Nothing More Than Feelings

A few days ago the Texas Board of Education held a meeting for public comment on the standards for several areas of the school curriculum.  While I was able to testify in regards to the Science standards and Climate Change, due to my own mistake, I went to the wrong Zoom meeting room to testify for the Health Standards.  This is one mistake that I greatly regret, as I was going to talk about the need to add LGBTQ Inclusion into the curriculum.  

While missing my chance to provide my testimony, I listened to others’ testimony.  While many were good and well thought out, and often emotional personal testimony, others’, while often emotional also showed disturbing amounts of ignorance and even hatred, sometimes disguised as being reasonable objections.  Occasionally there would be back and forth between some of the Board members and those providing testimony, and there were times during this when I really wished I could have jumped in and responded. 

One of those times was when someone dismissed all of the LGBTQ community as being based only on feelings, not on facts.  In other words, a person’s gender identity and sexual orientation and expression were only airy nothings, and so were not real and should not be taught.    

While I am not going to address this here, I would note that, while still in its infancy, there are studies indicating that there are differences within the brain of those who are LGBTQ and those who are CIS and straight.  But, as I said, I am not going to go there for this blog.  Instead, I am going to address the claim that the actions of those who are gay, who are trans, who are nonbinary, who are Bi and all the other categories of sexual identity and expression are based upon nothing more than feelings.  Only feelings

Let me state that the person objecting to the inclusion of LGBTQ people because their actions were based on feelings is absolutely correct.  They are based on feelings.  However, where he and others who think similarly are wrong is believing that this is nothing.  Instead of being nothing, feelings are the most powerful and common driver of human actions. 

Let me ask, do you love someone?  A spouse, children, parents, siblings, friends?  Would you go above and way beyond for those you love?  Work three jobs to support them, listen to them and provide comfort, give of your time to be with them even when worn out and tired?  Would you be willing to kill or die to protect them? 

I imagine I know how most would respond.  I know how I would respond.  And yet, love is nothing more than a feeling, an insubstantial wisp.  Yet it is a wisp that causes people to try to move mountains, and to even succeed at times. 

To say that those who are LGBTQ are acting only on feelings is to say that they are acting on the strongest and most human of motivations.  It is not an argument against inclusion and denial, but, rather, an argument for inclusion and acceptance. 

Addendum

Because I was so frustrated and mad at myself at missing my chance to testify before the Texas State Board of Education, I am going to assuage that frustration slightly by providing a short edited bit of what would have been my testimony, which also provides information on the personal reason why this issue is important to me.

“My wife and I are straight and cis, as is one of my daughters. However, my other daughter is Bi. Which, turned out to be a very good thing because her partner, who she thought was a man, one that she fell in love with and married, discovered after several years of dissatisfaction, that she was trans. Her gender identity was female and not male. 

Unlike many other couples though, my daughter accepted her now wife. She realized, as her wife said, that her wife’s experience was a clarifying one, not a transformative one. That the person my daughter married was still the same good person.  Unfortunately though, many see those with different gender identities and expressions as being dangerously different – worthy of being bullied, shunned, and denied their rights to even exist. 

Growing up and discovering your sexual identity and expression, and what it means is difficult enough for those with the more traditional cis identity. For those of other identities, it can become a nightmare, one leading to depression, anxiety, being bullied, and even death. Any child, any person, who is excluded and made to feel inferior, or worse, a perverse mistake, is not only harming that child and person, but our society.

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The Longest War of the United States

Since the United States was created in 1776 it has been at war. I am not referring to the many short wars that have punctuated its existence: the war of 1812, the Civil War, WW 1 & 2, Vietnam, and all the other named wars. Instead, the war I am referring to has been one long continuous war, one whose existence was foreshadowed by the ideals that created the Revolutionary War and were then given form in the Declaration of Independence. This foreshadowed war flamed into existence by the creation, ratification, and implementation of our flawed Constitution.

The ideals? Ones that most people already know, at least by word.

• All men are created equal.
• All men have the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
• That the power of government derive their powers from the consent of the governed.

The ideals expressed within our Declaration were given flesh and substance by our Constitution.  As is usual when ideals are translated into reality, a great deal was lost in translation.  Not all men were treated equal, even under the law. In fact, inequality of the most brutal kind was actually protected by the Constitution.  And, despite Abigail Adam’s words to her husband to not forget the women, women were forgotten.

The war I am referring to is the one to close the gap between the ideals and the reality of our Constitution, our government, and our society.  The two sides are those who believe that the gap between ideal and reality should be closed, and those who are fighting for the status quo, for the way things are, for a world of gaps. It is one that we are still very much engaged in and, indeed, are in the middle of a reversal, something I will discuss more later on in this blog.

Like all wars, there have been successful battles and lost ones, advances followed by reversals.  It seems that human society acts much like Newton’s universe, for every action an equal and opposite reaction.

In regards to slavery, some of the advances include the founding of the world’s first abolition society in Pennsylvania in 1775,  the Gradual Emancipation Act passed in Pennsylvania in 1780,  the passage of the Northwest Ordinance in 1787, the creation in Philadelphia of the first independent black organization/mutual aid society, the joining of several state and regional antislavery societies into a national organization in 1794, the first independent black churches in 1794, the passage of the federal Slave Trade Act of 1794, several attempts by both blacks and whites to organize a slave insurrection, Congress outlawing participation in the African Slave Trade in 1808, the creation of the Underground Railroad, and much more.

But, there were reversals and defeats too, starting with the creation of the Constitution which allowed the institution of slavery to continue and flourish, enshrining the idea that not all men are equal.  Other reversals include such things as the 1793 passage of the fugitive slave law, the passage in several slave states of laws that made organizations and speech promoting abolition illegal and punishable by expulsion or prison, anti-black and anti-abolitionist violence against blacks and abolitionists in free states such as Pennsylvania,  the taking away the right to vote from blacks in the revised Pennsylvania state Constitution in 1838, the Compromise of 1850, the repeal in 1852 of the Missouri Compromise, the Dred Scott decision, and others.

