Austinist: Truesday: A Nation Of Self Loathing?

Jooley Ann

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 14:15:55 -0600

Someone please cite *any* time in human history when combining religious and secular leadership was a good idea. Has it ever worked very well...or at all? Hrm, okay, other than Mahatma Gandhi? The history of the Catholic church includes some pretty brutal examples of how very very bad things can get when religious + secular power gets out of control. There are *plenty* of modern day examples in other faiths. Why is it so hard for us to learn from this? And think about a few of the better-known, non-secular, purely religious leaders. Mother Teresa. The Dalai Lama. Admirable, impressive people, eh? Golly, even the big JC himself had no interest in politics. Point is, by and large it has been a Bad Idea for secular leadership to cozy up to religious power. Seems to me we're on a collision course with something dreadful, and we *ought* to know it.

adamr

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 11:48:09 -0600

"We keep it [jazz] on there [the jukebox] for profilin'." I too have family that resides in the nether-regions of this nation and every holiday season they bring their conical world view to the dinner table. The primary problem, in my mind is a piss-poor public school system. Teachers get paid poop. There is no uniform national curriculum and the content of textbooks is usually sacrificed for cost. Not to mention that the shared moral standards of places with large buying markets, um, I mean school districts often dictate what goes into our nation's craptacular textbooks. And as far as cultural exposure goes, a diorama on "Africa" in 6th grade just won't cut it. How about compulsory Spanish, French, or Chinese for the kiddies so they can compete in a global market economy? In short our priorities in this nation are fucked. It should be #1 Education #2 Food and Shelter #3 Universal Health Care and, maybe, #4 Nascar/Football.

truecraig

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 11:45:18 -0600

Is that the best you can do? I wrote if for my local neighborhood paper. The one that ends up getting rain-water soaked and disintegrating in the sun, in the gutter. Feel better about yourself yet? P.S. - whatever.

CBOT

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 11:31:21 -0600

Wow. Did you write that for your high school newspaper?