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Bombs for Moms
We Americans like to bomb moms. Whether it’s in a far away country where we send our children to kill other mothers and their children or whether it’s here at home where we drop economic and cultural and sexist bombs on moms, we definitely like to bomb moms.
Then we like to show the First Lady tearfully honoring her own mother from a position of power and privilege in beautiful party dresses in a china and lace-draped dining room in the White House– like a well choreographed ballet of national proof one day every year that we love our mothers. Doesn’t really matter which First Lady we chat about here. Each of them plays their dutiful role in the annual Mother’s Day dance of pride.
We don’t love mothers. We bomb mothers.
I recall being a young, idealistic mom who made her own bread and even prepared the natural baby foods and yogurt I thought would be best for my little ones. I suspect many in my generation did the same. I had such dreams and such love for each of my kids. It seemed that my tender hand could help them achieve, and my attention to their health and their education and their opportunities was my duty not only to them but also somehow to my nation and my world.
Then the bombs. The economic bombs came first in the Reagan years when my husband could not work consistently enough to keep the family afloat. I worked full time, and my time for tender pursuits slipped more and more. Paying the mortgage and the other bills was the priority. But Mr. Reagan said a new day was dawning, and he claimed such great love for all things American – mothers, apple pie and such. But millions of idealistic moms like me saw an end to our vision of family and home.
When I watched Michael Moore’s latest film the first time last year (Capitalism: A Love Story), it was our story – a tome of struggle and standing up against the odds. Millions of people bought into the charade that hard work – harder and harder work – would make those American opportunities a reality even in a failing economy. The trickle down would surely trickle to moms, eh?
I was angry and tired and stressed much of the time through that era. I tried to keep up all the school activities, music lessons and chances for my kids to achieve, but something had to give, so I left behind the natural foods and the gentler, quiet, loving times. I left my own values behind as I struggled to hold at least some of the goals up for protection from the storm.
Our family never fully recovered from the Reagan year bombs before the healthcare bomb hit. Entering our middle years, fully insured and trying to be the ever responsible Americans we were raised to be, health crisis far outstripped my ability to earn enough for my family. You see in the 40 years I have been fully employed outside the home, women like me – moms like me – have yet to come anywhere close to earning what a man does for the same work in this world. No matter how hard I worked, I could not earn an equal wage. My labor was not valued much. We bomb moms again and again.
As my kids grew to adulthood, they each took their own paths in life. Mostly, they ran as fast as they could to find ways to not suffer the same fate as our family did – they sought better educations, better jobs, better friends, better personal connections. Who could blame them? The lessons my actions taught them in their formative years were that you protect and preserve the income flow and you pay the bills. You don’t make yogurt and bread, for God’s sake.
A bomb must be dropped on moms, yes sir, a bomb must be dropped.
This Mother’s Day, one of my children may well be dropping very real bombs on other very real moms and children as he serves in the Army in Afghanistan. The rest of the kids are spread out all over the country. A beautiful bouquet of roses arrived from my daughter yesterday. The calls will likely come to wish me a good day. I will cry missing them all. I will feel as though I failed them. And I will be right.
A bomb dropped on an idealistic young mom 30 years ago, and bombs dropped all along the way, have proved me too weak to fight it all off and come out on the other end one of the picture-book mothers we celebrate in the Hallmark sort of way every second Sunday in May.
We drop bombs on moms here in America and all over the world. We don’t value mothers as a nation. We use mothers. We abuse mothers. We take the hopes and dreams of the 20-something young woman cradling her infant in the wee hours of the morning and dreaming of a better world ahead, and we drop bombs on them both.
I hope in the years ahead we will fight for policies that stop this mom-bombing and truly honor our mothers. Healthcare, equal pay and social policy that protects human rights would be a nice start. Happy Mother’s Day 2010.
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38 Comments so far
Show AllThis is one of the best essays I've ever read. Thank you, Donna Smith. This is truly outstanding.