As most know, this battle on this front resulted in the Civil War and ended in bloody victory with the passage of the 13^th Amendment abolishing slavery, the passage of the first Civil Rights Act in 1876, the passage of the 14^th amendment granting blacks citizenship and the passage of the 15^th amendment granting black men the right to vote,

The problem with all such victories is that they are never complete and become the impetus of an opposite and, at times, equal reactions.  In this case, the reactions were the creation of the KKK, the numerous Jim Crow laws, the lack of protections for blacks across the country as well as the lack of help for those who were freed from slavery with no possessions, no money, and limited opportunities, the separate but equal ruling and much more.  This front of the war continued on, with the side of regression holding the upper hand for the most part, through both laws and terror, for almost 100 years. And, although great strides were taken with the Civil Rights movement of the 50s, 60s and 70s and the Civil Rights laws passed then, victory has still not been achieved.  The nature of the battle and the front has changed, but the battle to view and treat blacks equally as whites is still on-going.  In fact, it is an ironic truth that the very success of the Civil Rights movement has led to a new tactic by those against full equality – the belief that victory has been achieved and nothing further need be done.

This war though has several fronts, two old and one new.  The other older front is the battle for women’s rights. As with the battle for racial justice and equality, it too had its victories and defeats, its advances and retreats. In fact,  in the beginning there was a tight alliance between those organizations promoting the rights of women to vote and the anti-abolition movement, with women and men often active in both.  Both Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth were two such individuals.  However, the split between the two occurred early, when in 1840 the American Anti-Slavery Society split over the issue of public involvement of women, with one group against having women involved and saying they should have no formal role.  And, after passage of the 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th amendments, the abolitionist societies disbanded and their members no longer actively supported the women’s suffrage movement.   The women were on their own.

Many today do not realize how hard fought that battle was. It officially started in 1848 with the Seneca Falls women’s rights convention.  For the next 100 years these women tried to educate the public of the need for women to have the vote. Petitions were created and given and Congress was lobbied for the passage of a Constitutional Amendment; most of which were largely ignored. After all, why should these male politicians pay attention?  Women couldn’t vote, and their place was in the bedroom creating a baby, and in the kitchen feeding the children and her husband.  Some women tried to vote, or even run for office, in the hopes of forcing a Supreme Court ruling. They successfully forced a Supreme Court ruling in 1872. However, the court ruled against them.

Around the turn of the 20^th century, more active measures were taken – mass protest and demonstrations, with a great many women being arrested and jailed.  And, when those women then went on hunger strikes, they were force fed.  Eventually, they succeeded in getting the vote with the passage of the 19^th amendment in 1920.  However, just as gaining the right to vote was not the end of the war for blacks, so too gaining the right to vote did not end the war for women.  Having the vote was not the same as being equal, and just as with blacks, women were still considered inferior.

Laws and standards and mores existed which served to enforce women’s inferior status.  They could not go into certain jobs and what jobs they could get paid less than men’s.  Even doing the same work, women were paid less than men. Women were considered the ward of their husband or other male relative and usually could not enter into financial agreements by themselves.  Husbands were allowed and often expected to beat their wives if they got out of hand (think of the many movies in the 1950s and 1960s in which the women were spanked with the message she deserved it, or the commercials of that same time).   College was a rarity and taking science and engineering and other such masculine courses discouraged.  Women, like blacks, learned that being able to vote did not make them equals in the eyes of government or whites or men. Further, sexual harassment as well as rape was usually considered the fault of the woman.  And thus was created the Feminist movement.

Recently, there has been a third front on the war to live up to the ideals of our founding.  This one is attacking the restriction of the rights of those who do not follow the norms established for heterosexual desire, identity, and attraction, the LGBTQ.  Although the conflict and laws and debates have been around for millennia, in the US the push for equal rights for the LGBTQ could be said  to have started in 1924 with the founding of the Society for Human Rights, the first gay rights organization.  In 1950 another gay rights group, the Mattachine Society was formed.   In 1955 the first lesbian rights organization in the US was formed, the Daughters of Bilitis.

Laws against homosexuality have existed since its founding in the US. However, as gays started speaking out more and worked to gain societal acceptance new laws and actions were taken in reaction.  In 1952 the American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic manual listed homosexuality as a “sociopathic personality disturbance”.  In 1953 President Eisenhower signed an executive order banning homosexuals from working in the federal government. However, in 1969 the one event that most people have heard of in regards to gay rights, the police raid of Stonewall Inn in New York City  launched the gay civil rights movement in the US.

After years of strife – Matthew Shephard, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, California’s Proposition 8 – a series of important victories in this war occurred. In 2003 the Supreme Court struck down homosexual conduct law, in 2004 the first legal same sex marriage in the US took place in Massachusetts, in 2013 the Supreme Court ruled that legally married same sex couples are entitled to federal benefits, and in 2015 the Supreme Court ruled that states cannot ban same  sex marriage.

However, as with women and blacks, this was not the same as being considered and treated equally.  In fact, this was still in the process of being worked out amid much opposition before being derailed in 2016.  And the work to just protect the lives of transsexuals, never mind protect their rights, was just beginning before 2016.

The year 2016, the year that the forces of the status quo, of inequality, of regression struck back. And did so supporting a most unlikely champion – a man of limited intellect and ability, rich and spoiled, abrasive and abusive.  A man of towering inflated ego. trump.  At first glance trump seems an unlikely champion for a group that wants a return to “traditional values”, since he has never exhibited any such thing in his personal life, nor has he demonstrated any commitment to a belief outside of pure self-interest.  However, he knows how to condemn and demean, to attack and push and tear down.  He knows how to harness the emotions of anger and fear. He knows how to destroy.  The fact that trump has no idea how to build matters not, because those supporting him do not want something built, they want something destroyed.

From eight years of a black president, of significant gains in regards to LGBTQ rights, continuing gains in regards to minorities and women, we are now going backwards.

