I was reluctant to post this because her liberal bias sometimes disturbs me. But generally, I love the lady and read all her columns.
And she said this: "And you, Mr. Falwell, are a vicious bastard". Hard to say it any better! In this latest column she echos my sentiments (I happen to know he has probably the best speech writer in presidential history, but Damned if I can remember his name) He is the key to the whole program.
Read all her columns when you have time, Mars. Her delivery is a bit strident and sometimes harsher than necessary. But we all understand how emotion affects all of us. Great bumper sticker picture here!
thehappyheretic.com
September 21, 2001
Dear Mr. President:
I have been one of your most vocal critics. I detest the way you got into office and so on. I would have bet good money (and lost it) that you could not have pulled off what you did on September 20, 2001. Your address to the joint session of Congress was nothing short of phenomenal. I doubt you wrote much of it and I don't care. Your delivery was, to me, unbelievable. I've never been so awed by a presidential speech.
This is only my opinion of course, and no one can ever know but you, but I really believe that you were initially "playing" at being president when you first took office. Your words, your demeanor - they all bespoke insipid, vapid nothingness. You grew up in the lap of luxury, surrounded by expert handlers, and it was all a game. So it seems to me. Then September 11, 2001 happened.
I do not believe that you could have spoken as forcefully and as resolutely as you did without meaning every word. Like most of us, I think that when the WTC horror happened you literally got your own wake-up call. I am sorry to have to put it this way, but I didn't think you were up to the challenge that nightmare presented. What stuns me now is that I think you just might be. If your future actions are anything like your previous words, I have hope again.
I disagree of course with your constant "God bless America" in part because no one can agree on which God we're all talking about, and in part because if there really is a God he sure as hell hasn't been blessing America lately. That aside, we are the USA, the strongest nation on earth. And for once you acted like the leader of that nation. I was comforted by your speech and I am certain I am not alone in this. Politics has to be put aside now as we try to rid the world of its ugliest cancer - terrorism - prompted, sadly, by religion, but I don't want to talk about that now. Right now I just want to talk as an American.
I was scared to death and happy as could be, complicated emotions to combine, to see Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair in the same building as our American leaders. Never has solidarity with our allies been more important, and never have I heard a president throw down the gauntlet as loudly and harshly as you did. But for once I agree 100% with what you said and how you said it. There is no hope for peace in this world if we cannot root out the monsters who would see the world as we know it destroyed, and laugh while murdering. They must be done away with. As a pacifist these are not easy words for me to say. Yet say them I must.
Our foreign policies have not always been something to be proud of. But what descended on the USA is so monstrous that "policy" grievances pale into insignificance.
Bin Laden, This One's for You! (go to the link!)
Most of us have defining moments. Some of us have several. But for me, one of your harshest critics, this WTC abomination and now your reaction to it, will always be mine. My opinion of religion and the great harm it has and will do to humanity, has not changed. My opinion of you has. I wish you only well in your monumental battle against terrorism.
Sincerely,
Judith Hayes
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THE UN-HAPPY HERETIC
Judith Hayes
SEPTEMBER 11, 2001
"Tonight in Paradise!"
These screaming words have been heard from Muslims as they drive bomb-laden jeeps into shopping centers filled with people. They are fervently believed and obviously provide a fanatic with the motivation to kill himself. Allah is said to approve of such slaughters as long as the correct people are being killed, preferably Jews, but Americans will do. Religion kills.
This is one UN-happy heretic writing here. I think perhaps I was in fact born a skeptic; I am the only black sheep in my entire, extremely large, extended Lutheran family. Why, I'll never know. But something new happened to me on September 11, 2001. An anger was aroused in me that I did not know existed. I have always been critical of religions in general, and fundamentalist extremist religionists in particular. But I am now experiencing feelings I am not proud of.
As a humanist I am not supposed to wish for the death of any humans. Well, you be a humanist your way and I'll be one my way. Osama bin Laden could be shot in the forehead tomorrow and I won't lose a moment's sleep over it. Ugly words? Yes. And this has become a brutally ugly world. I have nothing but contempt for anyone who allows their religious beliefs to override common sense and compassion. I now realize this encompasses a whopping majority of my fellow humans, and this saddens me beyond belief.
