Warning: this is a bit of a rant!
A different kind of “Left Behind”
My experience in returning to college has been an exciting and positive one, at least until the current course. Last week, as I sat in class and listened to the professor drone on about homosexuality being an abomination and Portland taking the lead over San Francisco in acceptance of the gay lifestyle and “agenda”, a couple of thoughts rushed over me, replacing the sound of Charlie Brown’s teacher’s voice that I was using in my head to drown out his lecture. One was that many of the people with whom I attend school are living in a fantasy world, where, depending on the issue, they are 50 to 4,000 years behind the rest of us. The other thought was that for the past eight years, George Bush and his ilk have been trying to drag us kicking and screaming back to the 50’s, and I’m speaking of the 1850’s here. Meanwhile, this November 4th enough of us finally broke free of the vice grip and chose the path of progress.
Many Christians I have met are fond of telling me about how the “Left Behind” series of books and films has changed their lives or strengthened their faith and their belief in the second coming of Christ. It is my view, however, that they are the ones to be “Left Behind” in the sea of change that was heralded by the election of Barack Obama. For the uninitiated, “Left Behind” is a series of novels depicting end times as prophesized in the Book of Revelations, with a modern day “Tribulation Force” fighting the rise of a global community led by what they perceive as the anti-christ. Several years ago, my girlfriend’s son brought home a cinematic version of one of the novels, and of course we obligingly sat through a viewing in which a presumably doomed airliner is littered with the discarded clothing of the saved, or believers, dispatched to heaven via the rapture. Conveniently, the rest of the passengers (non-believers) are given a reprieve of sorts because the pilot and one of the flight attendants are not saved (and were having an affair) so will not be leaving the plane to an ignominious conclusion and will instead reflect on the error of their ways and be saved once safely on the ground.
But why are evangelical Christians the ones to be left behind, instead of the rest of the world? Because the bullet train to progress that was derailed with the arrival of Bush and Company is back on track and cannot be stopped unless those of us who had a hand in bringing about this change allow it. Another example from class is instructive. One of the groups (all female) made a presentation pining for a return to 1950’s family values, linking an increase in divorce rates since that time to a decline in morality. Sensing that none of them saw the irony that they were making this presentation at a college at which in the 1950’s only women of privilege would have been able to attend, I asked them what I knew would be a particularly piquant question. Did they not realize that in the 1950’s, women were still largely expected to stay at home and take care of the children and other domestic chores, or that many of the marriages of that time period were a patriarchal sham, held together for the sake of the children and at the expense of the physical and psychological health of both parties? Did they really want to return to that kind of society? Did they really want to limit their choices as women, disparaging the pioneers of the sexual revolution and equal rights movement, all because today’s Barbie is wearing a too-short skirt or rappers wax poetic about killing police? Ok, so maybe I didn’t ask the questions exactly like that. However, months later I still wonder how they reconcile these contradictions. Well, they do not, really. They take a free-ride on the freedoms won by the blood and toil of 60’s revolutionaries, while simultaneously biting the hand that feeds them. How else to explain a friend of mine telling me that she is still making less in salary then the men she works with and is AT LEAST as capable as they are, and at a firm owned by two women! Yes, our society is still holding back the progress of women and minorities, and often it is people within those groups that are gumming up the works.
As a society, we have evolved from believing that it is ok to sell your daughter into slavery, or that a woman on her period should be “put apart” from others for seven days. So why can’t we evolve to the point that we accept that homosexuality is not an abomination? The answer lies in the ancient text that a still large segment of our population looks to with selective adherence to its precepts. The professor tells me that when it comes to homosexuality and other so-called sins, there is no gray area, only goodies and baddies. Well, I say that when it comes to human rights, you are either for them or against them, there is no fuzzy space. Fortunately for the rest of us, control of the most powerful nation on earth has been wrested from those who would make decisions based on “what God has instructed me to do” as Bush said before invading Iraq. Ironically, that very leader was recently quoted in an interview as saying that he believes the Bible is "probably not" literally true, which of course has the conservative Christians who voted for him in apoplexy. The world has been waiting for the United States to join the 21st century, and with our new leadership we appear to have done just that, leaving behind the evangelicals, and those who would pander to them for their votes, in the middle of the 20th century. Make no mistake, the “gay agenda” shibboleth will still be trotted out, along with other chart toppers from the right like “pro-life”; they will just be a little quieter without the reins of power to help them spew their vitriol. Welcome to the new century America, we’re finally starting to catch up.
References
“Bible not “literally” true: George W. Bush” accessed at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24773441-26397,00.html
“Bush: God told me to end the tyranny in Iraq”, accessed at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/oct/07/iraq.usa
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Friday, December 5, 2008
Share with your brothers and sisters
Sharing
As children we were taught by our parents and teachers to share. “Share with your brother”, I was told, and I have heard hundreds of parents utter that or similar admonishments through the years. So, at what point do we stop practicing this important lesson? Perhaps the answer is that we never really learn the lesson. Or, perhaps we do not have role models in our lives to show us the way. Our elders could have been better at sharing.
