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civil war and choice
2009-Aug-26, Wednesday 08:25 pmI hope, when the time comes, that I have the presence of mind to escape. Failing that... I hope, when the time comes, that I have the bravery to die rather than kill. I'm not certain of my own pacifist leanings, but I can at least hope to be a better example of a thoughtful person than my attackers.
Some 15 years ago, my boss (on the political right) and I (on the political left) were discussing politics and we both agreed that America would see civil war within our lifetimes unless civil discourse found a revival. People need to keep rational minds and civil tongues in order to safely explore opinions and to find points of compromise or at least find ways to live together in tolerance.
My subconscious seems ready to accept that civil discourse has ceased. I blame mostly the "right" for this effect (see: Nazi, death panels, gun stealing, constitution shredding, and other claims without any rational justification that I can find (and I have tried to look for it)), but the "left" is finally waking up to the fact that they are trying to debate with irrational people. I expect civility to collapse before Obama's first term is out. I voted for him because I hoped he had the brains and the voice to hold this country together through such tearing.
It is a deadly serious matter to me.
I'm beginning to wonder if the immediate dissolution of the United States might actually be the most peaceful outcome available. The "right" is getting shrill in a way that involves weaponry. Peaceful or deadly resolution? A matter of choice.
I hope that I choose to die rather than kill. Peaceful protest may lose as many lives as outright warfare, but it leaves its soldiers unscathed by moral compromise. I find it curiously coincident that God hates the same outsiders as the people themselves already hate. God can kill humans by divine will. God has angels that can kill humans. Why does God need angry mobs to kill for him, and on schedules that fit their own political tide?
They have a lot more certainty about such arrangements than I do. I cannot be allowed to exist in their world, so they believe. My own father has hunted queers as a group sport. Is this brand of fun poised for a comeback? When rationality and civility are totally lost, how will I respond?
I hope that I choose to die rather than kill, when they come for me. But here too I lack their certainty. Perhaps soon we will be able to distinguish the correct one (if any) among the four theories of human violence.
Some 15 years ago, my boss (on the political right) and I (on the political left) were discussing politics and we both agreed that America would see civil war within our lifetimes unless civil discourse found a revival. People need to keep rational minds and civil tongues in order to safely explore opinions and to find points of compromise or at least find ways to live together in tolerance.
My subconscious seems ready to accept that civil discourse has ceased. I blame mostly the "right" for this effect (see: Nazi, death panels, gun stealing, constitution shredding, and other claims without any rational justification that I can find (and I have tried to look for it)), but the "left" is finally waking up to the fact that they are trying to debate with irrational people. I expect civility to collapse before Obama's first term is out. I voted for him because I hoped he had the brains and the voice to hold this country together through such tearing.
It is a deadly serious matter to me.
"God never "felt" anything about it, he commanded it and said they should be taken out and killed. ... You want to know why sodomites are recruiting? Because they have no natural predators."I don't usually hang out at such websites, but I am trying to examine both far-right and far-left news this week. I could find no news article justifying the claims by this man about Barney Frank. The closest that I could locate was an old Washington Post article, and it refutes his claims. The "recruiting" argument is so ludicrous that it doesn't even deserve refutation here.
and
"Go find one of these queer churches, they'll put the faggot behind the pulpit. ... Our country is run by faggots. ... He's a pedophile. He has been arrested for interacting with boys that are in their teenage years when he's in his 50s. ... That's Barney Frank. That's who just sold our country into fascism. ... I'm not going to stand by and let a faggot run the church. It's bad enough that we've got a lot of faggots running the government."
- both available at http://www.rightwingwatch.org/god-commands-you-kill-gays.html
I'm beginning to wonder if the immediate dissolution of the United States might actually be the most peaceful outcome available. The "right" is getting shrill in a way that involves weaponry. Peaceful or deadly resolution? A matter of choice.
I hope that I choose to die rather than kill. Peaceful protest may lose as many lives as outright warfare, but it leaves its soldiers unscathed by moral compromise. I find it curiously coincident that God hates the same outsiders as the people themselves already hate. God can kill humans by divine will. God has angels that can kill humans. Why does God need angry mobs to kill for him, and on schedules that fit their own political tide?
"What does God need with a starship?"I find that certainty about who should live and who should die is a poison that seems to consume some people through and through. Following the Abrahamic metaphor, the apple and the Knowledge Of Good And Evil seems to have poisoned some souls more than others. A great many people seem certain of who is Good and who is Evil and what order should be established for every human on the planet.
- Captain Kirk, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYW_lPlekiQ
They have a lot more certainty about such arrangements than I do. I cannot be allowed to exist in their world, so they believe. My own father has hunted queers as a group sport. Is this brand of fun poised for a comeback? When rationality and civility are totally lost, how will I respond?
I hope that I choose to die rather than kill, when they come for me. But here too I lack their certainty. Perhaps soon we will be able to distinguish the correct one (if any) among the four theories of human violence.