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Tebow and His Mom: A Speculative Focus on Family
Tim Tebow and I have at least one thing in common. Our mothers were both counseled to abort us. I should say I'm grateful my mother didn't listen to the advice. But that would be a lie. I'm not so presumptuous to think that had she done so, or had a miscarriage achieved the same result, the person I am now wouldn't have existed somehow, somewhere, maybe in better form, maybe in worse.
Our soul's itinerary isn't ours to set. What I am grateful for is that in my mother's 15 years as a host of her own television show, she never used me as a prop for her moral assumptions, or to preach imponderables, as Tim Tebow and his mother are set to do in a 30-second spot during the Super Bowl.
I have no objections to issue ads appearing during the Super Bowl or any other show -- whether they're anti-abortion or pro-druids. Between issue ads and the stupefying sludge of breast-enhanced beer, chips, car, phone, pill-popping and dot-com commercials, give me the issue kind any day.
But networks are arbitrary with their issue ads, leaving it to some cryptic "standards and practices" department to judge what's appropriate for air. A church's ad welcoming gays gets knocked out but a ministry's ad bashing abortion isn't. Why?
CBS promises to be less arbitrary. That's not enough. Just as the separation of church and state keeps both clean of each other's corruptive influences, a separation of fact and fantasy should keep television commercials from being corrupted by sheer speculation. Pharmaceuticals are banned from making curative or any other claims they can't support. The same standard should apply to any other peddler, whatever the product -- or belief.
Based on what Tebow himself leaked about the ad with his mother, the message is two-fold. Abortion is not good. Family is. There's nothing controversial about that. There's nothing inherently virtuous about families, either, and many families are downright toxic. But the family unit is older than Adam (if the origin of species is any guide), and as the social animals we are, not to mention the tax benefits they bestow, families are an attractive option. And even the most ardent liberal who favors a woman's right to choose should concede that in most circumstances, it would be preferable to avoid abortion. Between preferable and every woman's reality, of course, is a vast gulf that tends to be nobody's business but the woman's. That opinion, fortunately, is backed up by law -- for now.
The problem with the ad isn't the story Tebow tells of his mother's "courage" not to abort him when she got sick. It's the ad's two bogus theological implications presented as truth under the banner of "Celebrate family, celebrate life": That family and "choosing" life are synonymous, as if those who abort or miscarry have lesser families that devalue life. And more insidiously, that aborting Tebow would have prevented a great Heisman Trophy winner from Florida from being born. You don't quite grasp the enormity of that perspective's awfulness until you look its flipside in the face: Is Tebow really suggesting that there was any kind of celebratory life-choosing because the likes of Charles Manson, Timothy McVeigh, Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden weren't aborted? Does Tebow really want to go there?
Tebow is who he is because he was born and raised into what he became. That's saying the obvious. Just as obviously, no one can say why, how or when Tebow's cells and soul took a turn for greatness as opposed to mediocrity or worse. His mother's choice, as unquestionably honorable as it was, should not be confused (as Tebow's ad does) with the preposterous notion that she chose to gestate a family-loving football great as opposed to, say, a violent felon, though we know for a fact that there are many more violent felons than there are football greats, and their mothers have to live with the reality of their "choice," minus the year's biggest television audience to share it with.
The point being that Tebow's message, by linking abortion with a life fully lived, is pretending to tell us something about the mysteries of life's origins that nobody knows -- not Tebow, not Pope Benedict, not Stephen Hawking, not my pet ferret, if I had one.
Of course, it isn't Tebow alone proposing that rubbish. It's Focus on the Family, James Dobson's Colorado-based advocate of Sharia law in Christian translation (think homophobia, patriarchy and clerical authoritarianism). The organization had the luxury and money to choose (and use) Tebow as an iconic model to shill its fancy. It's a different kind of choice -- as selective and self-serving as it is judgmental of those selected less fortunately by fate. On that score, Focus on the Family is nothing if not pro-choice.
61 Comments so far
Show AllThe ad will fail to mention that Tim's mother HAD a choice. The people backing the ad want to deny every woman in this nation a choice. And those same people complain about liberal government denying them choices.
Not to mention that pro-lifers are hypocrites.
They don't adopt. They don't have a funeral for the fetus if there's a miscarriage even though they say life begins at conception.
"Yeah you can throw that away doc. Funerals are expensive."
Only a fool makes up rules he doesn't stand by.
Well said!
Last week we had to watch Curt Schilling drum up votes for Senator Brown in Mass. Now we gotta watch Tim Tebow--who, i think has made some refreshingly rare remarks about sexuality in general and his own, in particular--throw his considerable weight behind the anti-abortion crusades at the very moment when Roe itself is in jeopardy.
