November 07, 2008

The Four Pillars of Hatred

If there’s one thing we learned from the most recent election, it’s that black people are more highly regarded than gays. This is somewhat of a relief, because as I toil through the night trying to prioritize the amount of racism, sexism, homophobia and religious persecution I disgorge onto the world, I want to make sure my disparaging remarks remain in line with the “industry norm.”

After all, what would humanity be without these four pillars of hatred. Ever since man learned to speak, we’ve learned to hate. Since we invented fire, we’ve been able to burn people at the stake. And we’ve managed to nurture and grow our hatred since then.

Some might think that, what with terrorism and infidels and guns and bullets and the Internet, we’ve streamlined the whole hatred industry. But you’re wrong. You see, back in the old days, hatred was simple. It was easy. Now it’s just completely fragmented and it is practically impossible for any given person to figure out if they should hate the Jews more than the blacks, or the gays more than the Christians, or women more than the Mexicans. It’s just too damn confusing. We need a hate cheat sheet or something.

Before things like the Internet, it took a village to create a good solid hating presence. You all had to make plans and agree on strategy. Everybody knew the goals, everybody knew who was supposed to be stoned. These days, people just start a blog and all of the sudden they think they’ve built a community of hate. You’ve got a racist here, a sexist there. There’s no continuity. It seems people have been lulled into a sense of persecution complacency and it’s killing the hatred industry.

It’s a huge misconception of all the people out there building websites or posting blogs that they’re the kings of hatred just because they’re talking about Jew this or gay that or blacks and bitches and ho’s and blah blah blah. They think that people will follow them just because they know how to type and all of the sudden everybody will adhere to their beliefs, as if they even knew which form of hatred is supposed to be the most important in today’s society. It’s all horse-pocky. To make a real hateful presence, you to have the power of the masses. And, trust me, getting the power of the masses these days ain’t as easy as it used to be.

Press isn’t enough. The last really good publicity campaign for hatred was with Jesus Christ. I mean, seriously, who the heck was that PR person? I want to hire them. All it took was one crucifixion of one guy and suddenly religious persecution evolved into the most important pillar of hatred for a good couple of centuries. Now THAT’S a good PR campaign.

Then again, Jesus has nothing on the Aztecs. When talking about persecution, we can’t forget about the Aztecs. They were like the Bill Gates of hatred. They were killing women, gays and members of other races long before persecution was even en vogue. They defined what hatred really is. They set the bar of hate so high, that in the 600 years following them not a single entity has even come close.

Today’s haters should revere the Aztecs. I mean, come on folks, they went on a spree where they killed over 84,000 people in 4 days! FOUR DAYS! I know what you’re thinking, “84,000 people, that’s it?”

Well pay attention, would you. They didn’t do their killing last week. It was all done 600 years ago. That means it was old skool. No gas chambers, no electric shock, no kool aid, guns or cyanide, no biological or chemical weaponry - just good ole fashioned sticks and stones. You try killing 84,000 people in four days with a bunch of stones and let’s see how long it takes for your arms to get tired. For goodness sakes, the Aztecs are the veritable poster children for discrimination. You think Hitler made a mark on this world? P-tewie.. Hitler only wishes he could’ve been a better hater.

Don’t get me wrong here, Hitler is definitely in the top 10 of the Who’s Who of Hatred. He did quite a number on the religious persecution front, but one can’t help but question whether it was more influential than what the early Americans did to promote racism. That whole slavery trade thing really made a mark. If you’re really going to make a point about hatred, what better way than to import goods from another country just so you can hate them. That’s a real commitment to hate. Hitler was just cleaning house, Americans on the other hand, were cleaning somebody else’s house.

There’s been a lot of fallout from that whole slavery shtick. Racism has flourished in the United States. And though we’ve seemed to make steps to batter down that single pillar of hatred, all you’ve got to do is look at our prison population, median incomes, and white collar employee profiles to figure out that racism ain’t going nowhere. It’s one thing that America can be proud of, we sure know how to build and perpetuate a racist society.

As far as religious persecution, other countries do a much better job than the US. And sexism? When it comes to degrading women, the US has a lot to learn before we can be considered the top of the hatred heap. But with racism, we definitely excel.

I never really knew where we stood with gays in terms of the global hatred spectrum, though I had a pretty good idea that we didn’t have nearly as much hate for the gays as some other countries. You know, like the countries that kill gays right there on the spot. I haven’t read the bill of rights lately, but I’m pretty sure that killing gays right on the spot is still somewhat frowned upon here in the US.

So, anyway, as I tried to figure out what the order of preference for hatred was in today’s US society, here’s what I came up with:

1. Racism
2. Homophobia
3a. Sexism (tie)
3b. Religious persecution (tie)

That was on November 4th.

Then I woke up on November 5th and realized I got it all wrong. First of all, I’m not sure if you heard the news yet, but a black man has been voted in as the President of the United States. A black man!!

That means racism isn’t the number one pillar of hatred in the US anymore. It might even be number four. I was shocked. I thought I’d never see the day. I had chills of excitement. I couldn’t drag myself away from the TV or the Internet. I wanted more information. I realized that we are in the midst of history. History is happening right this very second. Dramatic, life-altering, enthralling history that can only be defined with the two words that drove Obama’s campaign: Hope and Change.

