France Just Took Over as World Leader in Women's Rights & Florida's Measles Outbreak Enabled by Surgeon General
FL Curbs Shade and Water Breaks, Trump Warns Against Foreign Languages, Antisemitic, Racist GOP Nominee for Guv of NC, Fake Photos Try to Prove Trump Likes Black People, Gladys Knight & The Pips Sing
What I’m Discussing Today:
Kareem’s Daily Quote: Today I ruminate on a Flannery O’Connor quote about the benefits of blasphemy.
Florida is swamped by disease outbreaks as quackery replaces science: Florida’s surgeon general doesn’t care much for science—or for protecting school children.
Florida passes ‘cruel’ bill curbing water and shade protections for workers: While legislators sit in their comfy air-conditioning, the workers who put them there can die in the heat.
France becomes the first country to explicitly enshrine abortion rights in its constitution: France is now leading the world in enshrining women’s rights while the U.S. is busy trying to take them away.
Trump warns of 'languages coming into our country' that 'nobody' has heard of: The implication is that we should for some reason fear foreign languages, even though most of the U.S. population is descended from non-English speakers. Including Trump.
Trump calls GOP candidate with a history of offensive remarks 'Martin Luther King on steroids': Republicans have nominated a racist, antisemitic, anti-LGBTQ+ person who is the opposite of Dr. King.
Kareem’s Video Break: Children and their dogs. It’s a special kind of love.
Gladys Knight & The Pips Sing “Midnight Train to Georgia”: What could be better than listening to the powerful voice of Gladys Knight while watching the glorious choreography of The Pips?
Kareem’s Daily Quote
The only way to the truth is through blasphemy.
Flannery O'Connor
The blasphemy O’Connor is writing about isn’t religious, it’s social. She means that society in general embraces certain beliefs so tightly and desperately that anyone who suggests those beliefs are wrong is accused of committing social blasphemy. The attitude is that any variant beliefs threaten the foundation of society and therefore holding them is a crime so heinous that those expressing them should be banned from society, either through shunning, marginalization, or death.
The justification for this opinion is that order in society is the ultimate goal and that those professing ideas opposing those celebrated by society are foxes in the hen house, threatening to gobble up the social order. However, that premise is wrong. Society’s main goal should never be order at any price. It should be to have a strong society because it can withstand, and even thrive on, disagreement.
Only the intellectually challenged are so insecure that they require blind loyalty to ideas—or the people spouting those ideas. Progress in civilization has mostly come from the intellectual and social rebels, many of whom were vilified in their time for their “crazy” notions.
Every society has a shameful history of holding beliefs that later are proven to be ridiculous and harmful—and of punishing those who try to spark enlightenment. That’s how we get so many martyrs like Jesus, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., JFK, RFK, Malcolm X, and several others.
What’s especially interesting is that we have thousands of years of history of this behavior in which the masses hold some irrational beliefs as sacred while punishing those who disagree—only to have those beliefs be proven wrong. As Ralph Nader said, “The whole story of human history is: The blasphemy of today is the commonplace of tomorrow.” Yet, the pattern keeps repeating over and over again. Why is it so hard to learn from past mistakes? Why do we insist on the equivalent of still burning witches?
In the end, the blasphemy of religion and society are pretty similar. Blasphemy would not be possible against a god who is worthy of being worshipped. Those who believe in a god who embodies love can’t believe in blasphemy because their god would not be so petty and unforgiving. The harsh angry god is the construct of leaders needing a bogeyman that only they can protect you from—and only if you do everything they tell you to do. Obey—and give money.
The rise of Christian nationalism in this country, as openly expressed by Speaker Mike Johnson (third in line for the presidency) and Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Parker in his religious rant about embryos, as well as the multitude of Christian-based laws against abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, is a warning of what kind of behavior, speech, and even thoughts may become blasphemous to those unable to tolerate divergent opinions. Databases of blasphemers are just around the corner.
However, I’m confident that we will never let our country devolve into a mob with their pitchforks, torches, and MAGA caps because this country isn’t based on fear of ideas, it’s based on hope of a better life for everyone.