You are hereJekyll and Hyde Americas
Jekyll and Hyde Americas
In Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Dr. Jekyll created a concoction which allowed him to separate himself into two personas: the noble and respectable Dr. Jekyll and the depraved Mr. Hyde. His intent was to separate the personas so that the respectable Dr. could indulge in his secret vices without damaging his respectable reputation. Mr. Hyde, however, soon took over and threatened with dangerous violence to destroy the good doctor. Though Stevenson wrote the story to illustrate the struggle between the good that I know and the evil that I desire anyway, ("...it was as an ordinary secret sinner that I at last fell before the assults of temptation." ) it has some allegorical application to our country. The United States of America is both the good doctor and the depraved Hyde. It is unclear which of the two personas will emerge from the struggle as the victor.
The America we’re taught about in school – whether home or public – is the noble respectable America: founded on Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, Freedom for all, power from the people to the state and not the other way around. Democracy as established under the Constitution – which some have suggested came almost directly from the mouth of God. This America is a beautiful America. This America is the beautiful lady symbolized by the Statue of Liberty at Ellis Island (her full name is Liberty Enlightening the World).
The New Colossus – by Emma Lazarus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beaconed hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The un-bridged harbor that twin cities frame
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp,” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
This is a beautiful noble America – open and inviting to all, a mother to the poor, a shelter to the victimized, and an aide to the oppressed. She comes to the rescue of those who are threatened and in danger. This is the America where all (and women) are created equal. Where people are free to speak, assemble, worship, and protest. This is the noble America that the Pilgrims and the Puritans set out to establish.
“Wee shall be as a Citty upon a Hill, the eies of all people are uppon us, soe that if wee shall deale falsely with our god in this worke wee have undertaken and soe cause him to withdraw his present help from us, wee shall be made a story and a by-word through the world.” - John Winthrop
It was envisioned that America would become a sort of Zion to which all the nations would stream in order to find Truth, Justice, and Righteousness – the American way. This is the America that I love. The America that strives to be a physical incarnation of the spiritual Zion. The America that is free and generous and just.
But just as Jekyll had his Hyde, Lady Liberty has a darker persona as well.
This American Woman isn’t so lovely. She has a 200+ year history of oppression and greed and lies. She’s tattooed on one arm with the words “Manifest Destiny.” Beneath her feet are the Indian nations she displaced in order to make way for her westward expansion, Japanese civilians burned and radiated by two atomic blasts, and an ever growing pile of aborted fetuses.
She wears the finest clothes: supple leather shoes, embroidered silk gowns, and rings and bracelets of gold studded with numerous precious stones. Her purse is full and bursting with cash and credit cards, but she stoops to take a few meager pennies from the starving masses surrounding her.
She carries with her a loaded M-16 rifle and is not afraid to use it. (Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Grenada, Panama, Iraq, Afghanistan….) or to sell it to her violent death-squad lovers in El Salvador, Chile, China, Afghanistan, Israel, Iraq, Iran… She’s even trained many of them to be excellent marksmen in her School of the Americas. Her other arm is tattooed with the motto of the Ministry of Truth in Orwell’s novel 1984, “WAR IS PEACE!”
The two Americas - Jekyll and Hyde – are mutually exclusive, though not separate. They co-exist in a continual struggle for dominance. It has, however, been the strategy of the darker Hyde-esque America to Hide behind a mask of the noble America, disguising her cruelty and oppression in noble sounding rhetoric such as, “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of those who threaten it!” But behind that masquerade is still the creeping American evil.
There seem to be two Americas. I love the one and detest the other. “America… Love it or Leave it!” But which one? Which America are we defending? Which one are we criticizing? Which one do we love and which one do we leave? Which persona will we allow to win the struggle?
Yeah,
Here too, is a recent article by a writer who personally interviewed about 2000 defenseless peasants around the time that Wash DC was carrying out secret bombing in Laos.
The writer suggests that these war crimes on defenseless peasants presents a ongoing crisis, about the truth of it all, which is still having an effect to this day.
Here's a link to the full article:
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=44&ItemID=6105
Below is a little exerpt.
Peace to you all,
C. Livingstone
"The United States dropped 6,727,084 tons of bombs on Indochina, more than triple what was dropped on all of Europe and the entire Pacific Theater in World War II. We will never know how many innocent Indochinese peasants died from these illegal bombings, but former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara has estimated that 3.4 million Indochinese died during the war. Since the vast majority of these perished from U.S. firepower, estimates of the innocents who died must begin in the hundreds of thousands."
