mainly with religion in politics. Not all Republicans share the belief of inter-mingling politics with personal spiritual beliefs either.

To me a Neocon is someone who truly believes in God, but uses God to his/her political advantage. Such as, creating a national debate about morals and values and defining that debate as only Republicans have such qualities; and thus, only Republicans are ordained by the Almighty to lead. Neocons believe they are led by God to achieve political goals and in essence lead others to believe that they are doing God’s work. Like Liberal is the extreme form of the Left in America, Neocon is the extreme form of the Right in America.

Increasingly so, the word Neocon is becoming despised by Republicans and other non-political mainstream Americans just as the word Liberal is now.

I believe that George W. Bush is a Neocon, simply because Karl Rove makes him be one. Privately, and judging from the release of his private tapes, Bush is no Neocon. But publicly and politically, he had to move far to the Right in order to shore up a base to win reelection. Since the election Bush has moved somewhat from the far-Right and tried to reposition himself. He has also learned that’s not easy to do when you motivate millions of people to believe that God has ordained a Righteous role to lead the world.

History has proven that extremism, either on the Left or Right, produces fanaticism, and is not easily curtailed.