Khamenei or Santorum? The Who Said What Quiz

Some how I missed this back in February when it was first published in Foreign Policy.  http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/02/29/grand_ayatollah_or_grand_old_party

It is an article that contains an interesting quiz regarding who said which quotes, the Grand Ayatolla of Iran or the Grand Old Party's presidential candidate, Rick Sandorum.  The fact that such a quiz can even be considered speaks to how far we have moved towards acceptance of theocratic ideology in America.  He is Reza Aslan's quiz along with a closing quote from Chris Hedges book, "American Fascists" 

Grand Ayatollah or Grand Old Party?

Who said it: Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei or U.S. Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum?

It's time to play: Khamenei or Santorum? Who said what? Can you guess which of the two said the following? No cheating!  (To see the correct answer, highlight  the word "Answer:" and the spaces beyond it.)

1. "We were put on this Earth as creatures of God to have dominion over the Earth." Answer:  Santorum

2. "We believe in democracy and we also believe in freedom, but we do not believe in liberal democracy."    Answer: Khamenei

3. "Although the literal meaning of socialism is equitable distribution of wealth, it is associated with other concepts which we hate. Over time, socialism has come to be associated with certain things in society that are unacceptable to us."                     Answer: Khamenei

4. "The radical feminists succeeded in undermining the traditional family and convincing women that professional accomplishments are the key to happiness." Answer:  Santorum

5. "This is not a political war at all. This is not a cultural war. This is a spiritual war."  Answer:  Santorum

6. "This is a war between two willpowers: the willpower of the people and the willpower of their enemies."   Answer: Khamenei

7. "Go back and read what the sirens did once you arrived on that island.… They devour you. They destroy you. They consume you."  Answer:  Santorum

8. Which said either: "The Iranian people's hatred for America is profound" or "The Iranian people's hatred for America is profound."   Answer: Khamenei

So, how did you score?
7-8 correct: Supreme leader
5-6 correct: Religious warrior
3-4 correct: Agnostic
1-2 correct: Radical secularist
0 correct: You make me want to throw up.

Thanks for playing!

From "American Facists" by Chris Hedges:

"Dr. James Luther Adams, my ethics professor at Harvard Divinity School, told us that when we were his age - he was then close to 80 - we would all be fighting the "Christian Fascists."  

The warning, given to me nearly 25 years ago, came at the moment Pat Robertson and other radio and televangelists began speaking about a new political religion that would direct its efforts at taking control of all institutions, including mainstream denominations and the government.  Its state goal was to use the United States to create a global Christian empire.  It was hard, at the time, to take such fantastic rhetoric seriously, especially given the buffoonish quality of the leaders in the Christian Right who expounded it.  But Adams warned us against the blindness caused by intellectual snobbery.  He Nazis, he said, were not going to return with swastikas and brown shirts.  Their ideological inheritors in America had found a mask for fascism in patriotism and the pages of the Bible."


[Please note:  I do not believe, nor suggest, that any presidential candidate is pursuing fascism or knowingly advancing a fascist agenda.  The intention here is to raise awareness that extreme nationalism or extreme religious ideology is a danger in a liberal democracy.  When evangelizing individual turns into political evangelism we cross into that danger zone.]