The Aerie
Yeah, I been busy and such usual excuses. But also there's the fact that Karen's death anniversary came and went and I really wanted to post about it, but I found I really couldn't. Just didn't have the heart. Someday I'll post a proper eulogy, but for now it still hurts too much.
I did want to post this bit of nonsense. One of my problems as a writer, particularly an opinion writer, is that I usually need somebody or something off which to bounce in order to get up momentum and direction. Just opening up a browser and starting to type leaves me wandering in circles. On the other hand, some of my best writing therefore gets tossed into the swirl of comments someplace, never to be seen again.
So the junk after the jump was my post in response to an article in Psychology Today that asked why so-called Christians oppose the health insurance bill. I thought it was clear enough to be worth saving. If you're not interested in this political crap, then I suggest you not continue reading...
The opposition by self-identified Christians to a health care bill that supposedly conforms to Biblical calls to help the needy is motivated by authoritarianism, not Christianity: philosophy, not religion. The people who call themselves "conservatives" now are actually "authoritarians." They worship the false idol of power. Those whom they acknowledge as authorities - the Church, the military, and conservative rulers - are to obeyed without question.
These "conservatives" oppose "liberalism." This is nothing more than tribalism. The word "liberal" has no real or literate meaning in this sense, it's simply a substitute for "not of our tribe." Anyone who espouses any philosophy EXCEPT authoritarianism is a defacto liberal.
Liberals, in the authoritarian worldview, have no legitimate claim to any authority (which is of course the right of the authoritarians.) That's why we're seeing this incredible resistance to President Obama and to Democratic leadership... EVEN by some Democrats. Because those Democrats are, also, authoritarians, and they still see power as only legitimately held by other authoritarians - in this case Republicans (or, likely, themselves individually).
The worldview of the authoritarians is that authoritarians who hold power deserve that power, have earned it by some primitive pecking-order advancement to the top, and must be unquestioningly obeyed. That's why Fox News and Republicans in general can get away with spouting absolute nonsense, and self-contradictory ideas, and they lose no support. IOKIYAR, It's OKay If You're A Republican, is really IOKIYAA, It's OKay If You're An Authoritarian. This is a PHILOSOPHICAL difference of opinion with the rest of society, not a religious one.
The WORST thing for authoritarians is for power to be held by someone not of their tribe. In that case, any and all means are justifiable to purge the now-corrupted authority system and restore the normal order of authoritarian rule. And any undertakings by non-authoritarian rulers MUST be opposed. They are wrong on their face, they have no legitimacy, because they are not advanced by authoritarians.
So THAT'S why some Christians oppose health care reform. Because these Christians are authoritarians first. They worship the false idol of power, whether that's the local priest, the distant Pope, the Generals of the Military, or the President. All their leaders must all be authoritarians too in order to be legitimate. If an illegitimate, non-authoritarian ruler takes power, everything that person proposes must be resisted.
And in this worldview, even Jesus (who is for them disturbingly non-authoritarian unless he is portrayed as wielding a sword to cut down the wicked) can be ignored as long as the authoritarian word of the Old Testament God can be squeezed from the Bible to justify the other position. Hence the very particular, creative Biblical interpretations that we often see presented to rationalize what on their face are non-Christian behaviors and beliefs.
Feed the poor? As long as one of their authoritarian leaders command it, they'll do it - otherwise the commandment means NOTHING. The crowd that called upon Pontius Pilate to order the crucifixion were authoritarians, as was Pilate himself. Even the wag who nailed "Here is the King of the Jews" over Jesus' head was framing his joke in an authoritarian context.
Unfortunately for authoritarians, contemporary culture is moving away from authoritarian command-and-control culture and towards a more distributed and egalitarian philosophy. Elections will more and more frequently go to non-authoritarian figures, and authoritarians will more and more frequently feel like a minority. Unfortunately for America, authoritarians only subscribe to democracy when they win. That's why the popular meme lately among the authoritarians is "America is a REPUBLIC, not a DEMOCRACY*" They're attacking the legitimacy of majority rule in America, the legitimacy of democracy, because they sense they're becoming a minority.
While it is under the control of non-authoritarians, America's democracy, politics and infrastructure are considered and treated like enemy territory, and authoritarians may rationalize using any and all means for resisting illegitimate authority. And that's what the rest of us need to worry about.
*When looking for a good example link of "Republican Vs. Democracy" I noted the domain name and just HAD to link there. It's like a Bizarro-Superman version of my website...
Fixed bad link, thanks Ben.
I have managed to get through a full day of work with no complaints. Life is good. The &@!*& I was freaking out over last week? No longer there! First thing I checked when I opened up Outlook. Gone, gone gone gone. *whew* Now if I get canned, it's all my own fault!
My boss? Great. Coworker? Patiently showing me exactly what I need to do. Great! I've managed to go a whole day and actually like my job. Yay!
So, okay, we've got a snapshot of Day 1 at work, as I happily stroll from desk to conference room with a cartoon bluebird on my shoulder and bunnies scurrying around my feet. Let's come back to this scene in a year and see how that all turned out...
By the way, the writing weekend at the cabin went well, pictures are here.