Just Perfect
I found an awesome piece that ought to be on walls in homes and business all across the country. Here's selected portions:
Imagine the kind of nation America would be if the people who love fought as hard for their beliefs as those who hate.
Imagine if family values meant loving your relatives instead of hating homosexuals. Fundamentalist ministers who were a little less obsessed with intra-gender affection would finally have time to rail against real abominations, like spousal abuse.
Imagine if the numerous parts of the New Testament where Jesus commands his adherents to aid the poor were not written in ink that is illegible to right wingers. According to Christ, poverty isn’t a manifestation of vice any more than affluence is an affirmation of virtue. When religious conservatives start emulating their Holy Savior Who Reigns In Heaven instead of their Fat Junkie Who Lies On Radio, America will become a better place.
Imagine if we aspired not to be the most powerful country but the most humane. Think of how people in other lands would react if instead of telling them what to do, we asked what we could do.
Imagine if sex were not considered to be filthy. That sea change would enable adults to discuss the topic without giggling, smirking, and otherwise behaving like mental defectives. The Puritans amongst us have succeeded in turning a perfectly natural desire into something sleazy. Our deeply repressed culture always produces bull markets in substance abuse and violent crime because self-loathing people either implode or explode. If we want to have a healthier nation, we can start by no longer teaching little kids that their bodies are a source of shame.
There is more to life than idealism, but life is not worth living without it. Hopefully, one day most Americans will accept that being kind is not the same as being weak, and that caring about others is virtuous rather than contemptible, and that a person’s intrinsic worth is unrelated to his or her net worth. Until that time, the idealists will be outnumbered by the cynics who are now busy remaking the United States in their own immoral image.
Honestly, there is not a word in this piece that I would disagree with. It actually brought a tear to my eye to find someone able to say it so well. To me this is the description of the Real Americans and Real America. Yes, part of Americanism is the right to dissent and its fine if you don't agree with this. It doesn't make you a traitor or anything. I'm just saying it's my belief that this is the best of what America can be. It's the America I envision, support and work for.
Read the entire piece here. God Bless you David.
posted by Ron at 9:43 PM
2 Comments:
Imagine a world in which you could express your imaginations without resorting to vitriolic attacks on individuals. Imagine a world in which civility overcame intolerance in trying to express your views.
David was going good until he threw his credibility away by blatantly displaying his own brand of intolerance. He just could not resist plagerising Al Franken with his "instead of their Fat Junkie Who Lies On Radio, "; he just couldn't shake his own hate. If he had written "When religious conservatives start emulating their Holy Savior Who Reigns In Heaven instead of those who promote intolerance on radio, America will be a better place", he would have kept credibility with me. But, nope, he just had to throw in gratuitous hate of his own.
You said you would not disagree with a word in this piece. David wrote "Our deeply repressed culture always produces bull markets in substance abuse and violent crime because self-loathing people either implode or explode." He was referring to our deeply sexually repressed culture.
I have to admit that this is the first time I have heard that our nation's drug problem is a direct result of our being sexually repressed. Where did this bit of bizarre pop psychology come from? How does that explain the Netherlands and Amsterdam, where you will probably not find a more sexually unrepressed society yet which is still heavily ravaged by drug abuse. And being sexually repressed as a nation explains our violent crime? In rape, yes, and a few other categories, but somehow I just can't ascribe the sticking up of a 7-11 with a gun to being sexually repressed. You know, its so easy to make grandiose statements and pluck dreamy statements out of the ether and then use them to try and explain deeply complicated issues without a shred of evidence. According to David, we could solve our national substance abuse and violent crimes by teaching little kids that their bodies are not a source of shame. I would dearly love someone to explain to me how the problems and the solution are even related, much less how that solution would impact on substance abuse and violent crime.
He lost me with that, and yes, I read the whole piece, and yes he had some good points, but he kept screwing up what I had hoped for as an essay of imagination for good and tolerance with stupid statements. Statement like being able to feed the world. There is no way we can provide three meals a day, year in and year out, to the entire world's hungry. We cant grow that much, transport that much, or even distribute that much. It's a wonderful statment and I agree with the sentiment, but stating that we CAN do it, is just plain wrong.
So I will just assume that you agree with all the sentiments of David, maybe not all the words and details. I too agree with the sentiments, but not his vitrol, tone, and intolerance.
Bob,
I stand by my statement. I agree with the sentiment and EVERY WORD.Fat Junkie who lies on the radio is not vitrol it is TRUTH. well maybe he lost weight but other than that it is all provably true. Its disdain for a lying junkie. not hate. Sexual repression and religous guilt plays a part in lack of self esteem. I didn't read it as you did. That it was the cause of all our violent crime etc. I read it as we have plenty of problems in the world least we add this to the list. By the way I do believe that it is a factor to the guy sticking up the 7-11. Obviously his lack of self esteem is at work or he wouldn't do something so shameful.
With the food produced by the rest of the world and the food we COULD produce. There is enough here to feed the world if only we as the world would do it. Sorry Bob, you're wrong on this one. (G)
Post a Comment
<< Home