anger

i am angry. angry enough to write for the first time in months. it's sort of funny actually, because i haven't been angry like this in a long time. maybe summer allows me to check out of reality long enough to calm down a bit, but once i start teaching...look out.

now, don't get me wrong. i'm not angry at my students or fellow teachers or administrators. i really like all of these folks quite a lot. sure, students can be frustrating when they make repeated poor choices, over and over and over. but this is a regular part of life, and we do what we can to help them, to show them a better way, to encourage them to live well. i'm not angry with them.

no, today i am angry, frustrated, disgusted with the powers that be. for example: last wednesday night i watched a bill moyers special on PBS about the abramoff scandal. now, abramoff is a died-in-the-wool bastard, and SOB, a piece of crap. but that's not my gripe. my gripe is with hypocrite numero uno: ralph reed. i remember going to see reed speak in college. i remember the hubub surrounding his visit, the protesters (in madison?), and the vigorous civil liberties debate before he even took the stage. then he spoke, and frankly, he was amazing. silver-tongued and impassioned, he cast a vision of a new america so ideal that i was ready to drop everything and work toward the creation of it. but somehow, somewhere he veered off course. his own personal correspondence with abramoff displays his greed, corruption, and contempt for the people he claims to lead. or, maybe he never was on course at all. maybe he's been playing evangelicals for years?

no, that couldn't happen. i mean, christians are good people who would never deceive other christians for personal or political gain. take our fine president...errr...maybe that's not such a great example. according to David Kuo in his new book, Tempting Faith, "the Bush White House is playing millions of American Christians for suckers."

i've been watching an amazing documentary today called, "Why We Fight," and honestly, you just need to see it, period. but it is fueling my anger, and it makes me just want to run very far away, to norway or new zealand or patagonia...but it's likely just a matter of time before that warmonger bombs the hell out of all those places too.

last night i saw another moyers report on pbs called, "is god green?" about christians and the environment. i just can't believe that dobson, robertson, falwell, etc. would sell out so easily. they are the false teachers! they are mouthpieces for their party who will stop at nothing, including hiring junk scientists to prove their point.

this morning i read a story about a journalist in Russia who has dedicated her life to exposing the russian atrocities committed in chechnya. last week she was found executed "KGB style" in her apartment.

oh, and tonight, i'm going to listen to a speaker at a local church who believes that all things "emergent" in the church are leading us all straight to hell. so that'll be good.

on second thought, i might be better off staying home and watching the office.