Good article, Donna. Now let's focus on bringing down the Empire.
Indeed, Cassandra!
"moms like me – have yet to come anywhere close to earning what a man does for the same work in this world"
That's exactly the attitude that feeds the Godzilla monster. Running the race only makes the mechanical rabbit go faster, and you'll never catch it. You have to instead, exit the race. USan women beginning in the 1960s started running the race, heeding the siren songs about independence and all that, so along with the independence came enslavement. In the 1950s USan families made it on a single 40 man-hour-week job. In the 2000s USan families worked 80 man-hours/week and still couldn't pay the bills. Slaves to Godzilla.
Instead of that, USans should simply make the 40 man-hour/week cover a family. This is accomplished by very selective demands in the markets. Giving up the gobbeldy-gook and crapola peddled by... DAS KAPITAL!!! - including the "garbage of convenience". Give it up, and get your life back.
You think? Hope so, rt,I've just got my mail order "Do it yourself home Full Frontal Lobotomy Kit For Dummies" TM.If it works it will save me a fortune on booze and dope!
peace, walk in health
I joined the workforce, NOT to take part in the race, but to support myself and my son, due to divorce. During the middle, to late 1970s, I worked management jobs that paid me anywhere from 40-45% less than men were earning at the same and similar jobs. Now, you tell me how that's supposed to work?! That's what Donna is talking about in her article.
Things were NOT so rosy for women in the 1950s -- I have never looked back on that era as a time of "happy days." It was more like an era of "Stepford Wives." If you want a good look at the 50s, from a corporate POV, watch the film Revolutionary Road. And, NOT every family made it on one salary during the 1950s, either.
As for Mother's Day, the original intention/idea was introduced in about 1870, by Julia Ward Howe, the famous suffragette, who proposed a day, not of materialism, but instead, a day of peace and social justice. They did NOT want their sons being sent off to foreign countries to fight wars that had questionable missions. I wish we could get back to what the day was supposed to mean, as proposed more than a century ago!
Kay J.
Well said. My wife and I were saying yesterday how we remembered seeing Want Ads from the past that used to state how they would look for women and men to fill a particular job by segregating and selecting women regarding a place of employment because a woman supposedly could not do as good a job as a man. As my wife noted, so few women today seem to be even dimly aware of how much gender segregation had taken place in the not so enlightened past.
I also believe that your point in your last paragraph was also very well taken. Yet so many mothers today still approve of what the government and the military are doing to their children, either tacitly or overtly, and that subservience to authority extends even after their sons return to this country in a body bag which is demonstrated when so many mothers, instead of being outraged at what the government did to their sons, instead meekly accept that American flag given to them by a military representative during the funeral of their loved ones.
Thanks, Erroll, for your very thoughtful response!
I agree that too many people count the military as respectable. I don't. I grew up in the 1960s, and I listened to all the rhetoric, about 'the other," and how the Vietnamese simply did NOT regard life with the same reverence that citizens in the U.S. did. Of course, being young, I was impressionable, and I had to learn on my own. Young people simply don't have the life experience to determine truth from lies, and/or propaganda. One evening, when I was watching the news, one of the networks broadcast a clip of a Vietnamese mother holding her dead son, who was killed by U.S. soldiers. I was probably about 14, or so. The mother was weeping and rocking back and forth. In that instant, in that image, I recognized that they, too -- the Vietnamese, loved their children just as much as parents here in the U.S. The horror of the image is seared in my brain! I also realized, in that same moment, that the Vietnamese weren't over here bombing us, in our communities. And, I remember asking, then, "Why are we there?" I was completely devastated by the images I saw, and so sad. It was a tough lesson to learn -- that our government is willing to lie and to spread propaganda in order to convince people/citizens that we were/are the so-called good guys. Now, the U.S. is bombing Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and there are still about 180,000 troops in Iraq. Through the past 8 or 9 years, I have attended every anti-war/peace rally that I possibly could, and marched with a million other people, more the once, but the death count continues to grow.
