By Ken Kreps
©2004, all rights reserved
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In watching the election results last night on the various networks, I saw the red and blue states on the map, as well as exit poll answers as to why many of the Bush voters supported him. It all served to drive home a point which I had long suspected, but had hoped wasn’t true. That point is this: The deep division in this country is not simply a political one, but runs much deeper. It is in essence a cultural and moral divide that has become more intense over the past twenty years. Exit polls in states that had been heavily hit by unemployment (much of it due to the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs) showed that many Bush supporters were part of these unemployment numbers (either personally or through a family member) yet voted for Bush anyway. Their reasons for doing so is at the crux of the division within our populace. Exit polls showed they voted for George Bush because he is against the marriage of two gay people, he is against further stem cell research, and he opposes a woman’s right to choose in cases where abortion is a factor. Their reasons for voting for Bush were moral issues, not political ones. They ignored if you will the economy and loss of jobs, an illegal war in Iraq, the greatly damaged image of our country worldwide, and the loss of civil rights at home.
To see a vivid, visual picture of this divide in our nation, one only needs to look at the now familiar red (Republican) and blue (Democratic) maps used by all networks to indicate state-by-state election results. The blue states are congregated solidly on the west coast, upper east coast and upper Midwest. The red states are in the south, lower Midwest, northern plains and mountain states. A further demographic, and perhaps the most telling one of all, is that people with higher educations tend to vote, by a large percentage, for Democrats, while people of lesser educations (high school and below) tend to vote strongly for Republicans. Regular church attendees voted overwhelmingly for Bush, while people who go to church occasionally or not at all voted strongly for Kerry. To be sure, there are exceptions to all of these statistics, but by and large, that’s how we tend to vote.
This past election was a yardstick to measure the feelings and beliefs of the country, but it showed a much deeper and longer lasting divide than I like Bush or I like Kerry.
The religious right, ignoring the long and time tested rule of the separation of church and state, has now decided this country will be run by their standards and that God is on their side. The Republicans, led by Karl Rove, have exploited this religious passion to their greatest advantage. They hold out carrots to the religious right, even though they know they cannot deliver.
George Bush and the Republicans talk about a constitutional amendment which would ban the legal marriage of two gay people. Any such amendment must be ratified by two thirds of the states before it can become law. I seriously question if many on the religious right are even aware of this state ratification requirement. Of course, like many that died before it, this constitutional amendment will never happen as the blue (that pesky U.S map again) states will not ratify it and some of the red states, for one reason or another, will also decline to ratify such an amendment. It sounds nice and it garners votes for the Republicans, but it simply won’t happen and, indeed, now that Bush has won a second term, we may never hear of it again, as talk of such an amendment has served its purpose as far as the Republicans are concerned.
Stem cell research is another hot button for the pious crowd on the right. They ignore the fact that such research shows great promise in either curing some of today’s dread diseases, or at least reducing their symptoms. The religious right has convinced their multitudes that using embryos for this research is morally wrong and, benefits be damned, the Republicans are going to stop it. Of course, they’re not. California, a blue state, passed a three billion dollar referendum in this election (with the full support of its Republican governor, no less), for the pursuit of stem cell research and yes, embryos will be used in that research program. Other states will follow, as well as other countries, worldwide. Again, the Republicans have promised their followers something, which they cannot deliver.
Unfortunately, by appointing the right (far right, that is) people to the Supreme Court and lesser courts, the Republicans may be able to wipe out a woman’s right to choose by nullifying Roe v. Wade, relegating women to back rooms, off dark alleys to have abortions performed by unqualified people. Sadly, it could happen.
Willing disciples of this tell ‘em what they want to hear doctrine are all over the Christian television station airwaves. People like Pat Robertson, John Hagee and others are telling their flocks that gay marriage will weaken the institution of marriage and that their own marriages are threatened by it. In reality, it's heterosexual marriages that threaten the institution of marriage, as fifty percent of them end in divorce. Just how gay marriage threatens a married man and a woman who love each other has yet to be explained, but like their political brethren, these self appointed bastions of morality use fear and not reason to back up their contentions. I am particularly incensed by the rotund and pompous John Hagee, as he operates out of my boyhood hometown of San Antonio, Texas. His sermons are filled with homophobic hate of the worst sort as he conducts his business out of an opulent cathedral like church. He's a fear monger and a good one, and it has rewarded him handsomely.
Robertson, on the other hand, speaks with a softer voice as he tells us that God spoke to him and God wanted George Bush to remain president. Any man who says he speaks with a direct voice from God, is either one who isn’t playing with a full deck or one with great understanding of the nuances of manipulating people to his own advantage.
Finally, we need to take a look at the populace of the red and blue states. Most, but not all of the nation’s larger cities are in the blue states. These include, New York, Boston, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Portland (both Oregon and Maine), Washington DC, Seattle and Miami. Yes, Bush won Florida, but not Miami. In these cities and their suburbs reside the creators of most of the advancements in our country. These cities contain, per capita, the most educated people in our country. These cities contain the most creative and forward thinking people in this nation. These cities are where most patrons of the arts reside. These cities contain the forces (other than politics) which drive this nation. In essence, these cities contain the thinkers and leaders in our country.
Strangely (or maybe not so strangely), areas around colleges and universities, even in states that went to Bush, often voted for John Kerry. A prime example of this is the city of Columbus in Ohio.
The red states contain the less educated portion of our population and, with the exception of the above mentioned colleges and universities, have far more followers than leaders. They are the people who are more likely to say no to social progress than yes. They are the group that feels their righteous way of life is best, and that it should be imposed on all of us. They are a solid voting block that wants us to return to school prayer, ban gay marriages, curtail abortion rights for women, and have God look over the shoulder of every judge, every politician, and every appointed official at any level. They abhor progress and many go as far as to call any deviation from the status quo, the work of the Devil. Again, everyone in a red state doesn’t feel this way, but voting trends show the vast majority of red state citizens are of this persuasion. Case in point: The Republican party put out fliers all over the state of West Virginia which said if John Kerry was elected he would ban reading the bible. West Virginia voted solidly for George Bush.
Although it sounds like a long time, George Bush will only be in office another four years. It will be a terrible four years in our history, but at least it has an end in sight and many of us are already starting to mark off the days on a calendar until his infamous reign ends and he is put out to pasture on his ranch in Crawford, Texas. To be sure, in the next four years, Bush and his cronies will cause even more harm to our country than they did during his first term. To think otherwise is sheer folly. Even so, the moral and social civil war which is breaking this country apart will surely last much longer and will no doubt get worse before it gets better. If allowed to go unchecked, the religious right will drive this country back to the social equivalent of the stone age. The movie 1984 showed signs everywhere which said, “Big Brother Is Watching.” While we haven’t yet seen these public signs, in essence, big brother is watching us already, and this time, he’s hiding behind God. At least the red states aren't burning witches at the stake….not yet, anyway.
©2004 by Ken Kreps. This article may not be re-published in electronic or print media without the express written permission of the author. All rights reserved.
Ken Kreps lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife. He has written a number of published articles, essays and short stories, as well as numerous consumer and business pieces. Ken has also written scripts for Imagination Theater, an award winning audio drama series heard on over 150 commercial radio stations across the nation.