Lest We Forget: Vain Hubris Can Be Disastrous - The Hindenburg Showed Us How.

American exceptionalism has been in the news so much lately that you'd think it was an inbred trait of America.


It is. Only it was called by other names in the past: "Manifest Destiny" and "American Colonialism." The concept of America as the Number One nation in the world, it seems has always been with us, but there have been times when our swelled heads have been deflated - pride going before the fall, so to speak.


Yesterday was the 75th anniversary of the Hindenburg disaster, an epic tragedy in many ways to many people, but perhaps the biggest setback to a prideful National Socialist Party and its homeland, Germany.


It was May, 1937, and Germany was still riding a high from 1936 - hosting the Summer Olympics and re-occupying the Rhineland (against the Treaty of Versailles) in its first real aggressive act since WWI. True, it was fighting some bad vibes from other countries (especially the U.S. and even the Vatican), but it also saw the unifying of Germany and Japan against Communist Russia in the Anti-Comintern Pact. Germany as a power in the air had been established for a long while, with the flying of zeppelins as proof of Germany's technological superiority.


There was hubris tinged with irony in the disaster: it was first proposed that the massive zeppelins be filled with helium, a non-flammable substance, but because America - the biggest producer of helium gas during the 20s and 30s - had a military embargo against Germany banning the import of helium, Germany was forced to use flammable hydrogen as the primary lift gas for zeppelins. For years, the zeppelins filled with hydrogen had operated without a problem, giving Germany the feeling that it had mastered the art of lighter-than-air flying. The Hindenburg was, in a sense, the Titanic of zeppelins, drawing onlookers wherever it went - and especially where it landed. It had, in fact, flown 34 successful transatlantic trips in 1936.


The film of the disaster will remain in history's memory forever: not until 9/11 had anyone ever seen instant flaming destruction on such a scale.


Not until 9/11 - perhaps the other wake up call to a nation's hubris. Yes, it may seem a stretch to compare the two, but bear with this concept: whether natural or man-made, disasters can bring countries of great import to to their knees. More than humbling, disasters can be a reality check, a jolt back into perspective. The problem with that jolt, however, is how we react to it: if we react with more hubris (the cowboy diplomacy of George Bush?), we may be worse off than before.

American exceptionalism, as said before, has always been with us. We are the shining City On a Hill "exempt from historical forces that have affected other countries." (wikipedia). "Exempt" may too mild a word for a country that has considered a capitalist, boot-straps, take-charge energy to be the be-all and end-all of everything good for a nation and its inhabitants. Exceptionalism has created, if you will, a blindness to America's history of its ills and lack of morality. We have today some Americans who have flatly stated that African-Americans were better off under slavery. We have political forces teeming to obliterate the hard-won labor movement. The Christian Right backs only corporations and politicians who subscribe to a Puritan ethic, mindless in that ethic's war on humanity. The OWS movement is considered an outright war on capitalism. The singing duo Garfunkel and Oates have been roundly criticized for coming out with a parody, We-Are-The-World video entitled Save The Rich (see below). American exceptionalism is in full force.

So when is going to be America's next Hindenburg? It's next 9/11? When are we going to jolted back into the reality that we have a long way to go to be as perfect as we think we are? When it happens, let's hope that we will have the integrity and leadership to accept the reality check and go on from there.

Oooooh! We're Scared! Westboro Baptist Church Is Mad At Anonymous!

We sincerely hope that this spurs Anonymous to act right away! 

Sorry the print is so lousy to read. Suffice it to say, this is one ungrammatical, poorly written public response. How did the Phelps clan ever get through college with this stuff?


Some highlights: 


"Anonymous is a puddle of pimply-faced nerds ... because they hate Westboro Bible preachments." Alliteration is not one of the Westboro gang's strong points ("puddle of pimply-faced nerds" really makes no sense). "Preachments" is an odd word - I looked it up: "preachment" is a sermon of sorts that is odious or "tedious." Sort of unintentionally self-deprecating, wouldn't you say?


Then there's: "
"Let us tell you how it will go: rebels will build a full head of steam based on false hope; the media will do much breathless anticipating while giving another tsunami of coverage to Westboro's message ..."


"A tsunami of coverage"?? Maybe the media will cover it gleefully, but to purport a "tsunami" of coverage is hubris. Also, Westboro's message is one of hate and not one from God. They're two different things.


Then last:


"All your draconian blather changes nothing." Boy, aren't we the learned ones!  Irony here: "draconian" is one of the first words we think of when we think of Westboro "Baptist" church.


Go! Anonymous! Go!

 

A Rib-Cracking Bear Hug: The Russian Orthodox Church EMBRACES Gays

Two of the biggest problems Christian churches have today: people either blindly trust them OR... they don't trust them at all. I admit I'm one of the latter, but with good reason: I saw one of history's greatest hypocrisies play out before my very eyes in our own "Age of AIDS." No, I won't go into my story because a great many people already know it and for those who don't, here's an open invitation to contact me to find out why I am so mistrustful of organized religion. For argument's sake, however, let's just say that I know a little about the whys and wherefores of religious organizations.

From 365gay.com

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church says that, although the church views homosexuality as a sin, homosexuality is a personal choice.

Patriarch Kirill says gays and lesbians must not be persecuted or discriminated against in any way, though the church still opposes same-sex marriages.

The patriarch’s statements, a breakthrough for the Russian church, were made during a meeting Wednesday with visiting Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland.

Opposition to gay rights remains widespread in Russia, where homosexuality was decriminalized only in 1993.

Several high-profile Russian politicians have spoken against gay rights. Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has described homosexuality as “satanic” and blamed homosexuals for spreading AIDS.

Some people have hailed the Patriarch's move as "embracing" while others look at it suspiciously: too little and waaaay too late. Russia's love affair with homophobia is so entrenched in the culture that patriarchs placing pink triangles on their foreheads would be met with derision and onion-domed churches set ablaze (for good measure). And although one could argue "it's better than nothing," we've heard that song before and it's rather depressing: "Second Hand Rose". It's as if gays are getting the crumbs off the table of Patriarch Kirill's table. One comment the Associated Press article got was quite apropos, although acidic in temperment:

Why do we care what is said by a group which believes in bronze age mythology about a sky deity who sends his son, who is really himself on a suicide mission so he doesn’t have to send everyone on earth into eternal burning torment? Talking snakes with feet? Guys living inside of giant fishes? It’s like some sort of really badly written and edited science fiction novel. And yet we listen to what they have to say about us? Why? I don’t give a rat’s ass what they think. The sooner they drift into the debris of history, the better off we will all be.

The last two sentences are a bit too negative. The part that I focused on immediately: "And yet we listen to what they have to say about us?" Yes, we do. Or more correctly, yes, they do. And they outnumber us. They are high on self-righteousness. They glory in their "true church" hubris.

The embrace? ...hypocrisy. If they think gays are sinners who choose to sin, then why the anti-discrimination, anti-persecution declaration? Is it possible that the church is making slow moves towards full acceptance? Possible, but not likely. The compassion that is stated by organized religion could very well be a smokescreen: it's the "love the sinner, hate the sin" meme used to lull and dull.

Cynical? Of course. Cautious? Yes. And although we'll have to wait and see how much effect their "compassionate" declaration has on the Russian public, I should give everyone a caveat here:

Don't hold your breath.