Tuesday, April 29, 2014

DON'T EVEN DARE TO ASK QUESTIONS

“Indeed, studying the nature of the soul is the heart of philosophy.” Hypatia smiled, her gaze turned inward. “But, to know God you must know yourself and the world around you. Where do we fit in the grand scheme? Philosophy is a rigorous study and a way of life that only a few can master. Men of talent used to strive for that perfection, living a life of observation and rational thought. The Christian Church offers an easy way for many to succeed. ‘Have faith! Obey!’ It requires no thought, only belief so everyone may partake. Where the masses go, power follows. Where there is power there is influence.”

Hypatia in the novel Selene of Alexandria by Faith L Justice.

OK, it’s a work of fiction and the writer has tried to hit a middle road in portraying her characters. But, this paragraph perfectly describes where I’ve found myself for, well, most of my life. Who am I? Where do I fit in the rest of Creation? What do I have to do to feel like I fit in my own skin? And I’ve never been able to follow the “just believe and it’ll all work out.”

Ironically, this is playing out in the media this week.  And the blog author is not shy about expressing his opinion. I think mad enough to spit battery acid was mentioned. Dan Haseltine, member of the group Jars of Clay, admitted publicly that he wasn’t all that sure about civil same sex marriage and was finding that he had questions about it. Note he didn’t say he supported gay rights or same sex marriage. Just admitted he had questions. The right wing fundies have come down on him like a ton of bricks. Some commenters have supported his right to ask questions but basically said “he shouldn’t have been so public about it.”

Earth to twits. That’s exactly what the haters want. They want us silent. Toe the line. Get with the program or we will “virtually” crucify you. Perhaps that’s why they’ve been able to get away with it for so long. If they were in the streets with torches and pitchforks we’d know a mob when we saw it. But, they work in the shadows with keystrokes and Twitter accounts. It’s still a mob folks. It’s still a mob.

Sarah Palin gets up in front of an NRA gathering and basically “bragged that if she were in political power, she would happily waterboard (torture) the state’s enemy prisoners as a way to ‘baptize them’… “ and the internet has been singularly silent. This half term governor gets up and public and not only admits she’d ignore the fourth and fifth amendments to the constitution but perverts an action that is recognized throughout Christendom as a sacrament. And the supposed supporters of the constitution and self described Christians are…silent. Ominously, pathetically silent.


Does she really believe this? That this is right? Or is it a power play, pure and simple. Either way it’s scary and she’s not alone. 

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