Yeah, Jeff,
CSPAN had Arundhati Roy televised from the West Coast, and she came out with a article about Empire:
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=40&ItemID=6087
It's kind of lengthly, and I don't really endorse any form of activism that legitimizes a hostile state (Right or Left), but I'm certainly for fairness for all people, and Roy has a great sense of that.
Anyway, in the middle section of the article there's an interesting bit about NGO's, which may be relevant to you position and career with the SA.
Below is a little exerpt from Roy's article.
Peace to you,
C. Livingstone
"They alter the public psyche. They turn people into dependent victims and blunt the edges of political resistance. NGOs form a sort of buffer between the sarkar and public. Between Empire and its subjects. They have become the arbitrators, the interpreters, the facilitators.
"In the long run, NGOs are accountable to their funders, not to the people they work among. They're what botanists would call an indicator species. It's almost as though the greater the devastation caused by neo-liberalism, the greater the outbreak of NGOs. Nothing illustrates this more poignantly than the phenomenon of the U.S. preparing to invade a country and simultaneously readying NGOs to go in and clean up the devastation.
"In order make sure their funding is not jeopardized and that the governments of the countries they work in will allow them to function, NGOs have to present their work in a shallow framework more or less shorn of a political or historical context. At any rate, an inconvenient historical or political context."
FYI,
"What is the difference between an American pilot who drops a bomb on a Baghdad market and the Iraqi terrorist, who lays a bomb in the same market? The fact that the pilot has a uniform? Or that he drops his bomb from a distance and does not see the children he is killing?" Column by Uri Avnery.
That's a little exerpt from a recent article by that great Israeli peace activist and former Knesset member, Uri Avnery.
I don't know if it's on his site yet, but it was posted here:
http://www.strike-the-root.com/4/avnery/avnery29.html
Peace to you all,
C. Livingstone
I shall comment about what I consider to be a truly misguided mindset exhibited by many well-meaning people, the mindset that says we should clean up our own house before criticizing what goes in the rest of the world. We are all sinners, and any nation composed of sinners is always going to exhibit numerous imperfections. But it is ridiculous, and I mean that emphatically, to focus on criticisms of the United States while ignoring the status of the rest of the world.
The America of today is a great deal more hospitable to immigrants than was the America of Emma Lazarus's day, which makes quoting her rather pointless logically. In her time, incidentally, we had plenty of anarchists running around blowing up newspaper offices and assassinating people, and we didn't have the protections for immigrants that government offers now.
Always in any free society there are people who want to find fault with that society and bring on their version of a secular utopia. They have that right, of course, but those of us who believe that the rest of the world suffers from social ills that dwarf the problems in this country have the right, no duty, to protect what we have in this country from such shortsightedness.
I hear you bro. Thanks for the comments.
ed
Papa is especially fond of us
Yeah, Jeff,
Nice analogy.
And, when you say:
"The two Americas - Jekyll and Hyde – are mutually exclusive, though not separate. They co-exist in a continual struggle for dominance."
I have often thought and expressed, using other terms, that the co-mingling of Jekyll and Hyde is what what allows Hyde's existence to continue.
Separation is the key.
As I'll usually mention, when we see the Body of Christ separate from the Body of the State, then we may notice that the self-destructive Bipolar Disorder in the World System will likely begin to diminish.
And, of course, a first-step in that direction would be for most of the many thousands of state-incorporated, federally-regulated, 501 (c) 3 religious organizations in North America to dis-incorporate and disolve their corporate charters and restore Christ as Head over the Church, to the exclusion of all other Heads, in particular, a State's Attorney General.
Then individual members will find it easier to dis-incorporate themselves from the Body of the State and truely be the Salt of the Earth and the Light amongst a very Dark World System.
I'm not saying to abolish the State. Some people will always prefer the Body of the State over the Body of Christ. Besides, the Church needs a jurisdiction other that itself to excommunicate certain members to, until they repent of certain sins and are accepted back into Christ's Kingdom and Fellowship.
Peace to you all,
C. Livingstone
"As I'll usually mention, when we see the Body of Christ separate from the Body of the State, then we may notice that the self-destructive Bipolar Disorder in the World System will likely begin to diminish."
