. . . the most common question I get from readers, friends and foes alike:
Why do you keep writing this stuff? What do you think you’re going to accomplish? Are you always just itching for a fight? And what’s with this insatiable thirst for confrontation?
The subtext?
Yeah, Keely. Like you’re gonna change anyone’s mind about anything . . .
I’ve tried, in person and on Prevailing Winds, to explain that the results — how people respond to my words — aren’t my responsibility. I can’t make anyone see the light and if they do, it’s the Holy Spirit and not me who’s done it. I trust that’s clear to everyone, the difference between the Holy Spirit of Yahweh and the housewife from Moscow.
I only want to be found faithful to God, and I believe that in the face of evil, silence is assent. I won’t be silent, because I can’t assent.
Still, the buzz continues. From allies, I hear that it’s just a losing battle, however noble; from opponents, that I’m only stirring up trouble, however maliciously. I keep trying to explain, but this post from Salon.com by journalist David Satterlee says it well:
“It occurs to me that my openness may fan the flames among those who are prone to reflexive hate. I could just hide in the shadows, cringing and hoping that no one will notice me or be mean to me. But, I am aware of the courage of those great souls who spoke out to end slavery, gain the vote for women, oppose the baron kings and their trusts, and march for civil rights.
As a child in school, I was raised in a particularly rigid, conservative, Christian faith. I remember how it was to be the object of hate, bullying, and abuse. I learned to run fast. No more. I’m going to stand fast. Bullies should be faced down. I’m tired of this shit and I’m not going to take it any more.”
The remainder of the article is at http://open.salon.com/blog/davidsatterlee/2012/03/02/hate_speech_at_my_us_post_office.
Given Satterlee’s experience at the Post Office, and this week’s revelation of the federal judge’s joke about Barack Obama’s being “lucky” he doesn’t “bark like a dog” after the “party” during which he was supposedly conceived, the words Satterlee refers to should nauseate. But they shouldn’t surprise.
What they and other examples of hate speech, the grotesque coarsening of our culture, and the flippancy with which the Right talks about Obama’s death, alleged tyranny, religion, nationality, and putative un-Americanism DO remind us is that words matter. I’m not opposed to strong language, and being “nice,” as opposed to being kind, is not terribly important to me; I unabashedly refer to the political activities of the Religious Right as “whoring,” and I don’t apologize for that.
But an apt description of the blissfully hypocritical trading of moral, Biblical conviction for temporal political power that consistently denies the Scriptures — which is what I see from the Religious Right — requires words like “whoring.” This is different from calling a young woman testifying of the need for women to have insured access to reproductive healthcare a whore, and only those whose hypocrisy is front-and-center, in Technicolor and HD and surround-sound 24/7, would howl in protest.
Satterlee speaks of the courage of the “great souls” before him who risked hatred and harm for fighting against oppression and injustice. I’m not a great soul, but I hope, on the last day, to be found among them and not among those who shrink back and cling to cowardly, self-preserving silence when the thundering roar of evil swells around them. My obedience to God guarantees no response, obedient or otherwise, from those I confront. It guarantees only that I won’t be found silent and in assent, and while I dearly hope to change some people’s minds and hearts, I’m entirely comfortable assuring you that the responsibility for that work is entirely out of my hands — for which I praise my God and Savior.
After all, a god who needs Keely Emerine-Mix to speak in order for him to work in the lives of his creatures is a god not only undeserving of our worship, but, frankly, undeserving of anything greater than the tepid applause coming from a reasonably successful shareholders meeting. I’m real clear on my role; my faithfulness is something I’m accountable for, not yours. And mine requires only obedience.
There’s no losing cause in being faithful, and there’s no victory in being safe.
You always give me pause to think, and sometimes smile. I’m thankful. Laura
Comment by Anonymous — March 9, 2012 @ 6:45 am