Article: Goose Stepping for God

Goose Stepping for God

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Haven't you noticed how interchangeable are the twitching audiences of television's glassy-eyed evangelists and the psychopathic German hordes of Adolph Hitler's torchlight parades?

This almost exact similarity should not be ignored. Political fascism and religious fanaticism are two sides of the same coin.

So let's see if we can shine a little light into this social puke.

It all comes down to fear of life, don't you think? People utterly terrified of the existential constants and challenges of life will suck their thumbs for the nearest cult leader who has infantile answers for infantile questions.

LEMMINGS; "How do I transcend the human condition?"

FASCISM/FANATICISM: Oh that's easy? Just do this or that. Read a pamphlet.

REALITY: You don't. You just make the best of it until you go the way of all flesh. You carry on.

LEMMINGS: "But there's so much pain and confusion in life; it's just too much for me!"

FASCISM/FANATICISM: Not to worry. Look at that man on the podium (it's almost always a man) and if you obey him absolutely, you'll be "lifted up" out of this human hell.

REALITY: In the first place, it's not all pain and confusion. Cherish art, honor science, and love your family. Does this "transcend" the universal challenges of life? Of course not, but only nut cases attempt to transcend the untranscendable.

LEMMINGS: "No, no, no, this is too much. I can't live like that. I want to be a child in a world of Mommy's and Daddy's who have a hot line to God!"

FASCISM/FANATICISM: Of course you do. That's natural, and this television evangelist and/or political "authority" (Sieg Heil!) knows more about EVERYTHING than you do. So shut up and march.

REALITY: Yeah, march over the cliff. Grow up. Be an adult. Stop pretending that only you are on the shore and everyone else is in what Goethe called the "flood of fate". A little advice: it's tough to swim in the existential flood of fate when you're pretending you're on the bank.

And the beat goes on.

Cults, human lemmings, Dictatorship of the Rich fascists, righteous fanatics (of all religions, no exceptions) are what they are -- as are Bush/Republicans. But this is beginning where we are, with precisely these diaper adults. The main thing is to SEE them for what they are: the dead weight of human civilization.

So, as always, it's up to the grownups.

Just as it also always comes down to fighting the good fight and keeping the faith.
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W. Christopher Epler (Bill)