I normally try to avoid politics. I prefer the methods advocated by this comic. Politics are just a sticky issue, especially when people mix their politics with religion. But I haven't written in a while and politics has been on my mind lately. I think a large part of it is the Utøya massacre in Norway, and even more than that, the way some Americans have responded. Being the digital information pack-rat that I am I downloaded Anders Behring Breivik's 1516 page manifesto and, aside from being quite similar to the Anarchist's Cookbook in the "Planning the operation" and "Evaluating attack strategies" sections in it's advice on how to build bombs and such, I was shocked at how political it was.
The initial reaction when something like this happens is "the shooter must have been crazy." Our deep seated hope is that no human being is capable of such evil unless they have lost their mind. We would like to think that no one could ever say, "I have logically deduced that killing 77 [The Death Toll as I write] people at a youth camp is a good choice." The very idea that this could be a thought that someone would not only consider in passing, but plan out and be able to defend is horrific to most of us. Yet this shooting is just the most recent of many, crossing geographical, political, religious, and cultural lines. And I would argue that the majority of these were not perpetrated by people who were mentally unstable, but people with an agenda.
September 11th, 2001, is the best example of this. Murder on a terrifying scale--but for a reason. The people who killed approximately 3000 people that day were not insane. These people were merely people with committed beliefs. People who were trying to send a message.
And this is why I feel that I should write about politics, at least a little. Maybe it's some of the disgust I feel over politically motivated killing that makes me want to spout my political views. Maybe I'm tired of trying to hide my views to keep from causing fights with people at school. I don't know. Either way, I think it's about time.
So, I guess you could say I'm liberal. "Wait, wait, CHRIS! You're liberal? YOU BABY KILLING HOMOSEXUAL SATANIC WIMP!!!" Whoa, chill out there. Let me explain what I mean by liberal. I guess I'm liberal compared to many of the hard line cradle conservative cradle Christians at Houghton. But then again, my roommate is Communist and I'm not as liberal as him. But I do love NPR and hate Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. Anyway, I'm a memoirist (at least I like to think) so it's story time!
I remember the first time the whole political polarity was brought to my attention. The dichotomy of Conservatives, Christians, and the average Joe (the Plumber) VS. Liberals, Anti-Christanical Atheists, and "Snotty Intellectuals" had never mattered to me before. When I lived in Estonia I didn't care about American politics any more than to make fun of Bushisms and wish that America didn't look quite so bad overseas. I figured that I was a Christian first, and as a follower of Christ I would make whatever voting decisions would come my way based on how the candidate lined up with my faith, not with my political party.
So once upon a time I had just arrived in America. It was August of 2008 and politics were hot. There was a chance we could have a black president! Or...a liberal anti-Christ who would destroy our country ("One Big Ass Mistake America", is the bumper sticker I saw next to a "The Gun in the Driver's Hand is Larger than it Appears" sticker.) Either way I didn't pay much attention. I was about to go to college and I didn't have time for anything as boring as politics. But really, it's unavoidable. I was riding in the car with my uncle and he, a proud Christian, was listening to Rush Limbaugh's inflammatory conservative commentary and chuckling and nodding in agreement. Rush had just said something about Europe being full of weaklings (compared to the mighty America) and the French surrendering to anything in a helmet. My uncle laughed but I, fresh from Europe, was offended. All French-military-defeats jokes aside, why do Americans feel the need to insult every other country? It's like guys who are insecure about their genitals calling other guys inadequate. I don't get it.
Anyway, onward and upward! Now that I've offended every American reading this...
Later my uncle responded in agreement to some of the rants coming from the radio saying "Those snooty stuck up intellectuals think they know everything!" I was surprised. I had never heard being an intellectual be referred to as a negative thing before. I thought it was good to be smart. I was, after all, on my way to college so I could grow intellectually. That's the whole point. Then I got the full implications. Should only the uneducated, unintellectuals be allowed in politics? I'm not saying they wouldn't fit right in or don't constitute a large portion of politicians, but I do think that to be an effective politician a little knowledge would go a long way.