I started this by stating that this war has been about making this country meet the ideals of its founding. However, I freely admit that many, probably most, and possibly all, of the founders and creators of the Constitution and the US would be horrified at where this push to live up to the ideals they espoused has led. Many would be against women voting, against blacks being equal, and feel disgust at the thoughts of LGBTQ equality.  However, they are the product of their times, no matter how great and visionary.  And they were visionary, visionary beyond their ability to accept. Although I do think some might have accepted all of this, whether they would have or not though doesn’t really matter.  The ideal of equality for all humans has an existence separate from them.  One that it is up to us to continue to form and create.

After such a long war, and after having made such significant gains, it is no wonder many of us are fatigued and stressed, seeing hard won victories for our fellow citizens and humanity in general being torn down and destroyed; seeing the pain and the suffering engendered by this reversal.   However, I agree with Martin Luther King Jr. that “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

I agree because of what I see in history, both of the world and of the United States. Even with the reverses since 2016, we are still further towards the realization of our nation’s ideals than we were during its founding, than at the dawning of the 20^th century, and even than during the turn of the 21^st century.  I also realize from history that progress is most often three steps forward and two steps back, each step labored and often bloody.  Although frustrating and depressing at times, there is some comfort to have that we are doing better than the universe with our reaction being slightly less.

A final thing I know. Just because I see this in our history does not mean that there is some mechanism that will ensure this journey will continue onward, that we will not fall back and back and back and not move forward again.  Whether it does or not depends on us, on our individual actions.  I know that many are tired, I know that I am tired of what I see going on, that there are times I have to take some time to turn away from what is happening or else despair. For so many to support this man, and these actions….  I had thought us at least slightly better than this.

At the same time, I know that I also have to come back and move forward to change things, to help us take those three steps forwards before the next two steps back are upon us. All  in all, a good New Year’s resolution.

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The Bones of Scoundrel’s Refuges

A competent scoundrel will always build their last refuge upon something that has a bit of solidity, a bit of reality, a bit of importance. Upon something that has great emotional resonance. It is why patriotism is so often used. However, patriotism is not the only last refuge used by scoundrels.  Religion is also frequently used as shelter by scoundrels, as witnessed lately by the actions of AG Barr, Secretary of State “Christian Leader” Pompeo, and trump in their denouncing “militant secularism” as being the source of our ills, and the promotion of Christianity, and evangelical conservative Christianity above all, as being the source of America’s strengths. And of course, them as being the prime defender of this Christianity.

However, I am not writing about this.

Oh, it is worthy of spending a few thousand words on, but many are already doing so and doing so well.  What I want to look at in this blog is why this is  an effective refuge for these scoundrels; at the bit of solidity, that bit of reality, that they have constructed their refuge upon. Let me start by quoting a bit of AG Barr’s speech given to Notre Dame law students last Friday.

“We must be vigilant to resist efforts by forces of secularization to drive religious viewpoints from the public square and to impinge upon our exercise of our faith.”

The truth that this sentence launches itself from is the feeling of many on the conservative Christian side that their views, their beliefs, their lives are being hemmed in, limited, and are in the process of being destroy. In a way, they’re correct. Their lives are being hemmed in, to an extent. They are in danger of being, not destroyed, but in having their numbers dwindle and their influence wane.

They feel this way, semi-correctly, for three related reasons.

First, their views and beliefs were the dominant ones for most of this country’s history.  Yes, we had religious freedom, but some religions were more equal and prominent and powerful in public affairs than others.  Others had a sort of secondary status.

Second, despite the Constitution being a secular document and the founders having purposely created a secular government, they conflated their version of Christianity with the United States so that, in their minds, what helps one helps the other, what harms one harms the other.

Then there is the fact that once upon a time, not so long ago, the social values shared by these Christians were also held in common by most others too. This was especially true in regards to race, a women’s role, and homosexuality. However, change happens.

First, blacks became free citizens. Then women became voting citizens. Then both fought to overcome the laws and attitudes that held them back from becoming fully human and equal citizens. Along the way, the LBGQT that were always among us spoke out and started to fight for their right to be considered as, and treated as, fully human, with all the rights attendant upon such status. This fight, although having some notable victories, is still very much on-going, and, though the road is shorter than it was, it is still long. And treacherous.

These changes were sparked by many forces. First was the innate sense of fairness and justice that is part of our evolutionary heritage.  First and foremost, among those suffering from this lack of fairness and justice, but also upon a growing population of some who were the beneficiaries of such inequities.

Then there is science, a two edged sword (like religion) that both struck for the status quo and injustices and also against them. However, due to the nature of science, it started to tilt towards those who were relegated to being inferior or dangerously different. Blacks were not different in ability or anything else than whites; not lazier, not more violent. Women were not emotional and frail creatures incapable of complex thoughts and deep responsibilities.  Homosexuality was not a choice but the result of genes and environment, just like heterosexuality. Sexual identity is determined in our brains and not in our genitals, and that there are differences within the brains of those who believe their genitals and sexual identity do not match. Along with this were the social sciences developing tools needed to show, in conjunction with history, the inequalities that still exist in our system, and the damage done by these inequalities.

Along with this was the changing demographics of the United States and the impact of better education, improved communication, and travel. People of different religions and philosophies were coming to the US and becoming citizens. People learned about other religions and societies and had to think of the implication of such things. And more people started traveling, coming into contact with other societies and people not the same, and finding them good.

This led to conflicts, inevitably. It led to stress and fear, inevitably. And it led to a gradual changing of government and society which, to those who had been privileged, was seen as a taking away of what was rightfully theirs, and as a threat to society in general.

The fact that there were those of many different religious faiths and belief in the United States meant that the United States had to more fully implement religious rights. For example, instead of all having to participate in a conservative Christian prayer led by teachers and principals, school staff could no longer do so. Individual students could still pray, but they could not be led in prayer or encouraged to do so by any school personnel.

Being the one favored by previous policies and understandings, many conservative Christians saw this as an attack on their religion instead of treating all religious belief equally. Even more concerning to them is that, since they believed that their Christian beliefs were the bedrock of all morality and good government, they saw this as being an attack on the very foundation of good and moral government.   This belief was confirmed in their eyes by other societal changes they saw going on around them.

