By Loren Adams, 19 June 2011
The 21st Century Paul Revere riding to spread the
alarm [concerning the threat to the nation by corporate oligarchs] faces an
unwelcome reception from subjects still loyal to King George W. Why? Because the
loyalists that make up a sizable portion of the population are indoctrinated
into the modern-day theology of prosperity – contradictory to Christ’s
precepts. In this regard, their dogma is heresy.
The first Paul Revere rode into towns receptive to his
message. The 21st Paul Revere is not only rudely rejected but
lambasted for being unpatriotic and a rebel to the ruling monarchs.
The religious right views America as a “Christian” nation,
although the founders constructed it as pluralistic to include all religious
views and those with none. Thus, the nation in time became safe refuge to
peoples of all creeds and color from all corners.
Although Bush is relatively silent in Dallas, the religious millions
who made up his base are unrepentant and unrelenting in their quest to reshape
America into a theocratic oligarchy consolidated with corporate power – 21st Century Fascists or “Dominionists”
– as they like to be called.
The “Tea Party” movement is just the latest derivative of
the same.
The surfacing of George W. Bush might have been the premiere
symptom of decline, perhaps indicating the initial deteriorating phase all
empires suffer in their last throes. The ominous theory could be premature, although
the symptoms say otherwise.
Which came first, the chicken or the egghead?
It is my belief the advent of Bush the son (the “egghead”)
via stolen elections, combined with the capitulating nature of Democratic
leadership, mark the downward spiral of the once-great American republic.
It is now evident: hatemongers outnumber peacelovers in this
country. Guns are worshipped alongside flags, crosses and Bibles – which
passages are selected dealing with judgment, damnation and wrath. True
Christians are an endangered species probably only found in the Pennsylvania
hills and called "Amish" and “Quakers.” Much of the rest are
pretenders who, en masse, follow wolves masquerading as conformity-minded
sheep, and the wolves are determined to destroy the pasture along with the
flock at any cost (because, of course, the loss is carried by the unsuspecting,
dumb sheep exclusively).
Many of us tried to spread the alarm about impending fascism
should this country fail to reverse course. Not to downplay the subsequent
rejection to a “persecution complex,” we found our warnings rejected and unheeded.
But not only were our fellow countrymen in denial, they turned on us with rage
and false allegations. The tone of conversations grew uncivil. We now find
ourselves alienated from former friends and family members – some in our
closest circles: mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters included.
On August 21, 2008, while in Vegas, I had a dream. I was a
little boy playing with toy cars and trucks on the wooden hardwood floor of an
old Victorian house which looked over 100. Mom, now 95 but much younger in the
dream, was in the kitchen preparing supper. Then I heard the floor creak. I shouted,
"Mom, something's wrong with the house. The floor is making weird
noises."
Then my toy cars began rolling across the floor on their own
and I could see the floor becoming unlevel. I screamed again, "Hey Mom!
Something's not right! The floor is moving."
Mom just laughed, "Loren, nothing's wrong. You're just
imagining again."
Then I heard a popping and cracking sound as planks of wood
came splintering up from of the floor on one side of the room and the wall gave
way where I could see daylight peeking through. I yelled again, "Mom,
we've got to get out of here! The house is coming apart!"
Mom just laughed.
Then the whole house started moving. I ran outside as
quickly as my little feet could carry me. Mom was left in the house. I saw the building
with Mom inside tumble and roll down the hillside and break in two on its descent.
The sound was like thunder. I sat and cried thinking about Mom in the house
rolling to her death down the hill.
When I woke, the sense I got was the house was America, our
home. Mom was Mom, but she represents the millions like her of the religious
right who are quick to believe impostors and charlatans who have the agenda of
destruction foremost on their minds in an aim towards "self-fulfilling
prophecy" where world calamity brings on the end of days and the
"chosen few" are favored by final redemption.
I see the religious right as the main ingredient giving
power to the destroyers of this country: the greedy class that desires to
concentrate wealth into the hands of the few while eliminating the weak, poor,
and less privileged through natural attrition – killing the beast: social
programs, ethnic & economic equity, and safety nets – which they so
blithely refer to as “government entitlements for welfare queens.”
Most of my former religious friends and family, including
Mom, cannot see – or refuse to see – what is really going on in
this country, although I warn them time and again. Being a 21st Century Paul Revere doesn’t win hero praise.