Volume Three, Chapter Eleven: Yes, America DOES Have a State Religion

On Tuesday,September 11, 2001, I was working, and people kept telling me about a bunch of plane crashes in like an hour. Well, when I went home for lunch, images of the two planes hitting the Twin Towers were all over the place. That night, Whitney Houston’s epic rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner” from Super Bowl XXV was all over the place.

On Sunday, September 16, 2001, EVERY church parking lot was full. To look at the evening news, every temple, synagogue, and mosque was, too. America had been attacked by Islamic jihadists, and folks just didn’t know what to do. And the question loomed: how could God allow this to happen to this nation? The 9/11 attacks dramatically changed the religious landscape of America, possibly even the world.

9/11 brought Islam to the forefront, and challenged Christianity. The subsequent War on Terror/Islam, prompted incredible debate all over the country. After a while, all three Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) were being scrutinized. But by 2007, Christianity and Islam were merely talking points. The next year, a professing United Church of Christ member with a Muslim upbringing became the President of the United States.

The election of Barack Hussein “The Long-Legged Mack Daddy” Obama established identity politics as the official U.S. religion.

And if you’re one of those who still has a strong reaction to his Presidential nickname, thank you for proving my point.

As I said back in 2012, religion allows you to do, say, and believe things you wouldn’t otherwise. Since that time, we’ve seen heroes and heathens come and go with breakneck speed. The bar to decide who’s who is incredibly low. A person can switch sides based on a few words. Identity politics have a lot in common with the other three formerly major religions in America.

Ideological Purity:  Jews, Christians, and Muslims are demanded to believe and do certain things. So are ethnic and sexual minorities. And to hear it from the plurality of tribes to choose from, you’d think they were all different. But the vegan could pass for a Seventh-Day Adventist. Not all Democrats celebrate abortion. And some of the most loyal conservatives are not old White males. Such abnormalities are considered heretics, but they can always redeem themselves… in a way.

Evangelism/Soul Winning: The whole point of a debate, especially online, is not just to say one won. It’s also to get others on their side. The thinking is that the more “converts” one has, the more prestige they’ll get when things fall in place… assuming they ever even do. Or, as they say in church, they’ll have more stars in their crown. The whole point is to hopefully endear one’s self to those in charge of their selected great and noble cause. That goes right along with…

Works Orientation:  As long as you publicly do certain things, you can pretty much live how you want. We’ve all seen the zealous Southern Baptist making sure everybody sees him praying. Then we find out he abuses some family member. The exhibitionist ice-bucket challenger or the guy who quotes some ideologue to promote their ministry cause is right next door to him ideologically. All of them ultimately do it to exhalt themselves and to secure…

“Everlasting Life”: Nobody likes to consider the fact that we’re all going to die one day. So we do what we can to avoid eternal torment and aim for eternal bliss. When you don’t believe in heaven or hell, just aim for “the right side of history” or “what’s best for the family”. The communion in hope of remembrance, the desperate need to be remembered as a pure and noble person, is binding. And blinding, as I’ll show next time in the conclusion of Volume Three.

Volume Three, Chapter Four: Stupid Sh*t You’re Supposed to Think Sounds Cool

As 2013 comes to a thankful end, I’d like to look back at five of the most popular, and equally absurd, sayings of the year. These sayings got a lot of use primarily after people ran out of ways to justify their own or their pop icons’ questionable activities. Rather than face accountability, thereby disrupting the fantasies, the accused/guilty came up with what they thought were witty responses. Giving them a second glance, they’re anything but. Some are old, others are variations of old ones, but none are new. And just for fun, I challenge anybody to use the top (or bottom, depending on how you see it) two absurdities in court.

Honorable Mention: “LEARN OUR LANGUAGE!”– Actor Alec Baldwin knew and used all the LGBT activist catchphrases in public (“EQUALITY!””BIGOTRY!”, etc.), and did the mandatory Sarah Palin cussing. He was a mainstream darling. As is often the case with such “allies”, he had a different vocabulary in private. That’s the easiest way to pimp political correctness addicts: use their language on the clock, then turn off Twitter and use your home words. What folks don’t hear can’t hurt them. Notice, Phil.

#5: “(S)HE’S A GREAT AMERICAN!”– The requirements for such a title are dirt low. All you really have to do is slam a political or religious figure, and somebody will call you that. Even if you’re a Canadian reading Dr. Seuss.

#4: “STOP CORPORATIONS!”– This is the mantra of many of those who started Black Friday shopping for XBox Ones at 4 a.m. They feed the beast, and wonder why it lives. They’re fueled by envy over a corporation’s money or influence (especially if “their corporate guy” loses something); guilt for working in, or benefiting from, a corporation (Occupiers); or when their Mass for Christ shopping financially catches up with them. 

#3: “EQUALITY!”– It’s a cute mantra for insecure people, but a mathematical impossibility. Joe and David may make the same salary, but Joe’s taller. Joe and David are thereby not equal. No law can make David taller (or more popular with people), either. The closest they’ll ever get to “equality” is if they both die and go to Colab.    

#2: “JUDGE NOT!/ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE ME!”– Try saying this in a courtroom. This is the late Tupac Shakur and needy f*cker anthem. The person saying this is usually trying to be provocative. The unwanted “judgement” is what they thought was going to be acclaim for their antics. Oh, and I challenge any “non-judgmental” person to grab the first homeless guy they see, take him home, and lay him.

