Is truth stranger than fiction, or has truth itself become fiction?
by Peter Johnson
Perhaps soon after the President delivered his speech commemorating and honoring those who launched a non-violent civil rights movement, which really favored no single race or religion, but rather all human beings, this is a good time to study a polarizing, biased and scathing article, which unfortunately, all to often, hits the nail on the head.
Certainly the following, “Open letter to the people who hate Obama, more than they love America,” is full of bias, stereotypes and many angry attempts to pigeonhole the objects of its ire. However, for the life of me, I cannot dismiss one accusation in this rant, that doesn’t contain some bit of truth when describing a number of people and politicians on the extreme right. There definitely are those who like war, as well as those who use their religion to self-righteously justify “enhanced” interrogation techniques—aka, Torture!
There are also many people who claim not to hate the sinner (in most cases the sinners are gays) but to hate the sin—even if that means categorically denying their sexual orientations, and their personal freedom to experience romantic love in the way they want—and then to declare that love publicly and officially as they freely marry their soul companions in front of their own peers! In other words, fundamentalists don’t hate gays; they just hate the things that make homosexuals feel fulfilled and emotionally happy! They are also willing to launch all sorts of faith based programs to torture gays back into passing for normal, and often making many of them resort to suicide because of the self-hatred they experience. Then, such religious fundamentalists justify inflicting psychological damage on others, by claiming that they have received unquestionable permission from GOD to carry the exclusive banner of morality and, normality!
To me this type of prejudice is just another way to throw stones in response to a prejudice as old as recorded history. Didn’t Jesus challenge those without sin, to be the first to cast stones? And while the Old Testament contain much condemnation of gays, how often did Jesus specifically criticize homosexuals?—Just beautifying the normalcy of straight relationships, does not mean he encouraged abusing those who are different, for being horrible sinners!
And how can any group scream about “taking back our America?” when obviously, almost by definition, democracy includes a diversity of races, ethnic backgrounds and religions who ALL own America!
There also appears to be many especially loud and rude, attacks on a President who desires to use government to secure health care for all, nutritious foods, jobs and education for ALL of us! These attacks go as far as considering such a concerned commander in chief who wants to help all American’s dream, and have an opportunity to better their lives, as being some sort of evil being! I honestly cannot see how those whose blind obstructionism and attempts at willfully twisting many Congressmen’s arms in order to control even the normal functions of government, qualifies these political bullies as being fit to call Obama, a socialist, a communist, and even a fascist?—as if Hitler could have given a rats ass, about the poor, the gay, or the rights of anyone who did not meet his standards for normalcy! What we need to do is objectively determine exactly whose behavior truly resembles strong arm tactics and reliance on vicious propaganda to manipulate the public—hint—he was NOT born in Kenya!
But I don’t want to go on longer than this article from the Daily Kos, which I am going to post. I know it is biased in many places, and contains more aggressive opinion than is normal for constructive political debate, but you judge for yourselves—isn’t there a great deal of truth in that these vitriolic rants really do typify many politicians and ordinary people who, just as aggressively, adhere to such extreme and outrageous garbage? Perhaps we all have an inner Limbaugh which needs to occasionally go on a serious rant—only Limbaugh’s are seldom based on real facts, and they are made much more often than only, occasionally!
Here is the article which I am referring to.
Peter Johnsons is a senior citizen who has become much more interested in what is happening in America and the world, than he was as a young man. He’s interested in poetry and expository writing, and has had letters to the editor published in Time magazine, Newsweek and Playboy magazine. He is concerned about ignorance and indifference that has been circulated concerning the significance of man made global warming and is dismayed by the way political lies and corruption are being used to influence the public (apparently free from any penalties or adequate culpability). He frequently writes letters of opinion to the editors of his local newspapers.