Anti- Evangelism

 

Copy of a Facebook post which I think is worth repeating here. The article is by an atheist who was raised as a right wing evangelical.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/12/white-evangelicals-made-a-deal-with-trump-now-what.html

>Evangelicals, Galli added, “are deeply suspicious of human authority,” but only to a point. What they may fear, really, is authority they don’t control. “Paradoxically,” he continued, “they are a group that’s attracted to authoritarian leaders, whether that person be a pastor of a megachurch or a dictator.”

... This, too, is something the modern GOP has in common with the Christian right. Democracy is the enemy. People can’t be trusted with their own souls. Leave them to their own devices, and they make the wrong choices, take the easy way out, threaten everything holy. They need a savior, whether they like it or not.<

This is the problem with Christ as king. He’s an absolute ruler. Morality is whatever he says it is. Right and wrong or whatever he says they are. There is nothing forbidden as long as he wills it. Deus vult!

It is this extremism which is making evangelicals into anti-evangelicals. They are driving people out, not only out of their churches, but of all religion.

State Security Forces Or Paramilitaries Need Not Apply

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/liberal-hyperbole-trump-coup.html

An interesting article but, as often happens, one particular point has especially irritated me. The author, Eric Levitz, makes a point by misdefining a word.

>To left-wing contrarians, meanwhile, describing Trump’s antics as a “coup” was nearly as absurd as Rudy Giuliani’s legal theories. This was not a violent seizure of power aided by state security forces or paramilitaries.<

Lexicolatry defines coup as: ‘A violent or illegal change in government.’  Note that a coup does not need to be violent. Any illegal overthrow of the government is also a coup.

I know this may seem like a minor offense, but to me the misuse of words is an extremely serious matter; especially when this abuse of language is intended to make some important point.  It is especially irritating that this author declares those he is criticizing are committing an “absurdity” by accurately utilizing a term which he inaccurately defines.

(Or, as I am more inclined to put it, sloppy language leads to sloppy thinking.)

I have numerous serious issues with the article. For example, Trump is not, as it suggests, a momentary “presentism” oddity. He’s the culmination of at least 40 years of Republicans’ determined efforts to destroy democracy in America. The author seems unaware of this fact. I also am offended by experts who declare that our democracy is strong. Our democracy is very near death and the Republicans are determined to put it in its grave. The fact that we squeaked by this time has left us all the weaker.

Essentially, I found the entire article to be a clear example of denialism. It is determined effort to refuse to face reality. This has allowed Republicans as a party to undermine democracy at every level of government. “It can’t happen here!” Is a cry that should be familiar to anyone aware of the history of fascism.   In reality, it not only can happen here, it has been happening for decades and it is continuing to happen now. A slow motion coup remains a coup.

Well the author accurately points out failures on the part of Trump’s attempts, he ignores the many successes. Nearly half of American voters believe this nonsense and have already surrendered their dedication to democracy. That is no small thing!

As I anticipated, Republicans are using this lack of confidence in democracy to press forward even more gerrymandering and voter restriction measures. The racists, whichever party was their home, have been doing this since the days of Reconstruction. It is not an example of  “presentism”.

I can go on pointing out the many flaws in this article, but honestly, I find them too irritating. I can only be reminded again of the growth of fascism in Italy, Germany, and even America. “He’s just a politician.”  “It’s just a phase.”  And let’s never forget Fukuyama’s famous conviction that democracy in the world was so strong that we had reached the end of history.

It can happen here. It is happening here. Refusing to face that fact will allow it to happen here.

Final note: the fact that the author later says that a figurative coup could be perceived as taking place does not ignore the fact that he misdefined the word in making one of his foolish points.

Hear Me Roar

 Copying a Facebook post. I didn’t include the article which was about quantum reality versus observable reality because I didn’t think it was covering any new ground.

I simply must respond to this article. It irritates me so much. Actually, not the article. Just a single comment beginning it:  > If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? Perhaps not, some say.<

Like all supposed paradoxes this is just a bad misuse of language and simple human confusion regarding the the nature of reality.

The answer to this supposed conundrum is what exactly do you mean by “sound”?

If no human is there to hear the sound a squirrel heard it. That’s a sound. No squirrels? Then a frog heard it. No frogs? Then a snail heard it. No snails… you get the picture.

But what is something extremely weird and improbable happened and no animals are within any range which could possibly have heard the sound? As it happens, sound is a series of compression waves in the air. Even if there were no ears to hear the sound there would still be compression waves and thus there would still be sound.

Some Say The World Will End In Fire

 Some time ago, in the midst of the terrible fires that were burning up so much of western North America, My daughter made a comment which was sort of like a haiku, but not quite. When a friend commented on that, she said she was thinking about turning it into a haiku but was just too busy. So I tucked it way thinking that it was too good not to turn into a haiku and I would do it myself someday.

So here’s her original and my interpretation:

Woke up on an apocolyptic sunrise between two fires 

ash falls upon us

Apocalypsis

Rising sun between two fires

soft rainfall of ash

Nice imagery. All of which is hers.

