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With such a deluge of stupidity and hate coming from fundamentalist groups and religious zealots, it’s easy to get caught up in all that and begin to generalize.  I just listened to a wonderful interview on Free Thought Radio with Jon O’Brien, president of Catholics for Choice, concerning Bill Donohue and his reactionary group The Catholic League.

It was particularly insightful because O’Brien was very progressive and tremedously logical, reasonable, and smart.  His stance on religion and the protection of secular society was refreshing and thoughtful, and it reminded me that not all religious people are insane or stupid.  I’ve been so innundated with the barrage of fundamentalist idiocy that rules the airwaves and drives the Bush administration that I’d sort of forgotten that there are intelligent progressives out there.  The significance of a Catholic being interviewed on an atheist/agnostic radio show and having so many shared goals shouldn’t be trivialized.

Protecting and enforcing the first amendment are essential in preserving both our secular and our religious societies.  It protects all of us, including religious folks.  Progressives like O’Brien and his group understand this and are making great strides in bringing Catholicism up to date and making it more viable and reasonable to people who need it.  I know some very progressive Catholics (one who I believe is really an agnostic) so I know they do exist, albeit not in the numbers I’d like to see.

If you get a chance to check out the broadcast it’s worth it.  I just with they’d interviewed him longer.  You can download it as a podcast or you can download the mp3 and play it on any computer or portable music player (at the time of this writing I don’t think this one has been archived just yet).

This is perfect timing with my attempt to tone down my rhetoric against religion in general and to refocus it on fundamentalist attempts to quell free thought and undermine the first amendment.  I’d like to see a rise in awareness among the progressives out there to stop sheltering reactionary zealots and to appreciate and protect our first amendment rights.  After all, it protects all of us.