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wordplayThis morning I feel ranty. Um, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
muffinbutt, is this what you meant when you said I had opinions and wasn't afraid to share them?
I woke up this morning kind of pissed off. I watched the new Sorkin show last night and was delighted to see the familiar white titles and the nicely-written-rantiness back - that was nice. What was NOT nice is the woe-for-the-poor-700-club-population undercurrent there that I dear god hope-hope-hope will not become standard. If my partner'd had a nicey-nice visit with those people, I'd have thrown her over, too. Can we please remember that these were the kind, loving folks who blamed 9/11 on me and mine? Christ almighty, if nothing else, I'd have hoped that the last five years (hell, the last WEEK) would have taught us something about the destructive power of religion. I know a lot of you don't quite grok what I mean when I describe myself as a gentle atheist - it mostly means that I'm quite comfortable with people believing whatever it is they need to believe to get them through life and god knows I wouldn't mind a little faith myself now and then. But the last few years have done nothing to convince me that religion is a net positive for the world and I am sick to death of the assumption that the destructive power that religion can bring to the world is the sole province of fundamentalist Muslims. I am surrounded by the idea that Christian==moral and all the inferences that follow and please don't let us have a smart television show actually trying to assert all of that, even if it IS a debated issue. Frankly, I think it gives the position a credibility that it doesn't deserve.
So that was that, and then I read this (thanks tovertigo66 for that link) and listened to this story about the findings of the Arar Commission and, my god, Americans - is this who we are now?
Wow, I feel better. And look at that piratey eyepatch - how cute is that? I'm a humanist at heart and I have so much hope for us as a species and I even still believe in the power of America to do good in the world. Right now, though, I'm disgusted and I'm angry. And I have no idea what to do about it.
muffinbutt, is this what you meant when you said I had opinions and wasn't afraid to share them?I woke up this morning kind of pissed off. I watched the new Sorkin show last night and was delighted to see the familiar white titles and the nicely-written-rantiness back - that was nice. What was NOT nice is the woe-for-the-poor-700-club-population undercurrent there that I dear god hope-hope-hope will not become standard. If my partner'd had a nicey-nice visit with those people, I'd have thrown her over, too. Can we please remember that these were the kind, loving folks who blamed 9/11 on me and mine? Christ almighty, if nothing else, I'd have hoped that the last five years (hell, the last WEEK) would have taught us something about the destructive power of religion. I know a lot of you don't quite grok what I mean when I describe myself as a gentle atheist - it mostly means that I'm quite comfortable with people believing whatever it is they need to believe to get them through life and god knows I wouldn't mind a little faith myself now and then. But the last few years have done nothing to convince me that religion is a net positive for the world and I am sick to death of the assumption that the destructive power that religion can bring to the world is the sole province of fundamentalist Muslims. I am surrounded by the idea that Christian==moral and all the inferences that follow and please don't let us have a smart television show actually trying to assert all of that, even if it IS a debated issue. Frankly, I think it gives the position a credibility that it doesn't deserve.
So that was that, and then I read this (thanks to
vertigo66 for that link) and listened to this story about the findings of the Arar Commission and, my god, Americans - is this who we are now? Wow, I feel better. And look at that piratey eyepatch - how cute is that? I'm a humanist at heart and I have so much hope for us as a species and I even still believe in the power of America to do good in the world. Right now, though, I'm disgusted and I'm angry. And I have no idea what to do about it.
