Here's a very small sample of what Glenn Beck said at his rally on Saturday.
"America is at a crossroads. We must decide: Who are we and what do we believe?"
What crossroads, Glenn? Are you and your uptighty-righties drawing a line in the sandbox? To draw that line is to lob a grenade in the infamous "Culture War." Aren't you tired of that yet?
It's not about "us" and "them." We're all Americans, and we are in this together, whether we like it or not. So instead of fear and alienation, how about a little acceptance and understanding. Does everyone different from you have to be a threat, Glenn?
We don't have to choose a side, Glenn. We live in a free country populated by people of all religions, races, music genres, cable news networks, and ethnicities. That's sort of the point of being in a free society. No one has to conform to someone else's idea of what constitutes "American."
So, Glenn, when you declare a Culture War on "them" and "those people," you're declaring war on "their" freedom and "their" Americanness. How unAmerican of you, Glenn.
I am an American, and I believe we each have the right to be who we are without fear of reprisals, and believe what we choose without fear of recrimination. Is that scary?
Heather,
ReplyDeleteYour points are clear. However, let us not forget the tactics employed by those like Beck are to maintain hegemony.
Or, as Audre Lorde reminded us years ago,
"The tools of the master will never dismantle the Master's house..."
Hmmm... so, let me see if I've got this straight. Pointing out that people have fundamentally different views about the direction our country should take on various issues is unAmerican fear-mongering. Well, given you're blog, you must be queen of the unAmerican fear-mongers :)
ReplyDeleteSeriously, this is the best you could do?
In America, you have the right to believe that people with, say, red hair are not fully human and should not have the same rights as others. You have the right to believe it, but is that what you would consider an "American" belief? I would consider it an unAmerican belief. If you tried to rally for laws to enact such beliefs, I'd oppose you as being unAmerican. Does that make ME unAmerican? Odd logic there if you think so.
There are those who see our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution, and all the discussion and debate that occurred when America was founded as the basis of our country and its governmental system. Trying to understand and apply those concepts of individual freedom and limited government to the real world is what I call Americanism. Ignoring the concepts and trying to pass laws that tend to violate those principles more than uphold them is what I call unAmerican.
I admit that within the bounds of Americanism there's a lot of room for debate concerning whether certain laws uphold those principles or not, but there are those who tend to totally ignore the principles or even suggest they are non-existent. Then there are those who flat-out disagree with basic aspects of the principles themselves.
It's like a big fuzzy line. It is fuzzy because of those who ignore the principles to some degree but want to uphold them in other areas. There are some who stay mainly on one side of the line as upholders of Americanism and some who stay mainly on the other side as detractors of Americanism. That's what I call the "us vs. them," but IMHO, the vast majority of people spend most of their time weaving back and forth in the gray area, never really thinking about the basis of the discussion and never wanting to commit to one side or the other. Personally, I'd like to see the fuzziness die out and have more people truly conscious of the principles involved, preferably choosing to uphold the principles of Americanism.
It may surprise you, but I don't think that will automatically make everyone a right-winger because, as I said, there is still room for debate concerning what laws must do to uphold Americanism. However, at least we would all agree on the underlying principles involved. That would bring us together not simply as people who are free citizens of America but as true-to-the-principles Americans.
-Jason
Anyone such as Glenn Beck who preaches a message of condemnation should rarely be heard, and even when his words fall on listening ears, those ears should be wary of any message he delivers, that it is a herald filled with venom and bile.
ReplyDeleteThe real problem with your hypothetical example that "people with…red hair are not fully human and should not have the same rights as others" is much closer to Glenn Beck's platform than that of the Left. The Left is not about judging a person by their physical traits, and never has been; that is a privilege embraced exclusively by the "Right".
What is truly odd about the nation's fascination with Glenn Beck is that the platform he promotes is one which seems poised to benefit the minority of conservative, fundamentalist Christians to the detriment of all others, including members of their own faith. Beck has no interest in equality, or "liberty and justice for all"; he is only interested in liberty and justice for those who think as he and his cronies do, that is to say, in a fundamentalist, conservative, prejudiced, bigoted, racist, cross-burning fashion.
You are speaking in vagueries when you mention "Ignoring the concepts and trying to pass laws that tend to violate those principles more than uphold them is what [you] call unAmerican", but this is typical for you. You are fully content to wrap yourself in the Constitution and ramble how our nation was never intended to embrace this or that value, but while there are those who might consider themselves the "keepers of the peace" by aligning themselves with what they perceive as the intent of the founding fathers, what we all need to remember as we discuss these issues is that what it means to be American is evolving. It is not static, to be an American; it is a wonderful, dynamic thing to realise that we are able to transcend the narrow views that some folk would presume to be the true intent of our nation's founders; a dynamic thing that we are able to move forward to embrace liberty and equality for every man, woman, and child who lives in this great nation, despite colour, creed, religion (or lack thereof), or any other trait which distinguishes us from any other person.
Let me ask you this, Jason: did the founding fathers intend for non-land-owning, citizens of colour to ever have freedom? Or the vote? How about the same for women? How about for those who marry "outside of their race" (an insulting epithet, if ever there were one)? These are sentiments which were not embraced by the precious documents which founded our nation; they were "amended" to the Constitution because our society EVOLVED. What Glenn Beck has been preaching all along is a message not to further these ends, because to do so would be counter-productive to his goals. He is a vicious, slandering beast who happens to wear a human skin. He would honestly like nothing better than to see all that our nation has accomplished over the past two hundred years be thrown out, so that "upstanding, forthright members of the community with a 'vested interest'" might come into their own again, and by "vested interest", I refer to property owners. Assume that he only considers Caucasian citizens to belong to this group, as his exclusionary tactics will eventually reveal.
What you REALLY need to come to terms with is the fact that YOU are preaching hatred against the minorities which inhabit this nation of ours, by regurgitating the caustic dogma spewed by this draconian miser. The only reason he continues to talk is because people are listening, and he is telling them what they want to hear, whether he himself believes it or not. He is a conniving, scamming politician without an office. I can only pray that our people are smart enough never to elect him to one.
*applause for David*
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