This is an Open Thread / Coffee Hour and all topics of conversation are welcome. Today's suggested topic is contested words such as God and Atheist. And the announcement of a new Daily Kos group about language call the “Three Rs.”
The Blue Blood Conservatives have taken so much away from us. And their current incarnation in the United States called the Republican Party is in the process of accomplishing what Jefferson Davis, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Edmund Burke, and C. Peter Wagner only dreamed of.
I believe the only way we Democrats can stop the rise of totalitarianism is through the use of language and personal one on one dialog with our fellow citizens that are swept up with the propaganda machine that controls and informs our managed democracy.
Revolution, Violent Protest, and Armed Insurrection will not work. If they did we would not be in the mess we are in now. The Blue Blood Republicans and classless pretenders such as Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will only use violence and the power of the dollar to consolidate their control.
This article is continued after the Monday’s featured link and the fold. The comments for this article are are after community links comment and its sub thread.
Community Quilt for MaureenMower. Sara and Ann would like to make a community quilt for Maureen so that she has a constant reminder that people are thinking good thoughts for her and wishing her well. Please see this link to a Community Quilt Diary for information on how to submit message of love to Maureen. Sara and Ann request a small donation to pay for the manufacture of the quilt and a message of love to be printed on the quilt square. Please support Sara and Ann and there Community Quilt Project.
What is for dinner? How are you doing? What is on your mind. If you are new to Street Prophets please introduce yourself beyond the fold in a comment. This is an Open Thread / Coffee Hour and all topics of conversation are welcome.
Pastor Dan in creating Street Prophets hoped to reclaim Religion from the Religious Right. Articles published under the Street Prophets banner were to be “safe zones” for civil discussion of how our faith, lack of faith, or spirituality motivates our political engagement. Street Prophets was intended to be a forum for all beliefs or no beliefs.
I was talking to a friend of mine that was on the ground in the early 60s in the south about my personal political struggle.
and they told me glue of the civil rights movement was the belief in God and strong faith in the justness of the cause. My friend brought up the her experience in the south when I was lamenting that the large Vallejo group assembled for the Grand Opening of the Government Offices was lacking representation from all the diverse groups in Vallejo.
Vallejo is the country's most diverse city, with the percentages of the four main ethnic groups nearly evenly distributed, according to the new NerdWallet study published this week in Business Insider.com. NerdWallet is a consumer website. A 100 percent diverse city would have 25 percent each of Hispanic / Latino, white, black and Asian/Pacific Islander. At 96.9 percent diversity, Vallejo has a population that is 23.7 percent Latino, 24.1 percent white, 21 percent black and 24.5 percent Asian / Pacific Islander. — From: Vallejo is tops in the nation in ethnic diversity
Vallejo is the country's most diverse city, with the percentages of the four main ethnic groups nearly evenly distributed, according to the new NerdWallet study published this week in Business Insider.com. NerdWallet is a consumer website.
A 100 percent diverse city would have 25 percent each of Hispanic / Latino, white, black and Asian/Pacific Islander.
At 96.9 percent diversity, Vallejo has a population that is 23.7 percent Latino, 24.1 percent white, 21 percent black and 24.5 percent Asian / Pacific Islander.
— From: Vallejo is tops in the nation in ethnic diversity
I know this article is a bit dated, but the percentages have not changed much since it was published in 2013.
My friend said that whites from all over the country joined in the protests for justice. It was my friend’s opinion that the difference between then and now is the general public attitude toward Religion has changed. Back then Religion was was a liberating force that inspired humans to be their best. And now it is just another tool used by blue blood Conservatives to divide the people and control them.
As we continued to discuss the Civil Rights movement in the 60s I found myself using the word “God.” As my friend knows me she did not see my use as being hypocritical. So, I confess when I’m around people I feel comfortable with I sometimes use the word God. Its use simplifies the conversation and moves things along. It also establishes common ground. But, I worry about consistency. My uneven use of the word opens me up to criticisms from both liberals and conservatives.
When pressed I find myself calling myself a “spiritual atheist.” And I hate that term. Even the mention the word atheist, qualified with spiritual, turns off conversation with Religious folks. On other occasions when speaking in public I have called myself a Red-Letter Christian or a Deist. This is slightly better but not surprisingly those that I talk to have never heard of the terms. And clearly publicly calling my self an atheist in public is a guaranteed turn off to many that might be in audience.
The upshot is language is being used to divide the people. As you may know the Republicans spent 100s of millions of dollars in think tank research to plan how to weaponize language. Liberals and Progressives have not caught up with the Republican messaging and the current political mess we are in is the result. Below are three recommendations I would like to suggest to begin to address the challenge we face.
1) I think there is a lot to learn from William J. Barber II’s Moral Mondays movement. Specifically he gives us a new term, The Third Reconstruction. He also has developed a public speaking style that incorporates what he calls Fusion Politics. Notice he introduced two new phrases into the conversation.
2) I would like to recommend David Akadjian’s The little Book of Revolution as a starting place to address the issue. But, unless us liberals are willing to get out and actually talk to conservatives all the theories and book learning will be wasted.
3) I think the Resistance would benefit from collecting and noting new words and concepts in a central location. Perhaps it would be a good idea to establish a new group on Daily Kos about language and messaging. Thus, the proposed group identified in the logo above could be called:
Words For The Resistance, The Third Reconstruction, and Restoration
An article by Stella Ray, Is “The resistance” the message we want to stick with?, got me thinking about “the resistance” being used by liberals and progressives in our struggle against totalitarianism. I rather like the simplicity of a group being called “Words for the Resistance.” But, what do we do after resisting? Are we just defined as the Resistance? Reconstruction and Restoration when added to resistance makes for a more complete vision. The logo above has the -i in its center to signify community. In other words “Not I.”
In The Wrath of Khan (1982), Spock says, “Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” Captain Kirk answers, “Or the one.”
In the proposed group words, phrases, and neologisms would be discussed and organized to mount a “poor peoples” think tank to talk about how to counter and fight the Conservative propaganda machine. Often just using a new word and not the old words stimulates conversation. Having a list of words both contested words, resistance words, and new words I think would be helpful.
What do you Think?
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