Meeting Persephone

As per Evn's request I'm going to tell the story of a book I'd read in high school. The subject matter disturbing but appropriate in light of the current state of our country and the political climate that has many of us scratching our heads. Not to mention the recent revelations (no pun intended) of the bizarre behaviors and activities taking place within a church that Mrs. Palin attend(ed/s).

'The Wave' was a book that I'd been required to read in high school and while I ignored many of the books that I'd been assigned, this one I decided to read. I'm glad I did. Based on a true story, 'The Wave' takes place in a California high school history class....

The history class had just covered Ha Shoah (the Holocaust or WWII). Of course the class was disturbed by the events they'd learned of and as many of us say even today they wondered "how could they (the general population) let that happen?" How does one man, no matter how inspiring as a speaker or how seemingly compassionate toward his people's struggles, brain wash and dupe an entire country of people into hatred, murder, and crimes unspeakable and unthinkable to most of us today? How do so many turn control of their circumstances over to a single person to lead them in whatever way he saw fit - relinquishing liberties and calling it an act of patriotism? These people would have been similar to ourselves - families, homes, responsibilities, jobs, money worries, and neighbors. How do they, so normal by all appearances, become supporters of and even disciples of a man so bent on power and destruction?

The teacher saw this as a golden opportunity to try out an experiment on his students and set about slowly with his plan. Things like this are never done suddenly, there'd be too much resistance if it were. They are done slowly and progressively over time. The teacher began with jobs within the class - assigning tasks and rules to students based only on the fact that they were within the walls of his room. The most slovenly of outcast students at the school was given a job within the class, and popularity was no indication of rank within his class. Rules set down included goals such as strength, discipline, community, and action - inspiring pride that encouraged the most slovenly as well as the most popular to consider how they approached everyone within their classroom and how they presented themselves to those outside of the class. Eventually all students were on board and were presented with arm bands displaying a united logo - a wave. Only students within the class were permitted to wear the wave.

As could be predicted, the classmates began to bond over their shared association as members of the wave. They were taking pride in themselves, cleaning up their acts, and accepting one another as equals because of their shared status in the wave. Before long feelings of superiority took over - anyone outside of the history class and the wave were no longer desirable. They no longer were valued and their lives seemingly frivolous as they were not striving for the good of the group as the wave members were. Other students were beat up and ostracized and the wave had become stronger than ever. Even students from other classes wanted in and eventually earned their way into the wave. The wave were often told of a great leader who was watching their progress and was exceedingly proud of them calling them a great asset to the movement. Chests puffed and pride was palpable.

Finally one day the wave members were called in to meet their unseen but revered leader. Anticipation mounted as the students, well-kempt and sporting their armbands with pride filed into the classroom with tv monitors set up. The teacher gave an inspiring speech and announced that now was the time for the students to meet their leader. The screens flickered and Hitler's image was revealed on the screen.

Of course the students were aghast at what they'd been pulled into. Shame filled the faces of most and tears were shed by many. Heads hanging, the former wave members littered the floor with their wave arm bands and left feeling embarrassed that they too had been suckered into something they thought so easily avoidable.

The same thing is happening here in our very country. There is a recipe for this kind of control. A splash of fear, a pinch of patriotism, a slaughtered scapegoat (Militant Muslims or Mexicans - take your pick) and the country has become ripe for the unthinking relinquishment of our liberties cloaked in false patriotism . Throw in a little religious zealotry just for flavor and suddenly those of us who are not of the Abrahamic faiths or of their prescribed moral values are yet new groups of potential scapegoats that add to the recipe. Gay? Socialist? Pagan? Humanist? Environmentalist? All are deemed less than in society because of society's strict moral code based on a revelation from a few millenia ago.

The difference is that these students were children. We give our children an opportunity to learn in their youth and hardly hold them responsible for much. The same cannot be said for adults - it is our job to know better.

It is our job to recognize the manipulations taking place right now in our country. The language being used today is not even subliminal but blatantly obvious in its condemnation of the little guy. Who is at fault for the enormous number of illegal immigrants? The Mexicans. Never the big businesses hiring them for slave wages to avoid paying American citizens a decent wage. Who is to blame for the current housing crisis? The underpaid homeowners who bought houses outside of their means and then lost their jobs when the company they worked for moved overseas to pay foreigners a much smaller wage. Never will we blame the mortgage companies who practiced irresponsible lending nor the government who created protection for banks and tax loop holes for companies. Why do hurricanes pound our coasts and leave thousands of Americans homeless? Because Americans are champions of homosexuality and therefore are being punished by Yaweh. Why are our prisons so full? Because we have more criminals. Never because we insist on putting non-violent criminals into our newly privatized prisons so that those private owners can cash in on more tax payer dollars.

We have been unwittingly duped into travesties against our neighbors and other citizens of the world and they are suffering abuses that are unfathomable to some of us but are little more than sweet justice to the unthinking but arrogantly proud "patriots" and soldiers of Christ. I never want to be that blissfully ignorant nor that patriotic.

If we do not speak out for our neighbor - who will be left to speak out for us when they do come for us?