Wednesday, January 25, 2012

THE MOST HIGH REPUBLICAN CHURCH OF THE RIGHT




Religion and Politics.  Politics and Religion.   While state and church may be officially separate in America, the fact remains that religion and politics are inextricably interwoven.  All religion is intrinsically political.  Religion has provided the foundation for establishing and dismantling empires throughout history.   Religion has inspired pride and self hatred, liberation and enslavement.  I could (and at some time in the future I probably will) go on and on about the politics of religion.  But what about the religion of politics?
What happens when a political idea (or ideal) becomes so completely ingrained that it becomes an article of faith?  I’m speaking of the Republican Religion that states that if lower taxes for the wealthy and more deregulation create a mess, don’t back down- go for even lower taxes and more deregulation! I’m reminded of a story about a man who thought he was dead.  His family and friends tried valiantly, but in vain, to convince him otherwise.  Finally, having exhausted all other avenues, they took him to a doctor.  The doctor asked him if he thought dead people could bleed.  He laughed, and assured the doctor that a dead person bleeding was a preposterous notion.  “Then I’ll prove to you that you are alive,” the good doctor said, as he made a small incision in the man’s arm.   The man’s eyes widened as he watched the blood drip down his arm.  “I have to apologize to you all.  All this time I’ve been wrong.”  The doctor and the man’s family that had gathered for this moment all smiled congratulations at one another for this fateful moment.  “Dead people do bleed after all!” 
This story keeps coming back to me as I observe the Republican primaries and the strict adherence to Republican dogma by the faithful.  The news reported on a South Carolina Republican woman who recited the Republican line on taxing the wealthy by heart.  She reportedly said that increasing taxes on the wealthy takes away money they would otherwise invest; and those investments create jobs.  There was, however, one minor flaw in her logic:  The wealthy are already enjoying the lowest tax rates in history and there are no jobs now! 
Adherence to the Republican dogma must be absolute and firm.   The Republican Right does not trust Mitt Romney because his heart does not appear to be pure in its Rightness.  He suffers from having passed health care legislation as the governor of Massachusetts that, while extremely successful, flies in the face of Republican Church dogma. 
Even the surging Newt Gingrich (whose baggage/track record in a sane world would preclude him from running for hall monitor if it were an elected post) had to be brought before the Church Elders for a transgression against the Official Position of The Most High Right. The party of Karl Rove, mastermind of the unethical, has its limits on what is acceptable and unacceptable political fighting. Newt was officially chastised for a most egregious offense: he criticized the vulture capitalism that made Romney wealthy.   Newt’s attack sounded curiously Leftist and could not be tolerated. 
They came forth from on High, those demigods of the Most High Right.  There was Racist Rush Limbaugh, himself, thunderbolt in hand, castigating Newt for his heresy.  He was followed by Hydra that is Fox News- its many heads streaming from one body with one message of recrimination.  Big guns like Charles Krauthammer jumped into the fray. 
Newt faced what would have been a dilemma for any but the truest of true believers:  appear contrite and be seen as weak, or come out swinging and risk excommunication from the Church Elders.  For True Believer Newt, it was a no-brainer.  In the finest tradition of the patron saints John Wayne and Ronald Reagan, Newt stuck to his guns.  The First Commandment for True Believers is to never back down and never appear weak.  Even if your ex-wife accuses you of requesting an open marriage, don’t back down, attack the moderator.   Coming out swinging is communion for the Church of The Right.  We’ll have to see how things play out between prodigal Newt and the Church Elders. 
The Church of the Most High Right is a powerful tool the Masters of The Right use to maintain and assert their hegemony over their fiefdoms.  Their motivation is clear.  They   do it because they can.  In their game, the one who dies with the most toys, wins.  It is the motivation of their followers- the ones who vote against their own best interests - that is far more intriguing in that it may offer insights into the foibles that constitute the human condition.  What is required to make one voluntarily drink the Kool Aid?

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN GOOD WORDS GO BAD?




HAPPY, SAFE, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!!!!!

