Image provided by: Upper Left Edge; Cannon Beach, OR
About The upper left edge. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1992)
l H b LiK fcA I U N M tN I IxJINABl t I he Face of Responsiblilv by M v g t Curtu ” There IS no quantum w orld. Our scene: A super market »here I like to go for the weekly family grocery shopping At the checkstand I venture a polite.'How are you today?* to connect with the human face behind the counter 'O h. ,'m great to d j)!* She smiled back at me with more warmth than the usual perfuruory greeting She was a small woman, maybe in her mid SfXs. with a gentle Uxikmg face She appeared to he someone who had worked K hours a day. 5 days a week for many years She espertly pulled the items out o f my cart, flipprd them evenly through the price sensor The young man at her side busily bagged the groceries and smiled also, 'Yeah. 1 love Wednesdays ' the 2 co workers gave cash <xher knowing looks, both grinning. This made me smile too. Out of friendly curiosity, and because I felt so comfortable. I asked,"W'hats different about Wednesdays?" The checker wry ly said," The manager's not here on W ednesdays. Everything always goes better when he s not here Everyone is less stressed * Imagine . these fx»»r. hardwork ing folks were so relieved not to have the BOSS hovering over them The mere ahsense o f pain became, itself a pleasure. Is this the human condi tion? These people were getung their work dime, they were happy, smiling, relaxed, and the heavy warn t on shift A startling thought, we have all probably hail a boss or three like that The ones who seem to make their 'subordinates' cringe with an ever present sense o f inadequacy, who don t mind using humiliation in response to other's mistakes, who people say were 'diffe rent' before they were promoted I've known same, the memory of which makes me nauseated A few weeks later 1 found myself at the same store, and at the checkstand I looked up to ee the lean, tense face o f a man. in his mid* JO s I guessed, who appeared harried ami tired H is jaw clem, hed tight, he glanced at me as another object to be dealt with. I ventured a tim id.'H ello * W uh out looking up lie returned a clipped.'H i.* Then it dawned on me that this fellow must be tlx: manager I had previously heard about Ihe aura amund this man was d.uk and unpleasant. I couldn't wait b i he out of his way. I felt a certain degree of pity for this human being . hut I didn't have to work for him W hy does power corrupt? Who came up with the notion that work has to be grueling and uncomfortable ’ There has to be a balance, another way of vciwmg work, and what 'responsibility' looks like Mostly. I There is o n ly an abstract quan- believe, it should have a human fa t c Editor/Publisher-Rev Billy Hulls Asst. Editor/Graphics-Sally Lack .iff Improvisational Enginecrtng-Gary Keiski Music At W ild life -Peter Siegel Well, here it is our fifth issue didn t think we d make i t . did you7 W o never had any doubt Even though wa are now a Gypsy pubh cation being pasted up all over the upper left coast, as we look for a new home on the edge of America We want to thank everyone for their help, and especially those who have written to ask for sub scnptions We will try to get your paper to you if you send $5 and your address to us Once again we want to remind our readers that our advertisers deserve your support Yus. we will publish want ads. for example WANTED, SMALL CABIN IN CANNON B E A C H F«R AMBOLE A<CO M A LE SMOlcER S2MOO A MONTH RENT CABLE VÍOVLB BE NICE AN OCEAN VIEW A PLUS. CONTACT REV BILLY H K T S 43^*1923 The question was recently asked, "Rev.* of what Church? Good question deserving of a good story Once upon a lime, Gmo Sky, remember that name, wrote a novel about the legend of the Cowboy Buddah Being an impressionable young person (early thirties at the time) and hav ing already boon ordained by mail in the Universal Life Church for $5 (Doctor of Divinity $20). I gathered my own flock and called it Ihe Raslified Church of the Cowboy Buddah. We believe horses are bettor than pick ups, pick ups are better than cars, beer should be cold and yellow, Bob Marley was right, and pitchers should bat Every day is tho Sabbath and work is forbidden but Art is encouraged luni description of it." N iels th e k in n ( JO i U u i « Denm ark d u rin g Io ih r i i l m i p l r d o p p irv v lo n o f u u i t i l l . . « o lu c n v W II t l x p o m a ry o f,< n » ive s rn ie g v wr> ' J e n lifv and o > o r j U>, it ,r ■ r . j i u p .n i »1 ihe ciatr T hese'crim inals* included k » < h<m .«<suj!» tiv p » e > m J rhers. T h u r rx a n s < f it. jiin £ certain u i. r r n » w a t t r n J the icundup a n j e sim n m a i .vn o f t n d g- . ' x m le r p f D enm ark at that nme. kin g ( hnvi-an wa» outraged by ihe inncurv.fm em that w<me .»f h it i t . ■> . J t v required to wear a mark ijr n n fy ng them i t a crim inal, yellow start for Jews pink iru n g le t ter h. rr. -e su t »etc I Ih e da» after the annnurvcemrii K in gC hnstia n appeared «earing a vello» «tal although he was -voi a Jew h i ro u te d ihe O ar .h cilizenrs to ra'!» ro u n j ihe t M an, D ane*took u wearing the m ark- JÍconJem na’ a< U-.reedby the Naz » at a gesture n e ig h b o tt a n d f x e n j t o f solidarity The» al«- lac-shed a ttx-st atnbiti. us and rema.-kahl« opetat n The target! ,1 Nazi p p re tn n in Denmark »ere near'» all e » a,ua te j to SweJen be t-te ihe Naz-s »ere able t . njem n them t. .