And they call the major networks Liberal. That's a good joke.
I find Tebow to be an outstanding example of the stereotypical "dumb jock." He actually believes some kind of god cares if he throws a touchdown? I don't care what his transcript says (it's not like he's attending a school known for academics), anyone who thinks some anthropomorphic god creates touchdowns has shit for brains. Of course, the same goes for all who worship his arm. So goes the Stupor Bowl...
Raised as a southern baptist, I shuddered when he chose Ephesians to peddle his cause in his last bowl attempt, the book the Confederates used to justify their slavery/states rights position resulting in more dead that all other US conflicts combined. Religion/mystical beliefs should be personal. I find it offensive to have another citizen of this country impose on me their opinion on God. Apostolisization is counter to the first amendment, as it actually protects us from his propoganda, but the the Constitution becomes less revelant every day. Ask Tebow if Adam and Eve were Caucasion? and then ask without evolution what are the other races? monkey mutants? Adam fighting off dinosaurs? The crusades are simmering once again under these extremist(Joel 3:9-17) who are ironicaly simular to the Jihadist, except the Muslims actually have a reasons including a cause. Tebow is a CNO, (Christian in Name Only, bet he reads from KJ) his young life in no way can give him such insight, his brainwashing runs counter to the brightest to have walked the planet, Einstein, Hawkings, Galileo. ///"For there are eunuchs, that were so born from their mother's womb: and there are eunuchs, that were made eunuchs by men: and there are eunuchs, that made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it." (Matthew 19:12 ASV) That under his eyes would get him the attention he obvioulsy so desperately needs. so pathetically sad
"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrits, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full." Matthew 6:5
I'm grateful for the choice Tebows mom made, and for the nation that offered her a choice.
choice? abortion under any circumstance has been illegal in the Philippines since 1930 and is punishable by a six-year prison term, now theres a choice for you. "We've all been grateful for Tebow", what a patronizing remark, is there actually someone out there that actually wished he were aborted?. The rape victims and critically ill are thrown in with the "sexual deviants" by these so called compassionate christians, and it is those women, our wifes and daughters that I hope are not influenced by his perception of God. Their gut wrenching choices, made based on many complex individual reasons,have absolutly nothing to do with Tebows unique story, no matter how eye watering. Human 5 week embryos have aquatic gills, human? What would you think if he had this plastered under his eyes, (remember, he believes this IS the word of God.) Hosea 13:16 God promises to dash to pieces the infants of Samaria and the “their women with child shall be ripped up”. Or 2 Kings 15:16 God allows the pregnant women of Tappuah (aka Tiphsah) to be “ripped open”. I've made my point, picking and choosing bible vereses for your particular cause is dangerous business. Abortion was very prevalent in Christ's day, yet he never mentions it (or homosexuality for that matter), so why is it so important to these fanaticals when it didn't precipitate a word from Christ? How else is the 1st baptist church of Dallas (and others)gonna fill enough pews and collection plates to pay for that $150,000,000 mega church? Think how many starving kids Jesus could have fed with $150 million bucks, or women just needing a warm comforting shoulder to lean? epitome of hypocracy.
Sorry. Didn't realize she made her 'choice' in the Philippines.
Little known fact: in 1960 the Philippines had 30 million people. So did Taiwan.
Today, the Philippines has 100 million people. Taiwan has 30 million people. The Philippines is staunchly Catholic (legacy of Spanish colonialism), Taiwan is not. The filipinos are all perfectly wretched (those still living in the Philippines). The Taiwanese are not.
Case closed: anti-abortion kills humanity by overpopulating it. Next.
Is it too late for Ma Tebow to change her mind?
· Yr Obd't Servant
Obedient Servant, The 69th trimester maybe not.
Sioux Rose
Some in this forum laugh about the steps the nation is moving towards a Christian theocracy. These steps are as studied as are the moves that have blended the government INTO wall St, the Fed, and corporate CEO/heads of boards.
It's interesting that networks chose NOT to air anti-war messages, as if THAT, i.e. the call to peace, is offensive, or worse still, not patriotic!
We must remember (and ideally find the way to reclaim) that these are the PUBLIC'S airwaves that have been handed over to the broadcast corporations in the same way that our treasury money was handed to the banks. With money and ownership of media, it's relatively easy to hammer in those messages that suit those in power.
The Superbowl is purportedly the #1 most watched show in the U.S. so any ad placement during its broadcast is powerful and influential.
That recent decision that made the access to BIRTH CONTROL reliant on the pharmacists' or nurses' sensibilities was another end run around not exactly making abortion illegal, but making it harder and harder for women to avoid abortion and get safe birth control in the first place.
