The Divided States of America
Read Time:3 Minute, 23 Second
MadMike’sAmerica posted a video Monday featuring Pastor Dennis Terry. Pastor Terry was introducing Rick Santorum, who you can see at the end of the video, standing and clapping for Pastor Terry. As a liberal Christian, the video was one of the most disturbing I have ever seen.
Pastor Terry says that people who don’t “love America,” or that America is a Christian nation who only worships one god should get out. He bellows that we don’t worship Buddha, or Mohammed or Allah, we worship Jesus Christ. And those who don’t agree with him should leave the United States of America.
My friend, Cheryl, asked me “Where is the United part of United States of America?” after viewing Pastor Terry’s “sermon.” Tears sprung to my eyes, because I don’t know. I don’t know what happened to “We the people,” I don’t know what happened to the United part of the United States of America. I don’t even know if we can get it back.
Since the election of President Obama, this country has been on a collision course with hate. White supremacist groups are on the rise, fundamentalist Christians are preaching intolerance and divisiveness at every turn, and you can’t turn on a right wing television or radio station without hearing how President Obama is a Muslim half-breed, bent on our destruction. One of the online retailers selling the “Don’t Re-Nig” stickers claims she’s not a racist, and neither is her sticker, because “Obama’s not black.”
Now we have Rick Santorum running for president. Santorum is hyper focused on pornography, and says President Obama is not. With all due respect, Mr. Santorum, I don’t know anyone as focused on sex as you are. Including people who watch pornography, make pornography and may even be addicted to it. Rick Santorum is obsessed with sex, he is obsessed with Christianity, and he wants to be the next president of The Divided States of America.
We are divided. There are women in this country who are voting for Santorum in primaries, unaware or uncaring that he wants to effectively send women’s rights back to the 1600’s. We have gay Republicans, voting for men and women who despise them, want them erased from the Earth or at least “repaired.” We have black conservatives who listen to Republicans say blacks need to stop using food stamps and welfare and demand jobs, even though there are more whites than blacks using those government services. We have an entire political party voting against its own best interests.
The Divided States of America. Can we pinpoint the moment this happened? Is there a date we can point to and say “There! That’s the day it all went to hell.” I don’t know. My guess would be the weeks after 9/11, after President Bush told us to go shopping, called the Iraq war “holy,” and said you’re either with us or with the terrorists. The far right became emboldened; they finally had a president who believed in crusades, who told the American people God had told him to run for president, and they finally had a president for whom nuance was a four letter word. That’s my best guess, but I could be wrong.
How do we get back the core values of this country we have lost? Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? The Constitution does not say you can pursue happiness unless you’re gay or worship another god, or no god at all, or are a woman or a liberal. The Constitution was written, and this country was founded, for We the People. All the people. We need to become United again, because we will fall alone. I want Cheryl to someday, soon I hope, be able to say “We did it. We got it back.”
I just don’t know if we can.
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even though they walk amongst us; they do not need the right to prove to us we were right
I don’t know. Hopefully we can snuff out the liberal opposition though and return America to its greatness. Leftism is tearing us apart from the inside out. Hell just look what left wing ideaology is doing to europe.
Extreme socialist policies, multi-culturalism, thoughtless spending. Europe is in shambles right now because of it.
If we can bring America back to it’s conservative founding then we can win the future.
Let’s start with teaching people how to spell properly (it’s “ideology“) the the proper use of its and </it's.
Looks like someone is following the Texas Republican Party platform on education.
Bringing America “back” to its conservative roots would take America back to the dark ages. Conservatism is a cruel ideology that refuses to consider the people, only the corporations. The ridiculous tax cuts have proven to be an unequivocal disaster and why it continues to be embraced astonishes me. We need to raise taxes not lower them. We have to pay for what we get.
I’ve thought about this, too. I love my country, am loyal to it, but there’s no denying that it’s divided. And I worry for the people who are going to be dealing with the fallout, because there’s no way this will just start getting better soon.
But the question begs to be asked: united on who’s terms? Eventually, somethings going to have to give, right? So, will it be on fundamentalists ideas or secular? Right wing or left wing? Liberal?
I’m too young to really remember what it was like before 9/11. But you seem to be a smart lady, Erin, so when you say that we were a united nation before 9/11, I’m going to go out on a limb and trust you.
I hope both you and your friend can say ‘We did it. We got it back.” someday.
Erin, great read. There is a serious parallel between serial violence and sexual repression which is one of the reasons that America has one of the highest rates of violence in the world. On the flip side of that we often find that those that speak the loudest against sexual behavior have an abnormal attraction to it. Constantly speaking about it is a way for them to think about it without being condemned. Their “flocks” listen to them and impose these prohibitions on themselves and their families which creates fear and hatred toward non believers. It is a vicious cycle where people insist that there leaders appear to believe this, and the candidates feed it back to the people by stressing how important it is that they believe. Since the beginning of the Republicans married this ideology with their Southern Strategy in the 1970’s it has become their calling card.
As far as the preacher telling people they need to leave this country he needs to re examine the Constitution.
You are absolutely correct. The links are there, but as those links are connected to GASP science, the people who could benefit most from therapy and help are the last ones to know. Bill, you’re a smart guy: how do we get back to The United States? It’s heartbreaking to see this amazing country being torn apart by hate and bigotry.
Does it ever occur to people like these that maybe what they should do is go off on their own and build their own closed society? After all, that’s what the people who settled the Massachusetts Bay Colony did – set up their own little theocracy.
Something WICKED this way COMES…
I truly, truly FEAR for us!
History proves that ‘division’ has been a boil on America’s ass for years, occasionally it festers, which is happening right now, and as you suggest, has been spewing forth for over ten years. Keep being appalled by it, keep speaking against it, its the only way.
Sorry Mike.
We’re about as united as it’s ever gonna be again. Us liberals are united over here. And the conservatives are united over there.
Personally, I think we’re better off as a country without the conservofascist movement as a major force in our govt. The sooner we’re rid of them, the better! And they’re on their way OUT.
We have enough conservative minded liberals and liberal minded conservative people in the democrat party. We’ll survive. The repubs on the other hand …. not so much diversity. Whatever happens to them will happen to ALL of them. None of them are gonna budge and they’ll all go down together. And they have no problems with stepping on each others heads and pulling each other down either … as they’ve shown us lately.
Their way of viewing the world, making their arguments, thinking and, living … are from the last century (and before). There’s just no place in America’s future for the ultra conservatives. We have no room for them in the 21st century. They’re dangerous and we simply don’t have to tolerate them anymore. It’s only a matter of time until they fade away. You can kind of hear the party’s death rattle already. All we have to do is hang in there and outlive them.
The fact that Santorum admits to having had an addiction to porn says it all – and it doesn’t take a certified shrink to figure it out. And that Talibangelist, besides preaching hate, is flirting with an IRS investigation.
Santorum admits to having an addiction to porn? Really?
Santorum doesn’t want to be president of the US, he wants to be pope of the US. He claims that the Obama administration is “…soft on pornography.” Logically, then, one can conclude that porn makes Santorum hard.