Arizona - Land of Lily-White Rich Republicans

I moved to Seattle from Delaware in the fall of 1976.  It very quickly became apparent the various ways in which the West was and is different from the East.

The West is the land of the rugged individualist (read:  misfit loaner who's a danger to himself and others).  The West is the land of live and let live (as long as you live the way everybody else does OR keep your big trap shut about how you actually do live).  The West is the land of tolerance (bullshit).

I went to work for a couple of rugged individualists in Seattle.  Father and son were sole proprietors of a thriving electronics supply company which ran a string of marine electronics repair shops all around the Gulf of Alaska, from Juneau to Adak, in the Aleutian chain.

On the surface they were nice guys.  But underneath... the son was the chairman of the Reagan for President committee in Washington State (did I mention, this was 1976-77?).   He believed in the western ideal of rugged individualism --- he also believed that as long as you worked for him, he pretty much owned you.  One day he dictated that NO EMPLOYEE could smoke... on company property or off it and anyone caught smoking would be frozen in salary and position until they quit (smoking or their job).

He also made it abundantly clear that he wanted all employees to join a gym.  The one he belonged to.

It was about this time that I started noticing the abundance of bumper stickers around town, celebrating something called The John Birch Society.  Something about him being the first casualty of the next World War -- or some bullshit like that.

I didn't last long in the rugged Pacific Northwest.  I hated working for Fascists, so I decided to move to the most liberal city I knew, New York City.

But I never forgot that stint in Seattle.  I never forgot how they mouthed a bunch of platitudes about the freedom of the individual, even as they dictated the terms of conformity.  As far as I was concerned they were a bunch of hypocrites.

Now, of course, we have Arizona or, as I like to call it, Deutschland.  It is my understanding that the State Police (der Staatspolizei) are being signed up for Rosetta Stone beginner's courses in German so that they can rattle off "Dürfen wir ihre papiere, bitte?" ("May we see your papers, please?") like a native.  This will come in handy in the days and weeks ahead, as they round up brown people, queers, Jews, and anybody who doesn't look like either their governor (Terence Stamp in "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert") or John "I'm No Maverick" McCain.

I encourage all patriots, by which I mean anybody not from Arizona, to boycott Arizona businesses until this Fascist charade is overturned.

Faith Trumps Reason (Ask Me How!)

I ran into a piece over on Joe.My.God about a couple of Xtian wingnut groups coming up with a counter to GLSEN's "Day of Silence," scheduled for next Friday in many of our nation's schools. They're asking Christian parents to keep their kids home that day to protest the protest.

According to Joe, the Illinois Family Institute and Mission America have distributed a message to parents, to wit:

Explain to your children why you’re taking a stand:

a. Homosexual behavior is not an innate identity.

b. No matter what factors may influence homosexual feelings, freely chosen homosexual behavior is immoral and should be resisted.

c. Homosexuality is not equivalent to race.

d. Disapproval of homosexuality is not equivalent to racism; nor is it hatred; nor is it bullying; nor does it constitute an incitement to violence. It is permissible and ethical to express disapproval of homosexuality. Just because someone may feel bad when hearing that someone disapproves of homosexuality does not mean that disapproval is cruel or wrong.

e. No school should support a view of homosexuality that is unproven and controversial, and that is physically, emotionally, and spiritually destructive to individuals and society.

f. No school should allow instructional time to be politicized.

However, by doing a simple "search and replace" on it, I came up with the following:

Explain to your children why you’re taking a stand:

a. Religious behavior is not an innate identity.

b. No matter what factors may influence religious feelings, freely chosen religious behavior is immoral and should be resisted.

c. Religiosity is not equivalent to race.

d. Disapproval of religiosity is not equivalent to racism; nor is it hatred; nor is it bullying; nor does it constitute an incitement to violence. It is permissible and ethical to express disapproval of religiosity. Just because someone may feel bad when hearing that someone disapproves of religiosity does not mean that disapproval is cruel or wrong.

e. No school should support a view of religiosity that is unproven and controversial, and that is physically, emotionally, and spiritually destructive to individuals and society.

f. No school should allow instructional time to be politicized.


Why do they always pretend that they are right?

The Throne of Peter

The Vatican has survived 2,000 years of turmoil and attacks through one tried and true method. Stonewalling and battering the victims. The Vatican is *very* good at both.

"If only those crazy-assed Jews had converted, the Holy Inquistion wouldn't have burned them at the stake."

or

"If only all those queers in cassocks had dropped dead, then those little male Lolitas would've been safe!"

or

"If only Galileo had admitted that the Earth IS the center of the universe, we wouldn't have had to ruin his life."

Notice anything about all this? Listen to the "defense" a guy who batters women offers. That he wouldn't have had to smack the bitch around if "she'd ONLY DONE WHAT SHE WAS TOLD." People stay in abusive relationships, with men, with women, with religions, with booze or drugs or any other crutch, because they're afraid. Afraid of the unknown. Afraid that the perp might be right, despite all logic and evidence to the contrary.

I do not believe in the divinity of Jesus. I do not believe that Mary was a virgin. I do not believe that Joseph was that stupid. I do not believe that the Pope is a God-chosen successor to the throne of Peter. I do not believe that he speaks infallably in matters of faith.

But I do believe that he's a lying sack of shit.

Happy Easter!