I have often listed, rather dispassionately, a string of religious atrocities: The Crusades; the Inquisitions; The Thirty Years War; the Holocaust; The Massacre of the Huguenots; the witch trials; the Aztec barbarities; and of course the slaughters so gleefully described in the "holy" Bible itself. The Old Testament is drenched in human blood. And damned proud of it. After all, God was on their side. But I truly believe it wasn't until September 11, 2001, that those horrible, millions of deaths came into sharp focus for me. In every one of these outrages against humanity God was always on their side. No one would break bones or burn human flesh without God's blessing, would they? Often the warring parties claim to be worshipping the same God. No problem. They will claim there is no inconsistency here. Christian Catholics willingly killed (still do) Christian Protestants because they knew their interpretation of Holy Scripture was the only correct interpretation. So, killing is fine. God is on their side. Religion kills.
I'm fairly well-read in history, but reading is reading; seeing is another matter altogether. And I watched in horror with millions of others as the obscenity unfolded at the World Trade Center. That will forever after be my own defining moment.
There is no longer any place on this planet for any God of any kind. We can no longer afford the luxury (if indeed we ever could) of kowtowing to some pie-in-the-sky Great Father, who showers us either with blessings or bloodbaths, depending on his vicious temper tantrums. The harm Gods do on a personal level as well as the global level far, far outweighs any comfort people might derive from believing in an invisible spirit with supposed magical powers. We must finally grow up, all of us, and realize that we are the only ones who can help ourselves. The Gods we humans have created do not exist today and never did.
Why such vitriolic ranting? It may seem surprising, since I've been writing as an atheist for eight years, so why should anything be different now? Well, things are different and I'm struggling to put into words why they are. I think this is it: I hadn't been born yet when World War II raged and I was a baby during the Korean War, so Vietnam is my only (young) adult experience with war. What makes the World Trade Center and Pentagon atrocities so different is that the motives were purely religious. There were no political or geographical factors involved. Muslims hate Jews and Jews hate Muslims for religious reasons and none other. Religion kills.
What happened at the World Trade Center happened because of MUSLIM FUNDAMENTALIST RELIGIOUS BELIEFS and nothing other. This has nothing to do with politics except to the extent that politics and religion intertwine. From the viewpoint of the willing-to-die Muslims, and Palestinians everywhere, the event was glorious. Watching the victory dances, war whoops and cheering of the Palestinians, as news of the atrocity reached them, was disgusting beyond words. Even little children were jumping for joy. Abominable. All of it. Abominable.
Of course death during a JIHAD has nothing but positives attached for the Muslims involved. Look at it from their perspective. Hey, for a lot of these people life is little more than eating dirt, being thirsty and miserable and screwing the occasional goat now and then. Who wouldn't seek out something better? And what could be better than an instant admission to Paradise? Kill as many of those Goddamned American bastards as you can, in the name of Allah, and it's, "Paradise Tonight!" What a great scheme.
(We Americans are now the enemy because of our support of the nation of Israel. And the Israelis are hated because of…..guess?)
The mythical Muslim Paradise is a wonderful place, for males, and is akin to the mythical Christian Heaven in that they were both promised as instant rewards for soldiers during battle if the battle was religious. So if a Muslim dies while killing Jews or Americans he's in Paradise right then, just as Christian Crusaders were fast-tracked into Heaven if they were slaughtering Muslims. It doesn't matter if you happened to be sodomizing a four-year-old boy when you die, your eternal reward is still guaranteed. Religion kills.
Muslim Paradise is completely dominated by males, unlike some other Valhallas. How does this sound to you, women? Male Muslims in paradise will loll around on chaise lounges (not certain if they will have been purchased at Wal-Mart) while female virgins feed them grapes and spread their legs for non-stop raping episodes. Yes, after the initial rape, the virgins' hymens will grow back, there of course is never a menstrual period, and pregnancy is not possible. I am not making this up. No one has yet explained how this is supposed to be considered "paradise" to the rape-ees, but who gives a damn? In Islam women are a dime a dozen, although a tad more if you like them blonde.
THE PRESIDENCY
I am sorry that an ineffective George W. Bush is the head of the nation during this most awful chapter of history. After all I've said about him, and I meant every word, I nevertheless held my breath and worried for him as I watched him make his solitary walk from Marine One Helicopter across the lawn and into the White House on the day of the tragedy. His eyes never left the skyline, nor do I blame him for one moment.
But I was also expecting something more than a five-minute uninspired and uninspiring discourse on how America is still strong. Shocked to my very core, I very much needed to hear more. I needed and desired comfort and reassurance, even from him. He is the recognized leader of our nation, and I wanted a modicum of solace from his office. I did not get it, nor did anyone else as far as I know. It is of course possible there were security reasons for the brevity of his talk. I nevertheless was very disappointed.
