I’ve been diggin’ Russell Brand’s newest podcast, Under the Skin, lately.
Sam Harris says something incredibly interesting that speaks to the inherent problem religions and their adherents face in our society. The debate starts around the 31-minute mark, and the thing he says that caught my attention comes about a minute after (the video should start at 31 minutes):
…the doctrine that makes sense of […] behavior
Can👏🏼 You👏🏼 Say👏🏼 It👏🏼 Louder👏🏼 For👏🏼 The👏🏼 People👏🏼 In👏🏼 The👏🏼 Back👏🏼
I’ve said before that What We Do, We Become, because I’m over trying to play nice and am going to call out some of the downright-incorrect nonsense that poisons our society. Because labels don’t make right (Christians worship a Jew – see, labels confuse stuff), and some straight-up dookie has been perpetuated under the guise of fielty to one dogma or another or historical protection of a power group.
But the results are speaking.
And they have been so unflattering.
Men get lumped together. Conservatives get lumped together & given a stink-eye for setting the stage for the current disgraceful character inhabiting the White House. Christians, Muslims, Republicans… just like how black people are all assumed to know each other, everyone else is getting a taste of what it’s like to bear the weight of answering for your group (Not the upper echelon, because when do they ever… but, in the rest of society).
and people don’t like it.
It may not be fair to do.
But they also didn’t do anything to prevent whatever “bad behavior” — the stuff we can (should?) see and say, objectively, “whoa, that hurts others, the general good, or even our own reputation”… because if you’re going to assert preeminence, you better back it up.
And know what game is being played.
You can’t say “I’m a better person because I’m a Christian.” Not everyone is playing the “be a better Christian” game. So, you can be as good a Christian as you want, but if that entails being a dick to everyone, you’re not a better person; you’re just a dick.
Why do you think none of these conservatives’ legislation has won over their opposition?? Uhh, duhhhhh…
The mayor New Orleans recently appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher and made a simple-but-effective point that behavior SPEAKS… results speak…
But, as the salience of our social issues becomes corrupted, peoples’ best intentions have been used to mislead them, justify awful behavior, and otherwise cloud their ability to discern.
For example: people forget how to separate the private sphere from the public, and where the government is positioned in it all. Which applies to the “Left” and the “Right”… I won’t even get into the lack of understanding about rights & liberties… but I will say that:
- There is karma in politics,
- Stop begging for a nanny, everyone, We Have to Save Ourselves, and
- Ask yourself who you consider ”Us”.