What had been stable norms were being attacked, and successfully so. White privilege no longer being seen as good and the norm.  Gender roles and gender interactions changing, with many of these Christians now thinking that a woman could and would ruin a man with just a word, rape. The recognition of what was once seen as perversion as being normal, and legal, and a threat to the institution of marriage and to women and girls in bathrooms everywhere.

And it was also seeing their numbers dwindle, even among the religious. Religions change too, sometimes lagging society, sometimes leading society. They looked at the demographics and what was happening to religion and society and came to the correct conclusion that their days of domination in the public square were numbered.

There is one final piece to be considered here. Such views would be acceptable if it was limited to individual views. Everyone is entitled to believe as they wish, no matter how reprehensible others might find those beliefs. However these views do not stay individual. Using their past dominance in our country, and then using religious freedom as the reason, these conservative evangelicals are attacking back to harm the rights and lives of those they consider threats to,not only them but the country.

Religion has always been an integral part of society since large societies first arose. They have communicated and enforced the social norms of societies and governments. And, occasionally, changed them. Most people consider their religious beliefs among the most important to them, and the conservative evangelicals especially so. And so, the scoundrels are taking advantage of this and using their “defense of freedom of religion to motivate these evangelical conservative Christians to continue to support them, no matter what.

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Hope and Dream, Redux

For alongside our famous individualism, there’s another ingredient in the American saga.

A belief that we are connected as one people. If there’s a child on the south side of Chicago who can’t read, that matters to me, even if it’s not my child. If there’s a senior citizen somewhere who can’t pay for her prescription and has to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it’s not my grandmother. If there’s an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties. It’s that fundamental belief — I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sisters’ keeper — that makes this country work. It’s what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family. “E pluribus unum.” Out of many, one.

Senator Barak Obama’s 2004 Democratic convention speech

 

Change happens.  It  always happens, with only the type of change and its pace  varying.  Today we are in the midst  of a terrible change, one that is harming the people of the United States and the world.  Black is now white, up is now down. What was wrong is now right and what was right is now wrong.  So it seems from reading the comments and words of many of our leaders, including the President, and their supporters.  Reason is no longer important, only the emotions of fear and anger and hatred and the policies they lead to.

The following are just a very small example of the white is black and wrong is right mentality in ascendancy today.

• Opposition to the display of the Confederate Flag and to Confederate Heroes Day is denounced is “rooted in bigotry”.
• Hate crimes against blacks, Hispanics, gays, Jews, Muslims, and other minority groups are mainly hoaxes.
• Hate crimes against whites are the real problem and are increasing.
• Asylum seekers are an invasion and an active threat to the United States since they consist mainly of thugs, rapists, human slavers ;  even the families, even the children.
• Separating children from their parents unnecessarily is moral and good.
• Nuclear weapons are good, and we shouldn’t be limited by treaties.
• In fact, we shouldn’t be limited by any treaties.
• Our once friends are not really our friends.
• The United States can go it alone in the world.
• Money is more important than people.
• The environment is worth nothing, other than what big business can get out of raping it.
• Scientists are not worth listening to.
• Any and all immigrants and refugees are an active danger and should be deported.  Even those who served honorably in the military. Even those married to spouses who died while serving our country.  Even 11 year old children.
• Our fellow citizens are our brothers and sisters, but only if they are the same color, the same religion, the same income, the same as me. Otherwise, they are not.
• The only thing that matters is business and its growth.  Especially big business.  All else is not important.   Well, except the politics of staying in power, even at the expense of the Constitution.   The welfare of the citizens, the quality of the environment, the safety of our liberties and lives – not important.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It seems to me that in these dark times in which we are witnessing on going efforts to dismantle all of that which has made the United States a great country – a concern for others, including those outside our borders; a care for our environment as a positive good for the soul and not just for economic benefit; a desire to leave our world better for our children; a desire to create international relations and institutions aimed to reduce war, to reduce poverty, to improve the lives of women, children and men everywhere; an eye on the moral– we need to find words that will carry us through these times and to the creation of a better.

Obama’s quote opening this blog is, to me, something that all of us who live in the United States, and who want to see our country continue to grow and prosper and become better for all should make an article of faith. One to be believed in firmly and absolutely no matter what truth we think the evidence is showing us.

Now, most who know me know that I am a strongly evidence believing sort of person.  For me to say to believe something despite what seems to be evidence against it is really quite unusual. But, in this case I do.

First and foremost, this is not really a statement of fact.  It is a statement of belief on what American society should be.  It is one that has some evidence for it, but its chief value is as a goal, and a reminder of how we are all intertwined so that what affects one affects all.  It is a goal, a statement of human reality, and a reason to hope.  This last, hope, is important, especially during the hard and dark times. Without hope, without a goal to hope for, perseverance becomes more difficult, perhaps impossible. And that is what is needed, especially today.

Mandela had gone to jail for his principles. He’d missed seeing his kids grow up, and then he’d missed seeing many of his grandkids grow up, too. All this without bitterness. All this still believing that the better nature of his country would at some point prevail. He’d worked and waited, tolerant and undiscouraged, to see it happen.

“Becoming” Michelle Obama, page 369.

 

I see our current situation as a continuance of the unrest, protests, riots, civil disobedience, state and city rebellions, general divisiveness and even violence and bloodshed during the 60s and 70s.  From all of that we changed laws in ways that were long overdue, providing better and more equal protections and rights for all of our citizens than we had before.

We have had a period of relative quiet during that time as we debated and adjusted to these new legal realities and worked to find ways to best implement them (or try to).  We consolidated the ideas behind those laws and applied them to our society and culture.  We used those laws and those ideals to create a greater sense of urgency for making our country fair to all people, to provide equal treatment and equal justice for all, and expanded our definition of who all are. Now though we have come to the next part. Changing cultural and societal norms. Changing hearts and minds.

Changing laws is relatively easy, although it did not seem so at the time.  However, changing attitudes and culture is much, much more difficult to do.