I find it very painful to know so many conflate their so-called "right to life" beliefs with such blinding emotion that they don't notice the slippery slope aimed at absolute control of women's bodies all over again! It's not only punitive and sexist, it's absurd given the fact that old men who have no business screwing around think they're Rambos all over again thanks to their insurance-covered Viagra!
One wonders if there is any analogy between the prescribing of Viagra and the fact that creeps like Cheney, Rumsfelt, and other "mature" males feel all excited about playing warrior, and/or dangerous war games as if they had the maturity of adolescents with over-active testosterone production!
Our nation is a madness! What passes for law is a travesty against justice, whilst what passes for culture is one notch above the Roman Arena. Millions being made homeless, millions going without health care, the rich getting richer, the regulatory agencies all cut back to protect foremost the profits of corrupt big businesses, and in this climate several million want to play games of righteous indignation with other peoples' bodies and choices? As if those who clamor for war against "terrorists" have the FAINTEST understanding of freedom, right to life (of others), or genuine spirituality!
Every day it seems is another reason to think seriously about getting OUT before the nation's gates shut, and then the transition into a violent 3rd world nation accelerates before less than willing eyes.
Caution all frogs (or would-be frogs): The temperature of the water you're soaking in is now passing 209 degrees.
Sioux Rose: Excellent analysis, which will displease the smiley-facers on this website; but, alas, your prognosis may be too optimistic. As the old Eagles tune had it, "You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave."
Sioux Rose
SOLODUFF: I would consider checking into the "Hotel California" if that state manages to set up single payer health care and legalize pot. Hey, that's 2 good ones... perhaps enough to stem the tide of an exodus outta here. Thank you for the head's up on my post. Sometimes I think this forum helps me to retain sanity as it just doesn't seem possible that so many stupid, horrific, insane things could be happening, one after the other. The Hindu mystics refer to this world, the tangible plane we share as MAYA, which means illusion. And I recall at least one philosopher wondering: that given our entire reality seems to ensue from within our own minds, how we can know for certain that we're not imagining everything that's taking place around us... shades of, "Wake me, wake me, from this dream!" It is this latter aspect that proves so darkly seductive to sadists and others with a lust for abusing power. For it has been their work to learn how to break down minds of persons, as "Torture Tactics 101." Naomi Klein relates that this "art" has become the stuff of textbooks! One key tactic, sensory deprivation, eases the perhaps always fragile boundary between the conscious individual and his sense of sanity based on what his senses report to him, and the one who can no longer discern where his senses stop and the world, as its own entity, begins. Maya, anyone? It's clearly what's being increasingly served on the USA menu!
AMFORTAS WOUND... are you still out there? We miss you!
Sioux Rose, I agree with your comments, as usual-- and have also wondered about Amfortas (Jill Bains).
The loss of one long-winded commenter is a loss to ALL long-winded commenters. ;)
· Yr Obd't Servant
Sioux Rose
Alas, Obedient, there is the wind instrument made for beautiful sounds to pass through it, and then there is the one who, in being long-winded, merely passes wind. I'd like to think that you, me, Jill/Amfortas, and a number of others fall into the musical category.
Thanks for the validation. I don't think even Orwell would believe his eyes if he were to incarnate in modern times. And if Jesus came back, wow, there'd be a lot of people with an awful lot to answer for! He'd probably have to form a commission!
Crazy times call for a seasoned understanding that ours indeed is (or has of late become), a "Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World!"
Sioux Rose; I agree with your post!
As for a Christian Theocracy, Obama is continuing Bush's office of "Faith-Based Initiatives." What happened to the "Separation of Church and State?" I highly suggest the Kevin Phillips book, American Theocracy, and also Esther Kaplan's book, With God On Their Side -- that is, if you still have any doubts about this phenomenon. Both books connect the dots in both overt and covert actions and beliefs coupled with policy.
BTW, I continuously receive ads for Viagra in my spam box -- now, I can buy it for 74% off the retail price. Of course, I delete the e-mails immediately. I read that sales are down, and Pfizer is advocating to turn the drug into an over-the-counter medication. When the economy crashed, if men who had lost their jobs could prove they had been on the drug for three months, Pfizer would supply the medication free of charge. I e-mailed the company to find out if women, who had lost their jobs, could apply for free birth control devices/pills, etc. I received NO answer from Pfizer.
Don't forget -- CEO Blankfein, Goldman Sachs, states, unequivocally, that he is "doing God's work." This is part of the "Protestant Ethic." These men believe that they "deserve to be rich."
