niyad
niyad's Journal"If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution," a quote attributed (wrongly)
to Enma Goldman*, is yet one that expresses perfectly my feelings over all the decades of activist struggles. The quote was brought to mind again after an encounter yesterday with a very earnest soul.
There is a certain mindset within any kind of activism that says that any moment of joy, of laughter, of enjoying a brief respite, in the face of the serious activist struggles, is somehow blasphemous. How DARE we laugh, or smile, crack a joke, look at beauty. The issues and causes for which we fight are too serious, too important, to waste time on frivolities, says this particular dour mindset. We have probably all encountered this thinking, been on the receiving end of its censurious moral superiority.
To this calvinist mindset, I have one response. MEADOW MUFFINS.** There is a strain if thinking that runs through many belief systems that declare that suffering, denial, unending toil and sacrifice are our lot in life, our way to salvation and the promised land, after we are dead. Now, I cannot speak for anyone else, but in my belief system, Joy and pleasure, love and beauty, ARE essential. They fuel and feed us, sustain us in our struggles, give us strength and hope. We NEED the smiles in the light moment, the joy of watching children and kittens ad puppies gamboling, the outstretched hand, the stunning beauty of a sunrise, a mountain vista. Without these things, what is the bloody point??
So, I don't know about anyone else, but I intend to laugh and wonder, to love my kittyand my fiends, to enjoy my chocolate and my wine, as I continue working with my sisters and brothers, to make this a world worthy of all of us.
*read Alix Kate Shulman on the origin of that meme.
**those in the west understand.
I guess that this idiot did not know that one can purchase laser pointers at the dollar
store.
"You can't be a catholic and a Democrat" according to some twitwit calling himself fr.
altman. This comes on the heels of the US bishops thumbing their noses at their head, the discoveries of mass and unmarked graves at forced residential schools run by the church, the enslavement, torture and murder of Indigenous peoples, the Burning Times and Inquisition, the pedophile priests, the Magdaline Laundries, women as second-class non-thinking beings, and (on a personal note), the disgusting patriarchal propaganda that I heard yesterday at a funeral mass.
So I think that, in spite of himself, that nutbar may be correct. For none of those things are Democratic values.
Thank you. I knew that I had forgotten something!
May the insurrectionists, their inciters, enablers, supporters and apologists, know and experience
and feel, every single minute of the terror, the fear, the panic, the pain, of each and every person trapped in the Capitol. May they feel the pain of the police they injured and killed. May they never be free of the cries of pain, of anguish. May they know the pain of losing eyes and fingers, the trauma of brain injuries, the PTSD of this almost unimaginable horror. May they never know a moment of quiet, or rest, or ease for the rest of their lives. May the faces of those they hunted, terrorized, injured, killed, haunt their every waking and sleeping moment.
As I decree, so mote it be.
A quick stroll down memory lane in crazy town: rummaging around in the attic in my mind, I
came across a number of widely-believed conspiracy theories from decades ago (yes, back in the dark ages). These current nut cases are not even terribly original, but certainly a lot more deadly.
Early '80's: Procter and Gamble ceo is a satanist. He actually announced this on a daytime talk show. All profits go to spreading the word of Satan. The logo of the stars is proof of this satanic connection. We must boycott P&G products.
Early '90's: Satanic pedophile and child sacrifice/blood drinking ring is operating across the US. This is why there are so many missing children. A person who is an "expert" on cults persuades many police departments to pay him for instruction in tracking down Satan worshippers. Civilians are encouraged to turn in their neighbors. Proof of their satanic links include being in possession (they don't catch this) of such articles as candles, incense, images of unicorns, black clothing, occult images, mortars and pestles.
When I saw this list, I called our local PD and asked if any of them cooked, or ever had candle-lit dinners, or enjoyed fantasy stories. Also demanded our taxpayer money back.
And who can forget the gerbil!
These whack jobs have gotten more insane over the last four decades, and much better armed. But still not an original thought in their non-functioning crania.
The fixation on satanism is a recurring theme with these nut bars. Projection, much? They must love their precious satanic creation.
Will keep fingers crossed for you!
It is an interesting theory.
Calling on our artists and graphic designers: The Wrinkled Rage (kudos, nolabear) needs really
Kickass graphics, etc, for our group.
Allow me to explain: in an earlier thread, nolabear indicated that she was ready to run through the streets naked if it got four more years. I asked if I could join her, as did several others. First name that came to mind was The Old, The Naked, The Pissed Off Gang. Other names were suggested, but we think Wrinkled Rage (as some of us have been around a while!) seems most appropriate. Just think of very angry and annoyed and pissed off older women running down the streets naked in protest of the orange traitor. Any ideas gratefully accepted.
All are welcome to join! Maybe some great lyrics and music as well????
Thanks in advance!!
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Member since: Tue Jul 29, 2003, 02:30 PMNumber of posts: 122,023