Having said that, I do feel he is in a terrible position and will be challenged as few presidents have ever been challenged. I take great comfort from the knowledge that Colin Powell will have tremendous influence in the decision making process. I wish them all well.
Regarding a different presidency, many of us predicted long ago that hindsight would put the Clinton Impeachment fiasco into perspective. Well, how does it look today, hmmm? As we face a real crisis now, constitutional and otherwise, how important does consensual oral sex in the White House between two adults seem today? Perhaps the fundamentalist Christian government which brought about the whole farce should have been spending their time and our money seeking out Muslim terrorists instead of studying semen stains on a dress. Just a thought.
History will remember that hypocritical witch hunt for what it was, and we as a nation should be ashamed of ourselves for ever letting it happen. Our presidents should never again be hounded like Clinton was, and such spiteful politics only gives our real enemies more ammunition.
CHRIST NEVER NEARER (CNN)
At a little after 2 p.m. on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, on CNN Live, (heretofore one of my favorite news sources) Judy Woodruff made the following statement: "I think that even those out there who may not believe that there is a God at a time like this, we all reach out for a higher being and we want to believe that there is someone who can bring us salvation." This is an exact quote from CNN's transcripts.
Well, sorry, Judy, but speak for yourself, thank you very much! It's all that "reaching out" that has caused us all this grief to begin with. The only "salvation" available will be of the home-grown, human variety, and to talk about any other kind is one of the most unprofessional things I've ever heard. It would seem that Jesus Christ has invaded American newsgroups as well as the United States Government. Too bad he hasn't been taking care of business.
In general the media simply will not refer to this cataclysmic event as anything other than a run-of-the-mill war. War is war, according to them. But this is a HOLY WAR, A RELIGIOUS WAR - make no mistake about it. This is a religious event, not a political one, and all media sources are being patently disingenuous in not describing it as such.
KAMIKAZE? NO!
I am tired of the endless references to World War Two's Japanese kamikaze pilots. There is no comparison. Those pilots were soldiers in the last desperate struggles of a world war. The war itself was bloody and awful, but a soldier serving his country is not. While a belief in reincarnation would certainly have helped those young men carry out their gruesome missions, their motives were not religious. They were purely patriotic.
I am against war of any kind, but I cannot feel hatred for young men drafted into the service of their countries. The countries need to find a better way to act, but the soldiers are usually victims themselves in any war. Wars kill. And so do religions.
AMAZING GRACE
That well-worn phrase refers of course to God's grace. It is supposedly amazing. With that I would agree. If what we're seeing is grace, I am indeed amazed. Bagpipes only make it worse. Enough already. As I write this, there are prayer vigils taking place everywhere. People are being urged to go to whatever houses of worship they prefer, including Muslim mosques, and ask their various Gods for comfort and help and whatnot. This is beyond insane. First of course, if prayer worked the world would be a perfect place for human life. Can anyone even hint at that?
Second, the only reason I can see for a fanatical Muslim (another redundancy?) to pray is to say thanks for giving them such a beautifully bloody victory. Allah demands the death of all infidels, and there's no getting around that. Well, a bunch were killed on Tuesday, weren't they? Naturally God was on their side.
But Christians are just as foolish about this prayer stuff. Prayer has never made this world a loving place, so what's the purpose of it, other than to feel sanctimonious? Why don't these automatons ever ask that question and seek an answer? Their prayers obviously are meaningless or the world wouldn't be the way it is. We don't need prayers. What we need is a new way to conduct ourselves.
According to a September 14, 2001 New York Times story, here is Jerry Falwell's assessment of God's responses to our prayers for peace: He said he did not believe God "had anything to do with the tragedy," but that God had permitted it. "He lifted the curtain of protection," Mr. Falwell said, "and I believe that if America does not repent and return to a genuine faith [which one? Perhaps if we all became Muslims our troubles would be over!!] and dependence on him, we may expect more tragedies, unfortunately."
Let me get this straight. I did not have anything to do with watching my two-year-old child drown; I simply permitted it. I lifted the curtain of protection, but I am blameless. What the hell does that mean?! When people are forced into such double-talk, you know damn well they are skating on thin ice. And when it comes to explaining the purpose of prayer, it's a heat wave all the way.
Falwell blamed all secular humanists and especially the A.C.L.U., saying "The A.C.L.U.'s got to take a lot of blame for this." WHAT?! Wait a minute. I could have sworn those planes were flown by Muslims. This is the first I've heard that they were being piloted by lawyers from Harvard.