From The Organization Man" -- written by William H. Whyte in 1956 -- "Without the comfort of the Protestant Ethic, he couldn't have gotten away with his acquisitions -- fortified by the assurance that he was pursuing his obligation to God, and before long, what for centuries had been looked on as the meanest greed, a rising middle class would interpret as the earthly manifestation of God's will."
At the turn of the 20th Century, in the lead-up to the Great Depression, the "protestant ethic" meant that if men grew rich, it was because they deserved to grow rich.
During those years, too, the authorities were arresting people like Margaret Sanger, Eugene Debs, Emma Goldman, etc.
"Caution all frogs (or would-be frogs): The temperature of the water you're soaking in is now passing 209 degrees." -- Sioux Rose
Sioux Rose
KAY: I love the way you can always furnish supportive literature, films, or documentary references!
I would like to add here that it was also very scary to hear:
1. Bush speak about a CRUSADES when he and his handlers were trying on different potentially viable reasons (all under fixed pretexts) to enact the ultimate crime against humanity, a war of aggression. Target #1: Iraq.
2. General Boykin's idiot remarks to the tune of "I knew his god was a false one, and that my god is bigger than his god." (What would Freud make of this? Sounds like penis envy!)
3. News published on Truthout about the influence of Christian evangelical preachers and their access to members of the U.S. Air Force. (Just in case any young men have any second thoughts about using those nifty joysticks to direct drones to drop their payload over Afghani citizens, have religious "authorities" standing by to convince them this action constitutes god's will!)
Combine these militarized Christian trends, with Coors beer sponsoring an event in one of its stadiums also prosletyzing, added to the strength of the evangelical network in assembling voters for rightwing/republican "causes." Add this to the inroads against female reproductive rights, along with access to safe contraception!
And the cherry on this cake: the likes of Eric Prince, who can purport to be a "born again Christian" when his racism is as thick as smog and has polluted his thought process to the point where he thinks killing Muslims = proof of his fealty to 'god."
I remember more than 15 years ago when I drove from Florida to Texas to put my younger daughter, a promising gymnast into a sophisticated gymnastics camp run by Bella Karoli. Across large segments of the deep south the only radio stations were Christian broadcasters, and the only social center, the local church.
I purchase "The Writer's Market" every few years, and have watched the word SPIRITUAL (as designation or genre of published literature) come to mean, almost exclusively, Christian theological material, as opposed to what I take for spiritual... which is almost always anything BUT. Religious, as in authoritarian/patriarchal is NOT spiritual! Just as what passes for organic today is sometimes raw, recycled sewage! (Lakoff and others have made many of us acutely aware of the power accessed through the framing of specific words and their associated mesanings.) In any case, a few years ago this resource book related that Christian publishing had done over a billion dollars in business. They own TV networks, the owners of Clear Channel radio are devotees, then the Pat Robertson types, and so many others. And the End Times series by Tim Lehaye sold over 50 million copies!
It's time for churches, advocating as they now often do for political positions and candidates, to pay property taxes at the least! And get the f--k out of my vagina, too, while at it! Not that long ago women with my beliefs were burned in the public sphere as witches, and too many trends are headed in THAT direction. It's especially frightening that this nation is as armed as it is, and that so many have been taught to believe in some very sick concepts of religion... those that falsely justify the taking of others' lives! And then they have the hubris to seize the purported moral high ground by owning the marketable brand of "Right to life." As they take home paychecks from weapons' manufacturing plants. Heaven help us! Soon!
I could expand the list, but I'll spare everyone!
However, it's also important to know that Tony Blair is a born again, and that he and Bush used to talk about scriptures and Bible teachings. In addition, I have read that Howard, the previous prime minister of Australia (Kevin Rudd is now the Prime Minister), who went along with Bush's invasion and occupation of Iraq, and the current prime minister of Canada are probably "born agains," or at the very least, extremely religious in their beliefs.
This is NOT just a Republican phenomenon, either. Hillary Clinton attended the very same prayer meetings that George Allen, the Virginia senator, attended. These prayer meetings are connected to "The Family." The most frightening research that came out of Jeff Sharlet's book, for me, was the fact that the members of the organization truly believe that if one of their members was accused of "sexually abusing a child," and actually did assault the child, the bigger purpose, driven by God's teachings, coupled with the fact that the member was "chosen" to be in the group, would take precedence over that act, and the members would find the man NOT guilty and would continue to support the man.
