www.DemocraticFundamentalism.org - Editorial

Editorial
Frequently Asked Questions
and Speaking Points
Got a question?

Why don't you get rid of those banner ads on your site?
Why did you pick that name? I don't want to join a religious movement.
But Iraq wants to destroy us.
What is propaganda?

Why don't you get rid of those banner ads on your site?

Answer: I'm working on it. The fact is, I don't know why they're coming up. We get a lot of hackers, and they can do some pretty interesting things. We do not run pop-ups or banner ads, and we do not take money for the news programming on our news pages. I could, but I decided not to, because I'm not doing this for money. And I didn't want the appearance of a conflict of interest.

The banner ads may be coming from the news service. I'm working on it. If not from the news service, then it's just one more ploy to waste my time so I can't work on this organization. And, it ain't workin'.

Why did you pick that name? I don't want to join a religious movement.

Answer: That's a good point. This web site is not about religion. It's about Democracy.

We used the word fundamentalism because its meaning has been twisted around to the point where even dictionaries say it's about religion. It's not. Fundamentalism means simply that you believe in something so much, that you adhere to the rules or behave in a way consistent with that belief. For example, if you like basketball, you play by the rules so that the game is fair and that the skills of the players make the difference, not the the ability to cheat.

In Democracy, that means free speech, fair elections, separation of church and state, equality, justice and fair elections.

Since 911, the word fundamentalism has taken on an even more extreme interpretation... almost evil. And it's just not so. It's been twisted around to mean something more like extremists. And, unfortunately, it ends up being used to spread lies and rumors in order to divide people and make them dislike each other. This way, the people trying to manipulate you to think something use propaganda to cause you to think like they do. For example, they might want you to fear Arab people, so you'll be willing to go to war against them.

Or, like in Iraq, thy want us to believe that, 1) Iraq is planning some sort of imminent attack or conspiracy against us, and 2) that a country like us, with the largest military force in the world, should expect all other countries should disarm themselves, for fear of being destroyed.

Personally, I think that's hypocritical. If another country threatened the United States, and had a bigger army, our President would not be doing his job to protect us if he didn't try to develop a way to defend the country. Why should we expect otherwise of a country like Iraq?

This is one way we can change the public reaction to the word fundamentalism, so, for example, our friends who are Islamists will not be automatically thought of as bad when the word is used.

But Iraq wants to destroy us.

Answer: How do you know that? Who told you that? Did you hear it on TV? Maybe the Nightly News or MSNBC? Fox or ABC. Have you read it online or in the newspapers? Who owns the publications you read? What would they have to benefit from the things they tell you?

More than 70% of Americans get their information from a 30 minute broadcast on their favorite tv network 3 times a week. That could not possibly keep you informed. And, it makes you vulnerable to propaganda.

What is propaganda?