SavageDem

My suburb is one of the most conservative – and lily white – locales in the Twin Cities. Why do I live here? I don’t know. Anyway, it’s a losing battle trying to fight the small-mindedness, fundamentalism, and racism that’s rampant here…but I try. My latest little rant to the editor:

Martin Bracewell’s editorial of last week raised my ire. The gist of his message is that Christians are “persecuted” in America for their beliefs. This is laughable. The definition of (religious) persecution is “a program or campaign to exterminate, drive away, or subjugate a people because of their religion.” This is not happening in a nation that is over 78% Christian. Instead, what is happening is that true patriots in this country are calling attention to the fact that a small group of “religious” fundamentalists are trying to enshrine their religious beliefs as law.

One of the reasons America was settled was to escape religious oppression. The founding fathers were very aware of the danger of religion-influenced government, and addressed this in the Bill of Rights, which says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” Bracewell’s article says he finds it strange that many people fear that Bachmann and Perry might try to establish a theocracy. It isn’t strange at all; both Bachmann and Perry have publicly stated that they want to turn their religious beliefs into law, which is the very definition of a theocracy. One need only look at Iran to see how a theocracy looks.

It’s as simple as this: we can practice – or not practice – the religion we choose, and no one has the right to make the choice for us. That extends to laws based on religious beliefs. That’s what America is about. The exercise of – or lack thereof – my religion does not – and cannot – take rights away from anyone else. It is the hypocrisy of the right wing that they constantly bemoan the government interfering with their lives, yet at the same time want to interfere with our lives by making their beliefs law.

Shorter University in Rome, GA – a school that has as its motto “Transforming Lives Through Christ” – just instituted their own form of theocracy. They obviously have closed their eyes and ears to what Christ really stood for, as their institution preaches the kind of hatred and divisiveness that would have infuriated the Jesus portrayed in the New Testament. Here’s my open letter to Donald Dowless, the president.

Donald,

I just read a story about your university requiring all employees to sign a “Personal Lifestyle Statement” or be fired. I’m appalled. First of all, the hypocrisy of you calling your school a “Christian” university is stunning. You are about as far from Christ as East is from West. If you don’t recall – as many of you self-professed “Christians” don’t – Jesus never said a word about homosexuality. He did, however, list the two greatest commandments: Love God, and Love Your Neighbor as Yourself. I don’t find any ambivalence with that statement. He didn’t say, “Except for gay people.”

If you truly are a school of higher learning, you might take note of the fact that the Bible 1) was written by humans, some 70+ years after Jesus’ death; 2) was not compiled into its present-day books until hundreds of years later; 3) was not written in English; 4) has much nuance and debated translation. In fact, there is no “one” Bible that God just plunked down on your desk. And many, many Biblical scholars – people who actually think and explore and research and seek answers and who don’t wear blinders – debate the meanings of the verses that you use to promote your hateful and decidedly non-Christian agenda of the persecution of gay men and women. Not to mention that the verse most quoted in defense of your indefensible position was in the book of Paul, and not from Jesus himself.

I wonder how many other Biblical tenets you will force your employees to follow. Will you prohibit shellfish from being eaten on campus? Will you stop the wearing of all clothing with mixed fibers? Will you require professors to kill their children if they talk back to their parents? Since you follow the Bible so closely, I’m sure you’ll be enforcing these “rules” as well. Or will you use the tired argument of the “Christian” zealot and say that those rules were just a product of that time period, and that we now know better? The fallacy that somehow you know which parts of the Bible can be discarded and which parts should be applied religiously (pun intended)? If you’re going to tell me it’s the infallible word of God, then you better follow all of it, buddy. But I’m familiar with your hypocrisy, and am sure you have shielded yourself from logic with raiments of twisted God-speak that sound wonderful to the unthinking extremists that seek “learning” in the halls of your institution.

Perhaps you may someday – not out loud, but in that tiny part of your soul still struggling for love and compassion to win out over hate and fear – consider the idea that the Bible is a spiritual guide, and not the faultless writings of a God who somehow took pen in hand and wrote down a series of conflicting messages – in English – and then expected us to follow them all unerringly. I pray for you and your misguided policies, and especially for the teachers and students who are subjected to your unloving and un-Christian actions.

You can send your own letter to Don at chimes@shorter.edu. He’s far too important to make his own email address available, so filters it through his administrative assistant.

Between the second quarter of 2009 and the fourth quarter of 2010, our nation’s total income rose by $528 billion. Of that economic growth, $464 billion went to pretax corporate profits. Just $7 billion went to wages and salaries. In other words, 88% of the brief recovery went to corporate profits and just 1% — that’s right, 1% — went to workers, according to a study by economists at Northeastern University. By contrast, when the United States was recovering from a downturn in the early 1990s, 50% of the growth in the national income went to wages and salaries.

Read the full article by Sally Kohn here: Time to raise taxes on the rich

This article gets at something that I’ve observed personally multiple times in life: it seems to take a crisis for most people to crystallize what’s really important in their existence, and that state of mind only lasts a short while. If we can learn how to open our minds, follow our intuition, and “tap in” to that feeling more regularly, we may find our true calling and more joy in life.

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool that I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything—all external expectations all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

Chris Hedges knocks it out of the park again in writing about the increasing pressure to turn our schools and teachers into mindless cogs existing only to churn out homogeneous parts for the corporate machine.