The "Left Behind" series by Tim LaHaye and Rick Warren's "Purpose Drive Life" -- rely on "End Times" theology for the basis of their beliefs. That so many millions of books have been sold, here in the U.S. and around the world, is quite telling! Bill Maher's researchers found, when they were doing research for his film, Religulous, that the percentage of U.S.A.ans who believe, literally, in the story of Noah's Ark stands at about 64%.
Sioux Rose: You don't have to convince me -- all of this religious business scares the shit out of me.
Sioux Rose
KAY: You were the first person to utter the names of Blair, Bush, Australia's Howard, and wasn't it Harper from Canada? all professed to the same theology.
The founding fathers were not just wise in their placing a firewall between church and state policies and agendas. They knew from experience, what types of witchhunts and executions the state could practice at large, so long as the belief in destroying others carried a stigma of higher endorsement.
It is a grave travesty to essentially stand witness and watch as so many covenants are being torn asunder. Habeas Corpus, segments of The Bill of Rights and Constitution, Glass-Steagall, and this most significant demarcation, or dividing line between church and state.
Bush, the lesser, could NEVER have attained office had not the very well organized (hey, this group is habituated to following rules, they ARE the authoritarians) Christian coalition not summoned its members to line up and put this killer into power. I took Obama for the lesser of evils and cannot believe that he's doing NOTHING to stop the carnage. I expected some damage control when a democrat took over, particularly when he had majorities in the senate and house.
The churches raise a lot of money, and the types of scandals that followed Jimmy Swaggart and The Bakers remind us that the LOVE of money gets lots of mileage and power in this nation. And money and power buy more of same, until big money is needed to guard what big money has collected, and that opens the door to militarism, a nation of armed guards. So much is unraveling before our eyes. I do believe, as do those who attend The World Social Forum, than another world IS possible, and in fact inevitable. Playing midwives to that process will call for enormous strength and spiritual fortitude.
I guess Hillary really thinks she's among the chosen. The true Masters relate that the ones who serve others are those keynoted for spiritual glory, not the ones that help themselves first.
I was unable to post on today's thread about the debacle going on in Haiti. To me, it's proof positive that the way New Orleans was handled was not just accident or the mark of incompetence. The world is watching as the U.S. the bully that sells weapons to unstable lands, and makes war its official policy, now can't even deliver help where it's so poignantly needed. Here on display are the limits of militarism. Mars alone cannot make life, in fact, more often than not he proves its key destroyer. Thus to suggest that the military makes any land safer is now being obscenely contradicted by what in fact is being done... for all to bear witness to, and weep.
I, too, had problems posting on a couple of other threads today.
Yes, Canada's prime minister is Harper. A little over a year ago, as I recall, he was about to lose his position with a vote of "no confidence," when the Queen stepped in and closed down parliament, saving Harper from losing his job. Who knew that the Queen still had that kind of power?
Like you, I expected "some damage control" with a Democrat in office, but alas, NOT so! Although I did NOT vote for Obama for several reasons, including his consistent intention to escalate the war in Afghanistan, I didn't expect him, along with our elected officials, to completely subvert democracy.
I agree with you, and I say this very sadly, the handling of Katrina and New Orleans was NOT an anomaly, nor was it an "accident" or just a "matter of incompetence."
It was -- as Naomi Klein stated -- "The Shock Doctrine" being implemented in our own country.
The other day, I began reading the Chalmers Johnson book, Sorrows of Empire. Many of us progressives know that the U.S. has more than 750 military bases around the world. However, one fact that jumped out at me -- a fact I didn't know -- is that "we the citizens" of this country have built and paid for -- with our taxes -- 232 golf courses, around the world, for the authorities, the high-ranking in the military. So, not only do we pay their salaries, their pensions, their health benefits, to which "we the people" are NOT entitled, but we pay -- without our consent -- for their entertainment -- golf courses, etc. They win, we lose. We get nothing in return except disrespect and condescending language directed at us from many of our very own so-called public servants and elected officials. To say the least, I am disgusted!
These officials and public servants should be thanking us for their standard of living, their benefits, etc. Instead, they feel entitled and show us no regard, no empathy, no compassion, and no sympathy. We are on our own -- even though they are completely funded by us/U.S.
As you so eloquently stated, Sioux Rose, "Mars alone cannot make life, in fact, more often than not, he proves its key destroyer."
>>Yes, Canada's prime minister is Harper. A little over a year ago, as I recall, he was about to lose his position with a vote of "no confidence," when the Queen stepped in and closed down parliament, saving Harper from losing his job. Who knew that the Queen still had that kind of power?
Actually this is not how it happened. The Governer General is the Queens Representative, however has little to no real power. Stephen Harper requested that Parliament be prorogued. (Suspended)
There was a lot of debate as to whether or not she had the power to overrule the Prime Minister. She decided she had no such power and agreed with Stephen Harper.