We have had some progress between then and now, as witnessed most strongly by the expansion of rights to now include the both gays being able to marry and to openly serve in the military. But now the pushback has come in the form of a most unlikely representative – Donald J. Trump.  He is not the force leading the pushback though, and he did not create it. Trump is merely (yeah, I know that this adjective seems to downplay the damage his election is doing, but it still is accurate) the man who managed to take advantage of this force, and continues to do so.

This force consists of millions of people who are comfortable with the norms as they were. Those norms defined them and provided a place for them. It provided their right and wrong.  It provided their identity, one that they now see is being attacked as evil. They are afraid that they will not be allowed to remain as they were, that their views will be outlawed, that they and their families will lose out.  This group includes overt racists and card carrying KKK and Nazis.  It includes those who denounce both but whose views about races and gender and gender identity are close to those groups.

However, it also includes many more who denounce both the groups and their ideas, but are unaware of how their own attitudes and views are shaped by such, and by history.   They are usually absolutists in the sense that they know their views about sexuality, about gender, about the races are true and look at anything that contradicts them as being threatening, even evil.  And they are not interested in questioning those views.

Societal and cultural change are always more divisive than changes to the law and often more violent. Yet from that, often better things emerge. Not perfect, often far from perfect, but better; something that can serve as a seed for future change.   A good example is the Reconstruction after the Civil War.

Immediately after President Andrew Johnson took office due to the death of President Lincoln, Congress adjourned for a period of several months.  Johnson, a southern Democrat, used that opportunity to create a Reconstruction that he thought was just and right. It consisted of having the Confederate States recognize that blacks were no longer slaves. And nothing else. No recognition that they had rights of any sort – no right to vote, to hold a job, of speech, or freedom of movement.  None.  And then he allowed the Southern states to elect and put into office the same people who created the Confederacy to begin with.

The result of his reconstruction was that blacks were required to sign a paper saying that they had a job from a white person.  If they did not then they were classified as vagrants and they could be given to a white person who would pay them a nominal amount.  Or, they could have their children taken from them by reason of being too impoverished to properly cared for and then given to whites for the benefit of the children, so that they could learn a trade or housekeeping.  Even worse, since blacks had no rights, they were still not really people.  Mass killings of blacks occurred in several cities.  One black woman was brave enough to publicly testify before congress on this, and to name many of the white men who she saw shooting down blacks. She then testified that when three white men broke into her home, she begged for her life saying that she was alone with her two children.  They did not kill her. They did rape her though, as they did many others.

While the Republicans were working against what Johnson had done, refusing to recognize and seat the Congressmen elected from the Confederate states for example,  they might not have created and passed the 14^th amendment had not this violence and these gross injustices occurred. It was the moral outrage generated by these actions that led to the creation of the 14^th amendment, the 14^th amendment from which so much good would eventually flow.  Sobering to think that had Johnson’s version of Reconstruction run smoother, an amendment so integral to our rights might not have ever come into existence.

So, we live in dark times. I fervently wish we didn’t. But, they come and always will come. It remains to us to look at history and see that this is the pattern, that this has happened over and over again. And that we have eventually worked through the darkness. It almost seems as if we need these periods of darkness with its pain and suffering to provide the moral energy needed to bring forth more light and progress,

I think and believe that Trump and the regressive forces he represents will lose eventually.  When he and they do though, it will take decades to recover and move forward again. But, just as Andrew Johson’s Reconstruction and the 60s and 70s yielded something positive and a positive direction, so too do I hope history repeats itself.  This is, by the way, a never ending process.  We will never be perfect. Every advance will be met by a reverse. But, we have taken every reversal in our history, overcome it, and wound up the better for addressing it. We have already improved upon what we were, and will improve more.  As long as we have hope.

And a dream.
No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

……

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

Martin Luther King Jr.  1963 speech,  “I Have a Dream” .

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Believing in Causes Without Effects and the Necessity of Identity Politics

A woman goes to see her doctor.  She tells him that she has a low fever, that she has a burning sensation when she urinates and thinks she sees some blood in the urine.  She tells the doctor that she has had bladder infections in the past and that she has another bladder infection.  The doctor raises his eyebrows and says, “My dear woman.  You are engaging in identity healthcare and that is wrong.  All organs are equal and should be treated equally.”

 

I think most of us who experienced the above would quickly decide to find a new doctor. Yet in regards to the health of our nation many people advocate the same policy as our, hopefully, hypothetical doctor above. Whatever problems are brought up that effect one group of our citizens these people cry identity politics and go on to denounce it and say it is nothing but a political ploy.  However, in reality, it is part of the process of effective problem solving.

Those who decry identity politics seem to believe that all our citizens are treated equally, regardless of race, gender, gender identity, or religion. They say that there is already a level playing field and that those claiming it is not are asking for special favors. That is not the case though. Not even close. A very quick look at just some of history shows this to be so. Let me use race, specifically being black in the United States to illustrate this.

Consider the fact that blacks started life in the US as slaves; or if not slaves then people lacking the same rights, freedoms, opportunities and courtesies given to whites.   Then move on to their being freed and given the right to vote – hoorah!  Now, consider the fact that these freed slaves were freed but received no money and no property to start out in their newly given freedom. They started at a position of poverty and want.  Consider the fact that all the results of their work, sweat, blood, suffering and pain remained fully the property of someone else.

That is not a level playing field.  That is one football team being allowed to always start on the 40 while the other has to start on their own 10.  Guess who is going to win most of the games?

Now, consider the effects on a group already starting behind the majority of whites then not allowed political power, not allowed to own as good a piece of property as whites, or often any property, who were initially denied education and who had to struggle to get any sort of education.  All of this combines to put them further behind from their already bad starting place.  Whites, for example, could own better and more property, giving their children an inheritance that could boost them further. Blacks usually did not have this opportunity, and so their children suffered.

That is not a level playing field.

Consider the fact that most whites had saw blacks as being inferior, lazy, more prone to violence, more likely to rape white women, and so forth.  Combine this fact with the fact that those holding economic and political power were mostly all white.  Mixed marriages were often illegal, whole towns demanded there be no blacks present after dark, white neighborhoods were not to be sullied by having black neighbors, white students should not have to mix with black students, and on and on and on.  And now remember, this is not ancient history.  These facts are realities that many people alive today still remember, and those who do not have parents who do remember, vividly.  I remember.

