The Reality

A magazine asked different public intellectuals big questions. One question was about the universe and meaning.

This extraordinary universe has a wonderful, awesome grandeur. It spills gloriously through space wholly and completely uselessly. In boring analogies, people try to project onto it our human-inspired notions of purpose, a practice I hold that merely sullies and diminishes it.

Peter Atkins wrote:

In the absence of evidence, the only reason to suppose that it does is sentimental wishful thinking; and sentimental wishful thinking, which underlies all religion, is an unreliable tool for the discovery of truth of any kind.

The extension of analogies is another tool that accompanies wishful thinking in the toolboxes of the credulous. That an intricate mechanism, such as an engine or even a spoon, is commonly associated with a purpose cannot be taken to be evidence that the universe as a whole is associated with a purpose, any more than the existence of a cheetah implies that it has been designed with a purpose in mind. Cheetahs have evolved by the bloody, directionless, unguided processes of evolution: they have not been provided for the purpose of killing antelopes. Similarly, the universe has evolved over its 14 billion years of current existence by the directionless, unguided processes that are manifestations of the working out of physical laws: it has not been made for the purpose of providing platforms to enable cheetahs to stalk their prey or humans to generate great art or to entertain delusions. That we do not yet understand anything about the inception of the universe should not mean that we need to ascribe to its inception a supernatural cause, a creator, and therefore to associate with that creator’s inscrutable mind a purpose, whether it be divine, malign, or even whimsically capricious.

Theologians typically focus on questions that they have invented for their own puzzlement. Some theologians are perplexed by the nature of life after death, a notion they have invented without a scrap of evidence.

Theodiceans including some very clever people, are mystified by the existence of evil in a world created by an infinitely loving God… which is another notion that mainstream theologians have invented but which dissolves into nothing once it is realized that there is no God.

The question of cosmic purpose is likewise an invented notion, wholly without evidential foundation, and equally dismissible as patently absurd. We should not regard as great the questions that have been invented solely for the sake of eliciting puzzlement. They are merely old and useless puzzles.

Christianists, including some very stupid current Presidents use the invented force of evil to reduce matter into a stultifying binary. The purpose of this exercise is to accumulate absolute political power in order to vanquish the evil force. We should not regard any part of such a President’s reasoning as much more than lies. In all things.

Anti-Gay Conservative Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) on coming out…

It is not enough to allow dissent. We must demand it. For there is much to dissent from:

…We dissent from the fact that millions are trapped in poverty while nations grow rich.

…We dissent from the conditions and hatreds which deny a full life to our fellow citizens because of the color of their skin.

…We dissent from the monstrous absurdity of a world where nations stand poised to destroy one another.

…We dissent from the sight of most of mankind living in poverty, stricken by disease, threatened by hunger and doomed to an early death after a life of unremitting labor.

…We dissent from cities which blunt our senses and turn the ordinary acts of daily life into a painful struggle.

…We dissent from the willful, heedless destruction of natural pleasure and beauty.

…We dissent from all these structures–of technology and society itself–which strip from the individual the dignity and warmth of sharing in the common tasks of his community and his country.

This speech was given on October 22, 1966, at the Berkeley Campus, University of California. The speaker was Robert F. Kennedy.

Funny thought just now.

Considering how Copyright laws are so strictly enforced and multinational corporations the size of Coca-Cola & Company have such control over our current government, I figured out how Coke could save the world with a single piece of paper.

How you ask?

File for Trademark Damages.

Coke has trademarked a family of Polar Bears, motion captured from living Bears in captivity, for use during the holidays.

If Polar Bears go extinct as many scientists are fearing, Coke can sue the EPA and the US Government for damaging it’s Trademark by not protecting the Bears existence enough to maintain Coke’s Trademark’s viability.

Yeah. That’s actual legal speak. “Trademark viability.” If Coke threatened to sue George W. Bush for $58,000,000,000 you’d see some traction on the Kyoto Protocol.