Had she overruled him we would THEN have had people claiming she overstepped her bounds and had too much power.
As to his religion he is a member of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church.
This an evangelical church that belives in the Apocalypse and the return of Jesus to this Earth to rescue the faithful. Harper refrains from stating his beliefs because he has been advised that such would alienate too many Canadians.
He maintains his "faith" in private while pUblicly avoiding the appearance that decisions are made on Faith.
Thus he will not reopen the abortion issue in Canada and will not try and see same sex marriage overturned.
http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/thesearch/archive/2008/09/10/why-stephen-harper-keeps-his-evangelicalism-very-private.aspx
This a very good article on Stepehen Harper and the Chruch he belongs to.
GwNorth: Thanks so much for the additional information and for correcting what I wrote. There wasn't a lot of coverage on this issue, but it certainly piqued my interest.
At least, Harper keeps his beliefs to himself, but for me, it's frightening that the leaders of England, U.S., Australia and Canada -- past or present -- all subscribe to the notion of 'end times.'
Thanks for the link -- I'll copy and read the article!
Sioux Rose
KAY: You nailed it! How insane is it that leaders of supposedly modern, advanced nations would allow beliefs like this to guide actions quite truly the equivalent of courting Armageddon. This primitive idea about holy war could well explain why all of these persons (like Eric Prince, their gun for hire) seem so cavalier about the massive slaughter of those who subscribe to a "rival" religion. It absolutely amazes me that religious beliefs have functioned as the fig leaf to the key crime sited by The Geneva Conventions, that of war of naked aggression. What might allow for a sense of impunity in the face of orchestrated disaster more than a belief that one has the "nod" of the almighty? These beliefs are VERY VERY dangerous.
A few in the forum totally downplay the influence of the Christian reich. They bring up those examples of evolved people who were POSITIVELY influenced by their religious beliefs (Dorothy Day, Bill Moyers, Father John Dear, Martin Luther King, etc.); while giving short shrift to the dangers of the rising evangelical movement. These voices also continue to view events mostly on the basis of power and its hunger for profit. In my view, a truly enlightened outlook takes all of these factors into account, as opposed to favoring ONE particular line of thought.
The "Holy land" is one of the most inflamed zones on our planet, and if this doesn't speak for the calamitous outcome to patriarchal beliefs of radical inclusion or bloody rites of exclusion, I cannot think of a more powerful symbol to expose the flaws in those arguments. For centuries these have fueled divisive conflicts to the point that now we have "the bombs bursting mid-air." The teachings of the Masters have been replaced with deadly, diabolical reversals of their dictums. As the world burns...
Yes, your right Sioux Rose about the south. I was down there many time in my youth having spent 3 months training as a medic in Fort Sam Houston back in 63 and couldn't eat at the local restaurants with my black brothers (they were asked to leave so we all said goodbye).
I don't want to stereotype the south as it is like many places with with both good, bad and gray. Except some of the bad things where a little more open (like the above mentioned) then they where in the eastern through northern to western parts of the U.S. which had a little thicker veneer for it's hypocrisy and other dark elements.
Would I have been saying for sometime now is that some of the darker more ignorant elements of the south:
racism, anti-science and anti-intellectualism, anti-christ fundamentalist hustlers and haters hiding behind a "holy book" and using it as a weapon to justify their every prejudice and shortcoming to glean power and fortune from the gullible masses. In the "arts" some of these very elements where given elevated status in some of cheap country western music that commercially exploited the genuine qualities and values that the simple hard working people expressed in their country and blue grass music.
Hopped up moonshiner's cars grew into stock car racing and then in NASCAR (or as I call it Crash-Car) a true sport of excess of almost everything: Gas/oil, fenders and tires, noise and advertising decals and (in the early days before rollbars and helmets) even human life..... all with little or no imagination. I mean all we're doing here is going around in circles waiting for a blow-up or blood.
Well somewhere around the Reagan years, but probably before all these distasteful elements began to creep and crawl north and west until I have to listen to some crazy assed polictical/facist/preacher type (either using the flag or the bible) assault my
sensibilities on just about every radio/TV station in every town/city across the sweep of this once semi-partial-great-nation.
Yes, we have become the dumbest most controlled nation in the world with the corporate masters exploiting our fear and gullibility to fight expansionist resource wars around the globe while keeping us barefoot and pregnant - and of course broke - in our own little Skinner Box called the homeland.
Fortunately, or unfortunately the games not quite over with some of us wanting out of the box.
