Keepin’ ’em down...

One of the great satirical songs of the ’70s was Randy Newman’s “Rednecks,” in which the character singing boasts of “keeping the niggers down.” Now, as one of the great turnabouts of the ’10s, Rick Santorum boasts of keeping the rednecks down.

When Santorum claimed that Obama was a snob for wanting everyone to go to college, he simply reinforced the opinion of Palin et al that higher education turns people into liberal elitists. Real Americans are down-to-earth people and don’t need fancy eddication. Besides, if they need anything beyond readin’, writin’, and ’rithmatic, there’s always Sunday School.

But I suspect Saint Rick has a hidden agenda. Because he knows that the more educated a person is, the more likely he or she will question things that ought not to be questioned, beginning with the literal truth of the Bible. How you gonna keep ’em down – on the farm, in the factories, wherever – if they stop and figure out the foundation of your morality is a sham?

Of course, Randy does sing about “college men from LSU – went in dumb, came out dumb, too”; so maybe Rick has a point.

For the love of God...

I’ve been working my way (again) thru the dvd set of The Sopranos and recently viewed episode 3:12 (“Amour Fou”) in which a priest tells Carmella, “God loves you more than you can know.” This triggered in me an agnostic scoff, along with a remembrance of the Sunday school adage, “God is love.” But it also got me thinking....

During the years I delved into Krishnamurti’s teachings, I balked at his premise that love was the underlying power of the universe. It was the way he baldly stated it as a given, clearly exempt from the questioning to which he demanded every thought or belief be subjected, that struck me as somewhat hypocritical. My problem, I realized later, came down to vocabulary, since “love” is so carelessly bandied about in so many ways.

But when I consider “love” as resonance or affinity, it not only explains attraction between people (a physical or hormonal resonance) or empathy for others (affinity for their suffering), it also applies to the underlying nature of Reality: it is the resonance of subatomic particles and their affinity for one another that is the very glue that holds existence together, and is also reflected by gravitational attraction in our larger world. It is nothing less than Tao. Which makes “God is love” a simplistic way of stating, “Tao is affinity.” Which means God is affinity as well – and affinity is God (or, to use a less loaded term, Tao). I’m not sure that’s what K had in mind, but it resonates with me.

On the human plane, love/affinity is caring for other human beings, is stewardship of Nature, is a desire for tranquility/peace, all of which means achieving resonance with existence. Now if that is the case, isn’t it strange that people who claim the necessity for “preemptive” war, who place the interest of humans over those of the environment, who denigrate the needs of fellow citizens if it means a greater tax burden on themselves, and who spew the greatest amount of vitriol on behalf of their stances, are often those who profess a love of God?

A cult by any other name...

There may come a day, although probably not in my lifetime, when a Scientologist is a viable candidate for President of the United States. Give it a hundred years or so. Because when you figure the exponential rate of progress, that would pretty much jibe with having a Mormon run for president just shy of two centuries after that religion’s founding.

Some might look askance at the prospect; after all, isn’t Scientology a cult? That may be true, but it’s no less a cult than Mormonism was in the early 1800s. And if some Americans (arguably not as many as necessary) are willing to install in the White House a person who accepts as truth that religion’s foundation, revelations, and cosmology, then there’s no reason to suppose that after another century citizens won’t be just as willing to give a pass to someone who accepts L. Ron Hubbard’s science fiction as gospel.

Today’s cult is tomorrow’s mainstream faith, and you can work that backward as well. All it takes is indoctrination by family and community to accept the most outlandish claims as truth. Mitt Romney probably believes what he was brought up to believe because, like most of us, he doesn’t pause to question it. But really, Mitt: inscriptions on gold plates? magic underwear? baptizing the dead? (And really, so many of you others: virgin birth? god in three persons? transubstantiation?)

Considering today’s brouhaha over insurance coverage for contraception, there’s no question that things have gotten out of hand when “religious freedom” is invoked in order to give religion the freedom to quash the rights of individuals who may not even subscribe to its mandates. And giving free rein to religion is but a step toward allowing religion to reign over us all.

Romney’s religion might seem strange to some, but I suspect that, if elected, he would be just as unlikely to impose his beliefs on America as our first Catholic president JFK was. Maybe in his heart of hearts, he knows it’s all pretty silly. Rick Santorum, however, is another matter entirely. Because he represents the most dangerous cult of all, America’s equivalent of the Taliban.

At least a Scientologist candidate might make things interesting.

No apologies necessary...

It’s been said that patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. I’m not entirely sure what that means, but I am sure of something else: exceptionalism is the first refuge of an idiot.