I’d have a Coke and smile.

In this highly partisan speech from the past, the candidate for President attacked the previous administration and war President for giving aid and comfort to our enemies. He attacked America as: “lost”, “adrift”, led by liars and fools, “failures”, our prestige “squandered”, our military broken. He said that a needless war was tearing at the fabric of society. He called for progress, he called for peace, for negotiations with our enemies abroad, intelligent diplomacy, he called for his party to sweep out all the deadwood of the majority. It’s an angry speech. Unhinged, even.

Or, that’s how conservative pundits would describe this speech if it were given today. This is merely a test. Who delivered this speech? Too obvious clues are blacked out. The answer is below. Don’t cheat:

The choice we make this year will determine not only the future of America but the future of peace and freedom in the world for the █████ third of the █████ Century.

And the question that we answer tonight: can America meet this great challenge?

As we look at America, we see cities enveloped in smoke and flame. We hear sirens in the night. We see Americans dying on distant battlefields abroad. We see Americans hating each other; fighting each other; killing each other at home.

And as we see and hear these things, millions of Americans cry out in anguish: “Did we come all this way for this? Did American boys die in Normandy, and Korea, and in Valley Forge for this?”

Like Theodore Roosevelt, they know that this country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless it is a good place for all of us to live in. This I say to you tonight is the real voice of America. In this year ███, this is the message it will broadcast to America and to the world.

Let’s never forget that despite her faults, America is a great nation. And America is great because her people are great. America is in trouble today not because her people have failed but because her leaders have failed. And what America needs are leaders to match the greatness of her people.

The great question Americans must answer by their votes in November is this: Whether we shall continue for four more years the policies of the last ██ years. And this is my answer to that question.

When the strongest nation in the world can be tied down for four years in a war in ████████ with no end in sight;
When the richest nation in the world can’t manage its own economy;
When the nation with the greatest tradition of the rule of law is plagued by unprecedented lawlessness;
When a nation that has been known for a century for equality of opportunity is torn by unprecedented racial violence;
And when the President of the United States cannot travel abroad or to any major city at home without fear of a hostile demonstration — then it’s time for new leadership for the United States of America.

And let us begin by committing ourselves to the truth — to see it like it is, and tell it like it is — to find the truth, to speak the truth, and to live the truth — that’s what we will do. We’ve had enough of big promises and little action. The time has come for honest government in the United States of America.

Look at our problems abroad. Do you realize that we face the stark truth that we are worse off in every area of the world tonight than we were when President ███████ left office eight years ago. That’s the record. And there is only one answer to such a record of failure and that is a complete housecleaning of those responsible for the failures of that record. The answer is a complete re-appraisal of America’s policies in every section of the world.

We shall begin with the war in █████. We all hope in this room that there is a chance that current negotiations may bring an honorable end to that war.

For four years this Administration has had at its disposal the greatest military and economic advantage that one nation has ever had over another in any war in history. For four years, America’s fighting men have set a record for courage and sacrifice unsurpassed in our history. For four years, this Administration has had the support of the [Congress] for the objective of seeking an honorable end to the struggle. But never has so much military and economic and diplomatic power been used so ineffectively.

And if after all of this time and all of this sacrifice and all of this support there is still no end in sight, then I say the time has come for the American people to turn to new leadership — not tied to the mistakes and the policies of the past. That is what we offer to America.

And I pledge to you tonight that the first priority foreign policy objective of our next Administration will be to bring an honorable end to the war in █████. We shall not stop there — we need a policy to prevent more █████s. What I call for is not a new isolationism. It is a new internationalism in which America enlists its allies and its friends around the world in those struggles in which their interest is as great as ours.

We do not seek domination over any other country. We believe deeply in our ideas, but we believe they should travel on their own power and not on the power of our arms. We believe this should be an era of peaceful competition, not only in the productivity of our factories but in the quality of our ideas.

