Faux News escalates its war on brain cells
from Slate:
Anthony Foxx, the mayor of Charlotte and Obama's pick for the next Secretary of Transportation, issued two city proclamations yesterday. One of them recognized the National Day of Prayer; the other one declared the day to be a Day of Reason. The second proclamation noted that the country was founded on the principles of reason and that "it is the duty and responsibility of every citizen to promote the development and application of reason." Even though we have no evidence that Mayor Foxx was taking a passive-aggressive swipe at the folks at Fox News, they decided to take it as an affront anyway, bringing on Penny Nance, the CEO of Concerned Women for America, to worry that once you start using reason, next thing you know, you're committing a mass genocide and starting a world war.
The relevant quote:
"You know the Age of Enlightenment and Reason gave way to moral relativism. And moral relativism is what led us all the way down the dark path to the Holocaust."
While my reasonable side suggests I shouldn't argue with fools, I can't help but point out that anti-Semitic institutions like the Spanish Inquisition and the myth of blood libel long predate the age of enlightenment. Then again, that's using reason, and we know how Nance feels about that. As Jon Stewart famously demonstrated, Nazis are Fox News catch-all villain, used to denounce anything they dislike: being liberal, supporting Obama, criticizing Fox News for its misinformation. .......................(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/05/03/national_day_of_reason_backlash_penny_nance_blames_the_holocaust_on_reason.html