BTW -- I agree with the point you make in your second paragraph. But, young people need some options other than signing up for the military. College and jobs should NOT be out of reach for young people, or anyone else, either, who needs work, or wants to learn. It's a very depressing situation! Money for guns, and bombs, but NO money for health care, education, jobs, etc. (The other day, I read an article that rated the U.S. at either #24, or #28, amongst the nations of the world -- the category was "how countries treat mothers." Having been a single mom, I can attest to the fact that moms, and their children, are NOT treated with dignity. Economic disempowerment relegates mothers to certain poverty.)
Dylan's "Masters of War" rings as true today, as it did on that day I watched the evening news. Sadly, I understood a lot more about the world after seeing the Vietnamese mother holding tight her son and sobbing.
Masters Of War -- Bob Dylan, words and music
Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks
You that never done nothin’
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it’s your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly
Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain
You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people’s blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud
You’ve thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain’t worth the blood
That runs in your veins
How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I’m young
You might say I’m unlearned
But there’s one thing I know
Though I’m younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do
Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul
And I hope that you die
And your death’ll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I’ll watch while you’re lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I’ll stand o’er your grave
’Til I’m sure that you’re dead
>>I agree with the point you make in your second paragraph. But, young people need some options other than signing up for the military
When Napoleon Bonaparte was asked how it was that the young men of France were so eager to fight and die on the battlefield for him he stated..(paraphrased)
"It easy..now and then I will call them all together and hold a ceremony where I will pin medals for bravery on a few".
Notice what he did not say . He did not say "We offer them good pensions" or "They will each get a home and 10 hectares of land" or "It a great career in times of economic difficulty."
Nor did he say "I appeal to their patriotism or sense of duty" Or "I tell them they are fighting for freedom and liberty".
It was a medal that cost a few francs pinned on the guys chest.
What does this tell me?
AS Sioux Rose and others have oftimes mentioned there are great masses of people who by nature are of the Authoritarian mindset. They defer to authority. This large group of people craves attention. They want to stand out from the masses to be seen as something better then or more worthy then "those others". When the master pats them on the head they are closer to the master then they are to the rabble not so?
When a King or Emperor, President or Prime Minister, or even the CEO of some Corporation PINS a medal to their chests , for that brief moment what they see as "their betters" have RECOGNIZED them as being special.
Thats like winning the trifecta.
Just something else to consider when thinking about why people join the Military.
(and yes there are many reasons)
Sioux Rose and I have discussed this issue, and MARS RULES, a number of times, and I agree with you, and I agree with Sioux Rose! It's not that I don't see, or understand, that this is another element of militarism. Medals speak volumes -- about honor, and any number of other words that encourage heroism in war, etc., covering up and justifying the death and destruction of war, the men and women who join and carry out orders without thinking. They are taught NOT to think. In fact, in previous posts, on previous threads, I have also written about this issue a number of times.
Have I given you serious indications that I do NOT understand this? I'm just curious!
Not at all. I was adding to the debate more then correcting. :)
Military ceremonies have been carefully honed over the years. They are not performed on behalf of the dead. They are CALCULATED ceremonies of great gravity to ensure mothers and fathers keep sending their sons to war.
Watch a ceremony..the troops at attention. The careful choreographing of every step and salute. The Drums..the Bugles, the fire of guns as a salute to the dead. The Widow or mother tearfully accepting the perfectly folded flag. It is hard not to feel emotional during such and feel that something "great and noble" has occurred.
Time was we DID have such ceremonies to honor the harvest, and spring, the birth of children, the sanctity of nature. There was a time we honored life and birth rather then death and killing.
Maybe what the peace movement needs is more Ceremonies .
Yes, we're all living the Amerikkkan dream; endless wars, poverty, racism, ignorance, greed and stupidity. If only it could be as Ronnie Raygun and the rest of the sellouts and whores, who occupied the White House before and since, claim it is.
