Sure, this is a pretty overtly Christian ad, but that doesn't really bother me at all. An expression of faith from a preacher's son looking to woo conservative Christian votes is likely to hit a number of religious-themed notes, and I suspect this is genuinely where Cruz is coming from. The thing that grates for me, though, is the text:
“Were it not for the transformative love of Jesus Christ, I would have been raised by a single mom without my father in the household. God’s blessing has been on America, from the very beginning of this nation. Over and over again, when we faced impossible odds, the American people rose to the challenge. This is our fight, and that is why I’m running for president of the United States.”
People thank God for good things all the time. Health. Success in their professional lives. Guidance in their moral dealings. It's just that he's saying "Thank God I had a father in the house or who knows what I would have been." I know a few people who were raised by single moms--I know some who were raised by single moms and glad of it. Some people from single-parent households have grown up to be quite successful.
But I don't think it's just a judgment about single-parent households--note, he said "single-mother", then elides into "the American people rising to the challenge." I don't know. Maybe America has been temporarily "Fatherless"?
So, what'll it be America? Who's your Daddy?
2 comments:
You're a lot more forgiving than I am. I am finding the right-wing embrace of dominionism and theocracy to be increasingly frightening. Americans are one of the most deeply religious populations in the world - right up there with Saudi and Pakistan - and their simultaneous support for a corporatist plutocracy, an authoritarian surveillance/police state and an extreme theocratic interpretation of government is a perfect storm of fascism. History has seen this act before, and I sure can't think of a time when it all worked out ok.
They're building something that might eventually bring some bad outcomes home to roost - especially if their millenialist messiah complex starts to tie up with climate change effects and resource wars...
Cruz's dominionism is scary--just not transparent in this ad. Outspoken faith is pretty common. Now, things like wanting to strip the power of SCOTUS to hear certain cases, like marriage equality cases, unnerve me. Undermining a coequal branch of government doesn't strike me as especially Constitutional. And I feel that if a guy like him gets into office, say hello to Supreme (Mullah) Court Justice Roy Moore.
Post a Comment