I am getting more and more of a picture of how we look to the rest of the world...how we think we are so damn privileged to be born Amurricun...how other people, especially in Europe, take for granted the obvious and right things that we argue, heatedly about, here in the US....things like evolution and global warming and the need to take care of those that can't take care of themselves.
To these other nations, those things are a given as is the private and personal nature of individual beliefs. No, those other places are not perfect, but they look at us, the richest and almost the youngest of the developed nations and are appalled by what they see. AND I DON'T BLAME THEM.
Patriotism is not the same as nationalism. A true patriot wants to make right the things about their homeland that are wrong. A true patriot doesn't depend on lies to defend their county. We are a massive, whining toddler. Money is interchangeable with god and we want to infect the rest of the world with the disease of religious capitalism that is killing us and our way of life. Because of our fine, religious "freedom," an African nation has made homosexuality a death penalty offense due to American missionary efforts.
Look at the past. See how well religious domination has worked for others. We are on a slippery slope and no other issue can even get a foothold if we don't stop this grotesque parody of a form of government before they can get even more entrenched. Dominionism, biblical law, integration of church and state will doom us all.
The church that is trying so hard to corner all the wealth and run the congress is the reactionary, evangelical, fundamentalist church of bigotry, intolerance, selfishness, homophobia, misogyny and a form of arrogance that leaves many thinking people with mouths agape. It has been coming for decades and now they have their forces lined up on the horizon. If we don't do something about it, we are totally screwed!
Evangelists live in multimillion dollar mansions, have private jets, dressage horses, you name it, and not a one of their less-than-affluent followers questions that. They are so brainwashed that they constantly vote against their own best interests because that is what their religious leaders tell them to do. The only listen to ultra-conservative radio and only watch the Fox (*shudder) network because their spiritual leaders tell them that everything else is evil. They get Rush and Beck and Andy and all the rest of the Ready For The Asylum Gang and they believe the hate they spout.
At one time I blogged about one issue only. That issue was the wrong done to the unwed mothers of the Baby Scoop Era and the illegal and discriminatory fact that adult adoptees are denies access to their original birth certificates in most of the country. That was my pet issue because I am one of those mothers. But I look at why this happened and I can see it had more to do with the religious influence on our society than anything else. We were sinners who were punished for sex without the proper, male-issued permission (marriage) by having our infants taken from us.
Well, I'm not too into that at this point because the small pimple has been lanced to reveal a systemic infection underneath. The attempt to corrupt the separation of church and state in our government, the power of the rich, old, white men's club and their ownership of our congress and our Supreme Court are the deep infection. If we don't stop this in its tracks, we can say goodbye to the snowball's chance in hell we had of getting anything done for the adoption issues. The gay issue doesn't cost them a lot of money so they are not fighting that as hard. The abortion issue is a red herring but one they would like to see get more traction because they can control women if they can control our reproductive lives.
I am only one woman. I am in the last few decades of my life, if I am lucky. I feel like the conspiracy theorists who wear tinfoil hats. I scream about this happening until I am out of breath and no one listens and no one does anything. It just isn't politically correct to speak out against the evils of religion. John Lennon did it best and he isn't here, now. I am scared. I am sickened. And I hate to say it, but don't feel all that proud of being an American, anymore.


Perhaps I should explain that last sentence. I love my homeland. I love America. I love my adult children, too, but should they show themselves to be corrupt, by thievery, murder, rape...any of the horrible things people do to each other, I would love them no less. But proud? Disappointed, grieved, guilty over what I might have done wrong, pain for their pain, but no, I would not be proud. We are NOT exceptional.
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