«rxentraix-’n camps Denmark » a t'h e - t , , rntrv w hich was a b e to J<< to I h is p in k i t u n g í» »land» a» a »»m tm lof unit» and support f i r ou rhom otetula n rg h b o rt. fn e n d t andfanv » me;-.her» W ew h, wear ' , 'a n j » ijurvh lv aga^mt proposed ha:: ,t m eam ret a-med at lim nin g the , i * i l n g n it ol le th ant and g t) men Vk e are particularly tr-.t.n te '■ ih e m itu te t rehgiout J x • re a> a mea > ’ perte. „ i ng n J itiJ u a with ife tiy le t J 'T e reni lhar ur »• Ik ear this pink tr a.-sgie w ih pnde a n j ■.> th »e V n '< • /' th, A zA gm m ffcq*<*nic Nerwsrrtt a '» A , .4. I h t K, n , t ) f t v '4 ' COPIES & FAX c o p ie s • fly e rs • re s u m es le tte rh e a d • business card s u p s «24 h r. fa x s e rv ic e b ro c h u re s • d e s ig n • a d s 1255 s heinlosk 436 2000 MONOTHEISM AND ITS DISCONTENTS GORE VIDAL r«M -TxLqAT(C«r ‘ * r|X h e word "ra d ic a l" derive» from ihe 1 a t in word for root I Therefore, i f you want to get to the root of anything you must he radical It it no accident that the word hat now been totally demonized by our master», and no one in politic» dare» even to use the word favorably, much lev» track any problem Io its root But then a ruling class that was able to demonize the word “ liberal" in the pas, ten year» it a mavict at control ling indeed stifling any cntKism o f itself. " I iberal” come» from the I a,in Itherulis, which means pertaining to a free man In politics, to be liberal is to want to extend democrat-» through change and reform One can see why that word had to be erased from our political lexicon rpw io the r iK 'io f the mailer I hr great unmentionable evil at the center o f our culture is monotheism Erom a barbaric Bronze Agetexi known a» the Old Iextament, three antihuman religion» have evolved—Judaism, Christianity and Islam These are sky god religions They are. literally, p a tri archal— < rod is the omnipotent father hence the loathing of women for 2,000 yean in those countries afflicted by ihe sky god and hi» earthly male delegate» The sky god is a jealous god. o f course He requires total obedience from everyone on earth, a» he is in place not jus, for one tribe but for all erratum Those who would reject him m utt be converted or killed for their own good. Ultim ately, totalitarianism it the only sort o f politics that car, truly serve the sky god’ s purpose Any move ment o f a liberal nature endangers his authority and that o f h,s delegates on earth One God. one king, one Pope, one master in the factory, one father leader in the family at home I he founders o f the United States were no, enthusiasts o f the sky god Many, like Jefferson, rejected him altogether and placed man at the center o f the world The young I incoln wrote a pamphlet against Christianity, which friends per vuaded him to burn Needless to cay, word go, around about both Jefferson and I incoln and each had to cover his tracks Jefferson said that he was a das,, w hich could mean anything or nothing, while I incoln. hand on heart and tongue in cheek, said he could no, support for office anyone who "sco ffe d " at religion f rom the beginning, sky godders have always exerted great presvure in our vccular republic Alvo, evangelical (h rts tian groups have traditionally drawn strength from the sup pressed A frican slaves were allowed to organize heavenly sky god churches, as a surrogate for earthly freedom W hite chutches were organized in order to make certain that the rights o f property were respected and that the numerous rebgious taboos in the New and Old Testaments would he enforced, if necessary, by civil law. The ideal to which John Adams subscribed that we would be a nation o f laws, not o f men was quickly subverted when the churches forced upon everyone, through supposedly neutral and just laws, their innumerable tabtxis on sex, alcohol, gambling We are now indeed a nation o f laws, mostly bad and certainly antihuntan Roman ( atholic migrations in the last century further re enforced the Puritan sky-god The Church has also put itself on a collision course w ith the B ill o f Rights when it asserts, as it always has, that "error has no rights." The last corre spondence between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson ex pressed their alarm that the Jesuits were to be allowed into the United States Although the Jews were sky god folk, they followed Book One. not Book TWo, so they have no mission to convert others; rather the reverse Also, a» they have been systematically demonized by the Christian sky godders. they tended to be liberal and so turned not to their temple bu, to the A C .I U. Unfortunately, the recent discosery tha, the sky- god. in his capacity as realtor, had given them, in perpetuity, some parcels o f unattractive land called Judea and Samaria has, to my mind, unhinged many o f them I hope this is temporary. In the I trst Amendment to the C onstitution the f ounders made it clear that this was not to be a sky god nation w ith a national religion like that o f T ngland. from whom we had just separated It is curious how little understood this amend ment is— yes. everyone has a right to worship any god he chooses but he does not base the right to impose his beliefs on others who do no, happen to share in his superstitions and taboos. I his separation was absolute in our original Republic But the sky godders do not give up easily In the 1950s they actually