Month: March 2004

Persecution, Complex

Lydia Nickerson, commenting on Electrolite: Our vigilant representatives, gives the best explanation of why some folks mean when they say they feel persecuted:

They mean that living in the secular world is a persecution. Every time a co-workeer swears, they are being persecuted by having to listen to such language. Every time the corporate picnic starts without grace being said over the food is a persecution. If the company Christmas party serves alcohol, then they cannot attend, and so are persecuted twice.

Television persecutes them. It’s not the watching of it that constitutes the persecution, but the fact that television broadcasts things of which they disapprove. They are persecuted in the schools because there is no prayer and because science is taught while the Bible (their particular interpretation) is not taught. They are constantly oppressed everywhere by our cultural belief that it is possible to be a good person without ascribing to their particular dogma regarding sin and salvation. Comparative religion courses are the devil’s own tool.

Asked the right questions, and a member of the RPCNA will tell you that what is necessary is a theocracy. My mother, for instance, will not vote for anyone who is not a Christian as she defines it…

Ok, you’re probably rolling your eyes and wondering what the hell is going on with these people. I’m like so there with you. But there is one more piece of this that I think strongly affects why their world view is so askew from mine. They will argue (with an absolutely straight faith, and with perfect belief) that the type of persecution that Christians face now is worse than what the early Christians hiding in the catacombs faced, because it is more subtle and more pervasive…

It’s easy to trash this type of belief system, I do it myself as a hobby. However, I think that is also important to understand it. This is what you’re up against. You’re not arguing about the same thing they are arguing about. Maybe there is no way to discuss this rationally with a Fundie — gods know I haven’t found one, yet. I’ve been at it for 23 years, on and off, ever since I left the faith — rather more dramatically than I intended to — at the age if 18. This is what you’re up against, though. Your simple existence constitutes persecution. [emphasis mine.]

In other words, no compromise. If you don’t agree with me, you’re out to get me.

Can I be scared yet?

Showing Bench Strength

Pandagon has some ideas about Government in Waiting, picking your cabinet candidates ahead of time.

Some folks claim this is illegal due to promising jobs in exchange for votes, although not for jobs that require Senate confirmation. My way to get around it is simple: list two people for every position. After all, they can’t both get the job, and you have two people double teaming the current crew doing the job. And lord knows there will be places for them in any new administration– do you know how many jobs are going to have to be filled?

Comments on the future

Something left over from thinking on Warren Ellis’s weblog, and only getting around to posting now…

When imagining the future, I always try to keep the following in mind:

AT ANY POINT IN THE STORY, ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN. And that happens in real life as well. We’ve just had the first confirmed case of Mad Cow in the US, this can change the face of the country if it goes bad. I saw the Twin Towers collapse one block from my house, and that changed the world.

MURPHY’S LAW IS BOTH A VARIABLE AND A CONSTANT.

THE DEFINITION OF A CRISIS IS AN EVENT THAT, WHEN IT HAPPENS, NOBODY KNOWS WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.

LIFEFORMS ALWAYS MOVE TO INCREASE THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF THINGS AROUND THEM– OR THEIR CONTROL. What is problematic is when they attempt to do one without the other.

IT’S HARD TO PREDICT THE FUTURE WHEN THEY KEEP CHANGING THE PAST. On the other hand, if you’re the one changing the past, that gives you better odds on creating the future. Which is why so many people keep trying to do it.

STUPIDITY IS SELF CORRECTING. Eventually. But it can certainly take a while, and there’s no limit to the amount of damage it can cause in the meantime.