Discourse: Us v Them

The public discourse over the last 100 years or so has really not changed. We think the current contentious campaigns for public office are something new. Conservatives act as though this is the first time liberals have threatened to implement a progressive agenda, and progressives are raising the alarm that Christian extremists will return us to the dark ages.

I was watching the PBS series God in America between football games yesterday and learned that during the 20th century the dominant debate revolved around the inerrant nature of scripture, highlighted by the "Scopes monkey trial" in Dayton, TN in 1925.

But let's go back to 1895. In that year, the Woman's Bible was published by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. This challenged the traditional role of subservience for women that was the common Christian interpretation of the Bible. The nation was shocked. Some conservatives still resist the ways that women serve in the work place and in politics. Just ask Lilly Ledbetter.

In 1915, conservative Protestants published a series of pamphlets titled "The Fundamentals". The series stresses the inerrancy of the Bible, the virgin birth and the resurrection of the body. The Fundamentalist movement began and the name still identifies those with such strict beliefs.

In the 1920's, commercial radio programming began, and Christian evangelists dominated the airways, as they still do. Billy Sunday, Sister Aimee McPherson and Father Charlie Coughlin were popular radio personalities of the 1920's and 1930's.

In 1925 the Scopes trial pitted fundamentalist orator William Jennings Bryan against trial attorney Clarence Darrow. While the trial focused on the accusation that high school biology teacher John Scopes was violating the law by teaching evolution, the underlying theme was whether the Bible should be interpreted literally or not. Darrow got the court to agree to let Bryan take the stand to defend the Bible. Darrow tore him up. The proceedings were broadcast nationwide over the radio. The trial judge throws out Bryan's testimony, Scopes is found guilty of teaching evolution, the decision is overturned on a technicality, and Bryan dies a few days later.



The press claims the trial is a big defeat for the fundamentalists, and thus begins (or reinforces) the animosity between conservatives and the mainstream media that continues today.

With Bryan's death the fundamentalists retreated from the public sphere. Modernist thought expands.

Of course history tells us that the fundamentalists make a resurgence in the latter half of the 20th Century.

History also tells us that we can go back even further to document the divide in this country. President Obama is criticized for his statement that we are not a Christian nation.

"One of the great strengths of the United States," the President said at a press conference in Turkey in 2009 , "is ... we have a very large Christian population -- we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values."

Maybe, rather than being an indication that Obama is not a Christian (he is) it is an indication that he is educated (many are not).

In 1797 president John Adams signed the Treaty of Tripoli, assuring the Muslim nation that we will not start a religious war. Article 11 states:

"As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."

Now Adams was present when the documents that created our country were written. In fact, he was one of the Founding Fathers and therefore should have a pretty good idea what the consensus was.

Religious conservatives want to deny history and deny science. The battle continues.

Update: A reader has strongly suggested seeing the movie, "Inherit the Wind" staring Spencer Tracy, about the Scopes Monkey Trial. Here it is on Netflix. I second his recommendation.

For When I Feel Hated

It's the evening before Sunday, the day that many chose for worship. Or, as some believe, that God chose for worship.

Regardless of what you believe, you may sometimes call out to God, or the power above. You may feel hated. Here is a prayer for those who feel hated. I got this from my friend Michael at The Wild Reed.

A Prayer When I Feel Hated
By James Martin, S.J.

Loving God, you made me who I am. I praise you and I love you, for I am wonderfully made, in your own image.

But when people make fun of me, I feel hurt and embarrassed and even ashamed. So please God, help me remember my own goodness, which lies in you.

Help me remember my dignity, which you gave me when I was conceived. Help me remember that I can live a life of love. Because you created my heart.

Be with me when people make fun of me, and help me to respond how you would want me to, in a love that respects other, but also respects me. Help me find friends who love me for who I am. Help me, most of all, to be a loving person.

And God, help me remember that Jesus loves me. For he was seen as an outcast, too. He was misunderstood, too. He was beaten and spat upon. Jesus understands me, and loves me with a special love, because of the way you made me. And when I am feeling lonely, help me to remember that Jesus welcomed everyone as a friend. Jesus reminded everyone that God loved them. And Jesus encouraged everyone to embrace their dignity, even when others were blind to that dignity. Jesus loved everyone with the love that you gave him. And he loves me, too.

One more thing, God: Help me remember that nothing is impossible with you, that you have a way of making things better, that you can find a way of love for me, even if I can’t see it right now. Help me remember all these things in the heart you created, loving God.

Amen.

Lots of young people feel hated for one reason or another. This prayer can be a reminder. Read some of the other recent posts on this blog if you need further encouragement.

