Southern Baptist leader: "Rush Limbaugh's a sexist."

I suspect that most people would not rush as their minister if he lived as he did, yet had great sermons. Most would not vote for a man with his kind of personal life. Yet this most popular conservative pundit is listened to by people who use his thoughts to shape their own. This is more than just listening. People go out and act based on things Rush says.

As a big believer in financial incentives, I would also point out that Rush's primary motive is to sell himself. The two things that always sell well in America are sex and hate. Maybe the women can comment on his sex appeal. His hate appeal is very high. If you want to find a good reason to hate liberals, you listen to Rush for a few hours. He is often, though not always, right. You get to feel that your beliefs are confirmed. You are superior to the enemy. However, if your desire lies in improving your country, this approach is the path to failure. Sounds like Dr. Land understands this. Every pastor has to deal with divisiveness in their church sometimes. They learn this first hand.

Steve

Marian, yes you are right, "ist" as a suffix does not invariably denote an ideology. That's why I qualified my use of the suffix by giving examples of what I meant - racist, sexist, class-ist, species-ist there are several of similar words. At one time people tried out "heterosexist" but that was too hard to say, so they tried "phobe" instead of "ist" = Homophobe, Islamophobe, etc. It means about the same thing -- you are bad because you don't like ___ fill in the blank.

But thanks for pointing out the obvious fact that such suffixes can be used to mean something other than "bad ideologies." I do think that calling Rush Limbaugh a sexist was intended to employ this meaning however, rather than comparing him to a flautist or dentist. However, if "ist" means one accomplished at a particular pursuit, then perhaps many people would like to be called "sexist" in that sense.

I used to listen to Rush Limbaugh religiously. Back in the 90's, he felt like a breath of fresh air. He would say things that many people believed, but few had the courage to speak. He was an antidote to the liberalism (and pseudo-centrism) of the Clinton era.

But over the years, I noticed something. After listening to him, I'd always be angry the rest of the day. I was always assuming the worst about people (especially if I knew they were liberals). Everything was political. When I broke my habit of listening to Limbaugh all the time, I felt that I could finally lighten up. Eventually I learned to enjoy political discussions without arguing self-righteously.

The real world is a complicated place, and no side has all the answers. To always have an "us versus them" mentality is not healthy.

I no longer listen to him, or any talk radio. But I have a few friends that do, and they have this characteristic: They're always angry, and they're always assuming the worst about people who disagree with them.