If asked, a clinical psychologist will tell you that depression is fueled not by sadness and loss, but by anger and rage. In this same vein, Chris Hedges in American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America (Chapter Two) explores the road to hate along the avenue of despair. What we often see in life is the manifestation of a different root. We see one thing, but the true impetus is altogether different.
The rise of fundamentalism in this country in the past two decades has occurred because the rich keep getting richer and the rest of us keep getting left further and further behind. In a society marked by alienation and a growing insecurity for the middle class and below, more and more Americans are despairing their lot in life. While it's certainly true that the standard of living in the US dwarfs that of many, many places in the world, the American ideal of rugged individualism and pulling oneself up by our own bootstraps, has taken hit after hit. More and more people are coming to see that, no matter how hard they work and struggle, they continually are losing ground.
It is this feeling of abject impotence in the face of corporate power that has led many to give up hope. Hopelessness, in turn, quickly boils over into anger. People are desperate to strike out at someone -- anyone -- to regain their stolen feeling of self-worth. And this becomes the breeding ground for Evangelical Christianity.
We want somebody to blame for our plight. The fundamentalists create scapegoats for us.
We want to know that our suffering has meaning. The fundamentalists lure us in with the promise of a beautiful paradise in the afterlife.
We crave a black-and-white world in which answers come easy. The fundamentalists give us rigid rules to live by.
In our suffering and desperation, we want to believe that we will be victors in the end. The fundamentalist sell us on the idea that, in the end times, we will be feted off to heaven, while all the imaginary bogeymen will be cast into a fire of torture and agony.
For far too many, this picture provides the emotional prescription to doctor our wounds. It provides an apt vehicle by which we can channel our hate -- a hate born of our dislike for ourselves and our current situation. It provides us with the mechanism to sign on to the winning team and to rub shoulders with God's all-stars.
But beyond the fake glitz and hoopla, the people selling us this product genuinely aren't all that interested in God, heaven and the rest of the trappings that come with it. For them, it's nothing more than a pr gimmick. What they are after can't be found in the afterlife; they want earthly power, riches and iron-fisted control.
To claim their place on the throne, they need an army of self-righteous pawns. They need people blinded by hate and despair to do the heavy lifting. Once their crazed throng overthrows the reigns of power, the pawns will be cast aside like straw dogs. Only then will a good many of them realize that they've been used for less than ideal purposes.
Unfortunately, this realization will come far too late and it won't save them from even greater despair.
The rise of fundamentalism in this country in the past two decades has occurred because the rich keep getting richer and the rest of us keep getting left further and further behind. In a society marked by alienation and a growing insecurity for the middle class and below, more and more Americans are despairing their lot in life. While it's certainly true that the standard of living in the US dwarfs that of many, many places in the world, the American ideal of rugged individualism and pulling oneself up by our own bootstraps, has taken hit after hit. More and more people are coming to see that, no matter how hard they work and struggle, they continually are losing ground.
It is this feeling of abject impotence in the face of corporate power that has led many to give up hope. Hopelessness, in turn, quickly boils over into anger. People are desperate to strike out at someone -- anyone -- to regain their stolen feeling of self-worth. And this becomes the breeding ground for Evangelical Christianity.
We want somebody to blame for our plight. The fundamentalists create scapegoats for us.
We want to know that our suffering has meaning. The fundamentalists lure us in with the promise of a beautiful paradise in the afterlife.
We crave a black-and-white world in which answers come easy. The fundamentalists give us rigid rules to live by.
In our suffering and desperation, we want to believe that we will be victors in the end. The fundamentalist sell us on the idea that, in the end times, we will be feted off to heaven, while all the imaginary bogeymen will be cast into a fire of torture and agony.
For far too many, this picture provides the emotional prescription to doctor our wounds. It provides an apt vehicle by which we can channel our hate -- a hate born of our dislike for ourselves and our current situation. It provides us with the mechanism to sign on to the winning team and to rub shoulders with God's all-stars.
But beyond the fake glitz and hoopla, the people selling us this product genuinely aren't all that interested in God, heaven and the rest of the trappings that come with it. For them, it's nothing more than a pr gimmick. What they are after can't be found in the afterlife; they want earthly power, riches and iron-fisted control.
To claim their place on the throne, they need an army of self-righteous pawns. They need people blinded by hate and despair to do the heavy lifting. Once their crazed throng overthrows the reigns of power, the pawns will be cast aside like straw dogs. Only then will a good many of them realize that they've been used for less than ideal purposes.
Unfortunately, this realization will come far too late and it won't save them from even greater despair.
Unfortunately,so very,very true :-(
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