Falwell's rhetoric is as hateful and harmful as any maddened jihad warrior's. It is also so strikingly stupid you wonder how anyone can believe such tripe. In a transcript, distributed by the liberal organization People for the American Way, Mr. Falwell described the A.C.L.U. as "throwing God out successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools." Referring to the attacks, he said he would point a figurative finger at those "who have tried to secularize America" and say, "You helped this happen."
And you, Mr. Falwell, are a vicious bastard. Saying such heartless things about innocent people puts you on a par with the Ku Klux Klan. (Assuming you're not already a member.) It only drives home my whole point: religion brings out the very worst in people and it's time to face that fact.
FINALLY PROUD TO BE AN ATHEIST
I have received an enormous amount of mail and many of the messages have had the same curious theme: being proud, finally, of their atheism. I know what they mean. While I write what I write, and it's out there for the world to see, on a personal level I keep my atheism to myself as a general rule. If no one asks about it, I don't bring it up. If someone obviously assumes I'm a believer of some kind, but does not try to put words in my mouth or demand agreement on something I cannot agree with, the subject rarely comes up. I let many (small) things slide because I don't want to spend my life fighting about the stupidities of religious belief.
However, after this abhorrent, nauseating massacre, I feel different. Just today a close friend who knows perfectly well that I'm an atheist, mentioned how effective she felt Billy Graham's talk had been and that it should have been shown to all our schoolchildren since it was such an eloquent appeal for consolation and healing. I surprised myself actually by more or less jumping her case about it. I'm all for consolation and healing, but we don't need clergy in the classrooms.
And why is it, anyway, that so many people think we can't console each other without involving Gods? Has no one ever comforted a two-year-old child, or an adult who speaks a different language? Humans have an enormous capacity for love and compassion, and I have all the more respect for those of us who can show that compassion simply out of love for our fellow humans, with no fear of hell or bribes of heaven involved. Love is beautiful when it's freely given; it loses all meaning if it's coerced.
So I can identify with those of you who say you feel differently about your atheism now. The religious war currently taking place, and that's what it is, makes it much easier to say, "I'm glad I'm not part of any of you! Your religions breed nothing but intolerance and encourage violence." Amen.
___________
Like most Americans I have had a lifelong sense of personal safety on the mainland of the United States of America. I have always felt my country would keep me secure. I'm not certain if I will ever quite feel that way again or not. But of one thing I am 100% certain. Those terrorists bit off more than they can chew, and will end up gagging on the results. They underestimated the USA and will sorely live to regret it. Or die to regret it. It's all the same to me.
© 2001 Judith Hayes
SEPTEMBER 2001
What in God's Name Is Going On?
What in God's name is going on? Far too much. And things are only getting worse. The headlines shriek at those of us, all four or five of us now I guess, who still care about church/state separation. For those of you not familiar with the excellent publication, Church & State, published by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, let me introduce you. This group is the best watchdog I know of in keeping separation afloat. The ACLU is also a key player, but Americans United, AU, is concerned solely with separation issues. We should be grateful for them. And Pat Robertson hates them. Which alone recommends them.
Why does Robertson hate AU? Because they sicked the IRS on him. And about time. Making this group even more interesting is that its president is Barry W. Lynn, an ordained Christian minister. Fascinating, huh? But it just goes to show you that Christians can also have an appreciation of our precious freedoms - freedoms that are slowly eroding. This is very troubling.
When I first began writing for the cause of secular humanism, back in 1994, things looked pretty bad. The Religious Right was really flexing its muscles, pressing for all manner of separation violations. Now, seven years later, things are even worse. And I'll be damned if I can figure out why.
I almost cringe now when I see Church & State in my mailbox. A fairly recent issue is one long horror story. Not their fault, of course - they obviously didn't cause all these problems, but are simply reporting them and doing their level best to fight against them. Still, there is so much bad stuff to be reported! Example: in this one issue dated December 2000, there are stories about a congressional bill that would grant religious broadcasters carte blanche, literally, allowing them to maintain educational status without having to devote any airtime to education; a moment-of-silence bill being upheld in federal court in Virginia; those ubiquitous (like fleas) Ten Commandments being posted in a courthouse in Kentucky; the Christian Coalition 2000 Voter Guide, in blatant violation of tax-exempt IRS laws; Bishops, Archbishops and Cardinals sticking their Catholic noses into the George Dubya Bush campaign; a Virginia Supreme Court ruling that the state may issue $55 million in bonds to finance Pat Robertson's Regent University; the snowballing practice of "charitable choice" actions, meaning tax dollars can go to churches that provide "social" services; and yet another fatwa has been issued, this time in Pakistan, and it was against a professor who literally wrote the literally true history of Mohammed and his parents. And all this in just one issue! Makes you want to cry. Or fight.
