Don't Imitate The Jews

I only read the op-ed section of my hometown paper when I'm bored or feel like insulting my intelligence. It's always filled with the paranoid, ill-informed rantings of the paranoid, ill-informed hicks who populate the tri-state area around my confused little town. I just happened to peruse this particular section today, and was greated by an article titled "Don't Imitate the Europeans." The author took issue with a previous op-ed written from the standpoint of a secularist (yeah, I'm not the only one in Appalachia) and conveniently, for my mocking pleasure, numbered her points.

The article kicks off thusly:

"1. That government’s “task” is to provide that “individual believers holding diverse convictions may challenge one another without ... interference.” Untrue. The First Amendment provides that government will not prefer one religion over another; and it forbids one’s harassment of another."

OK, the first part of your rebuttal is true and the second part is not. It's not true because you're using a red herring. What the first author wrote was that we may challenge each other's religions without interference, which is absolutely legal and a right recognized in any free society. We're discouraged from harassing people about it and it's illegal to discriminate others on the basis of their religion or lack of religion. Maybe you should remember that last part.

2. "That '(t)he greater the distance between church and state ... , the greater our religious liberty.' False. Complete neutrality, or absence of religious involvement in government affairs and vice versa, is termed “laicite.” It is the political system of secularism, which suppresses expression of religious belief in public and oppresses those who do it. By definition, religious freedom is “the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance” (source: Wikipedia)."

False false. You make the typical Republican logical fallacy of characterizing secularism as an organized political movement as opposed to a philosophy. The First Amendment protects against what you're freaking out about and banning religious practices or customs could never legally happen here, provided the First Amendment can survive the last 14 days of the Bush presidency.

"A leading secular state is France, where in 2004, religious symbols were banned in public schools. President Nicolas Sarkozy criticizes this type of “negative laicite;” and he intends to develop a “positive laicite,” which, as noted at Wikipedia, “recognizes the contribution of faith to French culture, history and society, allows for faith in the public discourse and for government subsidies for faith-based groups.” As France strives to progress beyond its stymieing century-old secular politics, the United States would be unwise to regress to embrace them."

I did LOL a little when I first read this. I have to respectfully disagree that increased secularism would be a step backwards for the U.S. I agree that the government shouldn't concern itself with banning religious symbols and clothing (which was the main point of the French law; it banned niquabs and yarmulkes in schools). In fact, government shouldn't deal in religion at all! Wow! Thank you for making my point for me! And this is the second time you've cited Wikipedia. Someone should have told you that's not a reputable source and if this were a college paper, you'd ge a D.

"French historian Alexis de Tocqueville, in his 1835 work Democracy in America, finds the synergy of faith and politics that he experiences here remarkable; and he concludes that religion in society is necessary to temper government’s propensities to seize authority (or to impose priority) over peoples’ expression of their convictions, and to inhibit peoples’ tendencies to surrender it."

I don't recall this particular summation in Democracy in America, though it's been four years since I read it and the book is 676 pages long. It's likely that deTocqueville was being ironic. He was also found our propensity to sue remarkable, which is impressive when you consider he wrote DIA in 1835. Not to mention American history is littered with instances when the government "seized authority over peoples' expression of their convictions." Where have you been the past eight years? Oh right. You're a Republican. So seizing authority over secularists'/peaceniks'/dissenters'/brown people's expression of their convictions is what the government is supposed to do. As long as your rights aren't being impeded, there's no problem.

"French philosopher Jacques Maritain, a drafter of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is quoted at Wikipedia praising the U.S. model of religious freedom in the mid-20th century as superior because it had both 'sharp distinction and actual cooperation' between church and state. He called it 'an historical treasure.' He begged: 'Please to God that you keep it carefully, and do not let your concept of separation veer round to the European one.'"

The mid-20th Century. The mid-20th Century. Hmm...I'm trying to recollect what might have just occured around that time period in Europe that may have contributed to this quote but, damn, my lackluster American education is failing me. I think it was something to do with Jews and golden stars and gas chambers but I'm not sure. Maybe I should check Wikipedia.

It always insults me when religious people somehow try to twist the First Amendment or the writings of the Founding Fathers to support this notion that we're a Christian country (and just an FYI, The Federalist Papers pushing for the ratification of the Constitution were first published as a series of letters to the editors. A series of op-eds started this country!). The first European colonists may have been nutbag Christian fundamentalists but we were not established as a haven for this kind of warped world view. We're a beacon of religious freedom, which includes freedom from religion for millions of us rationalists. Israel is what happens when you "found" a country based on only one religion (and for only one religion).

To quote the late, great Henry David Thoreau, "The government is best which governs the least." So you can worship your invisible space god and I can worship my Richard Dawkins. Live and let live.

Look How Far We've Come

My favorite president is Thomas Jefferson. He was a genius in about everything he did (outside of the slave raping). He supported the full funding of education from kindergarten through university level. He wrote his own bible. He provided his personal library to start the Library of Congress. He negotiated the Louisiana Purchase. He was also a fellow dreaded secular progressive.

