Sinners, Saints and Everyone In Between

In Catholic art Satan, Adam/Eve, Nephilim, fallen angels, Judas Iscariot and other disgraced souls are often displayed in poses and with expressions that suggest isolation, shame and anguish.

Let that marinate. Some more. A little more. Moooooore. Okay. Why did I mention it? Don't cheat. Why is it important? Are you ready?

Sinners are prominently displayed in catholic art.

Not hidden. Not ignored. Not swept under the rug. Not tucked away in a place no one will ever visit. No, the most repulsive characters in the Bible are exquisitely rendered in beautiful and awe-inspiring artwork in churches, in squares, in cemetaries, on official buildings and yes...in museums.

Shame is the national pastime of Catholics. Remembering the liars, the betrayers, the Rebels and the disgraced (and their fates) is important to the development of faith and obedience. Secularly, from a literary point-of-view, these characters are allegory for the folly of pride, arrogance, hatred, disobedience and other vices.

If Americans were half as smart as they think they are, Confederate symbolism would be as well.

These so-called "heroes" of the Confederacy should be displayed like Biblical sinners in Catholic art...heads down-turned, faces showing their guilt, blood on their hands shielding their faces from unseen scornful stares--and the Coup de grace--a plaque that reads:

"Here stands the traitor, slaver, bigot and terrorist Nathan Bedford Forrest who dedicated his life to hatred and the murder of innocents. This statue, erected by We The People of these United States, stands so that future generations may know of his shame and remember the patriots who gave their lives to preserve this Imperfect Union and provide liberty and justice for all. Let no man, woman or child repeat the crimes of Nathan Bedford Forrest."

Boom! Two birds, one stone. Racists get to have their heroes on display and non-racists don't have to see traitors glorified in public places. Confederate symbols would not be insensitive to Black Americans and would grow to be a bitter poison twisting the bowels of people who long for the antebellum days. Not a glorious homage to the rebel spirit, but an allegory to the folly of bigotry. Win-win.

Unfortunately, Americans don't like "win-win..." they like "I win." So, you get what we had here last week: one group of children trying to out shout another group of children and an innocent life lost over...what? Nothing...that's what. Time and time again, America makes this same mistake, believing they can force others to their way of thinking and destroy any enemy set before them.

Unfortunately, ideas cannot be destroyed with cannons or wrecking balls. Not in the American Civil War. Not in World Wars I and II. Not in Korea, Vietnam, China or Russia. Not during the Modern Civil Rights Movement. Not in The Middle East. Not in Africa. Not in Cuba. And, we won't destroy it today by pulverizing monuments to hatred, now that the hatred in some Americans' hearts has reared its ugly head again.

Driving these people underground only ensures they will come back stronger, more virulent and more dangerous than they were to begin. If we have learn ANYTHING from the last CENTURY of ruining Middle Eastern countries is should be this...one...thing:

Destroying the symbols extremists revere does nothing to destroy the extremist's reverence for extremism; it only serves as validation that his or her extremist beliefs are righteous and just.


I have often repeated the phrase: "we must be intolerant or intolerable things." However, the ONLY way to destroy an evil ideology is to replace it with one that is pure and good. Therefore, we must abandon our almost pathological desire to be right, to win and bend others to our will. We must be willing to be cursed, be spat upon, turn the other cheek and truly embrace our brothers and sisters. We must be willing to weather the storm of racist tirades, conservative indifference and  liberal tantrums. To get rid of the most intolerable evil, we must tolerate those possessed by it.

The road to the mind is through the heart. Where the heart leads, the soul follows. Traveling that road is an impossible journey for a vindictive, self-righteous and me-centric society, who only has a hammer and sees every problem as a nail. If we are going to change the minds of others--and eradicate the disease that is rotting away the soul of this once great nation--we must start by first changing our own.



P.S.: No Catholics were harmed in the making of this blog. Agree or disagree with the wars they fought, please show some love to those that answered the call and fulfilled their oaths to the Constitution with honor and bravery. Instead of continuing to revile each other, stop your congressional representatives from sending them to fight another immoral and unjust war. Don't screw it up this time, America. We may not get another chance.

Fanaticism Goes Full-Retard

File Under:  I cannot make this stuff up.

The "true" Klan (Ku Klux Klan) is not racist, doesn't believe in hate, and is against violence.  That wasn't a joke, at least not on my part.  Check out the video:


All-righty.  As the great-grandson of two sets of sharecroppers from the deep south, one of which died as a result of injuries suffered in a house fire set by the Klan, that certainly is shocking news to me.  To the Inter-webs I went a-looking.  Here is an excerpt from the Wikipedia article on The Ku Klux Klan:

"The modern KKK is not one organization; rather it is composed of small independent chapters across the U.S."

Since as early as I can remember, the Klan has always been one unified, national organization all about White Power and the death of anyone who was not White Anglo-Saxon Protestant.


So how did we go from lynching blacks, burning crosses to terrorize people, and filibustering civil rights amendments on Capitol Hill to joining forces with Black gang members to thwart a Klan rally?  Here is Imperial Grand Wizard Bradley Jenkins in his own words from the pages of VICE (click link for full interview):

"VICE: Hi Bradley. What did you mean when you said I'd spoken to a “fake Klan”?Bradley Jenkins: We call these other Klans "pop-up Klans." Our government made it very easy for people to call themselves Klans by splitting all the Klans up. The United Klans of America are the true Klan—we have a history, we have a charter. We're not a hate organization, we're just a fraternal white organization. [...]