This is not a level playing field.

And although the specific history above is about blacks, its essence also applies to other minorities, to women, and to the LGBQT community.  A look at where this history has led us today in regards to these groups provides even more evidence that they are not all groups are treated equally.

• Blacks, Hispanics and other minorities do not have the same access to education. They do not have the same economic status.  They are treated differently by the law and our justice system. Numerous statistics support this.  So too do numerous studies: some based on these statistics and others based on experiments; such as the one that showed a resume with the name of a minority on it will not get called in for an interview nearly as often as the same resume with a good old Anglo name.
• Women who not only are not paid the same as a man for the same job and work, but also are not treated equally under the law. Not only in regards to rape, but in regards to such things as the gender disparity in sentencing between men and women in regards to killing  their partners with men serving only an average of 2 to 4 years while women serve an average of 15 years.
• Gays who are only now starting to have their rights protected, or at least the right to marriage. Other forms of protection from discrimination are still severely lacking. For the trans community it is even worse as can be seen now in regards to trans not being allowed to serve in the military.

The above is just a very quick mentioning of only some of the evidence for the fact that people are not treated equally by many parts of our society and legal system. They are the victims of identity attacks.

One of the things I learned in both my problem solving training and in making use of that training over and over again, is that to fix a problem you have to determine the root cause. Without doing so you might, at best, paper over the issue for a short time. At worst, and this is far more likely, the problem will continue and get worse.

The problem of identity inequalities and attacks clearly exists. To deal with it we have to look at identify and engage in identity politics.

However, those who deny that there such problems exist or that they are, at most small problems, see this as nothing but stirring things up. To them, identity politics means trying to knowingly sow division based on such things as race and gender and so forth, in order to make political gains.  They claim that the simple act of changing some laws in the 60s and 70s, and perhaps a few more in the 80s negated all of that history and the playing field for all groups is now miraculously even; that history has no impact on today and that causes create no effects. They claim that attitudes created and maintained by hundreds and thousands of years of societal reinforcement can be changed in a moment. Any knowledge of human nature and society would show that having such a change in a generation would be another miracle, and that even such a total change in five or ten generations would be astounding.

Yet that is what those who argue against identity politics seem so be claiming.  Miracles of a type never before seen in human history.  Miracles which conflict with the reality of human nature. Miracles which are refuted by looking at the economic, educational, criminal, sociological data today. What group you are in still makes a large difference in where you start, what resources are available to you, and how you are treated.

 

Since it does exist we must, of necessity if we want to improve our nation, look at how people are grouped and how that group is treated by various parts of our government, by our society, by businesses and by others. In doing so, those who deny the problem claim that we are eliminating personal responsibility and telling those groups that it is not their fault, that they don’t have to do anything. The reality though is far, far different.  Instead of eliminating personal responsibility, this view increases it.

First, there are always things individuals could do better, could do differently that will be on them to do. That is already being promoted within these groups and promoted strongly. However, where those who deny racism, misogyny, homophobia, islamophobia and all the rest would stop with this and claim it is all on that individual and their own community and its failings. However, this sort of personal responsibility can only go so far.  Without addressing the governmental, societal, business, educational, and attitudes that contribute to these inequalities those in these groups will be like a runner in a race who has to wear 10 pound weights around their ankles while others do not.

Identity politics is not a way of saying it is not my fault and to provide an excuse for failure and a reason to not even try. In reality this is the perfect example of taking responsibility – acknowledging things you might have done wrong or could do better, but also recognizing that no matter how good your efforts might be, it will not be complete until society and government changes too.  It is taking responsibility of changing an unjust and unequal system – rather like our founders did with the British almost 250 years ago.  To put it all on the individual, or the group, is nothing more than victim blaming writ large.

I should add that this does not mean that these changes are the responsibility of solely of those members of these groups. No, it most emphatically is not. It is the responsibility of those of us who benefit from the current system, who are not burdened with its inequalities and injustices.  It is the responsibility for those whose ancestors helped create and nourish this system over the years.  It is the responsibility of any person who cares for their fellow human, their fellow citizen and who cares about justice, about fairness. It is the shared responsibility of all.

So far from eliminating responsibility, or providing excuses, identity politics adds responsibilities and provides a direction and focus for needed change.   Without identity politics all that would happen would be people spouting platitudes that sound good but accomplish nothing while millions continue to be treated unjustly.

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What to Expect of a Trump America: Part 3, What to Do

Finally, a short blog.  At least, shorter than the other two.

First and foremost:

Next:

 

Now, big broad dramatic actions, while nice, are not necessary and are not what is going to turn things around.  It will be the actions of millions of people working on mundane and often boring tasks that will turn things around.  It will be the actions of millions of people donating time and money to organizations that work to protect our rights, our economy, our schools, our environment, our nation that will turn things around.  It will be us, the majority, who will turn things around.

National groups are nice, but look local too.  The Republican conservatives who support Trump control too many states, and that needs to change.

Write letters to your local paper, to your elected representatives at all levels from city to state to national.  This means be aware of what is happening both nationally and locally.  Join in local organizations that are working to improve the environment, poverty, homelessness, civil rights, and all of those things that are most in danger now.   If you are up to it, get involved in local boards on different subjects and problems.  Volunteer to testify on issues that most concern you – locally in city councils to testifying before state committees.

 

For myself, I have never registered as a Democrat or Republican, preferring to be considered an Independent.  And early one there were Republicans who I could and did vote for.  However, those have vanished over the years as the Republican Party became more radically conservative and radically right religious.

So, for the first time in my life, I will become a registered Democrat and work with the local party here in Beaumont.  There are other things I will be doing, and there are a great many groups and organizations that you could become a part of.  Here is just a short and not even remotely exhaustive list of them linked to their websites, in no particular order.

 

Americans United for Separation of Church and State

Common Cause

National Center for Science Education

Texas Freedom Network –  for those living in Texas, this is a group I have worked with before and will become more active in now.

