That's the blogswarm that I almost forgot to join. Sorry -- it's been a busy few days, given that I require at least one blow-off day a week, and then there was being a Real Editor for GMR -- oh, and do go look at the current issue and admire how beautiful and error-free it is (thank you, thank you, it's nothing, really), particularly this review of Robert Charles Wilson's Julian Comstock.
Wilson's story is a Bildungsroman in the classic mode, the story of one destined for greatness, told through the eyes of a friend and companion. What's chilling is the context of this adventure, a not-so-far-fetched extrapolation of the now (or the very recent was): a presidency that is all but hereditary in a country literally owned by a few wealthy families, all under the aegis of the Dominion of Jesus Christ on Earth, which decides which religions -- read that as "which forms of Christianity" -- are "real" religions.
I reviewed the first part of this book a couple of years ago, when it was published as a novella under the title Julian. Even at that point, the dimensions of the story were pretty much set, particularly the milieu.
What's so chilling about it is that it's not so far from where we are, and that there are those who are actively working to get us there. You all have your favorite candidates, but I'd be willing to wager that they all share a few core "values": gays are not really human; women exist to have babies, whether they want to or not; and life is sacred until birth.
I'm not talking about those Americans who are truly religious and who honestly believe in the American system -- that is, the American system as it was designed by the Founders and as is has functioned for the past two hundred plus years. We are, in spite of what you may hear from the Christianist right wing, a secular nation. Don't bother trading quotes with these goons -- just point to the Constitution, in which there is no mention of a god of any sort, or the Declaration of Independence, in which the only possible deity is a "Creator," which can be anything from Jehovah to lightning striking the primordial soup. But be warned -- they're not interested in facts.
What's apparent in Wilson's construct is the way it is assumed, much as the would-be theocrats not only assume certain things, but con us into doing the same: "religion" means "Christianity," of their own preferred flavor, for example. (I had quite an astonishing exchange in a discussion group with a hard-core evanglical who didn't consider the Pope to be Christian. Needless to say, he had his own definition of Christianity, which he had apparently gotten from some sermon and never bothered to think about at all.) And those who do not favor that particular brand are, by definition, "non-believers" and necessarily lacking in any moral foundation. (I'm a devout Pagan, and will be happy to hold my moral foundation up against that of any Catholic bishop or Republican senator -- or for that matter, any spokesman for any group that has the words "American," "Family," "Traditional," or "Values" in its name -- any day.)
This is, of course,the basic tactic of the right in general, and I'm not fool enough to think that all of the "conservative" bloc (as that term is understood today) subscribe to the goals of the religious/social issue nuts -- they are useful tools, in the eyes of the corporate shills and the "bomb, bomb, bomb" crowd, but enough of their program has entered the public discourse, and the law books, to make the alliance unholy, at best.
And they are trying desperately to take over the country under the guise of "taking it back," when it never belonged to them any more than anyone else to begin with. And the problem is, they might just succeed: the politicians and press are terrified of them, and the Christianists are used to having their way -- although it's never enough.
So, if you want a scary look at where we're headed unless the Christianist snake-oil salesmen (and make no mistake: the public face of this movement is composed almost completely of opportunistic liars -- just do a fact-check on anything any one of them says), read Julian Comstock.
(I learned a new trick: just click on the title to this post and it will take you to the "Blog Against Theocracy" site.)
4 comments:
We teeter constantly on the brink, don't we?
Thanks for this post, and another thanks for the link to Green Man Review which has heretofor inexplicably escaped my notice. I'll be bakc to explore when I've a bit more time, the look is of a deep wood from which, once entered, I will have a difficult time finding my way out.
Great post all around. But thank you in particular for introducing me to Julian Comstock (ordering that when I get paid!) and to the Green Man Review. I'm always looking for new Pagan sites and magazines, and the novel sounds absolutely brilliant, if unfortunately relevant.
Interesting stuff.
"religion" means "Christianity," of their own preferred flavor, for example.
This one drives me up the wall. If they lived in a Muslim nation, they wouldn't be clamoring for theocracy, and they're not asking for equal time in school to teach, say, ancient Japanese creation myths. The theocrats are a narcissistic bunch, who tend to divide everyone into Us and Them, and don't seek freedom (which they already have) – they seek power over others.
Hmm -- catching up with you all, and thanks for commenting -- hope you'll come back to visit again.
Graham -- Indeed,GMR can be addictive. Please feel free to visit whenever you like. (And we are always looking for reviewers.)
Lilo -- it's not, strictly speaking, a Pagan site, although several of us are Witchfolk of various traditions. It's really about music and books (mostly fantasy, sf, and horror, but other stuff as well) and the occasional film.
Batocchio -- you're right: when you have a handle on the Only Road to Truth, you wind up kind of warped. Or maybe it's that you start off warped and the arrogance is a result of that.
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