Happy Mother's Day!
Ms. Smith certainly makes very valid points in her essay. But toward the end of her article she mentions her frustration at the possibility that her son "may very well be dropping real bombs on other very real moms and children as he serves in the Army in Afghanistan." Nowhere in her piece does Ms. Smith say whether she has urged her son not to stop dropping those bombs on those mothers in Afghanistan. Has she attempted to convince her son to desert from her unit? That would certainly be the most beneficial thing for her son to do as that would then mean that no Afghan mothers would have to needlessly die due to the bellicose actions of her son. I suggest that if she has not already done so, that she send her son a copy of the powerful documentary Sir! No Sir! which told the story of the GI movement during the Vietnam War. If he were to see this DVD he would see and hear soldiers of conscience say that they would no longer support the United States war machine. He would also hear the words of Green Beret Master Sergeant Donald Duncan who wisely notes in the film that:
"I was doing it right but I wasn't doing right."
Perhaps if he were to see this most relevant documentary [as well as the more topical film Soldiers of Conscience] Ms. Smith's son would come to the realization that he too is not doing it right and that he is no longer going to continue to drop bombs on innocent people in Afghanistan.
oh, baby!
I haven't been very complimentary of your writings, Donna, because I disagree with some of your political beliefs...
this, though, is so open and true that I can hardly type back to you through my tears for you, and all of us and our children...
I still hope that we might defeat the machine that grinds upon us daily...together...
I don't know that we can, though...
but, can we try? must we suffer until the end?
we must take back the land...September 22, 2012...
shut it all down...
what a fucking world...
thank you for this pain on this beautiful day, that I might appreciate, and treasure what I often take for granted...
dubet'a tear would fall if I but let it for the frustration that envelopes my heart and Soul with what has spilled out of this supposed melting pot.There is not even a pretense that there is any say by the great unwashed masses throughout the world.Your words are emotional;thank you.Tony
america is definitely slipping into the third world, and toward deserving the title "the fourth reich". but don't get on to momma for not telling her son to desert. he's a grown man, so that's his decision.
Johnny U
You do not explain why it would be a bad thing for Ms. Smith to tell her son that there is absolutely no justifiable reason to drop those bombs on those people especially given the fact that Ms. Smith is already in accord with that statement. I suggest that you may wish to see the film that I mentioned, Sir! No Sir!, as well as Soldiers of Conscience, in order to gain an understanding of what I am saying. If you think that those innocent mothers in Afghanistan do not deserve to be murdered by 500 lb. American bombs then it would then follow that you should be joining me in hoping that Ms. Smith would do the right thing by urging her son to refrain from dropping those bombs on those innocent mothers, grandmothers, and children.
Considering Donnas writings I would assume she has spoken straight forwardly with her son.
glenn, I agree with you!
Donna, not all Americans do this. Every year, Mother's Day is one of those days my two daughters and I are grieving because she would have been alive if it hadn't been for the insurance companies along with the doctors, all for-profit type and doing business with those insurance companies, who refused to treat my wife with the proper procedure all because the coverage didn't apply. It turned out that they were either fraudulent doctors or they didn't know how to do their job but they all knew how to exploit insurance coverage. I am sure that plenty of mothers, wives, and sisters have had to lose their wives or suffer irreversible disabilities because of this and with this regressive health care scam, aka Obamacare, millions more will suffer and that will be on top of thousands of young women whose forced "coverage" will not cover reproductive rights in the hour of need. When mothers lose their lives or end up with irreversible disabilities, the life of the father and the children gets more complicated. I found that out just how tough it was to stay a good father and fulfill the roles of a mother for my two children. Donna, I am sorry to hear about your son joining the Army for wrongful causes such as the ones you mentioned but I salute you for doing your part to rescue those struggling mothers at least on health care in your state despite Washington continuing to work against CA. Happy Mother's Day.
