The "conservative right" is a euphemism for fear. The breadbasket folks of America are afraid of change, afraid of the future, and afraid of what might happen if they let go of their mythology. These people still remain the guardians of the dominent American culture but their "base," you know, the one that propelled George W. Bush into power, is shrinking. Now, they are freaked out.
There are always "fear" tools that are in style, which the right wing places into their own mental psyche because being afraid of something is the only way they know how to live. After Obama's reelection last week I heard from some relatives who said they were going to "buy a gun" or get a "concealed weapon permit." For, without fear they could not function as the victims.
First, let me address their favorite "fear of the week," which is the Muslim plan for world domination. As for me, I don't worry about this at all. I know that ALL religions are invented by men. I know that as humanity continues to socially evolve, Islam will lose steam, unravel, and go away just like all other religions. Islam and the Arab nations are simply behind the cycle. Christianity has already gone through its angry, reactionary, violent phase and is now in deterioration. In many Western nations only its shell remains. And Islam is simply a couple of decades behind.
I predict that religion will simply evolve away ....
But there are other fears. The one that makes me laugh is the fear that God is going to take his "blessing" away from the U.S. because of abortion and homosexual marriage. My first question is, why did God "bless" atheist Russia with so much natural gas and Muslim Saudi Arabia with so much oil? I thought God didn't like those guys. But this gets back to the point — when you follow religion you CAN NOT follow any type of logic.
Then, there are more fears, like the fear of crime, so all the Christians, who follow the teachings of a pacifist Christ, go out and buy guns. Then, the deaths by gun accidents and "moments of rage" actually become greater than the deaths by evil gunmen who break into your house late at night wearing Obama masks.
There are actually so many fears that I can't discuss them all now. All I can say is that I'm deeply happy that I don't live a life of fear. I am glad that I am not haunted by imaginary enemies. I don't believe that hippies and occupiers are going to hand our country over to the communists. I don't fear that the socialists are going to take my gun away, brainwash my children, and turn us all into pot smoking heathens.
So, for all of my fellow Americans, who happen to be paranoid, Fox News-addicted gun fanatics, all I can say is "let go." Besides, your God is supposed to protect you anyway, so you are simply not showing enough faith. Yikes, once again I bit you in the ass with your own circular logic. Sorry, guys.
6 comments:
very insightful through out goose, except that last line. now i just don't believe you're sorry.
it is puzzling in a way, how those who embrace received wisdom operate... until i remember that i went to vietnam, came back convinced we were "fighting for democracy", believed all that stuff about hell and jesus... then i went astray, by attending one of those so-called institutes of higher learning where actual questions were asked. i know it's not the be-all end all, for cheney/bush etc; also wet to college but statistically i think education helps. so of course ga. passes the charter school amendment in its quest to privatize everything. tom ferguson
Yes, I didn't learn about the Vietnam lie until a few years ago when I was reading an article on the Internet, and that prompted me to do more reading and research. What a shocker. So, at this point, I'm sort of skeptical about everything. Those who are not still skeptical and believe whatever they are fed are actually a danger to the rest of us.
Todd, accidental gun death rates are going down, about half of what the were in 1975. Theres been a steady drop for decades. Gun deaths of children are way below deaths by falls, drowning, car wrecks, suffocation, etc. It always just seem more tragic when reported in the news about some kid getting blown away by a gun.
Check out John Lotts book, 'more guns, less crime'. Few people now argue more guns = more gun deaths in part due to his research findings and others. In fact, some data suggest concealed carry laws reduce violent crime. He recently published an updated edition with more data. I found it real interesting, not what one would expect.
It was a small lesson to me that almost every mass murder episode in the US has happened in a gun free zone.
I no longer care about the gun issue. We can just give them to every citizen in the U.S. The point I was trying to make is that Christianity includes some pacifist principles like "turn the other cheek." Yet, the conservative Christians are among the most adamant about guns. No matter how anyone tries to frame it, guns are a tool of violence - they blast lead through people's flesh, killing or seriously maiming them. I just think that to move forward we need to move beyond violence, and that includes our 500 year love affair with guns. However, I've grown old and more skeptical and now I'm not sure if we can ever move beyond violence. We just love it too much.
Todd, I found this interesting:
http://themonkeycage.org/blog/2012/07/21/the-declining-culture-of-guns-and-violence-in-the-united-states/
From more recent data Ive read there are just as many guns, its just that the percentage that did own one bought more since Obama was elected.
That's an encouraging article. Thanks for sharing it.
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