" Besides, the Church needs a jurisdiction other that itself to excommunicate certain members to, until they repent of certain sins and are accepted back into Christ's Kingdom and Fellowship."
My question:
What about the Bipolar Disorder among believers today? In your version of the "true" church and the "true" kingdom, will I be excommunicated if I refuse to "wear the veil" and "remain silent"? Just wondering.
Blessings,
Paige
Yeah, Paige,
If you're referring to the current Bipolar Disorder among state-incorporated groups, in the way that women are made to be second-class citizens. No.
If you feel you need to "wear a veil" or "remain silent", you're free to do so.
I don't recommend that though. Apostle Paul said he didn't permit a woman to teach, but that was his preference. So, you may find differing terrain within the geography of Christ's Kingdom.
Peace to you,
Christian
This is what is so confusing. So many different pictures and interpretations of Kingdom living.
Paige
Very well done and sadly to say "very true".
Which persona will we allow to win the struggle?
We will see that answer by the comment's this article will get.
Blessings Juergen
juppes
"We will see that answer by the comment's this article will get."
Are you insinuating and slandering that there are Christian brothers here who want "Mr. Hyde" to win out? What seems funny to me is that part of the "Mr. Hyde" persona involved the widespread wholesale slaughter of unborn children, perpetrated, and continued predominantly by members of your party. So, let's not point fingers. If these things are so true, do something about them other than to vote for JFK, or W.
What I am tired of is the pompous platitudes spouted by the left-wingers on this site. The answers are not political. They are theological.
Light dispels darkness. Salt halts rotting. We are to be salt and light. You don't do that politically. You do it socially. It's how you treat your neighbors. It's how you raise your children. It's how you work. It's how you spend your money.
The Constitution Party people are right about one thing. If things are going to change politically, we need leaders who will stop the "Mr. Hyde" scenario. BUT...where they are wrong is thinking that a culture that ignores "Mr. Hyde" is ever going to vote for "Dr. Jekyll". We need to lead this society to righteous living. We need to be the salt and light as described above. But, if you think that the Democrat party and JFK are going to destroy "Mr. Hyde", your too foolish to be listened to. The Democrat party is primarily responsible for "Mr. Hyde". I do not deny that many Republicans are as well, but if I had to choose which party was going to keep "Mr. Hyde" in a cage until a cure can be found, I'm voting Republican.
Now, let the slander begin.....
ed
Papa is especially fond of us
Comment by juppes:
Which persona will we allow to win the struggle?
We will see that answer by the comment's this article will get.
Comment by Ed:
Are you insinuating and slandering that there are Christian brothers here who want "Mr. Hyde" to win out?
You know the score here Ed. If you disagree with certain political ideals you're nothing but a pinheaded jerk, remember? Your comment certainly says it better than I can,
"What I am tired of is the pompous platitudes spouted by the left-wingers on this site. The answers are not political. They are theological.
Light dispels darkness. Salt halts rotting. We are to be salt and light. You don't do that politically. You do it socially. It's how you treat your neighbors. It's how you raise your children. It's how you work. It's how you spend your money."
The sins of the past do not justify the current hatred of this country by those who benefit from living here; just ask the many immigrants who have found shelter in America - I know this is true first hand.
But boldness without truth will never make a Christian confessor: and if a man injures himself for the love of error, he is not a martyr but a suicide. William A. Jones
Comments by JRP:"What I am tired of is the pompous platitudes spouted by the left-wingers on this site. The answers are not political. They are theological.
Let me say first, that I am neither Left nor Right Wing. I also do not hate this country but I am not willing to close my eyes when I see wrong.
"Light dispels darkness. Salt halts rotting. We are to be salt and light. ""You don't do that politically."" You do it socially. It's how you treat your neighbors. It's how you raise your children. It's how you work. It's how you spend your money."
So are you saying we should not vote and have no opinion on politicle matters? You sure do, so please be so fair to allow other people to have one too and do not call them ""left- wingers"".
By the way I do not care how you vote, that is your business.
Blessings Juergen
juppes
Let me say first, that I am neither Left nor Right Wing. I also do not hate this country but I am not willing to close my eyes when I see wrong.