We hope that racism will disappear, and this may help with that change.

I was in awe, cycling through hope and swimming through a sea of change, when all of the sudden I came across some other news. The residents of Arizona, Florida and California all decisively agreed to ban the rights for gays to get married.

HUH!?!?

OK, Arizona I can understand. That’s John McCain country and I wouldn’t exactly call him a gay-lover. Though he was supported by Dick Cheney who has a gay daughter. Then again, good ole Dick probably doesn’t love his daughter anyway. I’ll give you Arizona.

Florida I can almost understand, but not really. Few things say “gay” more than Miami Beach and possibly Palm Beach. But Florida has already stood out in elections as the dysfunctional child – so they probably had no clue what they were talking about when they voted to limit gays rights to marriage.

But California?! If there’s a gay state in the entire US of A, it’s California. San Francisco is like the gay capital of the world. Palm Springs is the gay Florida. Los Angeles? There would be no entertainment business without the gays. There are few states as liberal as California. It’s amazing the state color isn’t a rainbow. Tell me, how in God’s name could California vote AGAINST giving gays the right to get married?!

Would somebody tell me what we’re scared of?

In fact, how could any person in their right mind vote against allowing two people who love each other to confirm that love for the rest of their lives in the most treasured and timely tradition of marriage. There are so many heterosexuals out there beating their wives, abusing their children and giving humanity a bad name – but we can’t let two people who love each other get married?

We shouldn’t stop gays from getting married, we should stop heterosexual assholes from getting married! Somebody show me where to vote for THAT bill!

I’m flabbergasted. I just don’t get it. On the same day we have elevated one people to levels many thought we would never see in our lifetime, we have used our heels to ground another people into the gutter.

But I guess the American people have spoken. And, according to the most recent election, blacks are now allowed to be part of society but as for gays, well, maybe next year.

8 comments:

J9 said...

Beautifully written. A sad topic, most of it, but still, beautifully recognized and written.

Anonymous said...

You ought to understand it quite well. You love Catherine and don't need a state license to say that. Marriage is a religious sacrament that somehow got tied to the State for no good reason and frankly shouldn't be. Marriage is a Judeo-Christian tradition and no matter how many times two people of the same sex say their vows they can never be wed in God's eyes. Thus they turn to the government to force churches to give them marital recognition. If the churches do not comply, the government takes away their tax-exempt status. If that's not an abuse of power I don't know what is.

Trihardist said...

Thanks, J.

Tallen, it's not just about the marriage thing. If some people's version of a loving God demands that I be alone for a lifetime because of predisposition outside of my control, fine. Those people are entitled to their opinion. I think the state should get its grubby mitts off marriage altogether. I have no problem with the idea of civil union.

But I can't stand this bullshit about "protecting" marriage. If protecting marriage was the driving force behind this legislation, we would already have more stringent divorce laws. This isn't about protecting an institution.

This is, like J said, about hate and fear. I'm not bothered by the fact that I can't marry; I don't know that I'd ever even want to. What bothers me is that the majority of Americans still bear so much hate and fear towards me. Towards us. In their eyes, I can never truly love. It can't happen. Any relationship I am in will always be (in their eyes) twisted, deformed, broken, inadequate.

It's heartbreaking, married or not.

KodaFit said...

Well said! I think that in addition to hatred, this result is an indication of the power of fear and how easy it can be used to manipulate the ignorant.

CVSURF said...

Just because someone disagrees with your point of view does not mean they hate you.

KodaFit said...

If I may disagree with that last comment, with hate being the furthest thing in my mind :-)

Speaking as someone who experienced white hot hatred from someone who disagreed with me on one of the issues this weekend, I would have to say there are differing degree's of disagreement. I also had a very productive and respectful chat with someone who disagreed, but was prepared to see my point of view and I, theirs.

It's all in how they go about disagreeing with you, and how respectful you are of their point of view as well.

K said...

Very well written. WoW! I don't understand what's going on here in Cali either. Well Conneticut just legalized gay marriage so all gays who want to get married can go to conneticut or massachussets. Maybe the east coast will become the new gay mecca and california will become like Utah. Old. Grey. And Mormon.

KodaFit said...

I feel bad jumping in again, but... As a Utah Mormon (I'm also a little gray, but my hair's so short you can't tell).. If I could put a plug in for Utah. We're not all right wing biggotted freaks. Some of us like to think we're pretty close to normal, and think Mormon Church support of Prop 8 was a HUGE MISTAKE - sadly, we're also in the minority here.

There is a belief in Mormon theology that at some point, all Mormons will get told to go and meet up in Missouri. When that happens, I intend to stay and I would encourage you to visit. This place is as good as Boulder for altitude training, the scenery is magnificant, and the skiing and snowboarding are second to none.

Hell, I'd even offer to take you guys out for a drink with a couple of my wives!

[Just in case there is any confusion... I'm kidding about the wives, but not the drink!!]

OK, I'll be quiet now!