WHEN Republican presidential nominee John McCain announced Sarah Palin as his choice for vice-president, the media riveted on Palin and what she represents. It’s no wonder: The high-energy Alaskan governor means many things to many people.
To working mothers, she represents the possibility of a woman holding a job while raising a family. To some feminists, she embodies an advancement in women’s rights. But more fundamentally, Palin has become a lightning rod for voters throughout the US by appealing to social conservatives on key ideological issues.
What strain of social conservatism is Palin channeling? Like many other western states, Alaska embraces the values of a rugged wilderness–a land with relatively few people, where guns and hunting are routine parts of life and where social interactions revolve around shared community and church activities.
Voters who live in small towns tend to live in relatively homogenous communities. They feel threatened by the nontraditional lifestyles they see portrayed on television. They may worry more about the preservation of “family values” than about policy issues related to economics or foreign affairs.
The buzzword “family values” means different things to different people. But a politician who advocates “family values” will likely stress the importance of a “nuclear family”, where a mother and father live under the same roof. The morality associated with “family values” often presumes a literal interpretation of the Bible, as well as the assumption that the family will attend church and participate in service activities, such as helping homeless people.
Perhaps their most polarizing belief is the “pro-life” assertion that abortion should be made illegal (citing Christian doctrine) and that “creationism” (God created the universe and Adam and Eve, etc.) should be taught in schools alongside evolution.
It is not easy for Asians and Europeans to understand the influence “family values” have on American politics. But there are several facts that can help put social conservatism in context. First, in terms of sheer numbers, more than 80 percent of Americans identify themselves as Christian. One-third of these consider themselves to be “evangelical”. These may very well vote for a social conservative candidate on a Republican ticket. But one should also keep in mind that there are many types of conservatives in the US.
Moderate conservatives may care more about controlling government spending and limiting the “intrusion” of the federal government on state government than they do about abortion and school prayer. They might be registered Republicans; but they might also be “Independents”, meaning they base their vote not on party affiliation, but on the individual candidate and the issues. Therefore, it is not easy or wise to label conservative voters or make simplistic predictions about the American election.
At long last, the political debate has begun in earnest and will continue until November. It will be interesting to see how America’s diverse communities, with their inherently pluralist belief sets, will respond to the choices they face.
生詞：
affiliation聯(lián)系
creationism神造論
credibility可信性
doctrine教旨
essence本質(zhì)
evangelical 基督教新教派的,該派信仰圣經(jīng)教義的絕對(duì)權(quán)威
feminist女權(quán)主義者
homogenous 同質(zhì)的
honorary 榮譽(yù)的
ideological意識(shí)形態(tài)的
inherently 固有地
intrusion 干涉
literal照字面上的
nominee被提名的人
obsolete陳舊的
pluralist 多元論者
polarize 兩極分化
presume認(rèn)為
physique體格
recipient 接受者
revolve 繞轉(zhuǎn)
stimulus促進(jìn)因素
transparency透明度
BONUS
Expressions
buzzword
（流行，時(shí)髦的）用語(yǔ)
“Change” is the buzzword of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama’s campaign.
“變革”是民主黨總統(tǒng)候選人奧巴馬的競(jìng)選口號(hào)。
fine-tune
調(diào)整
It’s a very thorough plan, we only need to fine-tune it according to each employee’s workload.
這是一個(gè)非常詳細(xì)的計(jì)劃，我們只需根據(jù)每個(gè)雇員的工作量進(jìn)行調(diào)整就行了。
rivet on
(注意力)固定在某人或物
He riveted his eyes on the pretty girl who just passed by.
他兩眼直勾勾地盯著過去的那個(gè)漂亮女孩。
To working mothers, she represents the possibility of a woman holding a job while raising a family. To some feminists, she embodies an advancement in women’s rights. But more fundamentally, Palin has become a lightning rod for voters throughout the US by appealing to social conservatives on key ideological issues.
What strain of social conservatism is Palin channeling? Like many other western states, Alaska embraces the values of a rugged wilderness–a land with relatively few people, where guns and hunting are routine parts of life and where social interactions revolve around shared community and church activities.
Voters who live in small towns tend to live in relatively homogenous communities. They feel threatened by the nontraditional lifestyles they see portrayed on television. They may worry more about the preservation of “family values” than about policy issues related to economics or foreign affairs.
The buzzword “family values” means different things to different people. But a politician who advocates “family values” will likely stress the importance of a “nuclear family”, where a mother and father live under the same roof. The morality associated with “family values” often presumes a literal interpretation of the Bible, as well as the assumption that the family will attend church and participate in service activities, such as helping homeless people.
Perhaps their most polarizing belief is the “pro-life” assertion that abortion should be made illegal (citing Christian doctrine) and that “creationism” (God created the universe and Adam and Eve, etc.) should be taught in schools alongside evolution.
It is not easy for Asians and Europeans to understand the influence “family values” have on American politics. But there are several facts that can help put social conservatism in context. First, in terms of sheer numbers, more than 80 percent of Americans identify themselves as Christian. One-third of these consider themselves to be “evangelical”. These may very well vote for a social conservative candidate on a Republican ticket. But one should also keep in mind that there are many types of conservatives in the US.
Moderate conservatives may care more about controlling government spending and limiting the “intrusion” of the federal government on state government than they do about abortion and school prayer. They might be registered Republicans; but they might also be “Independents”, meaning they base their vote not on party affiliation, but on the individual candidate and the issues. Therefore, it is not easy or wise to label conservative voters or make simplistic predictions about the American election.
At long last, the political debate has begun in earnest and will continue until November. It will be interesting to see how America’s diverse communities, with their inherently pluralist belief sets, will respond to the choices they face.
生詞：
affiliation聯(lián)系
creationism神造論
credibility可信性
doctrine教旨
essence本質(zhì)
evangelical 基督教新教派的,該派信仰圣經(jīng)教義的絕對(duì)權(quán)威
feminist女權(quán)主義者
homogenous 同質(zhì)的
honorary 榮譽(yù)的
ideological意識(shí)形態(tài)的
inherently 固有地
intrusion 干涉
literal照字面上的
nominee被提名的人
obsolete陳舊的
pluralist 多元論者
polarize 兩極分化
presume認(rèn)為
physique體格
recipient 接受者
revolve 繞轉(zhuǎn)
stimulus促進(jìn)因素
transparency透明度
BONUS
Expressions
buzzword
（流行，時(shí)髦的）用語(yǔ)
“Change” is the buzzword of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama’s campaign.
“變革”是民主黨總統(tǒng)候選人奧巴馬的競(jìng)選口號(hào)。
fine-tune
調(diào)整
It’s a very thorough plan, we only need to fine-tune it according to each employee’s workload.
這是一個(gè)非常詳細(xì)的計(jì)劃，我們只需根據(jù)每個(gè)雇員的工作量進(jìn)行調(diào)整就行了。
rivet on
(注意力)固定在某人或物
He riveted his eyes on the pretty girl who just passed by.
他兩眼直勾勾地盯著過去的那個(gè)漂亮女孩。