It always cracks me up to hear the Bill O'Reillys of the nation rant and rave about the nefarious impact people like me have on society with our wacky, liberal beliefs. I hate to break it to these people but we were a nation founded by secular progressives. Actually, we were founded by a group of secular radicals. The great thing about men like Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, et al (and there are many great things about them) is that none of them would be considered great today. They'd be vilified by people like O'Reilly and reduced to some kind of wailing banshee demon like Howard Dean. It's like we started at the top and have just been sliding downhill ever since.

We've just gotten progressively dumber and (coincidentally) more religious over the years, which is completely bizarre and at odds with every other fucking First World country on earth. All those grand cathedrals in Europe may look impressive on postcards but come Sunday, they're as empty as the Federal Reserve. I was thinking about an exchange Bill Maher (my hero) had with Larry King a while back on this same topic. Larry said (I'm paraphrasing): "FDR always said 'I never went wrong relying on the American people.'" To which Bill Maher replied, "Well, people were smarter back then."

Maybe tv's to blame. Maybe the Internet. It just feels like we've devolved to the point where we're so narcissistic (and so very very dumb) that we could go, in just 199 years, from electing a man like Jefferson to electing a totally emotionally retarded, cipher, frat boy whose longest held job title pre-presidency was "alcoholic."

I am happy we elected Obama, because I feel like his victory sort of balanced out the past eight years of madness, but we'll be dealing with the repercussions of Bush's breathtaking ineptitude for years and years to come. And for that, I'd like to give a heartfelt "fuck you" to the red states for allowing this man to ransack America for nearly a decade. Because, really, without you, it wouldn't have been possible.

Richard Dawkins and Bill Maher are God

Yeah, she got shut down. This definitely tickled me. It also reminded me of a somewhat heated appearance Bill Maher made on "Scarborough Country" a while back.



And this is why I don't believe in religion. I could make a serious argument for why religion's bullshit but I prefer the devastating humor of people like Dawkins and Maher. Thank you and good night.

The USA Has Left The Building

Despite the shitty economy, I have a job opportunity lined up. I'm going to be a part-time census taker! Yeah! It's exactly what I went to college for!

Actually, it is. I have a B.S. in political science and now I'll be working for the Man (at least through 2009). All I need to do is pass the introductory test.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about the economy in general and like everyone, I'm worried and pissed off and pessimistic. Like a lot of people, I blame Bush and the Republicans for allowing Wall Street to run amok and piss our money and future into the wind. And I know Obama has a mountain of work to do to pull us out of the crater they've left us in. I have no idea how he's going to do it though. The media's acting like if he can just pull off some shit FDR did in 1933 then everything will be fine but they're overlooking a fundamental difference between now and then: almost nothing sold in the U.S. is actually made in the U.S. anymore. We need to get over this notion that the United States can overcome this "hiccup" and be the great superpower again. We've reached an impasse and the world is much different now. Let's just throw China the reigns and be like Europeans, whining and bitching about the evil Chinese empire while doing nothing ourselves. I hope Obama can achieve some stability in our economy but I also hope he's realistic about our deflated place on the world stage.

'Britz' Is Half Good, Half Stereotype

I just got done watching this movie on BBC America called "Britz." It's about a Muslim brother and sister living in the UK and how they deal with the ensuing identity crisis in completely different ways.

The brother, Sahail, becomes a member of Britain's MI5, which is the British CIA. Of course, this invariably involves him spying on his old Muslim friends who are all suspected of being involved in nefarious Muslim-related activities. I thought his episode was by far superior than the sister's because Sahail's character was fleshed out and dynamic. There's a scene where he talks about how much he owes to the UK, his freedom and whatnot, which I found particularly endearing.

The sister (I've forgotten her name) is just a walking cliche. She hates England and goes to Pakistan to train at some al-Qaeda camp and ends up blowing herself up at the base of some iconic London building to mark the sixth anniversary of 9/11. I didn't empathize with the sister at all (although that's to be expected I guess). I thought she was acting like a jaded cry baby (just put on "Nevermind" and smoke weed like everyone else in the West!) and the boilerplate at the end? Bitch, please. You don't want to get me started on the "rationale" for why al-Qaeda blows shit up and kills people (who are mostly Muslim, by the way). And I couldn't shake the absurdity of listening to this clearly British girl speak in a thick British accent while condeming Britain (OK, that italics probably wasn't necessary). I know Europe does immigration differently than we do and, if the facts flashed at the end of the movie are correct, perhaps they should change course.

If you get the chance to see "Britz," just watch the episode with Sahail. His character does more for the image of Muslims in the eyes of us infidels than the sister, who merely encapsulates every stereotype we have of the crazy assholes who blow themselves up out of a sense of exaggerated injustice. And the ending is just pathetic.

Christmas Fever

I'm so tired of Christmas! And it's still 22 days away! It seems like it starts earlier and earlier each year. I spent the day after Thanksgiving cowering in my room watching the news. I can't believe how crazy people can be when it comes to shopping. I was watching "The Daily Show" earlier this week and they showed footage of this guy walking around a store carrying like 6 DVD players. What is up with that? I personally put all of my Christmas shopping off until the last minute, just like my homework and every other decision I have to make. The good news is, procrastination usually works for me. My papers? I finished them each the night before they were due. Did I do well on them? Probably not. But the point is, they're done. I cannot wait until break starts. Just one more full week of classes, then exams, then it's off to England! I can't wait!