Sioux Rose
RALPH: Thanks for sharing. I live in the Bible belt and keep my true identity (as a progressive and radical truth seeking mystic) under the radar. Many people in this region have beliefs that are cartoon-like in their absolute emphases on black and white (and I don't mean in the racial sense, here) definitions. The remotest shade of gray throws them off. John Dean's book and its explanation of the authoritarian mindset explains a good deal.
RAY: I appreciate your sensitivity to four-letter words, but sometimes I think the anger that calls for their usage is quite apropos. What is being done to women's rights, not to mention the uber:worship of military might in an "all war, all the time" episode of "Modern America, Today," brings LOTS of 4 letter words to mind. Polite protocol is equivalent to placing a thin veneer over a floor about to explode from the heat building up beneath it. Words are not what we should be offended by... sometimes they clarify the horror of what's going on in our midsts.
Ray Berthiaume
Sioux Rose: I have always appreciated your comments. I see no reason for you to use four-letter words.
"One wonders if there is any analogy between the prescribing of Viagra and the fact that creeps like Cheney, Rumsfelt, and other "mature" males feel all excited about playing warrior" I believe the opposite. If I were ruler of the world, I'd kidnap such people, stoke them with Viagra, and deliver them to a Korean massage parlor as soon as possible. Their proclivity toward violence argues the opposite impulse: that they are in desperate need of getting l**d. Their intellectual makeup ensures they will end up 'confused': but that's the point. There is nothing assuring in the act of creation: confusion/messy-ness is the name of the game. Destruction, on the other hand, loves order: its all black and white and simple: 'whoever is left is who God loves, and I intend that to be me.' Auschwitz was the most orderly of them all...
Sioux Rose
UBREW: I have to admit that I have no direct knowledge of Viagra. I can't really say what a male would feel when "under the influence," and so far I have not been with a partner who required the stuff. It may become inevitable with time and the aging process, however. Thanks for your post. It makes sense.
The basis for Tebow's mom's story is fallacious. She was reportedly in the Philippines when pregnant. Abortion had been illegal for decades, so no physician would have recommended the procedure. And, what was she ill with? What malady would be a threat to her fetus? Was it Rubella? There is something very fishy about the whole story.
I seriously doubt abortion was ever recommended. Or that Tebow's mom was particularly brave to continue a pregnancy that it would have been illegal to terminate. It's easy to lie, or let a lie be perpetuated. It takes way more courage to tell the truth.
The truth about anything going on today, from our patently illegal wars, the phony War on Terror, or whatever equally phony euphemism now current to justify US invasions of countries and seizing of their assets, killing their people by the thousands and wrecking their cultures, is only relevant to those of us who stubbornly and naively cling to old-fashioned notions that truth actually matters.
Tebow and mom can say anything they like in service to tea-partying pro-lifers, and we all know that no network or sports extravaganza like the Super Bowl would permit the opposite message to be aired, that abortion rights should be protected. We see billboards everywhere announcing that "embryos are just tiny babies" and so on, but I have yet to see one, ever, that openly supports pro-choice. It would be vandalized and destroyed in a matter of days.
Existing law that protects women's right to choose doesn't mean any more than the laws the Supreme Court just overturned to limit corporate domination of elections and public policy. Any laws that can be interpreted to inhibit the trend toward Total Fascism are now fair game. The Tebow ad is just another effort to get us all used to idea that rightwing authoritarianism is our inescapable destiny, and it's coming very soon. Sioux Rose is right. Getting the hell out of this fascist nightmare of a country may be the only real option left. Try to battle it from without, since the Palinite wingnuts are like the zombies in "Night of the Living Dead." Every time you turn around there are more and more of them. How the hell are we supposed to "educate" these idiots? They've been educated for decades, to believe every last lie humanly possible.
There's another article here today on how Darwinism is losing ground in academia, more and more "students" embracing creationism. I haven't even read it because I can't stand knowing the details. This kind of regressive crap just never ends. The USA wants to be the most backward country on Earth, and certainly the stupidest. Run absolutely by corporations and Christian fundamentalists, most of us seem content with being nothing but Consumers. Being able to buy things seems all that's left of our so-called freedom. And if you lack the money to buy endless crap, you simply do not exist. Democracy means I can buy a Chevy or a Toyota, or a BMW or Mercedes if I'm wealthy enough. Coke or Pepsi, Bud or Miller! What amazing freedom!
Sioux Rose
EPHRAIM: Is the time ripe to found a CD colony on some lush island? Hablar Espagnol? The way trends are going, the more the northern hemisphere takes up the shield of authoritarianism, the more its southern antithesis has enacted and extended more "power to the people."
Other utopian colonies began under perhaps less dangerous times. Comments?