Oh, and for the next two weeks the survey to the left will be available for readers to complete. Let me know a bit about you (anonymously) and what you want out of this blog. Now I don't know that the blog will change as a result, but you never know!

Well alright, it's OK

Well alright, it's OK,

We all get the slip sometimes, everyday.

This is for you. Yes, you.

You may not feel like dancing down the hallways of your school, or your workplace, or maybe you do.

If you are young, and gay, or questioning your identity, or a parent of a child you suspect might be gay, or if you don't know any LGBT people and don't know why someone would be this way or what it's all about, watch this video. Thanks David, for sending this to me.




Now you may not appreciate the Christian lean of this video, but its not about that. It's about being honest with yourself and others and opening lines of communication.

Let me hear your story. Tell me what school you attend, or attended, and how things are, or were, there. And if you are a Bessemer student, read this. I need your help. Email me. metrocat10@aol.com .

Have a good weekend. Here are a couple of music videos to start the weekend off.

"Thieves" by She and Him





And just in case you think Zooey is zombie-like as she stares straight ahead while singing, here she is a little more active. This is the video that picture of the kids in the hallway (and the title of this blog post) came from.

"In the Sun" by She and Him

A call out to Bessemer gay kids

There are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender students at Bessemer City High School and at Davis Middle School in Bessemer, Alabama.

If you are LGBT or describe yourself as any other sexual minority, I need to hear from you.

If you are not LGBT but know a student who is, please have them contact me.

You can reach me by email at metrocat10@aol.com

You can reach me on Facebook and send me a private message.

You can contact me anonymously if you want, and our conversations will be confidential. Your identity or personal information will not be shared.

After your initial contact, we might talk by phone if you want to.

Specifically, what I want to know is if you feel you are being bullied at school, if you feel the school is not doing enough to protect you. I will also ask if your family knows you are gay and if you get support from home. I will also give you some phone numbers of organizations that can offer you help or if you feel you need to talk to someone.

I want to add your information (without revealing your name) to the information I already have.

And remember, it does get better. Last year I saw the Broadway production of Chicago. The cast of that musical has made this video to offer you encouragement.



Others from the diverse Broadway community teamed up to make this video.



And there are people all across this country that are working hard for your rights, for your safety, for your equality. Here are three pictures I took at last years National Equality March in Washington, DC, last year. More about our experience at that march can be found here.












It does get better. I hope to hear from you. But if you feel that you need to talk someone right now, there is a welcoming ear at The Trevor Project, 866-488-7386, or 866-4U-TREVOR.

Bessemer - 2010 style

There were no changes in the vote totals in Bessemer after provisional ballots were counted, according to reports. That means that on November 2, the day after they are sworn in, the new mayor and council can get started. Cleo King, district 7 council person elect, has said more than once he's "ready to make a difference," and let's just hope the rest of the council is, too.

The council will be as follows.

District 1 - David Vance

District 2 - Sherrina Rice

District 3 - Sarah Belcher

District 4 - Donna Thigpen

District 5 - Ron Marshall

District 6 - Jesse Matthews

District 7 - Cleo King

And of course, Mayor Ken Gulley.

This change occurs in 18 days and some very interesting things are going take place pretty quickly. Some people might want to run and hide. I'm just sayin'.

Our One Mile

Last night I attended the Our One Mile meeting sponsored by the Freshwater Land Trust.

Our One Mile seeks to establish and connect over 100 miles of greenways in Jefferson County.
Bessemer is part of Jefferson County, but you wouldn't know it because of the lack of elected official representation at the meeting. Mayors and council members and even school board members from other cities in the County were there.

What is a greenway, you ask?

A greenway is a long, narrow piece of land used for recreation, pedestrian, and bicycle traffic. A greenway can be anything from a narrow grassy path or a concrete sidewalk to a wooded trail. Greenways can connect neighborhoods, parks and businesses to downtown city streets.

Our One Mile will be a system of greenways through which you will be able to walk or bike from your home to such daily destinations as parks, schools, libraries or shopping areas - without the car.

Our One Mile from jason hamric on Vimeo.

"The need of public parks is generally recognized in this day and generation by thinking men of growing and progressive communities; it needs no argument."

That's not one of today's progressives saying that. It's from the Olmstead Brothers, who developed "A Park System for Birmingham" in 1924 that city leaders failed to implement. that was a missed opportunity.

Now we have another chance.

One hundred fifty or so people crowded the room and each person was able to suggest a trail or two. I proposed the connection from the greenway near the Hall of History in Bessemer to Red Mountain Park south of the city by way of the "high line" railroad trestle and rail bed that curves to parallel 14th street.