Whenever I hear politicians – especially Republican presidential aspirants but not excluding the Big O – cheerleading for America, I have to wonder what fantasy world they’re living in. They hype freedom while ignoring their ongoing efforts to curb it (e.g. overturning Roe or keeping marijuana illegal or standing in the way of gay marriage or supporting 21^st century versions of the Alien and Sedition Acts). They sing praises to the land of opportunity while tap-dancing around our outrageous and growing income disparity. They extol the American worker while undermining labor unions and turning a blind eye to big business’s tax loopholes that send jobs offshore. They call this the greatest country on earth even while we lag behind other industrialized nations in health care and education and workers’ benefits. And they cite our greatness as justification for doing whatever we please – to whomever we please – on the world stage.

This patriotic claptrap is exacerbated by the notion that our supposed greatness is attributable to God – that He has singled out this country for a special role in history and endowed us with super powers for the task. If so, it’s too bad we misuse them. Either that or we misunderstand Him. (Speak English, Dude!)

Those who challenge American exceptionalism usually find themselves in a have-you-stopped-beating-your-wife predicament, since to deny it is to be lumped with what conservatives love to call the “blame America first crowd.” Since we’re perfect, we can’t be faulted for anything, so criticizing America is clearly unpatriotic.

Exceptionalism – being so head-over-heels in love with your country you’re oblivious to all its faults and bad habits, not to mention the big zit on its nose that won’t go away – means never having to say you’re sorry. It’s all God’s plan. And the Big Guy never apologizes for anything.

Obamastinacy

I don’t go to concerts much anymore, but over the past few years I’ve attended a couple given by my favorite performer, David Bromberg. And as the crowd yells out requests, he slowly shakes his head and says, “Don’t you people realize that if you ask for something I’m not gonna do it?”

I fear for such obstinacy in politics now that the notion of Hillary and Joe swapping jobs has been broached.

It’s a natural: she’s burnt out on all that travel, he’s a foreign policy wonk. With his track record for gaffes he’d be a drag on the ticket; meanwhile she’s as popular as ever. Maybe most important, he’d never be a serious contender for president after O’s second term, but she’d still be in her 60s.

Now that the idea’s been floated, heaven forfend that they’d put it into action since it would seem like they were picking up on somebody else’s brainstorm. It would be like producers of a soap opera listening to fans about how a plot should play out, no matter how sensible. Only original ideas count. Typical no-drama-Obama.

So surprise us and do it anyway. Admit that it’s a great idea. Indie voters and disillusioned Democrats need some reason to believe another four years might be different. Besides, it would give Limbaugh and the teabaggers apoplexy. That alone should make it worth the price of admission.

Canyon/Winter/Tao

Grand Canyon in winter is altogether different from its summertime persona. There’s hardly any traffic, and the absence of crowds means that at some lookouts you feel like you have the place all to yourself (although you still tend to overhear German just as much as English). Walking along the rim in the village in the cold air at night, the full moon ghosting the canyon walls, we saw practically no other living being except for a few elk and deer. It was truly tranquil.

The Canyon is a mecca for geologists, and we came across a feature we hadn’t noticed on our last visit: the rim walk east of the village features a “journey through time” with displays of rock specimens indicating their age. We’re talking hundreds of millions of years, and it made us laugh to recall that there are some fools who insist that our planet is no older than can be deduced from the Bible – something on the order of six millennia. They twist the evidence to serve their need to believe in the infallibility of a document, never mind the exacting science behind the dating process.

Beyond the west end of the village, the rim walk leads to a small area with a simple stone altar where ecumenical services are held during the tourist season. We’ve never attended one, but can imagine that they focus on the majesty of the place without pretending that an old guy in the sky created it as part of a six-day creation binge. The very fact that many of the Canyon’s landmarks were named for Asian religious figures attests to its transcending the limitations of any one belief system.

But I’d like to propose that the Grand Canyon is more than anything else a temple to Taoist thought. We see the persistence of water in a place carved by it: “the softest thing in the universe overcomes the hardest” (ch. 43); “nothing is more soft and yielding that water, yet for attacking the solid and strong nothing is better” (78); “it flows in places men reject and so is like the Tao” (8). We also see the ultimate representation of the Tao as an empty vessel (4) in a place that allows us to fully exalt “the valley spirit” (6).

Taoists value the strength of low position, and here is a place that takes you constantly lower, where the immutability of time is on permanent display. And, especially in the winter, we find the rejuvenating power of tranquility. “Returning to the source is stillness, which is the way of nature. The way of nature is unchanging” (16). (All quotes from Feng/English translation.)

So rant on, young-earthers. But after sitting on the edge of the rim, I’d have to agree with Lao Tzu, that “ignoring knowledge is sickness” (71).