A brief political statement
I got into a really miserable US politics debate with an old coworker of mine yesterday.
I typically despise arguing politics, and this conversation reminded me why. So few people have access to untainted, reliable statistics when it comes to any kind of political issues that most debates, even if well-intentioned, can only devolve into regurgitated soundbites and name-calling. The factual information at my own disposal is no different, so I'm not making any accusations by that — politics is simply something that each person approaches based on her or his own personal experiences and needs, desires and fears, and those may even change several times over the course of a lifetime. Overall, in my opinion, most of the time getting into a political fight is no more relevant (or productive) than trying to argue whose God is better.
And particularly, in this case, that's almost exactly what it seemed like was going on.
Several of my Canadian acquaintances have asked me, "So, you're from the US. How . . . like, the politics, how Christian-right conservative the US has sort of become right now, and I mean all this God's mission and stuff . . . I mean, how do . . . uh . . . do people really think that, uh . . . like, do they believe all . . . how?!?"
Please, you tell me.
Actually, I'm pretty well certain of the explanation, but not sure what to do with it (or, in other words, if anything other than the natural playing out of events will make any difference).
As far as I can work it out, the story sort of goes like this: When the September 11 attacks happened in the US, especially coming off a wave of not-quite-fully-attenuated end-of-the-world pre-millennium tension, it more or less scared the bejeezus out of a ton of Americans. Sounds obvious, I'm sure, but what's weird is how so many people hyped themselves into a paranoid, vengeful frenzy.
So, you have this large population of worried people who are anxious to find something or someone to blame, who don't know what to do, who've gone seeking the religion of their childhood again in their time of need because at least that's one way of regaining some sense of control and justice, who are demanding that someone pay for their loss, and will go to tremendous lengths to regain their previous sense of safety. I mean this compassionately, because I sincerely understand the sentiment.
On the other hand are the people who for whatever reasons were less traumatized by the initial waves of fear and panic, and now watch their home country begin to evolve as a stale sequel to McCarthyism fills their TV screens, and increasingly become more wary that they're observing the beginning of a Nazi-esque "First they came for the Communists" ideological escalation. Regardless of more subjective opinions on my part, the sheer increase in "because it's the will of God" rationale being espoused by American friends and family members lately has definitely taken a sharp rise, at the expense of, "I've thought this out," or "I can't figure out why. . . ." or "My own belief is that. . . ."
(I'll let my friend David do the theology vs. morality explaining for me, because I agree with where he was going with this).
At any rate, I feel sad for all the people who have and will suffer in the next several years. First off, I can't believe that those intiating all those changes are necessarily that much happier. Moreover, I wish I could tell people that all the hating and punishing in the world won't make them safer. That going after all the muslims, the middle-easterners, the homosexuals, the adulterers, the atheists, and I don't know who else, will not un-attack the US. That all the security measures in the world still can't eliminate every possibility of something disastrous happening in the future, but are certain to make some rather unpleasant things happen now (cf. my parents' refusing to fly because of the "ridiculous airport security these days," which they themselves were demanding not long ago). That stripping any person's human rights away in the name of security, even if in the core of your heart you believe this group or that group doesn't deserve those rights, won't seem like such a good idea anymore if suddenly you find yourself in a group which has been added to the bad list.
So, yeah. Enough sermonizing from me. Good night. . . .
* * *
"First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist, so I said nothing. Then they came for the Social Democrats, but I was not a Social Democrat, so I did nothing. Then came the trade unionists, but I was not a trade unionist. And then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew, so I did little. Then when they came for me, there was no one left to stand up for me." — Martin Niemöller, 1938
I typically despise arguing politics, and this conversation reminded me why. So few people have access to untainted, reliable statistics when it comes to any kind of political issues that most debates, even if well-intentioned, can only devolve into regurgitated soundbites and name-calling. The factual information at my own disposal is no different, so I'm not making any accusations by that — politics is simply something that each person approaches based on her or his own personal experiences and needs, desires and fears, and those may even change several times over the course of a lifetime. Overall, in my opinion, most of the time getting into a political fight is no more relevant (or productive) than trying to argue whose God is better.
And particularly, in this case, that's almost exactly what it seemed like was going on.
Several of my Canadian acquaintances have asked me, "So, you're from the US. How . . . like, the politics, how Christian-right conservative the US has sort of become right now, and I mean all this God's mission and stuff . . . I mean, how do . . . uh . . . do people really think that, uh . . . like, do they believe all . . . how?!?"
Please, you tell me.
Actually, I'm pretty well certain of the explanation, but not sure what to do with it (or, in other words, if anything other than the natural playing out of events will make any difference).
As far as I can work it out, the story sort of goes like this: When the September 11 attacks happened in the US, especially coming off a wave of not-quite-fully-attenuated end-of-the-world pre-millennium tension, it more or less scared the bejeezus out of a ton of Americans. Sounds obvious, I'm sure, but what's weird is how so many people hyped themselves into a paranoid, vengeful frenzy.
So, you have this large population of worried people who are anxious to find something or someone to blame, who don't know what to do, who've gone seeking the religion of their childhood again in their time of need because at least that's one way of regaining some sense of control and justice, who are demanding that someone pay for their loss, and will go to tremendous lengths to regain their previous sense of safety. I mean this compassionately, because I sincerely understand the sentiment.
On the other hand are the people who for whatever reasons were less traumatized by the initial waves of fear and panic, and now watch their home country begin to evolve as a stale sequel to McCarthyism fills their TV screens, and increasingly become more wary that they're observing the beginning of a Nazi-esque "First they came for the Communists" ideological escalation. Regardless of more subjective opinions on my part, the sheer increase in "because it's the will of God" rationale being espoused by American friends and family members lately has definitely taken a sharp rise, at the expense of, "I've thought this out," or "I can't figure out why. . . ." or "My own belief is that. . . ."
(I'll let my friend David do the theology vs. morality explaining for me, because I agree with where he was going with this).
At any rate, I feel sad for all the people who have and will suffer in the next several years. First off, I can't believe that those intiating all those changes are necessarily that much happier. Moreover, I wish I could tell people that all the hating and punishing in the world won't make them safer. That going after all the muslims, the middle-easterners, the homosexuals, the adulterers, the atheists, and I don't know who else, will not un-attack the US. That all the security measures in the world still can't eliminate every possibility of something disastrous happening in the future, but are certain to make some rather unpleasant things happen now (cf. my parents' refusing to fly because of the "ridiculous airport security these days," which they themselves were demanding not long ago). That stripping any person's human rights away in the name of security, even if in the core of your heart you believe this group or that group doesn't deserve those rights, won't seem like such a good idea anymore if suddenly you find yourself in a group which has been added to the bad list.
So, yeah. Enough sermonizing from me. Good night. . . .
* * *
"First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist, so I said nothing. Then they came for the Social Democrats, but I was not a Social Democrat, so I did nothing. Then came the trade unionists, but I was not a trade unionist. And then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew, so I did little. Then when they came for me, there was no one left to stand up for me." — Martin Niemöller, 1938