Planned Parenthood

Sierra Club

Friends of the Earth

National Organization for Women

League of Women Voters

American Civil Liberties Union

Southern Poverty Law Center

Center for Responsive Politics

Campaign Zero

Black Lives Matter

 

This is not a complete listing by far.  It barely scratches the surface in fact and doesn’t even cover all the areas of concern.  Look and find something that fits your interests and greatest concerns.

And, perhaps most important of all, remember we are all Americans.  We are all human.  Look at your neighbor, at your town, your city, your county, your parish, your state, and your country, and be aware of whatever threatens your neighbors well being whether it involves civil liberties and equal treatment under the law, the environment in which we all share, education or any of host of other areas that look like they may well be under attack during a Trump Presidency.

Because of this, of our shared humanity and identity as Americans, seriously consider even going beyond if things go badly.  If the Trump administration starts a registry for Muslims, register as Muslims.  If President Trump voids the Dream Act, write and call and protest – demonstrations and marches in solidarity with those who are most affected.  If you are white, go ahead and march in a Black Lives Matter protest.  If you are black, then demonstrate in support of that 18 year old American college student brought here from Mexico when she was 3 but being deported now, if you are an Atheist march with and in support of the American Muslims and the refugees.  Let your voice and presence be heard and seen in as many ways as possible.

Be aware and act.   And vote.  Vote in local elections.  In state elections.  And in National ones.  And, hopefully, we can blunt the damage that I fear is coming.  And in 2016 start to not only blunt but turn it around.

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The Orlando Atrocity: Seeing Gay Before Human

The root cause of the murders in Orlando was the fear and hatred of homosexuals.  Homophobia.  Homophobia dressed up in religious clothes in order to hide this ugly truth with seemingly, to Omar Mateen, more noble reasons.

Too many Americans seem to be overlooking this fact, either purposely or not.

The only salient fact is that the lives of 50 innocent people were taken on Saturday in a cowardly act of terrorism. The hatred is in the act, not the thought that might have preceded it. It doesn’t matter why this man picked this particular target – he could have had a hatred towards the LGBT community, he could have known it was a gun free zone, he could have picked it on a whim because he knew a lot of people would be in a small setting where sounds are hard to decipher and lights are low. There are any multiple of reasons he picked this location. In the end, it does not matter. Again, all that matters is that 50 lives were taken. –  Texas State Rep Matt Krause, R – Fort Worth

Motives do matter though.  They matter so much that many are trying to pretend that one of the motives for Mateen’s actions does not exist.  Instead they choose to focus on Islamic Terrorism and guns.

While Islamic Terrorism of the home grown variety did have a large role to play in this atrocity and definitely deserves discussion, it is not the root cause.

As for guns, that too is well worth discussing.  While a gun is only a tool and other tools can also be used to kill, none of the alternatives can kill so many, so quickly, so easily, and be obtained so readily.  Guns are an easy way for a small hating person to feel larger than life.

Many of those choosing to focus on Islamic Terrorism and guns though are doing so not only because they both played a role in the creation of this tragedy, but for another reason as well.  They did not approve of the victims.  And since you can’t speak ill of the dead they ignore that which makes them uncomfortable.  They do not wish to admit how their actions and attitudes may have played a role in creating the motive of this killer.  They, like Mateen, see the gay before they see the human.

But, however useful and necessary both of these discussions are, unless we also talk about why these people in this establishment became a target we will not be able to craft an effective response and implement the needed changes to keep this from happening again.  The challenge posed by Mateen’s actions will go unanswered.

These 49 men and women, human beings who laughed, loved, angered, sorrowed, joyed, cried, cared and did all the things bind us together as members of the human race, were murdered.  Murdered because they were homosexual.

Mateen saw the gay, but not the human.  And that, despite the advances we have made in establishing gays as human with the same rights as everyone else, is still a grave problem for this nation.

 

Witness the many public servants who refuse to serve the gay part of the public.

Witness the many attempts to craft and pass laws to allow religion to be used as a tool of oppression.

Witness the lies being told in order to inflame fears and hatred in order to deny much needed protection to the transgendered.

Witness the many books, articles, sermons and discussions labeling gays as sinners, evil, corrosive to society, hell bound, a public health risk, and the list of the ills caused by homosexuality goes on.

Witness the too many sermons and statements commending the murder of these 49 people.

Yes, Mateen’s Islamic faith helped to form his opinions and beliefs about gays.  However, so did the American, largely Christian, culture he grew up in. And it was a combination of both of these, as well as his seemingly conflicted sexuality, that created his homophobia.

All of this needs to be addressed.

Judging from how many of our elected officials are so carefully avoiding asking about the role homophobia played in these murders, and from how many are publicly mourning the victims’ without reference to an integral part of these victims’ identities, and from how many pay quick lip service and then even more quickly move on to Islamic terrorism and/or guns, this is still very much a problem for our nation.

Now some say that this is the problem of the violent Muslim and not the peaceful Christian.  For them, I say read what I wrote again.  Christians have engaged in persecution of gays too, and justified it on the basis of the Bible and their religion.

Then consider this 2015 Pew Poll that found that 45% of American Muslims believe that homosexuals should be accepted by society and 42% favored gay marriage.  And before exclaiming “See, a Muslim problem only” consider the further results of this poll.  Only 36% of Evangelical Christians believed that gays should be accepted by society and only 28% favored gay marriage.  For Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses these numbers were even lower.

Mateen was not only a Muslim.  He was also an American.

This homophobia is what needs to be discussed, its roots traced, its influence noted, and possible actions to eliminate it debated.  If we really want to learn something of value from the bloody carnage of the Pulse nightclub and craft a fitting tribute to not only those who died or were injured there but also those who survived physically unhurt but with scars upon their psyche, we need to discuss how we as a nation can learn to see the human before the gay.

Let me end this with a note of hope.  One elected official had the scales fall away from his eyes due to Orlando.  Utah’s Lt Governor Spencer Cox gave a moving speech, one that deserves to be read in its entirety and seems a fitting way to close this blog.

