If you missed Frank Schaeffer's Huffington Post article about the latest in a string of political scandals, I highly recommend you check it out here: Anthony Weiner: Metaphor for How Sexual Selfishness Destroyed the Left's Agenda.
While I don't agree with everything that Schaeffer wrote, he does make a very valid point for those who disagree with the Right. The Right has established the political talking points and have set the agenda. The Right's obsession with sex, or rather, ridding our country of gay people and outlawing abortion, has forced the Left to address these issues over and over again. I've often criticized the Right (and the Religious Right) for focusing on homosexuality and abortion at the expense of other issues such as poverty, but I never quite realized that the same phenomenon was happening on the Left as well.
I don't mean to diminish the importance of reproductive and LGBTQ rights. In fact, I recently wrote about the importance of taking a stand on these deeply personal issues. But surely we can find a way to keep two issues from dominating our political discussions. We are dealing with two--or three?--wars, high unemployment, and an immigration crisis, among other things. It would be great if those who truly care about working on these issues could, to use a certain political party's pet phrase, "stay the course." Instead, with each election cycle or call to prove political loyalties, the sexual issues take up the most space in the discussion.
Any other thoughts on Schaeffer's provocative post?
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