British Columbia (with winters in the South Seas). I'm sympathetic to what Latin America is enacting under the weight of centuries of colonialism, and a powerful legacy remaining today, but as a realist...
And all Utopia colonies has to form some sort of governing bodies, which leads to either Socialism, Fascism, or Institutionalism, in order for the society of a colony to exist. My point is: You can RUN, but you CAN NOT Hide, even if you hit the re-set button.
Hablo un poco espanol, and I've often thought of moving to Mexico. There's a pretty rich history of expatriate Americans over the past 100 years or more, who just couldn't take any more of this inane country. Mostly writers and artists, but plenty of leftists who saw the writing on the wall. My present circumstances don't allow for an immediate exit, but I'm working on it. As for the warning often given, that "you can run, but you can't hide," I have to wonder if the one issuing it has plans to track any of us down who dare to escape this insane asylum. There's no intention of "hiding." Is a person who escapes an abusive relationship to be accused of "hiding" from reality? When it finally seems that one's country has gone irreversibly mad, what honor or courage is to be found in simply hanging around to witness to the end of one's days the slow but certain unravelling? A lost cause is a lost cause.
What I'd like to see is Tebow go on national television and say this...
"I am pro-life. That is why I believe in an end to all war. If Barack Obama truly valued life, he'd pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan immediately."
Bumper sticker: No Abortion; No War
That's A Start
Recently, I reread Margaret Atwood's 1986 classic, The Handmaid's Tale. I couldn't help but think that one of the main characters, Serena Joy, is based on Phyllis Schlafly (the ultra-conservative Eagle Forum founder), who tells women to NOT have careers, even though she, herself, has a very successful career -- in my opinion, hypocritical and undermining women at every turn. Phyllis Shlafly is almost single-handedly responsible for the ERA, Equal Rights Amendment for women, NOT being ratified, and passed into law.
From the Atwood book -- "She doesn't make speeches anymore. She has become speechless. She stays in her home, but it doesn't seem to agree with her. How furious she must be, now that's she's been taken at her word."
Also from the book -- "He's said the forbidden word. Sterile. There is no such thing as a sterile man, anymore, not officially. There are only women who are fruitful and women who are barren. That's the law."
Damn. Gotta see the movie (sorry, thats how I roll...)
Why no ads for abortion (murder)? Because deep in our heart of hearts all men and women know it is evil. Most people who call all Christians hypocrites are ignorant of the many who keep God's commands, imitate the life of Christ, and understand the Truth. If the pot-shot artists among us would take the time to study Scripture, Church History and basic theology, much of their vitriol vanishes like mist on a hot afternoon. The secular world has no use for the Truth and only those who CHOSE to seek it will find.....
Peace
I don't believe abortion is evil. Not against a 2 month old fetus the size of a kidney bean, and with a brain the size of a mustard seed. Anyone with a respect for evolution must understand that just eating pork is condoning so much more horror than abortion is. A live pig or cow is so incredibly sentient, as a mammal, filled with memories of life raw and full (pigs are smarter than dogs, and make better pets). A 2 month old human fetus, incredible as it is, just isn't intellectually developed enough to feel one-fourth of what a mature cow feels, thinks, and understands. Yet, I eat steak and pork all the time (I'm eating pork right now). Indeed, if your horror at the act of abortion is on behalf of the FETUS, I can assure you, they aren't interested in your pity, or anything else, for that matter.
Take care of the human children that ARE born, and act to keep abortion from happening, as there are excellent remedies all around us that prevent that option from being necessary (yet, as I recall, the people working to undermine their usage are from your side of the debate). Work to remind people of the unnecessary-ness of abortion, of the options available to them, including abstinence, that can enrich their lives and prevent them from having to make this choice. But, leave the choice available to those women who get pregnant and have no other option. Keeping a live, living, breathing human being from having control over their own bodies, their own choices, and their own dialog with the infinite is, well, ... THAT, is evil.
The religious connotations of abortion are irrelevant, God, scripture, dogma - all completely beside the point. The only applicable issue is who owns a woman's body. Is it she? Her husband? Or, is it the State?
Bingo!
Good point! It is both the woman and husband, boy friend, donor of little men(baby daddy), but not the state nor the advertising conglomerate.
Why no ads? Wow, did you not actually read the article?
Oh, and there is no god - prove me wrong.
And I say there is a GOD, oh! Prove me wrong.
That's just it: "You say." there's zero imperical evidence within "You say." And the burden of proof is on you as I can cite lots of evidence for zero existence of some omnipitent, omnipotent being.
Provide evidence and I will believe you. Git bizzy.