Then I went to Houghton. Ahh, freedom. A diverse campus with people who put Christ first and have a strong sense of faith leading them in their political choices. Or so I thought. I soon realized that the mostly white middle class student body was also mostly conservative. In fact, I found that people thought that being a conservative was not only better for America, but "The Christian Party." This was when I learned of the Conservative/Christian entanglement. I wasn't surprised at how many people at Houghton were pro-life, but I was shocked at how many Houghtonites were pro-war and death penalty. It didn't make sense to me. Also, during the furor of the election people were declaiming Obama for...well, we weren't sure. He was liberal though, and hell, that's bad. McCain though, and Palin, such wonderful Christians who would lead our country to revival or...something. Most Houghton students were of voting age, and many of those had no deep understanding of why they were voting for the candidate they picked, but they had no doubts and never even considered the other party's views.
I, on the other hand, was gifted with some very liberal friends. I had a Democrat, a Socialist, a Communist, and I became an Anarchist to round it out. I didn't vote, and likely won't in this next election either, but I was glad when Obama won largely because it really pissed off and shook up all the cradle conservatives around me. It was funny. There's a great South Park episode (Free on their site) about it that was surprisingly accurate. I was still undecided, but I was definitely leaning left.
Over the years I've realized that it's more than my friends that make me liberal. But the biggest issue to me is this: CONSISTENCY!
I don't view myself as either republican or democrat because I don't think either one is consistent. I think both contradict and oppose their own views. Don't believe me? Let's see who cares about citizen's rights...
Conservatives: Right to bear arms (Bang, BANG--F-YEAH!)
Liberals: Right to abort (My body, MY choice!)
So that means...
Conservatives: Outlaw abortion (It's murder! Here, let me take those rights out of your hands...)
Liberals: Gun control (Guns kill people! Here, let me take those rights off your hands...)
Okay, well maybe that's not a good issue. What's a big one-issue-voter issue? How about being "Pro-life."
Conservatives: "We're pro-life because we are against abortions. Don't kill babies!"
Liberals: "We're pro-life because we're against war and guns. Don't kill anyone!"
Most "Pro-lifers" I know are only pro-life about abortion, but no way in hell are you going to restrict their God-given right to assault rifles and going to war and bombing cities and killing 98,170 - 107,152 civilians in Iraq (we killed about twice as many civilians as we did combatants...)
See what I mean? Politics is a sticky, yucky business.
So I think the whole conservative-liberal-republican-democrat-we're-all-just-shit-anyway argument is stupid.
Finally, as I promised, here's where I stand, on the issues mentioned in this post at least. Like I've said, from what I understand, this makes me liberal. But I'm new to American politics, so if I'm wrong please correct me so all my conservative Houghton friends won't kill me.
Concerning pro-life, I'm pro-life ALL THE WAY. I want consistency. So in my mind to be pro-life is to be anti-whatever-kills-people. So I am against abortions, war, guns, and the military by and large, considering that America spends more on it's military than the rest of the world put together and has unnecessary national treasury draining bases everywhere around the world. That is my idea of what it means to be consistent. Oh, also, I'm against supporting Israel. American tax dollars pay 20% of Israel's military budget. 1 in 5 dead Palestinians was American bought. I am definitely not a Christian Zionist by any means. Plus, I just want to be a hippy. Hippies are liberal.
So, here I am, consistent as I claim to be and liberal as I am told I am. I welcome civil thoughts and comments. My biggest issue is consistency. I respect other opinions that are consistent, like if someone were pro-war, pro-gun, pro-choice, and wanted military bases everywhere and wanted to fund as many Uzis as Israel can produce. But when people get inconsistent it gets hard for me to take them seriously.
Anyway, this is Chris signing off with an anarchist music video. Rock out and I hope you enjoyed the post!
