How the Right Wing Became A-rational

Perhaps the most delightful outcome of the current presidential campaign may be the general collapse of the alt-right universe. For over ten years I have been pointing out how conservatives were less and less connected with the real world and how their thinking was more and more devoid of facts. Opinions and beliefs began to determine what they considered factual, rather than factual information determining their opinions and beliefs. Without being aware, they completely lost the ability to tell fact from fiction. For a good long while, they were able to bluff their way through: they were so sincere and so convinced their fantasies were real that the American public gave them the benefit of the doubt: if Donald Trump says he saw thousands of Muslims celebrating on 9–11, then it must be true…right?

Then came the campaign. Then came a candidate who was fully engrossed in the fact-optional, right-wing universe. Every day, Americans get more examples of a movement simply disconnected from reality. We now see clearly that the nation cannot survive, let alone prosper, if it is influenced by fantasy and fable, if there is simply no preference for making decisions based on fact and logic. Charlie Sykes, conservative stalwart from Wisconsin has written convincingly about it. (http://www.rawstory.com/2016/08/conservative-radio...)

The best evidence the a-rational conservative bubble has popped is actually a small, simple development. It now has a name, understood by most people, for the right wingers who abandoned reality. The term “Alt-Right,” signifying right wingers from an alternative universe, now gets 290,000,000 responses on Google. The devil has been named. It cannot survive. But, even though the a-rationality of modern conservatism has been exposed, we must consider how it took hold. How could a patently deluded way of thinking take over an entire political movement?

It all began back before World War I. Cue the spacey music and swirling clouds. Take yourself back to 1910. Between that date and 1915, Christian apologists, distressed by the modernization of Christian theology wrote and disseminated a huge set of essays (12 volumes worth) under the title The Fundamentals: A Testimony To The Truth. They constituted a reaction against the gradual modernization of Christian thought by defining immutable, fundamental Christian principles. And the single fundamental concept, from which all others spring, is that the Bible is the inerrant truth. As the direct word of God himself, the Bible must be more than theologically true: it must be literally accurate and undeniable in every aspect.

Most Americans see this principle at work in fundamentalist insistence on the literal truth of the Genesis account. If the Bible describes a world-wide flood, covering the earth to a depth of 6 miles, it must be literally accurate. If biblical dates indicate the universe popped into existence only 10,000 years old, that, too, must be literally accurate.

Believing this takes a powerful capacity to deny reality. Everything we know about science tells us the Bible is NOT inerrant. The speed of light incontrovertibly shows us the universe is many billions of years old. Not enough water exists on the planet to cover the globe to a depth of 6 miles. Views from space pretty much prove the earth does not rest on four giant pillars. Yet Christian fundamentalists are obligated to deny these obvious realities.

The Christian fundamentalist thought process depends on reversing the link between evidence and conclusion. In the fundamentalist mind, the conclusion comes first. The Bible already contains all the truth we will ever need to know. If, in fact, the Bible is inerrant then any evidence, fact, photograph, formula or principal contradicting the bible must, ipso facto, be wrong. The belief comes first; evidence is evaluated as to whether it comports with the belief or not. If the evidence contradicts the belief, it must be rejected so the belief can be held inviolable.

This cannot be described as rational. Rational thinking moves from observable evidence TOWARD a conclusion. Fundamentalist thinking moves from the conclusion TOWARD the evidence. In this light, I hope we can see how a world-view based on Biblical inerrancy is fundamentally a-rational. It simply doesn’t partake in the mental and intellectual developments which gave us the modern world. Modern food production, medicine, technology, transportation, water access, electricity, and more — well, EVERYTHING — exists as a result of more and more well organized rationality.

Sadly, over half a century ago, fundamentalist thought began to invade conservatism. In 1964 Barry Goldwater wrote “Mark my word; if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they’re sure trying to do so, it’s going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can’t and won’t compromise. I know, I’ve tried to deal with them.” Over the decades, with no small boost from white supremacy, fundamentalists became the core voting block for the conservative movement, driving it farther and farther away from science, fact, and rational thought.

Gradually, the need to placate that a-rational Christian voting bloc destroyed the rational capacity of the conservative mind. How many examples do we need? When 97% of climate scientists tell us the climate is changing in dangerous ways, conservatives stick to the belief the climate is not changing. When science proves evolution is real, conservatives simply ignore the science and work to get creationism into the science class. When 8 investigations show Hillary Clinton was not culpable for any wrongdoing in Benghazi, conservatives simply call for a 9th investigation. When evidence shows Sam Brownback’s policies were ruining Kansas, conservatives simply re-elected him. When the evidence showed Duke power is poisoning the water in North Carolina, the conservative governor simply ignored it and declared the water to be safe. Their insistence that facts do not matter became dangerous.

Thank God for Donald Trump. With the advent of his campaign, the American people began to see the inevitable outcome of mindless personal commitment to being stupid. Trump met Putin and did not meet Putin. He saw a plane land in Tehran and he didn’t see a plane land in Tehran. He favored leaving Iraq and he wanted to stay in Iraq. He is behind by 15 points in the polls, but the polls show he is winning. Hillary Clinton releases 38 years of tax returns…Trump releases none… and conservatives conclude she is the one hiding something.

Conservatives can absorb this cognitive dissonance because they have been trained to ignore the link between evidence and conclusions. They generally see no connection between fact and truth. This nation cannot survive, let alone prosper, if it is governed by fabulists and fairy tales. The Trump campaign exposed the inevitable outcome of fundamentalist thinking.

Conservatives often portray the problem of radical terrorism as a clash of civilizations. They see world events as a clash between Islam and Christianity. It is nothing of the sort. Both American fundamentalists and Islamic fundamentalists are on the same side: it’s a civil war between two factions of a-rational, mindless, true believers. The great conflict of the age is not between two forms of irrational theism. The real fight is between the forces of rationality and the forces of mindless belief.

This election can be a great victory for the forces of the rational mind. Democrats can win a resounding victory and express the importance of governing based on facts and evidence. Conservatives who refuse to recognize how they have been hoodwinked by Christian fundamentalists can be exposed and defeated. Above all, this reality has to be understood and expressed. If we do not make it clear, then some future election cycle will see the resurgence and acceptance of the mindless stupidity exhibited by the Trump campaign.