Again, you are implying that we are closing our eyes? I am the one who asked the original question here: what did you mean when you said that you were waiting for our comments? You were insinuating that we want "Mr. Hyde" to win out? What?????
So are you saying we should not vote and have no opinion on politicle matters? You sure do, so please be so fair to allow other people to have one too and do not call them ""left- wingers"".
JFK is a left-winger. This means that while his wife is a multi-millionaire, with 80% of her workforce in other countries, he derides Bush for "losing 3 million jobs". JFK wants to give tax breaks to his wife to entice her to bring her workforce back to the US. That's left-wing politics as usual. Hypocrites!
As you continually bash Bush without making one positive comment about what he has accomplished, it leads me to believe that you support JFK. That makes you a left-winger.
Unless of course you support the Constitution Party, or the Libertarian Party, or the Green Party, or the Reform Party, or the Natural Law Party, etc.? Which is it? Whom do you support?
By the way I do not care how you vote, that is your business.
Then quit insinuating that we are evil and wicked for voting for 'W'. If you don't care, then shut up.
Jeff writes these articles for a reason. They are to run down our president. Since Jeff's comments are probably not being read by Mr. Bush, the only purpose I can see in them is to get people to vote against him. If you don't care how anyone votes, don't comment on Jeff's articles. However, I do care how people vote. I don't want a president like JFK. Am I anti-democrat? No, hardly. There are a number of democrats that I think would serve our country honorably as the Commander-in-Chief. Problem is: they are not the nominee.
ed
Papa is especially fond of us
Can't help you if you are reading something into my comment that is not there. You can vote for whom ever you want. God will give America the President it deserves. We will see who it will be. This is my last comment on this site since some people get bent out of shape and can not discuss this logically anymore.
juppes
Well, juppes,
Don't bail out of the site altogather. I find many of your comments refreshing. Consider dropping out of that particular thread.
Peace to you,
Christian
Comment by juppes:
So are you saying we should not vote and have no opinion on politicle matters? You sure do, so please be so fair to allow other people to have one too and do not call them ""left- wingers"".
By the way I do not care how you vote, that is your business.
This is what you got out of my comments? So be it.
But boldness without truth will never make a Christian confessor: and if a man injures himself for the love of error, he is not a martyr but a suicide. William A. Jones
... by members of your party.
Ed, i've not advocated democrats over republicans, or libertarians over greens, or socialists over whigs ... or any party at all.
I agree with you that the answers are theological not political.
There are Hydes of all political varities, as there are Jekylls of all politcal shades.
This essay of mine was not intended to glorify or demonize George W. or John F. either one. Please don't read more into it than is there.
There is no life without prayer. Without prayer there is only madness and horror. - Vasilii Rozanov
No Jeff, you can't pull that stuff now. You are the one writing the articles. You can take the heat. You are not in any way writing to cause us to think. You are writing to give your opinion. Fine! Then take the heat.
You were the one in the previous article that stated that 'W' started a nuclear proliferation that scared you. What was I to make of that? You sounded like an apologist for either JFK, or Nader. You claim non-partisanship, yet you over and over again, make arguments for the election of JFK. I am arguing against that foolishness.
And concerning Juergen's comments: you are darn right I have a political opinion. But I never claimed that 'W' is perfect, has never made mistakes, and that he won't make more mistakes. My point has always been that with 'W', you know what you are going to get. With JFK, he changes week by week. I'll take the principled man who makes mistakes any day of the week.
ed
Papa is especially fond of us
Ed,
please take a moment to look back over these past two articles. I have not advocated for or against George or John (though i might vote for Ringo...) I have yes, pointed out that W. has initiated a renewed interest in nuclear armements - but you are correct in pointing out that democrats have just as good (bad?) track record as republicans on this score... J.F. Kennedy and Jimmy Carter both continued to increase spending in nuclear weaponry. Both were wrong.
I have never said directly or indirectly - vote for Kerry. I don't even particularly like Kerry. In fact I will say this: Do not vote for Kerry. There.
I would also add a caution ( a caution a warning, auchtung baby!) Does Bush jr. exhibit the ideals that Christ taught. I have contended that i do not think he does. BUT i have never said that he is an evil man, that he is hitler-esque, or any such nonsense. I have never said don't vote for him. IF you think he is good - then vote for him, by all means.
Thank you. That is all.
