"there’s only one rule that i know of, babies — god damn it, you’ve got to be kind.”
an optimist, but also a pragmatist, arthur schlesinger diagnosed the ills of the current bush administration as "delusions of omnipotence and omniscience," and something likely to lead to the death of the american idea unless treated with the "antidote" of history. children unfamiliar with the world eventually become easy prey for fascist politicos and religious quackmeisters. a warmly golden state of amnesia cannot support the hope of individual liberty or the practice of democratic self-government.
the department of education estimates there are 30 million illiterate americans.
the teaching of history in lower grades has been sharply reduced because new "no child left behind" tests focus on reading and math. no politically correct compromise seems attainable by all interested parties, parents, teachers, school boards, town councils, dept. of homeland security, ad nauseum. so rather than teach kids about context and the framework of time and place, let's just not teach history at all.
recently i watched "jesus camp", about a camp somewhere in the boonies founded and attended by evangelicals.
25% of americans identify as evangelicals.
75% of american children who are home-schooled are members of evangelical families.
as the film progressed my fists grew more clenched, my eyes widened in horror and my stomach grew sick with sadness. 11-year-olds spontaneously proselytizing at a bowling alley; kindergartners writhing on the floor in fits of religious ecstasy, howling in tongues; 12-year-olds preaching against homosexuality; parents teaching their kids that evolution is blasphemous fallacy and global climate change is a liberal god-haters' propaganda.
most disturbing was the anti-abortion speaker. (a tie really with the homo-hater, but he didn't have visual aids.) much shouting about dead babies. the evil women who kill their babies, but they will burn in hell. children as young as 4 were at this meeting. it didn't take long for many children to be sobbing. when they were sufficiently frenzied, he opened up a little red box which contained tiny baby dolls, representing the progressive size of a fetus. children became hysterical. counselors and parents looked on in approval. how in the fucking world could they think this is appropriate material for children this young?
why are they teaching their kids fear and hate? what happened to the christian value of "love thy neighbor"? this not to go all pollyana. i do recall when the religious right started to twist their poisoned fingers in the political pie. their first full-frontal assault failed, so they quickly devised much more effective and insidious ways of achieving ends. bob evans university continues to churn out graduates and there are 150 of them in the current white house. many young people accepted for admin positions in iraq got the job simply because they believe in god. no wonder the damn lights are out all day over there.
does pat roberston want to make the world a better place? no. he wants what all other megalomaniacs want: power. preying on the small shuttered minds of the sheepishly faithful is one of the oldest snake-oil cons in the book.
bush cloaks his pathology in god and country. if this is his demonstration of christianity, i am an atheist. i question both his method and madness, so must be a traitor.
glimmer of hope?
our recently elected governor refused to play dirty pool with his opponent. she was an extremely weak candidate out of the gate and went immediately for muck. he didn't play. he stumped on optimism and change. change from within and goodness from the same place. reminiscent of smart hopeful men from the 60s. he won.
leaving aside hillary, (whom i really like but just has too much damned-if-ya-do-damned-if-ya-don't baggage) obama and edwards are not yet hate-mongering. we shall see what happens when the swift-boat crew et. al get up and gunning for a more clear target, but maybe americans really are ready for a change. the dishonesty, corruption and insanity of the bushies must be obvious to all but the most oblivious by now. they (mccain too, wtf?) insist on holding fast to a policy a huge majority at last decries. he is no longer representing the people. (was he ever?) only his cronies. you can have your god all over your house and car, but please keep him to yourself, and out of my face.
however sincere were last week's outcries against hate speech remains to be seen. that there was debate at all brings me hope for the future of civil discourse.
i live in a blue state with friends who share my views. maybe it is just spring fever and rose-colored glasses. maybe they're being mailed out to all the idjits who vote for "american idol" and "dancing with the stars". dunno. i know more people vote on those shows than actually do at their civil polls. however the margin of fear's victory over sense's last time was only a few points. it wouldn't take a mass movement off the couch. just a little one. really.
sun is out. at least for today.
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