When I hear American Christians speak, this is the magic space zombie jew that I see in my head.
by Randazza
Dennis and Aimee Taylor got their panties all in a wad because their son had to read the book “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America,” in his personal finance class at Bedford High School.” (New Hampshire)
In the book, the author (Barbara Ehrenreich) recounts experiences she had while trying to make a living at minimum wage jobs all across America. She criticizes the current conditions in America, arguing that our economic system is unfair toward the poor.
So who is that most likely to piss off? You guessed it… “christians”.
Aimee Taylor is quoted as saying, “The author is a known social Marxist, hates everything American, everything that America stands for or was built on. I mean when you read the book you see that strongly in this woman’s agenda. It’s horrible.” (source).
The irony is pretty thick here — since Ms. Taylor and her husband are calling for mass firings in the Bedford school district – because they don’t like the book that the district assigned to her son. You know, its Un-American to write a book saying that maybe even the down-trodden proles who share citizenship with us should, oh I dunno, live a decent life?
Of course, no whining christian hissy fit is complete without taking a quote about their imaginary friend out of context:
The Taylors also took issue with the book’s portrayal of Christians. In one scene, Ehrenreich attends a tent revival meeting, and is troubled by its emphasis on Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, rather than his social teachings.
“Jesus makes his appearance here only as a corpse; the living man, the wine-guzzling vagrant and precocious socialist, is never once mentioned, nor anything he ever had to say,” Ehrenreich writes.(source)
I haven’t read the book, but this blogger has. Here’s how he explains the “wine-guzzling vagrant” passage.
The “wine-guzzling vagrant and precocious socialist” line appears on page 68 as part of the author’s account of attending a tent revival near a residential elderly care facility at which she worked, and laments the fact the speakers dwell on the hellfire-and-brimstone, doom-and-gloom elements on the Bible and Christ’s crucifixion rather than his more positive messages. Her reference, while perhaps overly flippant, is not intended as a hateful denigration of Jesus. But I digress.) (source)
Fortunately, the school district had a measured response to these cult-members.
In response to the Taylors’ complaint, school district officials convened a materials review committee of teachers, administrators and community members to assess the book. Upon review, the committee ruled that the book’s educational merit outweighed its shortcomings.
“We found the book provided valuable insight into the circumstances of the working poor and an opportunity for students to demonstrate mastery of the ‘Financial Impact’ competency,” the committee reported.Assistant Superintendent Chip McGee said the committee looked at the value of the book as a whole, rather than judging it on its objectionable passages.
“We need to balance the instructional value of the book against its shortcomings, rather than looking at any isolated passage, and rather than looking at the belief system of the author,” McGee said.(source)
Of course, Dennis and Aimee Taylor sure showed that there school district – they took their son out of school and decided to home school him. I’m sure that his future will be bright, as two fucking morons who believe in fairy tales will now be teaching him chemistry.
To put a cap on his stupidity, Dennis Taylor leaves us with this quote:
“Nobody gets out of the hole in this book,” Taylor said. “Really, is that the message we want to teach children in Bedford, who of all Americans ought to be capitalists, and produce the wealth that other people enjoy?”`(source)
And that, dear readers, is exactly what modern American christianity is all about — that those who live their lives following this false fairy tale should do so to ease the pain of their slavery. Being a “capitalist” means “producing the wealth that other people enjoy.”
Fortunately for Dennis Taylor, his son will very likely fulfill that role — as he dons his smock for a day greeting the People of Wal-Mart. He can produce the wealth that other people enjoy.
Jesus. Drunk again.
Image provided by Graphic Poetry.
Barbara Ehrenrich’s blog is here.
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“Nobody gets out of the hole in this book,” Taylor said.
Yes, more books about lottery winners please.
Of course Christians should be slaves. The Bible carries very clear and explicit instructions on the treatment of slaves, and what to do when slaves disobey. Any book that condones slavery as a viable means of economic production must be filled with financial wisdom, right? I mean, it’s not like it would tell Christians to sell all their possessions and follow Jesus. What kind of Marxist shit is that?
Wow. Just wow.
Just when I think Americans can’t get any dumber, along comes another one to lower the bar.
The book certainly is a political tract, dishonestly written, with a clear agenda to “prove” that minimum-wage people in the US are trapped and hopeless. Since I live among minimum-wage people, I was perhaps more aware than people on either coast would be, of the distortions that the book creates.
I would complain if my child was asked to read it in a school, because I don’t consider it in any way educational. The author committed sin#1 as a social scientist: She did not approach her topic with an open mind. She had a preconceived agenda, and did whatever was necessary to prove it. In fact the book made me so angry I actually got myself a job at the nearest Wal-Mart, where I learned how much Barbara Ehrenrich had left out of her account (i.e. anything remotely positive). My account of my brief time in Wal-Mart was subsequently published in The New York Post. Rush Limbaugh then spent half an hour reading my text aloud on his show, greatly exceeding fair use (and of course I did not get paid by good old Rush…when I raised the issue with my literary agent, he suggested taking Rush to small claims court, which would have been amusing, I guess, but not amusing enonugh to be worth it).
My guess is that Taylors were more pissed about the book’s socioeconomic agenda than about the book’s treatment of Christians. But picking on the Christian reference is a way of debunking everything that the Taylors wrote. Not that they sound “my kind of folks” either.
I just got home from meeting with fellow Christians. We talked about, among other things, planning to help at an AIDS hospice and handing out food to the homeless. We talked about supporting friends and acquaintances who have suffered tragedies or are facing difficulties.
We discussed our responsibility to care for those around us and how we are responsible for out own actions as individuals and as members of a church. We listened to each other.
Trust me, that kid’s parents annoy me more than your comment about Christianity in America. But you lower yourself nearly to their level, in my opinion, for all that you may consider it a throwaway pithy closing comment.
Do you really need an imaginary space zombie to tell you to do those things?
Sorry if you’re offended (sincerely) but people like this only exist because people like you provide the ecosystem in which they thrive. I’m sure you don’t mean to do so, but until people like you set aside the superstitions and the magic space zombies, people like that will have oversized influence.
The fact is, if Jesus of Nazareth existed at all, he was one of many blabbering fools wandering around Palestine, 2000 years ago, claiming to be a prophet. If he were alive today, he would have a shopping cart full of cans. Around that, a cult was created, and now 2000 years later, it is no less a cult — it is just 2000 years out of date.
Fair enough. I’m not offended, just saddened. I don’t pretend you should censor yourself when discussing my imaginary friends. They’ve heard worse.
But won’t your face be red when, if religions fall to the wayside, the new-model, rational humans prove to be just as bad or worse “unaided?”
What are these “rational humans” of which you speak, and where may I find them?
[…] No, it isn’t a pron book or a book on sex education. No, it isn’t a gay-rights book. It is a book about trying to live while poor! From Randazza’s blog: Dennis and Aimee Taylor got their panties all in a wad because their […]