Religion.
It describes the creation of the universe, the creation of humankind, the creation of a moral creed.
But what it really describes is the creation of the ultimate nanny state -- a nanny state of mind.
With God the Father forgiving us everything if we only accept Him, thus eliciting a veritable Mount Sinai of last minute, death-bed conversions for the Almighty to sort through (which would even dwarf the glut of eleventh-hour tax crammers on April 14th), all the sanctimonious Ayn Rand-sucklings who decry Social Security, Medicare and any other attempt at helping those who cannot help themselves (Isaiah 25:4 "You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat...") or in any way regulate their perpetually prayed-for profits so that the poor suckers (or The Sucker Poor) who were lured into taking toxic loans may live in their homes just a little while longer or stay at their jobs (until those are outsourced to India) can go on profiting inside their narcissistic bubbles, secure in the knowledge that Big Daddy will absolve them of all their sins committed so religiously while here on the 6,000-year-old Earth, née Eden.
And there you have in a Nicene nutshell the fuck-you-we-got-ours gobbledygook that right wing corporate opportunists use as rationale for making money at the expense of morality, ethics, economy and sense.
The lack of responsible action emanating from the giants of industry and their symbiotic guardians of government is staggering, especially when one is confronted by their sense of patronizing entitlement. At congressional hearings last week on the the desperate oil situation in the Gulf, various CEO's smugged their way through testimony in ways that would have made David Addington seem positively sincere.
These are the same folks for whom regulatory restraint is akin to being clamped into a strait jacket, either in the form of self-governance or the kind imposed by vigilant institutions safeguarding the welfare of American citizens.
Like that gash at the sea floor vomiting oil, like the rent in that young Iranian innocent -- Neda -- lying at her father's knees, the life's blood flows from the mouth, the eyes, the heart. And it seems we are helpless to stop it; the hole in our humanity is just as wide and we can only watch it gush, as those who tore it open are assured forgiveness by a force they've endowed with greater responsibility than they themselves would ever care to possess.
What a coddling, spoiling God, having created a race of mewling children who sneer at the hired help and throw tantrums when there isn't enough candy heaped in their laps. It's a bad parent who delegates morality to brats.
Follow Steven Weber on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@TheStevenWeber
And it is even possible to have laugh about it, watch with some schadenfreude
about what is so nicely described in this article:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CqRcCHk_Pc
Just yesterday, I was shopping at my local Commissary (I should point out that I am retired from the Military, IN ARIZONA, and was shopping on my local Military Installation) when I spotted a truck, with the bumper sticker "Welcome to America" "Learn the DAMN Language". The truck carried an "Alabama" tag (not to imply anything about Alabama, but it is worth mentioning) and the owner was just coming out from shopping, so I asked him, "What language would that be?"
He replied (with the unmistakable drawl) "A-mur-ik-can!"
Naturally, I pointed out that "American" is not a language. That there is a sub-category of English, referred to as "American English", but that it is not a clearly defined language, and that may be the language he meant.
His response was classic. "I don't care what the f*ck you call it, $marta$$, it's the national language and if you can't speak it, you shouldn't be here." (This proclamation was delivered with flying spittle and all the mispronunciations you might imagine.)
I didn't know if I should point out that there is NO SUCH THING as a National Language here in America, or agree with him enthusiastically!
I will not go into my response to my fellow retiree (or his Korean wife), but I present this as a rebuttal to those who wish to castigate Mr. Weber.
Just because you can string together a series of simple words and make yourselves understood by your peers, doesn't mean you are actually "highly literate" in the English language. If you had difficulty understanding the words as written, perhaps investing in a Dictionary would help.
"Like that gash at the sea floor vomiting oil, like the rent in that young Iranian innocent -- Neda -- lying at her father's knees, the life's blood flows from the mouth, the eyes, the heart. And it seems we are helpless to stop it; the hole in our humanity is just as wide and we can only watch it gush, as those who tore it open are assured forgiveness by a force they've endowed with greater responsibility than they themselves would ever care to possess."
You make me proud of our profession. Thanks!
Ahem, I, as a tax payer, don't recall having any input in the first Wall Street/Bank bailout intitiated by the Bush administration in the Fall of 2008.
I also wasn't asked my "philosophy" as a tax payer, when the Obama Administrasion continued those Wall Street/Bank bailouts.
I, and many many others, were robbed of our life savings, at the point of a gun. Robbed by corporations and financial institutions subsidized by tax payer dollars. SUBSIDIZED BY TAX PAYER DOLLARS.
And now "bailed out" by tax payer dollars.
AT THE POINT OF A GUN, because I assure you, sir, unless threatened with a jail sentence, I'd never pay taxes again to support Wall Street and the criminal banks.
People? yes.
Ayn Rand and her "super humans? Let them eat cake.
Fanned
Ayn Rand’s philosophy also has nothing in it to preclude “helping those who cannot help themselves” as long as one is given the choice to consider the reasons for and against it and then do so or not. Social Security and Medicare force people to “help” others at the point of a gun.
