"I swear Jesus was a liberal"
Oct. 2nd, 2004 10:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mrdreamjeansI'm in Arlington, Virginia staying with my long time friends Henry and Geoff. If you're in the area, not only is Henry my friend, he's my dentist and a good one! We're having a low-key morning and I'm reading a new Molly Ivins book, "Who Let the Dogs In?...Incredible Political Animals I Have Known". I've just started it, but the following paragraph hit home with me.....
"Everybody knows God is nonpartisan, but I swear Jesus was a liberal - the best, the biggest, the original bleeding heart - the one who embraced the outcasts, the model for us all. Just read the stuff in the New Testament written in red. Don't try to convince me that Christianity is right-wing. As for the economic conservatives, who are driving this entire insane detour away from liberty and justice for all, well, as Wright Patman (a Texas congressman) once observed, 'The rich and powerful in our country are very greedy. This has many times been demonstrated. It is natural that they should seek ever more power and wealth, but where there is greed, there is no vision. And, as the good book says, where there is no vision, the people perish'."
And one other paragraph from Molly to ponder in this election year:
"Because I have been writing about politics for forty years, I know where the cynicism comes from, and I would not presume to tell you it is misplaced. The system is so screwed up, if you think it's not worth participating in, then give yourself credit for being alert. But not for being smart. How smart is it to throw away power? How smart is it to throw away the most magnificent political legacy any people has ever received? This is our birthright; we are the heirs; we get it just for being born here."..."Don't throw that legacy away out of cynicism or boredom or inanition."
My two cents: No matter whether you agree with Molly Ivins' politics and philosophies or mine, it is really important to vote. We can't bitch if we don't like what is happening, unless we make the effort to create change ourselves. Unlike the folks in 99% of other countries, we have a say in what happens to us. It is our precious right in the United States of America to have a voice through our vote. Don't cede your power to others; I fear we, as a jaded citizenry, are perilously close to doing so.
"Everybody knows God is nonpartisan, but I swear Jesus was a liberal - the best, the biggest, the original bleeding heart - the one who embraced the outcasts, the model for us all. Just read the stuff in the New Testament written in red. Don't try to convince me that Christianity is right-wing. As for the economic conservatives, who are driving this entire insane detour away from liberty and justice for all, well, as Wright Patman (a Texas congressman) once observed, 'The rich and powerful in our country are very greedy. This has many times been demonstrated. It is natural that they should seek ever more power and wealth, but where there is greed, there is no vision. And, as the good book says, where there is no vision, the people perish'."
And one other paragraph from Molly to ponder in this election year:
"Because I have been writing about politics for forty years, I know where the cynicism comes from, and I would not presume to tell you it is misplaced. The system is so screwed up, if you think it's not worth participating in, then give yourself credit for being alert. But not for being smart. How smart is it to throw away power? How smart is it to throw away the most magnificent political legacy any people has ever received? This is our birthright; we are the heirs; we get it just for being born here."..."Don't throw that legacy away out of cynicism or boredom or inanition."
My two cents: No matter whether you agree with Molly Ivins' politics and philosophies or mine, it is really important to vote. We can't bitch if we don't like what is happening, unless we make the effort to create change ourselves. Unlike the folks in 99% of other countries, we have a say in what happens to us. It is our precious right in the United States of America to have a voice through our vote. Don't cede your power to others; I fear we, as a jaded citizenry, are perilously close to doing so.
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