Kiss of the Stars empirePie May 9th, 2010
Tired of celebrity Ho boys and dough Hos?
fingering Ferraris, lifting their saris
grabbing crotches for cash
on the celluloid beat, the teat for the trash
to the dance of the stars
to the kiss of your end
to the oily ducks for cover
to the pundit puppeteers
to the baseless bases
to the profit for kitsch disasters
to the mobster masters
to the mammon beat
the mammon for the man beat
where...
the massless faces of the dead beats
whose inner word cacophony, doesn’t do digits
and won’t shut down for a naught
or a ‘to be’ one.
one naught, naught one
one naught, naught one
the kiss of the one naught one.
MOTHERS DAY 2010
Is a mother only defined as the one who carries the new addition to term and then births a marvelous collection of bones and sinew, hopefully with a heart that beats for more than his/her own life, and all the other parts that go into a functioning body? The world as it is would tell us that this is not so and that there are many, who from choice or circumstance, do not or cannot realize this awesome choice; for it is a choice.
Motherhood is of the world and Mothers Day should not be confined to only those who can set such a day apart for the celebrating of the one that guides the evolving Soul from the first breath to where it may be a self sustaining life on its own. There are exceptions to the ideal of this guide of life as there are where free will is and some may not wish for what is a large responsibility.
What of this world that would and does treat a mother as a shackle or even as second class Soul and for what reasons? Some may be from religion, a religion usually imposed by a male, to control; no matter the lofty words from religions of all the differing faiths there is, spoken or unspoken, a need for this control of the perceived and I mean perceived weakness of the one gender. Through out the world there are the “faiths” that through physical limitations and abuses exert control that is always, always a contributing factor in the ongoing battle between peace and war.
How so you may ask? It has been maintained in books of faith, stories and legends that he was tempted by her and they got kicked out of paradise for the fact that he let her talk him into something he knew was wrong and how far is it to want to control everyone and everything as a way of life? What is wrong with this picture that has carried on to this present age? Think of all the persecutions, slights, large and small that mothers or mothers to be have been subjected to and do you know why? It is my contention that many of the male gender have a guilty conscience about this first guy and that he was such a coward to not just say “no thank you” and has been trying to sooth his aching conscience ever since. A small thing; do you walk with a lady next to you or do you walk ahead or not at all?
My mother was a mom to any and all and she taught well and it is my good fortune to have known and been related to many mothers who can be called “MOM”
Happy Mothers Day!
Sandy and Tony 5/8/2010
Very exquisite piece and even more pertinent in the ostensible 'glorification' of a day of honour to mothers that really reveals the actual slap in the face to mother's trying to cope in a corporate world that has only one interest in such a charade of honour, GO BUY STUFF!
One can't miss this when the slogan 'buy her the perfect mother's day gift' is nothing less than that old consumerist adage so well embraced by an addiction to consumption(which used to describe TB). No matter how useless or superfluous that 'perfect gift' is. And not to negate the underlying meaning of corporate ideology that the woman should remain barefoot in the kitchen and the bedroom.
The reality of how much harm the government does for its corporate masters, and that by just going back to that traitor ronnie 'nutinupmysleeve' reagan's terms when it really goes back even further, demonstrates just how seemingly hopeless it is trying to undo, dismantle and do away with the 'white boy corporate country clubs' that have so much grievous responsibility to what this world is these days.
As I have said it can go back even further than ronnie buttfuck reagan's terms and I will take it back to when slick dick nickson was about to resign and the inestimable traitor, adolph coors chipped in $250,000.00 to create the first of the, openly hostile to the country, think tanks hell bent on the take over of this country and the world for the BENEFIT of those wanting to become the lords and masters of the universe. As hopeless a situation as it seems, it is not impossible to wreck these corporate cesspools, it would just take an immense and costly effort, or the willingness to just 'do as they say' and let them have their way.