They had large maps of the county and wax pencils that we could use to draw our trail, and I drew this one. I also personally pitched the connection to Brian Rushing, the Director of Land Conservation for the Freshwater Land Trust (who I found out had learned a bit about Bessemer from this blog) and to Jane Ross of Goodwyn Mills and Cawood who is the Landscape Architect heading up that aspect of the project. They both expressed keen interest in the connection.

Whether this trail becomes a reality will depend a lot on the new mayor and new council and their attitudes toward developing greenways in our city. They can expect the same information from me that I gave the group last night.

They will learn that studies have shown that green spaces and parks positively impact a community by increasing tourism, sustainability, health, water quality, biodiversity, transportation, recreation, business and quality of life. These are all measurable benefits that could be impacted in a positive way with this trail.

I agree with how the Auburn University Urban Studio described such a connection in 2007.

"This extension of Red Mountain park west to Highway 150 could transform the city."

Well, only if Bessemer connects to it.

Here's a short video about Red Mountain Park.



Our One Mile is a partnership between the Freshwater Land Trust, Goodwyn Mills Cawood, Clarus Consulting Group, Health Action Partnership and Modern Brand.

Deaths

It's one thing to read statistics or opinions on blogs about kids killing themselves.

It's something altogether different when you put a face to the name and realize that yes, this is a real person who will never know love, will never have a career, will never get to have his or her own family, will never get to pet another cat or dog, will never see a sunrise, will never get to take state boards, will never get to meet a celebrity, will never give a surprise birthday party, will never open a Christmas present from someone special and will never eat an extra piece of red velvet cake even though they don't need it.

Here are the known LGBT suicides over the past few weeks. There are probably more. There will be more unless attitudes and policies in our country change.

13 year old Asher Brown of Cypress Texas shot himself in the head on Sept. 23, 2010 after enduring constant harassment at school according to his parents. Complaints to the school went unheard. He looks so happy in this picture.

Asher

13 year old Seth Walsh of Tehachapi California died on September 28 from injuries resulting from hanging himself from a tree on September 19. He was tormented and school officials would not address the problem.

Seth

15 year old Justin Aaberg of Anoka, Minnesota died on July 9, 2010 of hanging after being bullied at school.

Justin

He was an accomplished cello player. He wrote and played the background music in this memorial video for him.



At his high school 5 kids have killed themselves in the last year. Three of those are tied to sexual identity issues. That school chooses to "remain neutral" on the subject.

Raymond Chase was 19 years old and was a student at Johnson and Wales in Providence, Rhode Island. He hung himself in his dorm room. He had an interest in culinary arts, but will never get to use the skills he was developing.

Raymond

Tyler Clementi was a student at Rutgers and a 2010 Festival of Young Performers Scholarship recipient when he jumped from the George Washington Bridge into the Hudson River on September 22, after his roommate and another person broadcast webcam footage of Tyler in an intimate moment with another man. He was an intensely devoted musician who was described as sweet and shy.

Tyler

15 year old Billy Lucas of Greensburg, Indiana, hung himself in their barn on September 9 after enduring torment at a school that did nothing. He was called "fag" one too many times.

Billy

Billy loved horses. That he hung himself in the barn around the animals he loved is touching. I'm pretty sure he felt he was loved by his horses, I understand the human animal bond. He was surrounded by love. Here is Billy with one of his horses, Nic.

Billy and Nic

Hate messages have been left on his memorial page.

19 year old Aiyisha Hassan of Southern California took her life in her home on October 5. She was struggling with identity problems. She must have loved this little dog, speaking of the unconditional love our pets give us. They don't care if we're lesbian or gay, if we wear a dress, if we cut our hair in an odd way, if we sleep with a guy one week and a girl the next. Animals have a better outlook than many humans.

Aiyisha

Justin Lacey, 18 years old, recently began living as Chloe, a transgender woman, and after struggling with fears of harassment and abuse she shot herself in her Eureka California home on September 24, 2010.

Justin

Her mother was asked if it was hard to accept Chloe. "No, no. It's hard to accept that she is gone," she replied crying.

Chloe

Update: On the previous post I mentioned 19 year old Zach Harrington of Norman Oklahoma who killed himself a few days after attending a "toxic" city council meeting on September 28 where hateful individuals degraded the gay community. I watched a video of those proceedings. Part of what I heard was equal to what I and others have described as spiritual terrorism. I guess bullying occurs in places other than schools.

Zach

Will my community of Bessemer do something to protect the kids in our schools before something tragic happens? Will our school board pass an inclusive anti-bullying policy? We will soon find out.

What about the school board in your community?