The little chart that accompanies the results of Google news searches shows that by 6:00 pm Thursday, June 30, the story of Rep. Todd Akin's prejudicial, inflammatory statement that liberals hate God and want to replace God with big government (see my previous posting) had lost what media legs it ever had—which wasn't much, really. While certain progressive sites and writers took up the hue and cry, most of the nation never noticed the story at all. It never made it into CNN, for example, and even the on line religious news websites ignored it. It has taken place so far in advance of next year's primary elections that it will surely have no impact on Akin's bid for the Senate.Now, Rep. Akin may have learned that he has to be more careful about public expressions of his prejudices about liberals, but it is hardly likely that he unlearned the prejudice. His remarks were reprehensible from a liberal perspective, but he still holds them. The liberal hue and cry, such as it was, didn't even begin to address them. Akin is right-wing indignant that NBC dropped "under God" from the pledge of allegiance. The liberal Missouri clergy that delivered a letter of reprimand to his staff (source) are left-wing indignant at his prejudice and his failure to care for America's poor. Akin himself refused to meet with the clergy, who at least wanted to talk—not that it would have done much good. And no lessons were learned.
Everybody's talking and nobody's listening. Both sides are clearly fearful and angry. Nobody's addressing the fears. Instead, Akin demonizes the liberals who demonize him. I understand that for the sake of truth as they understand it and conscience , progressives could not let Akin's statement pass unanswered. Silence was not a choice. It's just sad that their responses have left us exactly where we were before: standing on the opposite sides of an apparently unbridgeable chasm. There must be a better way.
(For further reflection on the vexing problem of cross-ideological communication, check out Peter Laarman, "Why Liberal Religious Arguments Fail," at rdmagazine.)