And it has been like this all through history, men have dominated women for the most part. Using tribal rankings, to religion to governments to what was at first meant to protect and shield those that 'give life' to the tribe/group. Even so far back to the point when the gods were female because women 'gave birth', unfortunately that was quickly reversed so as to prevent a woman's word affecting anything.
Now it seems the only thing still required and demanded is that the woman continue to 'bear children' for the now modern corporate world, to the tune of now almost 7,000,000,000 people, a number more than likely too big to allow continued growth, comfort and security for people, who are just 'fodder' for the corporate cannon. That will change, if nothing is done, when the infantile new world of automation and robotics comes into full maturation, thus the corporate gift of technology that all too often happens to help nobody except those that have the power and learn to exploit it.
But to honour my mother, may she be resting in peace, Happy Mother's Day.
Happy Mothers Day Donna, I feel your frustration and angst.But just because one is forced to squat,or camp out in someones garage ,frequent food pantries,and jump through hoops for health care... doesn't mean one has to leave their own values behind.
Even participating, in an economy where the war taxes are seized from your pay before you even see it betrays values.In a "democracy" of plutocratic,"lemon socialism"a delusion of the M.I.C.and the "infotainment" media is probably a betrayal of most C.D.ers values
Your values are intact Donna,these distractions are a physical detour from the path to which you will return.Frame it as a trial that will make you and yours' much stronger(if it doesn't kill you).As you go through your week lifting others up and making them feel better,please take some time to recharge and be pampered yourself.
peace
j h;beautiful.Tony
Thanks, Donna, for this heartfelt statement of truth.
johnny h. offers some good advice, so I'll second it.
Happy Mothers Day.
The problem I see with mothers in America is that we women are very divided in how we see feminism and motherhood. Before women were given the right to work and vote, they were treated as second class citizens. Once they got their freedoms, factions grew on what to do with their freedoms and different views on feminism came up. I try to be fair to everyone and unless someone really drives me crazy, I don't put him or her down. If there are men who want to be respectful to women and learn, I am there to help. Sometimes, I also see some problems where women are not the only ones suffering but that men too are suffering in the process. Sadly, this does not sit well with some women and when I try to emphasize the need to bring both men and women towards peace and happiness, I get insulted with remarks such as "Have you lost your sisterhood ?" or even worse "you must have been born a boy turned into a girl !". This is where I believe the divide among mothers begins.
Another problem is that we are in a disaster capitalist system that does not take kindly to house wives. In Europe, Russia, and South Africa, I would have no problem being a house wife because whether I would be married to a working husband or just living by myself, the basics on health care, food safety production and consumption, community organization and socializing, etc... would be the norm and I assume that such basics exist in most other nations. There are working women there too but at least they get some kind of respect and aren't treated so much as disposable. Unfortunately, in this nation, being a house wife would get me called a "welfare queen" and if that were not enough, I would have to be at the mercy of my husband getting through work day after day and would have to hope that he not get cranky. That is not to say that being a working mom necessarily put me above the labeling. I had put education and career above marriage because I was aware of this dog eat dog economy and had feared worse. Given the reality of this worsening economy and wars being escalated, I can only thank my stars that I made the right decision. Unfortunately, being single and working as a woman isn't always easy and I have been insulted in the past by married women who thought I had no life and would even mistake me as a "corporate slut" which I never was. I even had debates in the past about whether I was spiritual or materialistic among women. In the meantime, the same women who would complain and mistake me as either being too materialistic or too spiritual and out of touch would say nothing about women calling themselves "proud military moms" or looking at Martha Stewert or Michelle Obama as a "role model mom". I may be a down to earth girl but I am certainly not materialistic even though I have admitted my guilt on it in the past.
I may not ever make it to any "sister's club" for not meeting their macho definition of "feminism" but for my part, I will stick to focusing on the basics of caring and loving as a means of convincing people out of wars and materialism at large. If we do not do that and if mothers and sisters do not unite, this will only continue to spread across other nations and I have seen efforts underway to turn gentle loving mothers around the world into the crazed "military moms".
