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The Identity Politics of Right-Wing Religion
Listen for a few moments to US media (at least some US media) and you are likely to hear the bashing of something called “identity politics.” Why, some ask, do you want to force . . . well . . . everything from race to gender to sexual orientation . . . on the rest of us?
The “us” being, well . . . uhhhh . . . part of the problem.
The English term identity derives from the Latin term idem, meaning ”the same”* Yes. That’s right: “the same.” And wouldn’t it be glorious if the big problem in North America today were people arguing vociferously about how we are all the same?
But, as we all know, that’s not politic. Or politics, is it?
Nope. “Identity politics” as it plays out in the United States today is about how we are different. And our right-wing friends — who appear to somehow have reached the conclusion that they are all the same — love to bash whatever may serve as an identity.
BTW: Oh, and yes, the term “whipping boy” jumps to mind in this context, and it, too, has a history. A whipping boy is a companion to a royal youngster who gets the whipping for what the royal youngster did wrong.
Sort of like the Average American when it comes to many elected politicians, am I right?
