I have a dream...

...that someday in this country, the people will look back at their past and actually read it. That people will respect cultures and creeds that do not match their own, that they will educate themselves on more than bible verses and McDonalds menus. That people like Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck will not be heralded as great Americans, that we will not need to support our troops because they will be at home, as intended in the constitution, to be not a part of a standing army but as state and city militias, to fight only when protecting their rights and homes. Oh yes, I have a dream.

Unfortunately, Glenn Beck decided to celebrate the iconic day of MLK's speech by desecrating it. That is par for the course when it comes to good old Glenny but I must admit, I didn't even expect this from him.

This orgy of extremists giving speeches and arrogantly chanting USA was marked as part of Glenn Beck's highly advertised "Restoring Honor" event this morning. As he continuously mentioned how non-political this event was, I was reminded of my good friend Marc Anthony who in Shakespeare's play, stood over Caesar's grave continuously remarking on what a good man Brutus was. It's one of those things that if you say it enough, the audience begins to see that it's more of a tongue-in-cheek bullshit comment than the actual truth. Of course, this suggests that the audience isn't already a bunch of "I love Brutus" t-shirt wearing extremists that think that gathering in huge groups in front of heavily political figures isn't political at all. No no, this was all about faith.
Beck urged the crowd to "turn back to God" to right the wrongs of this country. He said that this country has been wandering in darkness for too long, and only now are we finding God's path again and moving towards the light.
ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!
I wanna shower, vomit, scream, cry, throw things and stab at the air with a steak knife. Maybe not in Glenn Beck's cushy world, but in reality, the last thing this country needs is more religion. I'll let my previous blog entries stop me from using this opportunity to get on my soap box, but come on! Anyone who has ever been in the South knows that religion is far more than an opiate for the masses. It's a robo-tripping, IQ dropping, hallucinogenic, reality-squashing, thoughtless, individual killing heavy ass drug that is stripping this country of the little sanity we have left to cling to. We can bomb the shit out of countries, we can stage coups, organize genocides, lie to our own people, fuck our own infrastructure but as long as we all hold hands and pray at the end of the day, it's all ok.
WHAT THE FUCK?!
And what darkness is he talking about? I haven't noticed a spike in the bubonic plague or demons eating babies out of prams. The only darkness I've noticed has been the veil of lies and greed swept over this country by corporate interest and I hate to say it, mostly religious CEO's and lobbyists wearing crosses and cutting losses, by slicing and dicing everyone below the top 1%.
A woman at the rally said: "I believe it's hopeless unless we get back to our roots, and that means our faith, and it means, reorganize our time. We have been so busy earning a living and raising our children that we have let different small groups overpower our opinions. And we're here to ... reclaim what's wonderful about this country."
Lady, read a book. Actually, just read. Roots is not faith. If it was, I'd be a very confused Lutheran Jew Atheist. As it is, I'm only the last one and damn proud of it too. Earning a living and raising children is called life, and I know plenty of people that do that while still staying engaged in the world around them. If your IQ can't handle it, that's your problem, not America's. Oh and another thing - what small groups? I'd love to hear her take on the "small groups" that are destroying this country. Because according to my reality, it's the big groups like, oh, say, corporations like AIG, Bank of America, Citi Bank, Halliburton, oil companies, fuck, even our own government is now a corporation and they're sure as shit not a "small group." Oh but right, this isn't a political rally, it's a loving social gathering of gun-toting, arrogant, religious nuts who know God's on their side.
I don't know a lot but I do know that God is not a republican or a democrat. If he exists (which I don't think he does - case in point, Glenn Beck), I'm sure he's fucking sick and tired of being stretch armstronged across party lines. Furthermore, if you did read something other than the lord's prayer, you'd know about this guy named Thomas Jefferson who famously coined the phrase, "separation of church and state."
If these wack jobs are so eager to wave the constitution around and hold the founding fathers up on pedestals, shouldn't they at least know what the old guys would've thought about them holding the bible and constitution in the same grubby hand?
Our country was founded on the ideals of freedom, freedom from persecution. However, we're hypocritical: slaves, native Americans, religious uprisings in the 1800s. Yeah, we're imperfect. We've got blood on our hands, and it might not wash off, but covering it up with more blood and hypocrisy doesn't make it go away.
Government and religion should be kept away from each other. They do not play nice together. They're not supposed to play together. Ignorance, arrogance and blind support of any ideology is not forward thinking, it's stupidity. Ideologies are not the same as ideals. As far as I can see, Glenn Beck has no ideals, he has extremist ideologies. He doesn't want togetherness, he wants a clear cut ruling on all the god fearing, right wingers vs. everyone else. At the core, we are all Americans. These so called non-political political rallies only fuel the fire that burns whatever ties we have to each other. It's not about God, it's not about left or right. It's about this country being in a rut. No amount of bible reading or tea drinking is gonna change that.

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I would like to ask Glenn Beck to step off the podium. Stop pushing your agenda and let us pay homage to an icon without the politically soaked verbal dregs spewing from your extremist mouth.

Educate yourself, know your country and those your country deals with. Know yourself better than an ethereal God you can't prove exists. You exist. We exist. This country exists and she's sick. The truth is there if you look for it. And believe it or not, neither God nor his prophet Glenn Beck has the answer.