We extend the hand of friendship to all people, to the █████ people, to the Chinese people, to all people in the world. And we shall work toward the goal of an open world — open skies, open cities, open hearts, open minds.

The next eight years, my friends, this period in which we are entering, I think we will have the greatest opportunity for world peace but also face the greatest danger of world war of any time in our history.

I believe we must have peace. I believe that we can have peace, but I do not underestimate the difficulty of this task. Because you see the art of preserving peace is greater than that of waging war and much more demanding. It is that kind of experience and it is that kind of leadership that America needs today, and that we will give to America with your help.

My friends, America is a great nation. And it is time we started to act like a great nation around the world. It is ironic to note when we were a small nation — weak militarily and poor economically — America was respected. And the reason was that America stood for something more powerful than military strength or economic wealth.

The American Revolution was a shining example of freedom in action which caught the imagination of the world. Today, too often, America is an example to be avoided and not followed. A nation that can’t keep the peace at home won’t be trusted to keep the peace abroad. A nation which can’t manage its own economy can’t tell others how to manage theirs.

If we are to restore prestige and respect for America abroad, the place to begin is at home in the United States of America.

My friends, we live in an age of revolution in America and in the world. And to find the answers to our problems, let us turn to a revolution, a revolution that will never grow old. The world’s greatest continuing revolution, the American Revolution. The American Revolution was and is dedicated to progress, but our founders recognized that the first requisite of progress is order. So let us have order in America — not the order that suppresses dissent and discourages change but the order which guarantees the right to dissent and provides the basis for peaceful change.

We shall re-establish freedom from fear in America so that America can take the lead in re-establishing freedom from fear in the world.

And now our opponents will be offering more of the same

But to put it bluntly, we are on the wrong road — and it’s time to take a new road, to progress.

Again, we turn to the American Revolution for our answer. We do not fire a shot heard ’round the world but we shall light the lamp of hope in millions of homes across this land in which there is no hope today. And that great light shining out from America will again become a beacon of hope for all those in the world who seek freedom and opportunity.

I see a day when Americans are once again proud of their flag. When once again at home and abroad, it is honored as the world’s greatest symbol of liberty and justice. I see a day when the President of the United States is respected and his office is honored because it is worthy of respect and worthy of honor.

Because the time when one man or a few leaders could save America is gone. We need tonight nothing less than the total commitment and the total mobilization of the American people if we are to succeed.

My fellow Americans, the long dark night for America is about to end.

The time has come for us to leave the valley of despair and climb the mountain so that we may see the glory of the dawn –a new day for America, and a new dawn for peace and freedom in the world.

Richard Nixon, 1968 – Republican National Convention

Last weekend in D.C., Robert Putnam commented that America might be in the midst of a new Great Awakening – a conservative Great Awakening – whose end is uncertain. But, he hinted, it will most likely end badly.

My Jesuit University’s core curriculum demanded Religion credits so luckily I secured a spot in “Religious Movements and American Politics.” Re-reading my notes was horrifying – what a lazy student I was. Thankfully I kept my the photocopies of my textbooks:

The First Great Awakening (1720-1760) resulted in missionary work among the Native Americans – a slight shift from the policy of wholesale slaughter. It also led to the founding of new educational institutions. It encouraged a democratic spirit in religion.

By the end of the 18th century, many educated Americans no longer professed traditional Christian beliefs. In reaction to the secularism of the age, and certain political leaders (ahem, I’m talking to you Jefferson, you too Franklin) a religious revival spread westward in the first half of the 19th century.

The Second Great Awakening (1830-1865) gave rise to “tent meetings” – huge revivals that took on a ‘State Fair’ feel. They gave great comfort to the loneliness of living on the frontier.

The social impact of this was twofold, one, on the right it was co-opted and manufactured into a pseudo-religious expansionist movement before the civil war dubbed Manifest Destiny which sought divine abeyance for genocide.

