Let me loosen your Bible belt...

At the moment I am immersed in the so-called Bible belt: Lubbock, Texas, to be more exact.
There seem to be two kinds of inhabitants in this Bible-thumping town, but symptoms of both kinds can be found in places like Barnes & Noble. There is shelf after shelf devoted to topics such as Christian Inspirational or Christianity, Romance novels, and popular fiction, and a paultry few spots left over for philosophy, poetry, or social sciences--although several of the books in that section barely qualify. The popular has invaded the academic.

One type of Bible-belt inhabitant is the friendly, kind, extremely polite individual who assumes you too are one of God's little chilluns and deserving of respect and consideration. More power to them, even if one does get a little tired of hearing how God intervenes in everything from choice of occupation to the selection of tonight's menu. These are often people who have suffered greatly but are getting by, yes, with God's help. They would no more insult you because of your skin color or accent than they would murder their children, and their brand of Christianity is often all-inclusive. Even though you might think their religion is simplistic, it so happens that the portions of the Bible they have chosen to honor are those which promote brotherly love and doing good. They don't love only certain brothers with the right pedigree and their definition of doing good includes doing no harm.

The other kind is very different indeedy. They are not rednecks, either--and just for the record, a redneck is someone who works under the sun and gets sunburned. There is nothing inferior about farmers and cowboys or construction workers, either, for that matter, and redneck should be removed from the list of insults. To be called a redneck is tantamount to "ignorant fathead", and this is supremely unfair.

But "ignorant fathead" is the mildest term that can be applied to the ranting, hate-filled, loud-mouthed "Christians" who have picked the worst portions of the collection of myths, hopes, distorted history, and metaphors called the Bible. Their best proponents are people like Dubya and Sarah Palin, who are aggressively ignorant (to a degree that you cannot distinguish between ignorance and genuine stupidity). It is easier to blow off the truly pathological such as Beck and Limbaugh because their pathology is so blatant that they are simple conduits for frustrations and self-loathing that can more easily be projected onto minorities, Muslims, illegal immigrants, and whoever else you think is causing your home-grown ills. Unfortunately, these specimens, acting as conduits, make it seem legitimate to be mad as hatters and dumber than plant life. They make it seem "logical" that you are a victim of everything and everyone, but many of their listeners hold the secret suspicion that they are whiners, allowing the listening public to indulge for a moment that greatest of all sins, being a wimp, a victim, but only for a while...

The Palin-Dubya kind of terminal ignorance is put forth not as the shameful evolutionary defect it is, but as a virtue. Devoid of any information, they fall back on pure visceral appeal, as if one's guts had some kind of obscure knowledge that trumps the brain. In their case, indeed it does. The degree of intellectual laziness boggles the mind of those of us out here who still use ours to some extent. The upshot is that Dubya has been nothing more than the paid-for whore of monied interests, and Palin has made herself into the darling of the Pee Party set, another group of the postally disgruntled.

But why is this surprising? It should not be. For those of you interested and functional enough to read, try "Bright-Sided" for a good dose of uncommon sense. For more entertaining braininess, read "Packing for Mars", and don't miss "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks". All of these books are by very smart women, and hints of an explanation can be found in all. Good luck.