There is no life without prayer. Without prayer there is only madness and horror. - Vasilii Rozanov
Gee Jeff, who are you going to vote for then? I mean, you can't vote for the Libertarian or Constitution Party candidates. If elected, they will work to cut off government funding to your employer. You might find yourself out of a job if the welfare state collapsed.
And secondly, just because you didn't use the words against Bush, your comments were clear. May I re-visit them here?
"We are now spending more and more for nuclear weapons – weapons of mass destruction...This frightens me."
In this comment, indicting the Bush administration for frightening you.
"At the same time the Administration is criticizing Iraq, Iran, and North Korea for having nuclear weapons, it is upgrading its own weapons complex. This “do what I say, not what I do” policy is evident to all. If nuclear weapons are unacceptable for Iran and North Korea, they are unacceptable for the U.S."
In this comment, making the US the moral equivalent of three countries known for killing their own citizens simply for being Christians, or being wealthy, or not wearing a veil, etc.
"We’ve already demonstrated that we can get away with a pre-emptive invasion of an enemy nation using justifications that melt away under the light of scrutiny. Couple that with the fact that we are continuing to build up a nuclear arsenal capable of horrific destruction. It doesn’t take too much imagination to see what could be in our future."
And with this comment, we see that without voting Bush out of office, this is the future we face.
You ask if Mr. Bush demonstrates the characteristics of Christ. Do you? In everything you do? 24 hours a day? 7 days a week? Do you know what Mr. Bush does in his private moments? Did you know that Mr. Bush used to work in an inner-city ministry with young children. The testimony of the men who worked with him (both African-American) was that the kids loved him, and he was great with the kids. That's showing the characteristics of Christ, wouldn't you say?
I don't know why I am wasting my breath. What a useless discussion to have. People like you could never admit that a man could be wrong and still be a Christian. You're too self-righteous.
Thank you. That is all.
ed
Papa is especially fond of us
"You're too self-righteous..."
perhaps. I'll admit that this may be true.
But i'm also conflicted. and struggling.
You ask (rather snidly) who i'll be voting for in just a few weeks - and to answer your question as best i can : I don't know.
To legitmize the slaughter of unborn babies is as evil as the indiscriminate slaughter of people by bombs and guns. both are evil propositions, and the lesser of two evils is still evil.
So i don't know who i'll be voting for in the upcoming election. But participation in this democracy shouldn't end with voting every couple of years. That's too easy and too little.
The structure of our society won't change by simply voitng for a new presient or senator or mayor. The structure of our society won't change until society recognizes Jesus, and begins to live according to the principles he laid out for his followers.
If i'm accused of being self-righteous (which could be true, and i struggle to crucify that in myself) it's becuase i want to see the righteousnes of God in our society. I want to see an America which is as noble as what we're taught she is.
Someone asked if expecting physical peace instead of spiritual peace is the same sort of stuff that we make fun of futurists for. Perhaps, but perhaps they're not all wrong. Why should we expect that those many verses throughout the bible that speak of peace between the nations should be fulfilled only in a spiritual sense. Why can there be no physical incarnation of that peace?
We live in a difficult world with difficult problems. There is much about our world that brings fear. But i - as you - live in confidence that Christ has overcome the world and that our problems (however large and complex) will never overthrow that.
As followers of Jesus and residents of the New Jerusalem we have access to the trees of life and to the leaves of which are "for the healing of the nations."
This healing of the nations - how does it happen? By force and violence and destruction? By the threat of nuclear war and Mutually Assured Destruction? Is that really the way that Christ would heal the nations?
Being critical of one's country doesn't necessary mean being hateful of one's country. The OT prophets were VERY critical of thier home. Of course there were those who accused Jeremiah of being hateful of his country. They arrested him and beat him. The same charges could have been brought against Ezekiel who said horrible things about the state of his state - comparing his country to a whore with a diatribe bordering on the pornographic.
They said these things because they wanted thier home to be the Zion that God said they should be - a place that the nations of the world would look to for righteousness.
And while i recognize that America is not (nor could any particular nation ever be) ZION, i do believe that if Christians are bringing those leaves of healing (and this takes more than voting every couple of years...) America (and other nations) can become an incrnation of Zion in this world.
I pray that our leaders (especially those who describe themselves as Christians) will be bringers of those leaves of healing.
There is no life without prayer. Without prayer there is only madness and horror. - Vasilii Rozanov