And you consider Thomas Robb’s Knights of the KKK to be a pop-up Klan?Oh, I won't even tell you what I think of that man. He used to be a good Klansman, but look at the difference between his website and ours: he's begging for money on every page. Sure, it takes money to operate, but begging for $40 to $50 a month from people who are losing their jobs just isn't right. [...]

So you don’t see the UKA as a hate organization?Putting on public rallies with the robes and the hoods and screaming and hollering doesn't accomplish anything. Let me tell you what I hate: I hate that my country is going down the tubes and that Europe is going down the tubes. I hate that we have people who are totally blind to the Islamization of our world. [...]

The UKA has been linked with some very serious incidents in the past, though?That was a different time and it's something you can't change. But if you look at other Klan organizations, they have scum in their ranks because they don't do background checks. It's all about quantity to them, whereas United Klans of America is concerned with quality. I'm a military veteran and an ex-cop. In fact, child molesters and immigration are two of our biggest issues. The Klan leadership figures out ways to inform communities about those issues without telling them it's coming from the Klan. We don't really want them knowing it's coming from the Klan, actually. The Klan is a means to an end. [...]

If you're not racist, why not start a new organization than become the leader of one with a long history of racism?Because there has to be someone who stands up and establishes what we're about. Myself and the four other Imperial wizards have come to the conclusion that 2013 is the time for that to happen. It will be the year that people realize the Klan is not a huge hate organization."

Well, smack me on my bottom and call me Susan (I don't know why you would do that, but something needed to go right there for transition).  Fascinating.

So as you probably surmised the title of this blog entry, I am not buying this radical change of heart on Klan ideology.  It seems that as tolerance seeps its way into the deepest roots of hate and divisiveness in America, the KKK (real, fake, or otherwise) is finding its numbers, wealth, and relevance dwindling.  Like the Dixiecrats (who were no longer in power or the mode) and the Republicans (who were getting trounced in elections) of old, this new breed of "true" Klan recognized it is time for the old flippity-flop and some good ol' fashioned spin-doctoring.  After decades of White Bashing over active and passive white complicity in hundreds of years of discrimination, suppression, and genocide one of these "educated" Klansman got the idea that White Pride would be a much more appealing draw than the messy business of killing in the name of White Supremacy.  Furthermore, maybe, just maybe if they could successfully remove themselves far enough away from the negative image they created for themselves then they could navigated the Hate Boat back into the waters of the power elite, thus reintroducing their extreme ideology back into national policy.

However, am I wrong?  Is there room for organizations like UKA in America, or the world?  Are they different from groups like: Aryan Nations, IRA, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Al-Qaeda?  Moreover, is there any reaching across the isle of moderation and civility with open arms to formerly militant extremists in the wake of a true enlightenment and reformation?  In essence, is a change of  this magnitude possible and are we as reasoned people obligated to embrace it?  I do not know.  Maybe we are co-dependent on our connections to the past, even the negative ones, and like Albi and the badly-burned Albanian boy, it's just different, very different.  Maybe I am an intellectual dinosaur and DaJuan Horton and Bradley Jenkins are the what the new face of America will be: an inconceivable coalition of diverse people with hard to categorize and label beliefs.  Mayhaps, we will come to judge this new Klan by the same criteria we judged the old -- by its words and deeds.

"Don't Let the Man Get You Down" by Fatboy Slim from Palookaville released 2004 on Astralwerks

Yes. NOW I Am Proud Again.

File Under: Keep Calm and STFU

One should recognize the difference between counting your blessings, gratitude, appreciation or other similar terms and genuine pride. To illustrate I am glad my nephew was victorious when he beat the loud-mouth punk in school in as much as he stood up for himself without receiving serious injury, but I am not proud of the way he decided to resolve the situation when he had better alternatives. I am appreciative of the relatively comfortable life I enjoy here in America. I am appreciative of the sacrifice of our soldiers and their families. I am -PROUD- of those soldiers. I am not, however, proud of what our elected representatives (of any party) have done with the freedom secured by that sacrifice. To the world, America is its media or its government, they do not get to know the John and Jane Q Publics. By our actions or inactions we create or allow to exist that image, and that image (despite all of our best efforts) is a shameful one. We have been trying to create a "more perfect union" for over 225 years, when will we actually do it?

Why this was something to latch onto for Obama detractors, I do not know. Why this found its way onto someone's wall three years after the people spoke and elected their president in a democratic election, I do not know.  Why this is relevant on 9/11, a day for remembrance, solidarity and vigilance, I do not know. What I do know is Mr. Levin and his ilk are a blight upon this world.  You Mr. Levin do not have exclusive ownership of America or what it means to be American.  Moreover, you certainly do not have an understanding of the things you so self-righteously claim as your achievements.  No one is ignoring our progresses, we are saying they are not enough. Be a real journalist or better yet do not.  Just stop hogging American idealism and polluting my air waves with your vitriol and partisanship that inspires the aberrantly vocal minority to which you cater.