 

I believe that we can all agree we have come a long way as a society when it comes to our acceptance and understanding of the LGBTQ community (did I get that right?). However, there has been something about this tragedy that has very much troubled me. I believe that there is a question, two questions actually, that each of us needs to ask ourselves in our heart of hearts. And I am speaking now to the straight community. How did you feel when you heard that 49 people had been gunned down by a self-proclaimed terrorist? That’s the easy question. Here is the hard one: Did that feeling change when you found out the shooting was at a gay bar at 2 a.m. in the morning? If that feeling changed, then we are doing something wrong.

So now we find ourselves at a crossroads. A crossroads of hate and terror. How do we respond? How do you respond? Do we lash out with anger, hate and mistrust. Or do we, as Lincoln begged, appeal to the “better angels of our nature?”

Usually when tragedy occurs, we see our nation come together. I was saddened, yesterday to see far too many retreating to their over-worn policy corners and demagoguery. Let me be clear, there are no simple policy answers to this tragedy. Beware of anyone who tells you that they have the easy solution. It doesn’t exist. And I can assure you this — that calling people idiots, communists, fascists or bigots on Facebook is not going to change any hearts or minds. Today we need fewer Republicans and fewer Democrats. Today we need more Americans.

But just because an easy solution doesn’t exist, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. The greatest generations in the history of the world were never innately great. They became great because of how they responded in the face of evil. Their humanity is measured by their response to hate and terror.

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The Time Has Come To Talk of Many Things: Of Rights – Of Wrongs – and Businesses – Of Discrimination – and Gays – and Why the Right is Wrong

I know that I am weighing in late to an issue that has been ongoing for awhile now (as time is measured in the public eye); that of the numerous Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRA) being proposed in many states, including my home state of Texas that would allow religious discrimination against gays. However, since this looks to continue to be an issue – better late than never.

My first thought is to ask a rather basic questions – why do people create and run a business? The answer – to make enough money providing goods or services to live on. The primary purpose of their business then is to sell something.

With the rise of gay rights and the increasing likelihood of gay marriage becoming the law of the land, fundamentalist Christian caterers, florists, cake makers, and such (oh my!) do not want to provide their services for a gay couple’s wedding. The reason – they believe providing a service for something that violates their religious beliefs means that they are lending their approval of something they do not approve of.

However, I would say that there is some confusion on their part on what providing a service means, namely, that providing a service to a customer implies that they also approve of that person’s beliefs or lifestyle. However, the truth of the matter is – it does not.

Selling a good or service is not an endorsement.

Consider the fact that those with religious objections have probably already catered to weddings of people they would not approve of, whose lifestyles and beliefs would conflict with their religious beliefs: divorced persons remarrying, people of different religions marrying (unequally yoked), people who may believe in an open marriage or who may be cheating on each other, etc. Or perhaps even marrying people of another faith altogether – catering to a Muslim, Jewish, Atheist or Wiccan marriage –and thereby participating in worship to a different and false God.

In none of those cases though are they implying approval of that wedding or of the beliefs and lifestyles of those being married. They are providing a service, which is what their business is about. If you cannot provide a service to a diverse population, to those you disagree with – sometimes strongly – then you should not be in business to begin with.

Again, selling a service or product to a customer is NOT the same as endorsing that person’s beliefs, actions, or lifestyle. If it were then these businesses should probably start screening all of their customers because I can almost guarantee you that they have served at least as many if not more people that believe or live in a way they would find objectionable as those whose beliefs they find compatible.. I can’t wait to see them start to do background checks on everyone who comes through their door before providing their service.

These Christians have created a business, and businesses are concerned with making money not endorsing lifestyles and beliefs.

Refusing a product vs refusing a group

A common counter argument against this is illustrated by the question of should a Jewish baker be forced to bake a cake with a Swastika for a Nazi. However, there is a difference. You can refuse to provide a certain product, but still provide a service to that person. In this case, you can refuse to bake a swastika cake, but still provide a different cake to the Nazi.

In other words, you can refuse to provide a particular product, but cannot refuse to serve a group of people. I would think this a rather obvious as well as important distinction.

Religious Rights and Business

Let me also say that in addition to some confusion on what providing a service means, there is also considerable confusion on the part of the religious right on when their rights are being violated as an owner of a business.

If you are asked to marry another person of the same gender and being forced to do so – then your rights are being violated. If you are asked to provide a service that you are in business to do with the general public – then no, your rights are not being violated. To insist that they are, and to single out a group of people that you refuse to provide that service for, is discrimination and forcing others to live by your religious beliefs.

If you are so concerned that you are providing approval for things that violate your religious beliefs then you should not be providing a service as a public business. Or, in order to show consistency when it comes to trial, you should start requiring all of your customers to pass background checks before providing that service. And then refusing those that engage in acts you find religiously objectionable.

A person’s religious beliefs do have a place in their business. However, it is in how they run their business – the benefits given to employees, store hours and days off, how they treat their employees, how they decorate their store, treat their customers, etc.

Their religion does not have a place in who they chose to serve though. They are a public business and so serve the whole public in all of its diversity. Otherwise their actions are nothing more than religiously disguised discrimination.

These Christian business owners would do well to look more closely at the example of their example – Jesus. Despite being criticized for it Jesus routinely took meals with and visited the worst of sinners. He did so even though the pure and religious of his day accused him of endorsing these sinners. These business owners should follow Jesus’ example – and who knows, perhaps if they do it well they will wind up attracting more to follow Jesus. At the very least they will no longer be harming others through their discriminatory practices.
Addendum: It has been pointed out that there are Muslim caterers who also wish to discriminate against gay couples. That too is wrong and I condemn it just as strongly as I do the Christian ones. However, the difference is that in the United States it is the conservative Christian businesses and groups that are taking the lead in creating laws that would allow them to do this, not the Muslim ones. In the United States it is the conservative Christian groups that have the greatest power and pose the greatest threat to human rights, not the Muslim groups. To ignore this is to become focused on the gnat buzzing your head and ignoring the tiger pounding your way.

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