#1: “THEY DO IT!”–  The person saying this can ultimately justify ANYTHING their pal does. All they need is somebody they don’t like doing it to justify their own participation. “So? White folks sell dope, too! I know pastors more sexually inappropriate than this guy! What about the Muslims?” (And yes, I’ve observed people going there.) Such a mentality lets anything go. And it usually does under such auspices. Only a hit dog would howl this to try to take the heat off themselves. Going by the lowest common denominator only works in math.

It’s sad that people aren’t more creative in covering their asses. This may sound odd, but it might just be easier to… well, stop doing it. Just a thought. Thank you for reading.

Volume Two, Chapter Eleven: MORE Senstitivity Issues

I though this was it for Volume Two, but the hits just keep on coming.

Last posting, it was all about Cultural Senstitivity Week. It began a news cycle centered around virtually every little niche of society airing their grievances with everybody else. Well, the beat goes on. White Hispanic George Zimmerman’s trial for killing Black teen Trayvon Martin is still drawing huge attention for some reason. The immigration reform battles in Washington are now full scale. In addition, the celebrity and scholastic realms have had some culturally insenstitive riptides, too.

The biggest meltdown is easily the trials and tribulations of Southern-fried Obamaite Paula Deen. Another white female recently sued her for racial discrimination. Soon, the press began to unveil years of Deen using culturally insenstitive language, the most recent occurrence being two years ago (the target of that particular “RACISM!” never sued, but now he probably will). Her teary, mascara-smeared apologies have brought her under the tutelage of identity politician par excellence, Reverend Jesse Jackson. Between the massive endorsement boycotts and departure from the Food Network, and Jesse’s toxic touch, Ms. Deen is now the entree.

Volatile actor Alec Baldwin recently called an antagonist male reporter a “queen”, which is  “HOMOPHOBIA!”  Conservative groups, among whom several are also gay, are demanding Baldwin be fired as a spokesman for credit card company Capital One. Their main beef is not the homophobic remarks themselves, but rather the blatant double standard of leftists, who crucify conservatives for anti-gay language. Little do they realize that an apology, a little spare change, and a collective hatred of conservatism heals all LGBTetc.  activist wounds inflicted by their fellow leftists. And nobody’s forgot how much cash they just raised and spent unsuccessfully fighting same-sex marriage while snubbing gay conservative groups. Such people are often their staunchest supporters, despite the vile flack they get from other gay people.

The Democratic Party is built on its multitude of victim groups. Afrocentric Blacks were the preeminent victims from the New Deal until 2008, when the Black community helped pass California’s Proposition 8, banning same-sex marriages. Since then, the LGBTetc. crowd has taken their victim status. On his and Tavis Smiley’s radio broadcast, Afrocentric professor Dr. Cornel West lamented the status loss. Despite LGBTetc. thought police GLAAD’s best attempts  to defuse the situation, Dr. West is actually repeating a refrain commonly heard in Afrocentric circles; he was just wise enough to temper his words to avoid GLAAD’s wrath.

Multitudes of subcultures only gather to fight a common enemy or exalt a common social deity, then revert right back to tribalism. Fundamentalists routinely dominate the conservative GayPatriot come time to rail against Democrats, and stick around to condemn same-sex marriage (If homosexuality is so wrong, you’d think they’d avoid a site called GayPatriot.) Blatant racists comfortably appear at gatherings for Black conservatives like those for Project 21. And because they’re seeking favor with even the lowest common denominator in a political party, they (as well as the Democrat subcultures) have to sit back and take all kinds of sh*t. The highest price of multiculturalism/identity politics of this type will always be your own dignity. 

Contrary to popular belief, most people are not like the MSNBC, Centric, or conservative talk show crowds, who are ultimately whores guided by political or cultural tribalism. Ask the Republican Party. Many White males, their most loyal voting bloc, refused to vote Republican on the 2012 Election Day rather than be associated with fools like GayPatriot’s token religionist, JMan1961. Ask the Afrocentric crowd, who have seen fellow Black people like Tommy Sotomayor and James David Manning become popular by ridiculing Afrocentrism’s guttural culture. Ask the LGBTetc. activist crowd how a guy like Kevin Dujan can openly take on the dubious antics of the “Great Society for Tolerance”.  And ask the Democratic Party if their inculcation is universal. According  to current multicultural doctrine, the Black Derrick “TMOT” Grayson and lesbian Lori Heine are default Democrats and “atheists”.  Instead, both are Christian Libertarians who tend to call out any problem on both far sides of the social spectrum.

In the 2012 Presidential election, 140M people voted. The total United States is 310M. In other words, not even half of the American population allows the political and cultural happenings to dictate their lives. If you’ve already got your mind made up to live a certain way, politics, especially identity politics, have virtually no effect on you. Blind adherence to a “great cause” has led to the rise of many dictators. With such behavior taking place in America,  it’s those who don’t unilaterally adhere to a political or social agenda that are the only wall between true freedom and Balkanization… or worse, apartheid.

Alright, that’s about enough of the whole senstitivity issue. Seeing as though I’m a Black, gay, moderate, Libertarian Deist, I don’t have all damned year to sort out my official niche. And that’s fine, since I tend to reason things out better as simply Douglas Wayne Tipton, anyhow. Next posting will ABSOLUTELY be the Volume Two finale. It’ll involve several guys called… Vince. But in closing, I’d like to bring back a 2012 op-ed found in, ironically, the New York Times, from one of the most universally insenstitive people of all time….