got the phrase " In God We Trust" onto the currency, in direct violation o f the Tirst /Amendment Although many o f the C hris,tan evangelists leel it neves vary to convert everyone on earth to theit prim itive religion, they have been prevented—so la r — from forcing others to worship as they do. bu, they have forced most tyrannically and wickedly—their superstitions and hatreds upon all o f us through the civil law and through general prohibitions So it is upon that account that I now favor an all-out war on the monotheists. lx , us dwell upon the evils they have wrought I he hatred o f blacks comes straight from their Bad Book As descend ants o f Ham, blacks arc forever accursed, while Saint Paul tells the slaves to obey their masters Racism iv in (he marrow o f the bone o f the true believer Eor him , black is forever in ferior to white and deserves whatever ill fortune may come his way. The fact that some monotheists can behave chan,a bly means, often, that their prejudice is at so deep a level that they arc not aware it is there at all In the end. this makes any radical change o f attitude impossible. Meanwhile, welfare has been the price the sky godders were w illing to pas to exclude blacks from their earthly political system So we must live— presumably forever—w ith a highly enervating race war. set in train by the One God and his many hatreds. Patriarchal rage at the thought o f Woman ever usurping M an’ s place at the helm, in either home or workplace, is al most as strong now as it ever was According to the polls at the time o f the hearings, most American women took the side o f Clarence Thomas against Anita H ill But then the sky god's fulm inations against women are still very much par, o f the psyche o f those in thrall to the Jealous God The famous tree o, liberty is all that we have ever really had Now, for wan, o f nurture, it is dying before our eyes O f course, the sky-god never liked it Rut some o f us did and some o f us do So, perhaps, through facing who and what we are, we may achieve a nation no, under God but under m an or should I say our com m on humanity? O \ No to the ( ) ( ’A Let us rise to die call, and meet die challenge fnmi dx far right, arxl keep Oregon a state which value» diversity and personal frrcvkxnv W’e need to send a message to die res, of die world that Oregon is NOT a bastion of bigotry . or anoppresive hack» a ter of paranoid nght wing religious fanatics Our nation was founded on die principle of political, social, and religious tolerance for A1X It ha» taken more dun two »entu nes for our society to evolve to dx- point where these tenents have become more than just a lire am for women. Native Americans, Asian Americans. Afro Amen<anv and for duklren of all colors Wc have stixxl as an example for immigrants arxl oppressed peoples suae the late 1 xth century, as a uxriety that was capable of embracing diversity and making i' a pre cious asset rather dun a justifi canon for fear dnsen prejudice and politically ignorant behav tor This is a value and a belief not easily won or sustained Much blixxl has been spilt and lives and money has been spent to forge sinning faith in these mdisidual freed «ms. on the anvil ol prejudice arxl in the fire of intolerance and fear, into the standards so many of us salue and pnze so highly today. Don't believe for one minute the political action groups such as dx- Oregon Citizens' Alliance w ill be satisfied with Iticir quest to instituuoiulize, by legislation, their homophobic agenda' If dieir ballot Measure 9 passes thev w ill unquestionably attempt to determine for Oregonians how diey live arxl what tliey believe The OCA obsessively ficus on dx-ir own defuulion ol what diey perceive to be natural or unnatu ral. and in so doing marginalize aixl depersonalize the love, affection, aixl Incixlvhip slured by sexually diverse people every where By using die old strategy of "us" versus "them", they perpetuate die ancient cycle o f op pression aixl violence dial begins widi (car aixl ends in genocide. To this day few of our "straight" bmdxrrs arxl sisters are aware of how many gay aixl lesbian vic tims were extermi nated. because of their sexual onentation. in Germany dunng Nazi regime, along with Jews, Gypsies, arxl physically arxl mentally liaixlicappcd people muixied up from Germany aixl die countries ixxupicd by die Nazis. EVERY Oregonian stands to loose ol Measure 9 passes. Let every Oregonian voter, of every gender, every color, aixl every sexual oncnution unite to dcleal this first stop towards neo- fascism in our state constitution. The ability to love is one of our greatest gifts arxl it is equally valid between m at aixl men, women arxl women, aixl men arxl women. L j x A into your hearts arxl dunk of all dxisc you love aixl ways you have loved, love, aixl w ill be loved aixl cared about in your lifetime See how much variety arxl difference dtore tan he as well as suntlar ity in dxise we love To fail to understarxl this, to chensh dus. arxl to protect dus, would be a tragedy If d x hallo, Measure 9 passes, we as Oregonian, Americans, arxl as human beings w ill all he d x pixirer for it. Remember that silence equals death, arxl that all that is required for the tnumpJi of evil is that gixxl men AN D gixxl women remain silent and do nothing B ill Itunan. Andy Ken. Billy Hulls. Sally L a ciaff. d x staff of The Upper Left Edge, and dxmsarxis of Oregonians who believe in FREEDOM! TA c