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Absolutely brilliant and oh so practical.
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More than 40 million Americans-- about one in seven -- are now disabled, and that number is likely to increase significantly in the next 30 years as the population of baby boomers ages, since age itself is a major risk factor for disability, the panelists noted.
http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/05/21/hlsb0521.htm
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So Mark, having sought an infinite amount of Randian freedom, has declared that he personally will review each case of his 40 million plus fellow Americans who are living on disability and decide which of them he will personally support. Apparently Rand followers have a lot more free time than the rest of us.
My hat's off to you Mark. And thank you for declaring your willingness to selflessly take on this burden. You rock.
- Tom
But of course, I don't accept that morality. No one is his brother's keeper -- be there 40 million or 400 million people who need his help -- unless he chooses to be. And he should not choose it unless there are good reasons that he alone can identify.
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
trying to make his way home" - Joan Osborne
WE are the gods and devils (mostly devils, unfortunately). Everything else is just fate and the elements.
Many people do good work in the name of "God."
The question is, why can't they do this good work, simply because it's the right thing to do?
We used to know this. We used to care for one another as if our very existence depended on it, because it did in our ancient hunter/gather past.
Now it's every man/woman for themselves. "Get a job!" "Sorry 'bout cher luck, loser."
But you know what? Our very existence STILL depends on remembering our shared humanity. The Gulf oil spill shows how a handful of humans profiting from neglecting the environment to pocket a few extra bucks, puts the entire "tribe" at risk.
The Middle East is a cauldron of religious bigotry and ancient hatreds, that threatens all humanity. No "god" will release armageddon if it ever comes to pass. It will be men. Deluded, greedy egotistical men.
"God" will not bring famine to water-starved asia, as fossil fuel-induced climate change melts the glaciers feeding the sacred Ganges and Yellow Rivers. It will be man and his insatiable greed.
"What if God was one of us?"
There is nothing in human history, that shows God to have been anything else.
It is important for America to act like a country - after all, what is the point of having a country, if not to protect its people. Yet we see the ultra rich rail against social security, Medicare, health reform, taxes and anything else that might cause them to participate in the society and country that nurtures them, and makes it possible for them to screw the rest of us big-time!
This “rapist” style of capitalism that the rich want to practice must be mediated into a “compassionate” capitalism. It’s not wrong to want to make money, that’s what capitalism is about. But it doesn’t have to hurt Americans, this is just criminal laziness on the part of rich business owners and corporate leaders that don’t care about America or its citizens, and who sell us down the river at every opportunity for the sake of their outrageous profits at the certain expense of the rest of the country.
This “I got mine – screw you” mentality (as commented by Steven) must end. These people are destroying out great country from within, and they use ignoramuses like Sarah Palin and the Tea-partiers to do their dirty work for them.
And there you have in a Nicene nutshell the...gobbledygook that right wing corporate opportunists use as rationale for making money at the expense of morality, ethics, economy and sense.
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Even worse, there's a brand of morality called "prosperity theology" that propagates it. It's no accident that the list is long for those preaching it:
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In the history of the prosperity movement, Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, and Frederick K. C. Price were among the founding teachers. Currently, some of the notable proponents of prosperity theology are:
David Yonggi Cho
Kenneth Copeland
Creflo Dollar
Jesse Duplantis
Kenneth Hagin
Benny Hinn
Brian Houston
T. D. Jakes
Eddie Long
Joel Osteen
Peter Popoff
Joseph Prince
Brian Tamaki
Robert Tilton
Mike Velarde
Edir Macedo
Pat Robertson calls this theory the "Law of Reciprocity" on his show, The 700 Club.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosperity_theology
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Taking a leap of faith unilaterally disarms one's capacity to reason. For manipulative sociopaths, it's the sweet spot.
- Tom
Instead of God, however, let's point the finger at actual bad parents & children who can do no wrong.
We call this "Purple Ink"; these adults who, as school children, received not red ink corrections on their homework, but rather only purple ink positive comments, because nobody wanted anyone to fail.
It is self-esteem encouragement taken to the extreme, & it has created this wasteland of irresponsibility as pampered brats become adults attempting to function in the real world.
The first wave of Purple Inks appear to have been born in the 1950s. Perhaps we have Dr. Spock to blame for this permissive trend in child rearing, but this coddling was furthered by parents who themselves did not like being told "NO" by *their* parents. And so nobody is held accountable anymore.
Children not held accountable for their misdeeds by their parents become adults who have learned that it is better to beg forgiveness than to ask for permission.
Except, as in the case of the BP officials, any desire for forgiveness has been replaced by a hollow confidence that anything they do will be allowed & unquestioned.
Once again, coddling parents in government are not holding wrongdoers accountable for their misdeeds; sadly, these executive brats may just walk away with nothing worse than a slap on the hand & encouragement to try better next time. That, & they'll each get a trophy for just showing up...
Do they kiss their Mom's with those same lying lips?