To truly teach is to instill the values and knowledge which promote the common good and protect a society from the folly of historical amnesia. The utilitarian, corporate ideology embraced by the system of standardized tests and leadership academies has no time for the nuances and moral ambiguities inherent in a liberal arts education. Corporatism is about the cult of the self. It is about personal enrichment and profit as the sole aim of human existence. And those who do not conform are pushed aside.

Fascinating insight from Noam Chomsky on how much our government historically really values democracy…which is not very much. He’s interviewed here regarding the Egyptian crisis, and walks us through how we only truly support independence when it suits our needs.

The leading studies of—scholarly studies of what’s called “democracy promotion” happen to be by a good, careful scholar, Thomas Carruthers, who’s a neo-Reaganite. He was in Reagan’s State Department working on programs of democracy promotion, and he thinks it’s a wonderful thing. But he concludes from his studies, ruefully, that the U.S. supports democracy, if and only if it accords with strategic and economic objectives. Now, he regards this as a paradox. And it is a paradox if you believe the rhetoric of leaders. He even says that all American leaders are somehow schizophrenic. But there’s a much simpler analysis: people with power want to retain and maximize their power. So, democracy is fine if it accords with that, and it’s unacceptable if it doesn’t.

Following is a letter to the editor I penned for the 2010-12-08 edition of the Savage Pacer. It was in response to news that local residents are trying to stop the development of “workforce” housing (an apartment building for people meeting certain income limits).

Last week’s Pacer article about the proposed Village Commons development near Marketplace angered and saddened me. It’s hard to believe that fellow Savage residents of mine are so callous, selfish, ignorant, and downright hateful. The new apartments slated to be built are not “slum” housing, as characterized by one attendee at a neighborhood meeting; they will be brand-new apartments with rent fully-paid by the residents. They will provide another option for hard-working people and families to live in a good neighborhood with access to good schools and facilities. They’ll give people a chance to build equity and eventually afford a home of their own. They’ll be a safe place for families to raise their children. To the woman who said, “Boo-hoo. I don’t care about them,” I say: Be careful. That could be you some day. All you need to do is check out the weekly foreclosure listings in the Pacer and talk to your unemployed friends to see how fragile your status really is. History has shown time and time again that nations and governments fail when we become divided into “haves” and “have-nots,” into feudal lords and serfs, rich and poor. We succeed as a nation when we work towards increasing the well-being of all. We cannot be an insular community, where we only admit people who can afford half-million dollar houses. Our goal should be to raise everyone’s standard of living.

All major faith traditions have caring for the poor as a central tenet. The utter hypocrisy of casting out the less fortunate during Christmas – given that Savage has a majority of Christians – floors me. I truly hope that people can overcome their fear, that Village Commons is built, and that we become a stronger and more inclusive city.

From the Manitoba Herald (which hasn’t existed since 1877):

The flood of American liberals sneaking across the border into Canada has intensified in the past week, sparking calls for increased patrols to stop the illegal immigration. The recent actions of the Tea Party are prompting an exodus among left-leaning citizens who fear they’ll soon be required to hunt, pray, and to agree with Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck.

Canadian border farmers say it’s not uncommon to see dozens of sociology professors, animal-rights activists and Unitarians crossing their fields at night. “I went out to milk the cows the other day, and there was a Hollywood producer huddled in the barn,” said Manitoba farmer Red Greenfield, whose acreage borders North Dakota . The producer was cold, exhausted and hungry. He asked me if I could spare a latte and some free-range chicken. When I said I didn’t have any, he left before I even got a chance to show him my screenplay, eh?

In an effort to stop the illegal aliens, Greenfield erected higher fences,but the liberals scaled them. He then installed loudspeakers that blared Rush Limbaugh across the fields. “Not real effective,” he said. “The liberals still got through and Rush annoyed the cows so much that they wouldn’t give any milk.

Officials are particularly concerned about smugglers who meet liberals near the Canadian border, pack them into Volvo station wagons and drive them across the border where they are simply left to fend for themselves.” A lot of these people are not prepared for our rugged conditions,” an Ontario border patrolman said. “I found one carload without a single bottle of imported drinking water. They did have a nice little Napa Valley Cabernet, though.”

When liberals are caught, they’re sent back across the border, often wailing loudly that they fear retribution from conservatives. Rumors have been circulating about plans being made to build re-education camps where liberals will be forced to drink domestic beer and watch NASCAR races.

In recent days, liberals have turned to ingenious ways of crossing the border. Some have been disguised as senior citizens taking a bus trip to buy cheap Canadian prescription drugs. After catching a half-dozen young vegans in powdered wig disguises, Canadian immigration authorities began stopping buses and quizzing the supposed senior citizens about Perry Como and Rosemary Clooney to prove that they were alive in the ’50s. “If they can’t identify the accordion player on The Lawrence Welk Show, we become very suspicious about their age.” an official said.

Canadian citizens have complained that the illegal immigrants are creating an organic-broccoli shortage and are renting all the Michael Moore movies. “I really feel sorry for American liberals, but the Canadian economy just can’t support them.” an Ottawa resident said. “How many art-history majors does one country need?”

I like the look of Nate Silver’s final projection for MN Governor.

Being a happy-clappy, tree-hugging liberal, I’m not usually in favor of mass extinction events. But if Sharron Angle becomes a U.S. Senator from NV, I might not be opposed to resuming nuclear warhead testing. In Las Vegas.

I’m just sayin’.