Tyranny Of Words
What is black and white and red all over? Remember that
riddle where the spoken word red sounds exactly like the past tense
of the verb read. In the spoken form it is a clever riddle. When it
is written and our mind is alert the trick is obvious.
I tell you I have a dog. That's nice but it doesn't
tell you much. If you care about dogs you will use your own experience
to think nice things. But as a meaningful communication the statement
is useless. Like asking: "How are you?" when you are simply greeting
someone, caring not one wit about how the individual really is.
So What's My Point?
If I want you to know about my dog, I say I have a 90 pound
German Shepherd with floppy ears that rise up like the bristles on his
back when a stranger comes to my door. That gives you a different perspective
against your standard poodle or Dachshund. The labels for common objects
have minimum difficulty in being understood. A few descriptive words gets
my point across pretty well.
But what about labels for clusters of things such as
"white race", "slaves", "lovers". These are abstractions of a higher
order and confusion in their use is widespread. There is no entity "white
race" outside our heads, only some millions of people with skins of
a dubious whiteness.
Think about labels for qualities such as freedom, capitalism,
truth. There are no hard references because they are not substantial
entities. By mistaking them as such we create a fantastic wonderland.
When we cannot find references we proceed to use another
dictionary abstraction, for example, defining "freedom" by "liberty."
We decide the words are absolutes but do we agree on their
meaning? Of course we don't because we never discuss the ideology
behind the abstraction.
The Word "Patriarchy"
As An Abstraction
My definition is ridiculously meaningless because I use
it in reference to the organization of our society in the United States
of America. But that is not the first definition given in the dictionary.
Those of us who have loving fathers do not find the patriarchal system
repugnant so for me to describe our present capitalistic and social system
as patriarchal is completely misleading. And my words will be an exercise
in futility.
A System Based On Competition
Do you believe you've been brainwashed to want to be the
"best" and compete to become the top in some chosen category? To compete
with the intention to be first, best, top dog, richest, prettiest, strongest,
is a form of war. Every step is fraught with desire and emotions. Somehow
we have come to believe that war in every form is inevitable, even proper,
especially heroic. Isn't that a lofty abstraction?
Where's The Beef?
Where does the propaganda come from? I've thought about
that long and hard. The fact I come up with in every search is religion.
And because all present mainstream religions pay allegiance and honor
to a male figure in one form or another, it is easy to label the whole
system of socialization as patriarchy. That's where reality gets lost
in the wrong words.
Power Of Words Understood
Some power-hungry Roman Emperor centuries ago (you can
research him yourself) seized on the Christian religion and made himself
Holy Church Father and some time later it was decreed: "There was
the Word, and the Word was made God and dwelt amongst us."
Greedy, self-hating, weak men (sorry fellows -- fellows
meaning everyone in the fellowship of Feminism-- but it was
men) found that well-placed lies about the nature of humanness made
for easy dominance over the masses, multitudes, that is.
All Because Of Original Sin
Who created original sin? Ask yourself what it is.
Did the first woman eat an apple? I'll bet our African Lucy couldn't
find an apple anywhere in Olduvai Gorge or on the Serengeti Plain.
Is original sin discovering that humans were born naked?
Ask any mother if giving birth isn't difficult enough pushing out a
slippery little creature. Let's not toughen the job by adding clothing
of cotton, wool, or synthetics.
Is original sin the discovery that the act of fornication
left an enjoyable afterglow for both people involved? Shame on Eve because
she discovered the pleasure of sex.
It was definitely established in the Old Testament
that the pleasure was only allowed to men and God (HE did some fornicating,
too, and immaculately, not with consent, hence rape was condoned and
not "condomed" a long time ago).
Guilt And Self-blame
While we're feeling guilty about our parents indulging
themselves in physical pleasures during the scary dark nights (sex to
create us, no less) we are further led to believe that God died for our
sins (elusive and nebulous as they may be). Obviously, that all adds up
to our total failure as individuals and look who comes to
the rescue! Some big strong bearded man in the sky, of course. This glorious
indefinable man (oh, excuse me, father), who doesn't actually come to
us, from nowhere. HE, will rescue us from our no-good worthless selves.
Isn't that big of HIM? Except HE doesn't do that either.
Inner Peace Comes
From Feeling Self-Worth
We receive peace and tranquility from the concept that
someone cares. Real consolation and solace come from inside each one of
us when we love ourselves and are able to love others. Somehow the reality
is perverted and we are made to believe we need outside magic.
Propaganda to keep us in submission is rich in deception.
The words are skillfully used to mean to us something different from
what the facts warrant. Priests and ministers teach us that we must
suffer. That's their answer to why did so-and-so suffer so horribly
before she died? Think about that. Did her suffering make for strength?
No. At least not strong enough to go on living.
Suffering teaches us how to
suffer, nothing else.
Suffering makes health and happiness impossible. People
are strong despite suffering, not because of it.
Living NOW Is Enough
Religions want us to buy into their idea of the reason
for living, that there is an external purpose for it, some lesson to be
learned, something to "win" (measuring, judging, comparing with someone
else) with success to be rewarded. And the religious reward is life after
death. Can you think of anything less likely? But with life being such
a struggle (that religions have created) why not
hope for an easy carefree life? Personally, I hope for a bright and shiny
space ship and will be equally successful in attaining it.
Religions have us look to the future while people in
power use the distraction to shift our real life around under the shells.
If we fail in our lives, it's our fault, not God's
surely. His plan is secret, his reasons his own. Why? Is it because
he has to be around to take the credit for the sudden rescues? The incredible
human acts of strength and fortitude during times people are struck
by violent "Acts of God" when nature's laws (which HE takes as HIS own)
erupt in floods or earthquakes. HE takes no responsibility for bombings
in Oklahoma or The Far East. That's human nature, the religious say.
Human Nature
Basic human nature abhors war; no one wants bombs to kill
people anywhere. We are brainwashed that we must be ready in case someone
bombs us. If one is attacked and cornered, one fights; the reaction is
a sound survival mechanism shared with other animals. But these days we
are preparing for the natural action after the conflict has been set in
motion by propaganda. The Central Intelligence Agency was established
during the last "great war to end all wars" to glean political information
from other countries. Was it really? It brought down several governments
struggling to free its citizens from poverty. We can't abolish the CIA
because then how would we subversively keep those struggling poor under
the tyranny of a church?
Women in other countries tell us how the US government
sides with the church against efforts to educate on matters of family
planning. We banned the sale of disastrous chemicals to Asia but our
chemical companies relocated to friendly countries with our tax dollars
and sell those same dangerous chemicals freely in the third world.
Human Survival
In other ways we accept propaganda for truth. We allow
selling weapons and nuclear materials to third world countries where we
know the faithful are whipped into fanaticism by their own bigots; sending
money and goods to get children in other countries out of poverty instead
of teaching family planning to our own people so their unwanted children
will not fall into poverty; establishing schools of terrorism in central
America where countries are encouraged to send their police for training
in the name of necessity. These kinds of things fly in the face of human
survival and do not reflect human nature at all.
Deliberate Language Misuse
Some say the condition came about because of an unconscious
misuse of our language. Indeed it is misuse. But not unconscious. Rather
it is religion that has perverted human-survival behavior. It is no
accidental failure in communication. It is deliberate
and provocative. And creates Jim Jones, Wako, and Oklahoma tragedies.
We need to insist on understanding the meaning of words and hang the
meanings up for scrutiny. Until we do there will be no peace on earth.
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