Emotional Politics

Just a quick note on this short article from Think Progress about a pastor in Arizona saying he'll "pray that [Obama] dies and goes to hell."

What an awful thing to say. Don't get me wrong – I very much dislike the President's policies – but to pray that he dies? Perhaps Pastor Anderson is betting on the idea that 'no publicity is bad publicity.'

I wish he'd think about the groups people will believe he's representing – namely, Christians and conservatives.

When I read articles like this, I like to look through some of the comments made on it. The general disposition, of course, depends on the source. One commenter on Think Progress chalks Anderson up as another example of "hate coming from the extreme right."

Another comment, taken from the Drudge Report page, claims that conservatives will "downplay" it, sort of like a 'where are their mighty principles now' observation.

I didn't really see any downplaying, except one guy focusing more on disliking Obama than on the topic at hand, but to some extent, he's right. It becomes more of a debate over which party has the crazier cooks, which party made the worst mistakes, which party can use the most fowl language, etc…

This is what happens when an argument becomes primarily emotional, rather than rational. The pastor's sermon was merely emotion – hatred – and therefore irrelevant as any sort of argument or debate. However, he has a right to say (almost) anything he likes, even if it seems disgraceful to us.

Most of the responses to the pastor likewise are emotional – angry judgments, finger-pointing, swearing.

Although it might make some of these people feel better to curse and put down random online message board users, what does it ultimately gain?

This is just one of copious examples of emotional politics ruining our chances for rational, reasoned debate. If we care about the future of the country, we must put the emotions aside and speak like adults.