Someone Is Blind With Something.

 

From the Washington Post, a headline (Capitals removed)

Postal Service warns 42 states their voters could be disenfranchised by delayed mail in ballots

The resultant dialogue with D, the poster:

D:  This alone should say at all.

Me:  Yes, it says the Trump administration is working to sabotage the election in a move to destroy democracy in America.

D: Rreally?  You're smarter than that

Me:  Confiscated mail sorting machines, confiscated mailboxes, slashing the budget, forbidding overtime, for bidding extra deliveries, the post office run by a man who has over $100 million invested in companies which compete with the post office. Sounds perfectly normal to me.😏

D: the USPS just put out information about the "confiscated" machines that indicate why they were removed.  Has absolutely nothing to do with this administration.   Geesh

Me :  For over 100 years mail in ballot and was completely successful and no one doubt it. Suddenly this year and this year alone it is happened. Reality is real.

D:  we have mail in ballots here in Washington and there are still races that are not settled.  Plus...we got two EXTRA ballots sent to us for this Primary.   It's just a bit Lucy goosy for my taste

Me: It has worked since Lincoln was reelected during the Civil War. It is strange that it suddenly doesn’t work in the year when Donald Trump fears it might cost him reelection. Of course it could just be an amazing coincidence. But I doubt it

D: I shared with you my personal experience with mail in voting, and you are so blinded by hate that you're telling me my multiple ballots and waiting for results  are Trumps fault?   Or are you just calling me a liar?

Me:   Why are you so bitterly angry? I’m not upset at all by our conversation. You think I’m calling you a liar? What?

What exactly is it that you think I hate?

Calm down. Just because we disagree is no reason to be rude or insulting.

D: I'm not angry at all.  Just questioning your responses.   You said you doubted that it was problematic...after I told you the problems.  Simple

Bty, do you choose your retirement check be mailed to you or direct deposit?  Kind of the same reasoning, yes?

Me:  You as one single individual had problems and therefor you conclude that the entire system is totally failing? That’s like your car not working, therefore assuming the cars are not valuable and should be abandoned.

And suggesting I’m calling you a liar and telling me I’m blinded by hate do not sound like you’re just having a calm discussion.

Again, USPS has done an admirable job. If a check is mailed me I have it go to the bank. Of course I do direct deposit. It’s easier. But the USPS has been the most popular and most successful branch of government (It’s also a private business, since it’s hard to serve two masters, this messes things up) until Republicans begin interfering with its operations back in the Bush era by requiring them to fully fund their retirement system for 75 years ahead. Meaning they had to set aside funds for the retirement of postman who hadn’t even been born yet. The Trump administration has savagely attacked the post office service. Of course it’s not functioning right now. It’s like someone saying that your car isn’t working after I took a sledgehammer to the engine. That doesn’t mean the car is unreliable.

D:  Or...as one single individual that has experienced problems, can you imagine it on a larger scale?  Perception is everything, wouldn't you agree?  Gotta take grandkids for haircuts

Me:  be careful out there. The world isn’t a safe as it used to be.

Cancel Culture?

In 1864, President Lincoln was not favored to win the upcoming election. He had the excuse of the Civil War to postpone it. He had a Congress that might very well have gone along with him, had he requested it.  Facing all of this, he nevertheless declared, "If the rebellion could force us to forego or postpone a national election, it might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined us.”

When it was suggested to Franklin Delano Roosevelt that the 1942 election should be delayed due to the opening of World War II, he unequivocally stated that doing so would mean, “...we have become fascists ourselves...”.

2020, faced with slumping pull numbers, Donald Trump whined, “With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???”

The Civil War was not enough for a president (who, remember) was widely regarded as likely to lose the election, to cancel democracy.

World War II was not enough to convince another president that we should cancel democracy.

But Trump has slipped in popularity, and that’s reason enough for him to cancel democracy.

Ever watch Sesame Street with your kids? “One of these things just doesn’t belong here. One of these things just isn’t the same. Can you guess which thing just doesn’t belong here before the election begins?”

Seriously. Can you?

Ozytrumpias

Facebook post in response to a Trump statement that he wishes to have his opponents “shaking in their boots” as he sends his private shock troops out to cities run by Democratic elected officials.

Trump apparently knows some history after all. Terror tactics to make people afraid of you always work so well. Hitler used them against the Russians in order to make them so frightened they would no longer resist German forces. The result was... oh, that’s right, the result was the resistance grew even bigger and stronger and more determined to destroy these evil monsters. OK, so one failure.

The same tactics were used against the French in order to… Oh yeah, the French resistance also got more and more determined to destroy those awful monsters. OK, so two failures.

Maybe that’s because it was from Germans. Let’s look at the Japanese during World War II! Thanks to similar tactics against the Chinese in order to terrify them at submission… well, I guess that makes three failures.

You know, I’m beginning to think maybe Trump doesn’t know anything about history. I also wonder if maybe he doesn’t know anything about human nature.