What is going on here? What is this really all about? Are fundamentalists so insecure about their control over their flocks that they feel they must shove their brand of religion down our throats to validate their beliefs? What on earth do they stand to gain even if they had all their wishes granted? Consider:
Let's say every single public school in the country caved in finally, and classes all opened with Christian prayer. Aside from causing fights on the playground at recess or in cafeterias in high school, how do they benefit? I've read so much about what they're trying to do, but nothing about why they're doing it. Does anybody know? What is their motivation? Why are they doing this?
Initially I thought their full court press represented the death throes of a beleaguered, archaic belief system and by forcing it onto others it would somehow shore up an ancient, creaking, patriarchal institution whose time had plainly come and gone. But that doesn't seem to be the case. The Mormons are the fastest growing church in America. And the argument that they're just trying to honor their God doesn't work either. What the heck does algebra class have to do with honoring God? Is it a simple matter of power hunger? Wanting to exercise mind-control over the rest of us, we the unwashed (by Jesus' blood) masses? If so, to what end?
I'm actually surprised at myself that I hadn't thought this through more thoroughly before now. Still, in playing devil's (!) advocate, I can't come up with one damn reason for what is obviously a Big Time Power Play. Money doesn't seem to play any role either. They're already multi-billion dollar organizations.
The idea that they really want to "save souls" doesn't explain why they so desperately want to get into our public schools. Muttering a prayer with 25 squirming second-graders isn't going to save squat. And if "souls" were all they were interested in they can to that by TV, radio, brochure mailings, handing out pamphlets on street corners, and so on.
They are obviously determined to stop the teaching of evolution, but that definitely seems to be an incidental result of, not the cause of their furious endeavors. It's a desired end goal, but not the incentive. So, could it be sheer ego? "We're right, and you're wrong, and we're gonna prove it by taking over. Like Hitler did! Niener, niener." They already have more religious freedom than perhaps anyone has ever had in human history, yet they're clamoring for more. I really can't get a handle on it.
Equally curious is the motivation of the Jehovah's Witnesses. When they lean on your doorbell it really gives you pause. By their own doctrine there are precisely 144,000 berths, if you will, in heaven. So, since there are already almost 1 million JWs in America, why are they searching for more? Who will get the 144,000 prized spots? Will they fight for them in hand-to-hand combat? Baffling. I know all about the doctrine that the 144K winners will actually reign in Heaven with all the Heavenly Host, while all other "saved" JWs will merely stay here on a completley altered Earth, living wonderful but not heavenly lives. Jeez. I think I got that straight. Anyway, why push for so many more converts when so few will reap the real reward? It couldn't be money, could it? Naw. Not Christians.
In a conversation I had with a BBC-TV dramatist and book author, I asked her what she thought about what was going on over here. She said that neither she nor anyone else she knew in the UK or anywhere else in Europe pays much attention to religions. To most of them, churches are where you get married and buried and that's about it. And they think we're all nuts over here, and wonder what the hell's going on. I agree, and I wonder too. Consider the endless challenges about prayer in public schools.
You can pray in the dentist's chair, as I believe many people do. You can pray before, during and after taking an exam, whether in the doctor's office or in a schoolroom. You can pray through an entire football game, assuming you're not on the field and being expected to listen to the play calls in the huddle. You can pray while potting petunias. You can pray while herding water buffalo. You can pray while eating, drinking, roller-blading, skipping rope, feeding the dog, or cutting your toenails. The list is practically endless. So what is all this palaver about Christians being denied the right to pray in public schools? You don't need any official "moment of silence" to launch into a really good prayer. I used to do it myself. It's a cinch. As I said in my first book, the hollow claim that by not having that official moment of silence denies the right to pray is like saying that students are being denied the right to scratch an itch because there isn't an official "moment of scratching." Go ahead, scratch. Go ahead, pray.
The disingenuousness of that claim is so blatant I cannot understand how intelligent Christians can think anyone buys it. Moments of silence are just an attempt at getting school prayer in through the back door. The problem is, they're getting away with it! And my problem, at the moment, is trying to figure out why this is so damned important to them. I am literally at a loss and feeling foolish in having to say so.
And to you Christians trying so hard to force your religious beliefs on the rest of us, I say, Shakespeare in mind, "Pray, go! Go pray!" |