This global economic crisis reminds me that human beings can be downright cruel in their greediness. Corporate CEO’s who make enough to live comfortably for a hundred lifetimes cry poverty while traveling in private jets. A flight attendant who had the temerity to suggest that it was unfair for her and her colleagues to accept a 40% wage cut while upper management received big bonuses is ridiculed by the very same managers. When President-elect Obama suggested that we “spread the wealth” he is branded a socialist. Well folks, he is in good company there, because that fellow with the initials J.C. was a socialist if there ever was one. He knew how to share!
How much do you need? What can you do with $500,000 a year that you can’t do with $250,000 a year? I have always been baffled by the sense of entitlement that so many people have. Why don’t you want that neighbor who has worked hard all her life but is down on her luck to have a chance at getting back on her feet? Oh, I’ve heard all the arguments, especially “people are lazy” or “they choose to be homeless.” The fact is that the vast majority of people want to work; they want to contribute to society, and have a chance at a better life. Another one that particularly grates on me is “they can pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.” Well, no one who has ever accomplished anything in this world did it without some sort of help along the way.
So it comes down to what I call “forced sharing” or what is commonly known as taxation. One way or another, these problems will need to be solved through taxation, or a forced sharing of the wealth. The question becomes who should bear the burden? Right now, the very people who are suffering the most are bearing that burden. Who has the courage to change this?
What kind of a society do we want? I want my neighbor to have a job that pays well enough so that they don’t have to work a second job, with the opportunity to improve themselves through higher education. I want my neighbor to have access to preventative health care, because if they are sick I could become sick too. If your neighbor who is out of work had a job, he could be your customer. Some among us will remember that it was not so long ago that families could live on one income and never worried about losing their home because of hospital bills. We could have that kind of world again, if we share.
We are all one big family. If we are going to get through this crisis, we will have to learn to share. Share our abundance, and share our hearts. Our lives WILL change, there is no denying it. Almost everyone I know is doing pretty well, even in these tough times. We must all do the little things that will make a difference for someone who is hurting or just trying to stay afloat. When you go out to dinner, tip your server well. Volunteer at a soup kitchen or shelter. Take some food to your neighbor who is out of work. Forgo that extra coffee or trinket and put the money in a collection plate or donate to charity. Use one of those hours you might spend on the couch to do something for someone else. It just might be you that needs it someday.
Perhaps it’s a hopeless cliché, but it bears repeating. “Live simply so others may simply live.” Share with your brothers and sisters. It feels so good.
As children we were taught by our parents and teachers to share. “Share with your brother”, I was told, and I have heard hundreds of parents utter that or similar admonishments through the years. So, at what point do we stop practicing this important lesson? Perhaps the answer is that we never really learn the lesson. Or, perhaps we do not have role models in our lives to show us the way. Our elders could have been better at sharing.
This global economic crisis reminds me that human beings can be downright cruel in their greediness. Corporate CEO’s who make enough to live comfortably for a hundred lifetimes cry poverty while traveling in private jets. A flight attendant who had the temerity to suggest that it was unfair for her and her colleagues to accept a 40% wage cut while upper management received big bonuses is ridiculed by the very same managers. When President-elect Obama suggested that we “spread the wealth” he is branded a socialist. Well folks, he is in good company there, because that fellow with the initials J.C. was a socialist if there ever was one. He knew how to share!
How much do you need? What can you do with $500,000 a year that you can’t do with $250,000 a year? I have always been baffled by the sense of entitlement that so many people have. Why don’t you want that neighbor who has worked hard all her life but is down on her luck to have a chance at getting back on her feet? Oh, I’ve heard all the arguments, especially “people are lazy” or “they choose to be homeless.” The fact is that the vast majority of people want to work; they want to contribute to society, and have a chance at a better life. Another one that particularly grates on me is “they can pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.” Well, no one who has ever accomplished anything in this world did it without some sort of help along the way.
So it comes down to what I call “forced sharing” or what is commonly known as taxation. One way or another, these problems will need to be solved through taxation, or a forced sharing of the wealth. The question becomes who should bear the burden? Right now, the very people who are suffering the most are bearing that burden. Who has the courage to change this?
What kind of a society do we want? I want my neighbor to have a job that pays well enough so that they don’t have to work a second job, with the opportunity to improve themselves through higher education. I want my neighbor to have access to preventative health care, because if they are sick I could become sick too. If your neighbor who is out of work had a job, he could be your customer. Some among us will remember that it was not so long ago that families could live on one income and never worried about losing their home because of hospital bills. We could have that kind of world again, if we share.
We are all one big family. If we are going to get through this crisis, we will have to learn to share. Share our abundance, and share our hearts. Our lives WILL change, there is no denying it. Almost everyone I know is doing pretty well, even in these tough times. We must all do the little things that will make a difference for someone who is hurting or just trying to stay afloat. When you go out to dinner, tip your server well. Volunteer at a soup kitchen or shelter. Take some food to your neighbor who is out of work. Forgo that extra coffee or trinket and put the money in a collection plate or donate to charity. Use one of those hours you might spend on the couch to do something for someone else. It just might be you that needs it someday.
Perhaps it’s a hopeless cliché, but it bears repeating. “Live simply so others may simply live.” Share with your brothers and sisters. It feels so good.
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