Have you ever considered the idea that perhaps our nation is not as “free” as you thought?

If you have, well played my friend. You don’t actually need this article to tell you anything.

If you haven’t….well please allow me to enlighten you on the fallacy that is The American Dream.

First off, lets take a look at America and how this shit was set up. Religious fundamentalism. That’s pretty much all you need to know about American politics for the first 200 years. Sound ridiculous? All you have to do is listen to any number of speeches, look at any number of governmental documents. Look at your dollar bill. Why the hell is the word god on that? Listen to the fucking pledge of allegiance, a statement we require our children to recite, declaring their support to “god and country”.

“But Beck, that’s just American history, we have to pay tribute to this great nation.”. Bullshit. This is a clear example of religious endorsement by the United States government. What makes this worse is that this endorsement is still fucking used by politicians today. Why is this bad?

Well, imagine you aren’t a follower of the christian faith. Lets imagine you grew up in a suburban neighborhood in Dubai, living with your fam-jam until one day, one glorious day, you all decide to apply for citizenship in America, the land of the free.

I’m assuming at this point, when someone apply’s for citizenship in our country, a rocking American-ass guitar solo starts up, convincing the appropriate parties the correctness of their decision.

So, you get that sweet ass green card for all your family members, and become a part of America, the land of the plenty.
Then, it happens.

BAM, you get JESUS, you all get JESUS, LOOK UNDER YOUR CHAIR ITS JESUS.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not against Christianity. In fact, ironically, I was raised around it for much of my childhood. I consider myself to be agnostic, but I will always have a soft spot for Christian religious ceremony, the bonds it strengthens between me and my family. From Christmas, to Easter, I am all about that.

But jesus christ guys, look at our country. We are literally the McDonald’s of religious endorsement. It’s not just a part of our culture, its an integral, traditional part of our governmental and judicial processes. We make people swear the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth on a fucking bible. We put god into our legislation and cash so much, it’s like that damn waiter who won’t stop putting pepper on my spaghetti.

God DAMNIT man I just said a little.

Also, look at the English language for god-sake. I LITERALLY JUST HAD THE WORD GOD IN THAT LAST SENTENCE. GOD DAMN IT HAPPENED AGAIN. JESUS FUCKING CHRIST.

AHGKJAGHKAGH.

Ok, perhaps our language is a little different, but still, my point stands.

“Ok”, you say, “Now I know that mayyybe we put god into our shit alot, why is this a bad thing? This country was originally christian anyway, and other countries have the same endorsement, like Italy for instance.”

Yea, and look at how that works out for them. -> Check out the conflict on pulling the plug for long term coma patients. God Damn.

Regardless, the difference that makes the United States problematic is simply put.

“United States, Land of the Free/Equal”

 

No one would argue that we stand on the world stage as the leaders in progressive attitudes, snooty Californians, and freedom/equality. This equality stems from an impartial system, a system that allows equal opportunity and freedom. Impartial is the keyword in this scenario. So you got this family, this family from Dubai. They are accustomed to a society who’s values and governmental endorsements were both known, and embraced. While their happiness is entirely subjective, the system they were born into was familiar. Upon moving to America, they are confronted by christian advertisement on almost every product that they consume. In addition to that, almost all politicians try to appeal to the public through this strange religion that is nothing like they are used to. Not only that, but even on the money they receive has the word god on it so much that there is barely enough room for the security markers. Even the language uses so many god related phrases that its like listening to a southern minister talk about his new son-in-law.

“Ok, but that’s just our culture. How is their equality threatened?”

This sort of unconscious religious endorsement results in both a perceived, and actual lack of empathy among those involved. Take the Indians for instance. In July of 2013, Indians in Arizona were shocked when a mining company threatened to frack an entire portion of their religious land, land used for countless ceremonies and traditions. The mining company was enabled by a small change in a military spending bill, which was passed by McCain (Yes that McCain) who pushed it through. In essence, the clause traded the Indian land for basically nothing in return. These Indians took to protesting, doing all they can to stop the copper mining. This could be a simple case of corporate greed, but it is far more likely that this stems from an integral lack of empathy given to members of a secondary religion. This point is furthered when you realize that its the United States government’s job to protect religious liberty and freedoms, and even more so for the case of Indians, due to the certain things we did to them throughout the entirety of United States history. This lack of attention, the perpetuation of back handedness, and the lack of United States intervention just points to the complete lack of empathy and complete failure on the promise of freedom and equality.

Endorsement theory is simple. If a government endorses a religion, both outsiders perception, and actual actions carried out by the government are both seen as biased and illegitimate. For a nation that pushes freedom and equality so much that it feels like you are going to bleed red white and blue, it’s truly a joke that we can’t even get the religious equality thing right.

Honestly, if you aren’t convinced that my word is god at this point, the only advice I can give you is to open your eyes, and take a good hard look at the word around you. Listen to politicians speak, read our newspapers, look at our money for long periods of time in a subway bathroom.

Ok, so perhaps don’t do the last one.

Try and figure out how you stand on this, before making a decision off hand. You are an independent, free thinking human.

Act like one.

-Beck Duston