                A couple of blogs ago I took a humorous look at language use and abuse.   I did not, however, deal with the power of language.  Consider this:  which would you prefer, a brown diamond or a chocolate diamond?   A chocolate diamond is a brown diamond.    Amazing, isn’t it, how changing the label on a commodity changes the desirability of that commodity?  Of course, language isn’t just used to sell us stuff.  It is used politically and economically to control people, as well as to justify the unjustifiable. No matter how sophisticated we think we are, we are all subject to being manipulated by language.

                  I’ve long maintained that we can change the attitudes and behaviors of people simply by changing their vocabulary.  While there is still a lot of debate as to whether language influences thought  the way thought influences language, I tend to believe that it does.   My original idea was to introduce terms such as “honor” and “faith” into the general lexicon to replace some of the negative language that is found in our communities, and thereby alter the culture.  My thinking was that if the criteria for decision making was  based on whether something was “honorable” rather than “fly”, ( Fly is probably outdated, in my day, the word would have been  hip.) a more honorable and less violent culture would arise in our inner cities.  (No, this is not a panacea; merely one small weapon in a war in which we can use all the help we can get!)      The problem is that the concept of honor-or more importantly the transmogrification of honor – has provided the impetus for some of the most barbaric-not to mention stupid behavior the world has ever seen.   Judge for yourself:

                ·  Case-5:  ABU QASH, Palestine: Amira Abu Hanhan Qaoud (mother of 9 children) killed her daughter ‘Rofayda Qaoud’ who had been raped by her brothers and was impregnated. Armed with a plastic bag, razor and wooden stick, Qaoud entered her sleeping daughter's room last Jan. 27, 2003. "Tonight you die, Rofayda," she told the girl, before wrapping the bag tightly around her head. Next, Qaoud sliced Rofayda's wrists, ignoring her muffled pleas of "No, mother, no!" After her daughter went limp, Qaoud struck her in the head with the stick. The 43-year-old mother of nine said. "I had to protect my children. This is the only way I could protect my family's honor."

                I find it beyond  mind boggling that the victim, not the perpetrators is the source of dishonor. While honor killings appear to be the province of the Muslim community, the perversion of honor for stupidity can be found everywhere, including the United States.   The practice of lynching African Americans was linked largely to a Southern sense of honor.

                Let’s look at the word, faith, something I grew up believing could never be anything but positive.  Yet, now I realize that the hideous behavior I just outlined is grounded in a false sense of honor that, in turn, is grounded in a faith that is so strong, so unshakable,  that it justifies gruesome  homicides - even of one’s own child.  I’ve come to understand that faith, like everything else, can be either good or bad, depending on context.  When faith is based on something that makes sense ( e.g. no one can stop me from achieving my goals) it is a good thing.  When it is nonsensically based (racial superiority or the reward of 72 virgins in heaven) then clearly, it is not such a good thing.  The problem, of course, lies in determining who has the right to say what makes sense for whom?

                There is another issue with faith that makes it particularly troubling : it cannot be debated.   An article of faith, unlike a scientific or even intellectually derived concept, is not subject to revision through argument or discussion.  Faith cannot be rationally defeated, no matter how irrational it is.

                The last word I’d like to touch on, that I once thought could never be turned negative is Freedom.    As an African American, the reasons this word is so sacrosanct are obvious.  Yet Freedom, for intelligent, civilized people, is a finite concept.  Even Freedom of Speech has its limits, as outlined by Oliver Wendell Holmes’ famous admonition against falsely shouting fire in a crowded theater. 

                Part of the propaganda that was passed off as education for us was that the Puritans came to America seeking religious freedom.  .  That’s a nice, romantic and FALSE tale.  The only freedom they sought was to impose conformity to their strange and often completely nonsensical mandates.   

                Perhaps the most intriguing example of the misuse of freedom (not to mention another example of propaganda being replaced in our education)  is represented by the revolt of Americans in Texas against the Mexican government for infringing on their freedom to enslave other human beings! 

                Right wing politicians use the word freedom in a Pavlovian way to maintain control of their constituents.  Going back to the communist witch hunts, Americans have been manipulated by irrational fear that their freedom is somehow in jeopardy.  George W. Bush stated that the terrorists, “hate us for our freedom!”, about as absurd a declaration as any I’ve heard.  Ronald Reagan guaranteed that   Medicare  would be the “end of freedom as we know it.”  The list goes on.

                What do we do when good words go bad?  I guess we have to just stay vigilant. What do you think?