There was a time when I was a believer.
First Santa Claus. Then Jesus. Then Democracy.
These concepts are specific and baked into our American culture.
But are they real?
Sometimes-
Our shared cultural ideas are powerful train tracks across which we run stories about America, These stories tell us who belongs, who should rule and how we ought to manage societal resources.
Frank and Brian Herbert explore the depth and power of shared cultural myths in their multi-novel Dune series. And, of course, now my favorite director Denis Villaneuve has translated the first Dune novel into an extraordinary feature film starring Timothee Chalamet, Josh Brolin, Zendaya and Jason Momoa. In the Dune storyworld, competing tribes and families fight over natural resources. And a centuries-old, inter-planetary religious legend about the birth of a savior coincides with human events and war to trigger pivotal events.
This kind of culturally-embedded story rings so true on many levels upon which I have experienced popular cultural lore. It creates meaning for everyday people, is broad enough for interpretation and serves to motivate and justify extreme behavior.
Did Santa Claus literally ride his sleigh my childhood home and descend the chimney to give me presents? I dont think so. But when the concept lived in my heart and imagination, I wrote him letters, left cookies and milk and acted “good” to avoid getting a lump of coal in my stocking. Instead, I got a fish tank and a Spice Girls album.
I hail from a family chock full of old-time religion folks — Baptists and Methodists who love the cadence, poetry and philosophy of the Bible for moral, prosperous living. Whether preached by a Jimmy Swaggart, Billy Graham, Rod Parsley or George W. Bush, Bill Clinton or Kanye, there’s something irresistible about the Word. Wanna halt a naughty Child? God wouldn’t like you picking your nose of drawing on the wall. Wanna give a cheating lover pause? What would Jesus do? Not that. Wanna stop funding research to cure HIV/AIDS? Say the Lord wouldn’t approve. And if you want to effectively dog-whistle believers to vote a certain way, get Pastor John Hagee and Pastor Jerry Falwell to call for good people to do the “right thing” in the voting booth.
It’s like they start you young, immerse you in cult-like practices. You repeat the prayers, you sing the folk-mass songs, you choke down that flavorless wafer on an empty stomach. Enough repetition and it becomes a habit like washing behind your ears or brushing your teeth. When you travel the world, religious symbols are welcome sign, beacons of sanctuary, reassurance of civilization no matter how far flung. A touchstone of belonging and easy conversation. Nowadays, it’s hard to recall the years when we only said, “Merry Christmas!”
The system worked. Church and state. God-sanctioned. The “right” way. Get right with the Lord. You need a friend? And his name is Jesus. We can only place Mohammed and rabbis on a timeline before Christ. Because there is truly only one right way. And only one real way. Other ways are just mistakes on the road to — just like the pants — true religion.
Just like other forms of government are fake — like plastic “paste” instead of pearls. Mica ain’t gold. If it ain’t democracy, you must be living in a third-world hellhole. Even amid our tumultuous 2020, most American voters cannot conceive that the opposite of democracy is not communism. You really can have a sophisticated Western democratized socialism with free healthcare, education and unarmed police forces. It exists and succeeds in the Scandinavian peninsula, in New Zealand and in more places. It’s hard for me to describe as an American because it’s not discussed on mainstream American news and I only read The Economist on LinkedIn.
It is possible to have more commonwealth and common health and even an electoral process that does not rely on dirty tricks like killing budgets for HIV harm reduction or stealth tactics like screwing up the Post Office during a pandemic.
And everybody can believe in that.
KISSING UP 