But primarily the Second Great Awakening helped America to become a more diverse nation in the early to mid-19th century, as the growing differences within American Protestantism reflected and contributed to this immigrant-fueled diversity. Eventually, the Abolitionist Movement took strength from the growing religiosity and morality of the populace – especially Americans in Appalachia – whose ultimate result was the end of slavery.

The Third Great Awakening (1886 – 1908) is associated with the Haymarket riot and student missionary movements. It was characterized by agrarian protest and labor violence. Gilded Age plutocracy came under harsh attack from trust-blasting muckrakers, Billy Sunday-style evangelicals, “new woman” feminists and itinerant liberal teachers.

This Third Great Awakening began and fueled the Progressive movement, which died when Taft succeeded Theodore Roosevelt in the White House. We had a good run there though.

Some argue there was a Fourth Great Awakening in the late 1960s early 1970s. One would have to stretch the definition for this, as the hippy counterculture anti-Vietnam, civil rights activists rarely spoke in Religious terms. This was primarily a political awakening. [Though Rev. King’s civil rights preachifying did straddle the line.]

If we assume that the Fourth Great Awakening is legitimate, its makeup is certainly very diverse. Due to increased contact with other cultures in the 20th century, the supposed Fourth Great Awakening looked beyond Christianity for inspiration, and some of the groups which grew or were created during this time were New Age, Wiccan, and Neo-Pagan.

Eastern Philosophy, such as Buddhism and Hinduism also influenced these groups although in a form so modified by Western thought as to be almost unrecognizable by their native practitioners. For the general populace however, Beatles-style Zen Buddhism didn’t sell as well as its companion soundtrack, “Revolver.”

Christianity also saw a great deal of change during this period, particularly new forms of Evangelical Christianity which emphasized a nearly Madison Ave. storefront pitch of a “Personal Relationship with Jesus” and formed into a number of newly styled “non-denominational” mega-churches and Corporate structure emulating “community faith centers.”

Perhaps in backlash to the hippy part of the Fourth Great Awakening, came the rise of nontraditional churches with conservative theology such as evangelical megachurches and a growth of parachurch organizations.

It is this backlash to the hippies which has had the more lasting political effect since the culture schism of 1969. I propose that it is this backlash to the Fourth Great Awakening which actually is the Fourth Great Awakening.

This Awakening’s conservative religio-political movement has elected our current President twice.

There is no precedent in America for a wholly conservative Great Awakening. The last time it happened in even slightly similar circumstances was Tudor England.

The Roundheads (Puritans) got into power after the execution of Charles I in 1649; they closed theatres and tried to impose a godly pattern of behavior on the ‘unruly poor.’ Oliver Cromwell led them.

As time passed this regime became increasingly dependent upon the army and became in effect a military dictatorship. Frustration with the puritanical excesses of the Protectorate and its military backers led to its collapse. Charles’s son, Charles II, returned to restore the monarchy and a climate of liberal toleration in 1660.

The English grew utterly exhausted of the religious bigotry of the Civil War and never truly turned again to religion.

While I’m not suggesting that the neocons will reign for twenty years and outlaw women actors, it is important to take note of historical trends.

The lesson is clear: conservative religio-political movements that are revolutionary in nature do not a healthy commonwealth make.

Howard Dean just laid it all out. Look, he basically said, our political system is broken. We have good people in Washington DC voting for stupid things and dangerous things and foolish wars based on fear.

The fear is that in the next election, every next election, the GOP will use Nay votes against Dems and say that the Democrats are weak. The fear is mongered by the GOP but it is reinforced by Dem Senatorial and Congressional staffers. This, he said, is where we can help. “We” being blogger types.

He said that Democratic staffers avoid fights because fights are work. They advise their principals to avoid fights so as to breeze to reelection and therefore keep their own jobs. They use their coveted positions at the table – within the clique of ‘trusted advisors’ – to advocate for keeping a low profile.  Instead of advocating for a principle like fairness, opportunity or peace they advocate for silence.