more spittle.
unfortunately, she is right.
and to go further, i don't see how anyone can convince people who have taken the leap from reason to la la land to accept the laws of reason. as i said before, i have had experience dealing with people, and their answer is always "because the bible says so, and if you disagree, you will burn in hell," and when shit happens, the answer is always, "it is god's will." how can you even begin to win the hearts and minds of these people? their hearts and minds have already been lost. i can't even see how you can engage in any type of discourse based in logic, reason, and reality.
anyone have any ideas?
sorry, i'm not even going to be pc. this is what i honestly believe. i used to be agnostic and/or questioning, but i am quickly becoming atheist. if there is a god, how can this god stand by and watch the things being done in his name? and how, because of how humans have twisted his "word," are there so many ignorant people? will there ever be any sort of accountability? this goes beyond politics.
*sigh* i need to go to my internship in the godless entertainment industry now. have a nice day.
5 comments:
em2 --
i feel your pain. since this is so soon after the election, i think we need to rant and blow off some steam.
but then, we need to stop and do some real soul-searching.
remember what jon stewart said about our political discourse recently? he said that the way our mass media handles the discourse essentially privileges extremity of viewpoint.
he was right. i've seen this in myself in reaction to the right wing extremists. but, when you're ready, please take a step back and be as rational as you can be. most people in the united states, including those in the 'red states' are moderates. the vast majority of republican voters don't vote based on whom they hate.
what we are seeing is the effect of our winner take all political system. we have two choices when we vote on our representatives in the federal government. because there are only two serious contenders in the vast majority of these races, we are left with what are essentially false choices. often, this fault lies not in the actual candidates but in our process of choosing them and electing them.
elections are heinously expensive, so politicians often go for the easiest voters -- the ones who vote on one or two issues. the other voters take a far more complex approach to choosing who to vote for. they are not as easy to court as those who are simplistic and predictable in their voting patterns.
the media is essentially a means to *sell* things. advertising is one of the most manipulative, dishonest forms of communication imaginable. it is meant to be quick, subliminal, simple, and entertaining. advertising drives our political discourse -- it is what enables the mass media to exist. it is this same mass media that politicians use to 'sell' themselves. mass communications inevitably appeal to the lowest common denominator, and often that happens to be hot button controversy.
basically, a nuanced approach to the issues does not sell. people like the heated contest of empty political talk shows that tend to the he said/she said, you're wrong/i'm right, shut up! style of communication. its a lot more entertaining than a wonky, complex exploration of boring stuff like tax policy, civil rights, etc. basically, all the really important stuff.
one of the features of modern living is a sense of powerfulness in the face of impersonal forces. this encourages extremism -- which is essentially a desparate cry out for control. people need to identify enemies when they feel that they don't have much control over their world because then they can gain control by going after that 'enemy.'
we have to very careful not to become what we fear. that article was obviously written in anger. i have felt that way many times about rural america, but the in truth, it is an unfair and hostile generalization of the other half of the country.
don't let your anger poison you. religious fundamentalists are dangerous creatures, and i think a lot of moderate republicans don't realize what kind of fire they are playing with when they vote for a party that that courts fundamentalists.
anyway, i will develop these thoughts at more length later.
i think this post at political animal echoes all of our sentiments.
yes, it does. we write off those people, and talk to the sensible conservatives. but to do that, we can't go around deriding 'red staters' as stupid hicks.
i think i got a taste of what it felt like to be stereotyped when the dutch commenter remarked that 'you' love war, not peace... etc.
it felt really unpleasant, and it made me angry. especially given that our writing here indicates otherwise. it's about how you deliver the message. the GOP learned this a LONG time ago.
i know you're right. it's just weird of me to be so angry for so long. being angry for more than two days is a long time for me. heh.
anyhow, another friend reminded me about something: emily2, when i met you, you were a conservative.
i suppose hearts and minds *can* change, but right now, it seems a little daunting.
and i don't even want to change the hearts and minds of anyone. i just want to be able to live my life the way i want to live my life without a bunch of people 2,000 miles away dictating how i should live it. i really don't care what people do at church. i'm not going to tell them what they can or cannot do in church. i just want the same in return. unfortunately, some strains of christianity teaches "spreading the word" and "bringing people to the fold." and although christ taught that ultimately, the choice is personal, many of these people really aren't giving others a "choice" - they are shoving their "morals" down other people's throats.
i'll tell you what "choice" is.
if you don't believe abortion is right, then don't get an abortion! you are, of course, free to pray for the soul of anyone who *does* get an abortion.
if you don't believe gays should get married, then don't marry someone of the same sex! and if you want to call homosexuals "butt fucking faggots" through e-mails to your friends, be my guest.
if you don't believe in modern medicine, then go to a faith healer.
it's really that simple.
i am slowly calming down, but sometimes i still want to mouth off.
bleh.
believe me, i understand the need to rant. the anger has been eating me up lately. i even posted some not so nice rants about my feelings regarding the geographic cultural divide.
i think we're all going through a grieving process. there's denial, anger, and finally acceptance. after that, we're going to fuck shit up.
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