Happy Mother's Day and I hope for better days ahead for mothers and sisters to put aside their differences and unite more often than not.
Welcome back, Jennifer. We guys are also divided on peace and war more than people think but I hear you on the women. Based on your past posting from last year, I would say that you are a great example of good feminism and keep it up and don't look down. My wife never joined a feminist club and she would tell me why she didn't feel comfortable in doing so. I think that women usually feel ambivalent at times on how to show their frustrations but in the end, they always solve that problem gracefully. Joining a club doesn't make one any different from what they are, man or woman. I remember when you were under attack last year on Alternet by some who claimed to be "feminists" and yet they supported the war and all of Bush's policies through Obama while you held your own ground. You have always shown yourself to be a genuine progressive and you're feminine enough in my book. Good luck and may you find your soul mate out there and hopefully be a loving mother. Don't overwork yourself and don't let your future partner overwork himself either.
Thank you for the kind words max. :)
Welcome back, Jennifer.
Chelsea
Thank you Chelsea. :)
It isn't just the bombs that our responsible for destroying those innocent mothers, sister, grandmothers, and all in the Middle East. It is the way our technologies have been tailored for abuse by both the politicians and those doing their slave labor. Those of us who have been trying to steer the MIC ship have had to learn our lessons the hard way. Face it Donna. This nation is a lost soul and the sooner we learn that we must abandon the destructive ship rather than bother trying to steer it, the sooner we can stop bombing and the sooner we can start paying reparations for all the innocent civilians this nation has killed or maimed.
What I am about to write is not meant as criticism, but rather, as an expansion upon this heartfelt article.
We have all heard "It's a man's world" as a lame excuse for indifference and cruelty.
What Donna has written about - how we abuse women - has roots which go far, far beyond the prejudice and injustice experienced by women. Think about how we "humans" use this planet, our ultimate mother. Nature (the female) is reduced to materials to be exploited. The further we distance ourselves from the natural world, the more we abuse ourselves.
It is the same for all of the "Great" religions. They dictate submission to some huge male dick of a god (who is usually distant, demanding, and uncommunicative) and treat anything "feminine" as flawed. This is why the Catholic Church has no tolerance for gay priests or marriage for priests, but will do all it can to protect sexual predators. I will never be able to comprehend why any woman would worship ANY male god. Until Jesus, Allah, Yahweh, Buddha, Vishnu, and any other top dog begins a menses, they must be seen as merely the tools of domination which they are.
If we do not equally celebrate the female and the male spiritually, we will never see them as equals economically. We are all a mix of both and the sooner we stop seeing any difference in value and stop attributing the lie of "superiority", the better.
I understand your reasoning and comments. I have been so dumbfounded with religion for so long and the whole time it never made much sense. When I went to college I found a relief from NOT having to go to church every sunday morning and night. First thoughts came to me that the 'organized religions especially, were earliest human attempts to explain the world and the universe.
Through various stages of turning my thought to religion, I just decided it was too complicated and complex and with the inquisitions and crusades and such I just could not 'get with the program'. Then there is the bible, god's word, the holy truth but yet it doesn't take much to consider what bunch of fairy tales they are and depressing so see so many grown people with stone wall serious expressions on their faces believing that it was all as it has been made to seem to be.
If you want a suggestion, google 'origins of religion'. What links come up should start you on a path to discovering real truth, if you haven't taken this journey before. It is quite revealing and for me very satisfactory in setting the truth right, it is all based on a bunch of Egyptian astrotheological beliefs, allegory and metaphors of mythology. In fact, this sweeps away so much of what I was taught in history classes in school and it was no wonder my head swam from listening to people teaching what they though I should know, but now I understand a lot better now.
Donna,
Well stated.
Chelsea
Donna,
Sadly, your story is the story of millions of women and families. It's been decades of struggle and lost opportunities for millions of families.
How long are we going to keep on paying the rich for being rich and electing men and women who care nothing for the rest of us?