I see a lot of bumper stickers, T-shirts and avatars depicting the 20th of January, 2009 as some sort of marker we can reference to pinpoint our salvation. The message seems to indicate that the moment this horrid Administration packs up its things and walks out the door, America will at long last return to its prior stature.
While it’s a nice dream- even something to desperately look forward to; the events mandated by this day in no way represent the end of all things un-American leading America.
One of my most beloved family members is a FOX News watching, Pat Robertson ‘Fundamentalist Christian.’ His clan shares a very similar fantasy as those who firmly adhere to the 1-20-09 dream. You see, his peers in the church, to my surprise, are not in denial about the war or about global warming, or about our Constitutional rights as citizens (barring abortion;) rather, I have, in my experience, developed the strong belief that many of these folks transcend a willingness to surrender all that makes them citizens and responsible members of planet earth because, in their mind’s eye, these things are precursors to the return of their savior, who will grant them their own brand of salvation.
In my discussions with him (which I regret and often try to avoid,) it seems that he has withdrawn from fulfilling any responsibility he has as an American citizen outside of tending to his family. In a way, I have the impression that he is cloistering himself from anything he perceives to be external such as the ineptitude of his President and his government, only looking outward at images and voices that reinforce his inner delusion. Sadly, outlets like FOX News and the New York Post are more than willing to capitalize on this ‘market,’ therefore, in a way, he is less likely to snap out of his “the end is near, so what’s the point?” slumber.
The dream is so powerful that it even suppresses his bible. I constantly remind him that God abhors any vein presumption that man can cease in his toiling because he or she has pinpointed the end of all things (via mortality or apocolypse:)
Ecclesiastes 8:14-15
There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.
Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.
What I get from this passage is that we all know we will die, but we will never gain the wisdom to know when. Simply because we think it will happen at a specific time is not a license to abandon the person next to each of us and engorge ourselves.
I bring this up because I think that a lot of people who oppose Bush and oppose the current Republican ideology (or lack thereof) look to the 20th of January, 2009 and perceive salvation from the tragedies of the past 8 years. This could be no further from the truth. Worse, just as Pat Robertson’s ilk bank on the surrender of his followers, I feel that there are many entities, such as the corporate media, that would prefer to have us just sit around, exploring nothing and doing little but wait until the natural end of the Bush Presidency.
I feel that many institutions that have failed us are looking for a pass in reference to their culpability. The best example I can think of is the Mainstream Media, which has not offered a single apology for its surrender to the Bush Administration and the Republican Party. Further, the endless string of incredulous pundits, who were proven absolutely wrong by reality time upon time upon time again and again, have suffered absolutely no consequences for their baseless assertions and blatant deception.
These people, in my opinion, deliberately whored themselves and did a great disservice to the prestige of their field; yet they reside where they had before with almost absolute impunity. If they remain with the powers they hold today on that ‘blessed’ day in a far off January, we will witness the punishment for following our own delusion of salvation.
Christianity, despite the pontifications of the false profits, warns its followers that God does not open the door for those who sit idly, surrendering their duties in anticipation of a perceived proximity to the end. Should we allow the less involved people who are content to wait out this Presidency, expecting some golden light to shine itself on this nation, we’ll be in some real trouble.
While I love those T-shirts and bumper stickers, I love the participation of each and every person who commits to ensuring salvation rather than sit back and assume that it will simply come. January 22nd will arrive just as its predecessor will and the one before that and so on. Where will we stand if Bill Kristol, or David Broder remains? Where will we be if we neglected to marginalize the Republican Senate and Joe Lieberman in 2008? Where will we be if there isn’t a perpetual stream of town councils and state assemblies voting up or down for recommendations of the Impeachment of George W. Bush? We most certainly will not be immersed in the glow of some January salvation. Rather, we will be once again scrambling to make up for tardy deeds.
I am confident that members here and at other progressive forums and institutions overwhelmingly dedicated and see the work ahead. However, I am always left thinking of people who, like me, have a brother or sister, parent, cousin, or friend… who have people in their lives who ‘can’t wait til’ this (bad word) is out,’ but seem to be content to wait until the marked end of the Administration. These folks, god bless them, need to shed the 9-20-09 delusion and realize that the President- this President- represents a larger institution, one with vast access and influence. Unchecked, it will plague us no matter who is President or who holds majority in the Congress. Unchecked, it will infect the minds of the less savvy through the guise of ‘credible’ media. And so on and so forth…
People out there know that there is a serious problem in today's America. I fear that a good number of those folks who hold the knowledge are content to just wait it out and bask in the glory of January 20, 2009. If each of us could get one person to stop ‘waiting,’ that January day will bring us closer to ‘salvation’ than we could possibly predict. It would make a late January day one of the best days of my life, and trust me, I hate the cold hopelessness of a late January day.
All the best to you! Thanks for listening and keep fighting the good fight.
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UPDATE: I fixed some typos. I'm sure there are more, but behold! I am the typo king!
:)