Let's talk about racism.
Webster's Online Dictionary defines "racism" as, "Discrimination or prejudice based on race."
I think everyone is racist to a degree. For example, I'm racist. However, I feel a lot less racist here in Utah than I did when I lived in the Northwest. You know what I'm saying? (I'm saying that I think Utahans are much more racist and fearful of diverse political views than Washingtonians.) Why? Closed-mindedness is a natural consequence of a rigid LDS dogma that warns against any teaching that could be interpreted as contradictory to the teachings of the Prophet and President of the Church. I agree that it is important to avoid messages that are known to be "evil." The Prophet has identified some of these specific messages in the For the Strength of the Youth Booklet
"Whatever you read, listen to, or look at has an effect on you. Therefore, choose only entertainment and media that uplift you. Good entertainment will help you to have good thoughts and make righteous choices. It will allow you to enjoy yourself without losing the Spirit of the Lord. Do not attend, view, or participate in entertainment that is vulgar, immoral, violent, or pornographic in any way."
Pretty straight forward, right? Well, when politics are brought into the equation, we begin to have trouble drawing the line.
I assert that it is difficult for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to get behind a black president for the simple reason that they are not used to following a leader of a different ethnicity.
With that said, here's the real issue of this blog post. President Barack Obama will be making a nationwide address to elementary school children this Tuesday morning at 10am. Utah parents are scared and in a tizzy that the address will taint their children after hearing about Eagle Bay Elementary School children in Farmington, UT who were shown a short video called "I pledge" on Aug. 28. The video opens with an image of Obama and part of a speech in which he says, "Let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other." [No, that wasn't President Hinckley, it was President Obama.] The video then features celebrities making pledges about how they will help the president and the world -- and that's where some say the problem lies (The Salt Lake Tribune).
See what you think for yourselves regarding the "I Pledge" video:
(Warning: May not be suitable for some Utah children)
I confess to not having had heard or seen the "I Pledge" video before so I decided to look it up. I seriously looked for anything that might be seen as controversial or radical but failed to find it. Granted, some of these celebrities not the greatest role models, however, they are not pledging allegiance to serve Obama. In contrast, each celebrity makes a pledge to a cause of their choice. What are these controversial "causes" of the celebrities? Here is a sampling of the pledges:
to help end hunger in America by supporting Feeding in America
to love more
to help children battling serious illnesses
to be a great mother
to be a great father
to be a friendly neighbor
to consider myself an American not an African-American
to never give anyone the finger when I am driving again
to help find a cure for Alzeihmer's disease
to make sure senior citizens have access to health care
to the United Funk of Funkadelika (OK, that one was weird, I concede, but hardly brainwashing material)
to advance stem cell research
to continue to be a mentor for Big Brothers and Big Sisters
to no longer use the plastic bags at the grocery store
to flush only after a duce (gross, but not politically controversial, I think)
to the abolition of 21st century slavery (yes it still does exist in some places in the world)
to be of service to Barack Obama
to never stop learning and growing
to be a servant to our President and all mankind"
Now I know some opponents will say, "ah-ha! see how they slid 'be a servant to the President' in at the end there, all tricky and such!" In response to this concern, I would emphasize that if you watch the entire video, presidential allegiance is by no means its emphasis. Secondly, how radical is it really to "serve our President and all mankind" through whatever cause or service opportunity we chose? As I recall, the LDS twelfth article of faith states that members of the Church believe in being "subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law." Friends, your time for feeling outraged at the idea of pledging support to your political leaders passed when most of you were eight years old. That is unless you want to instigate a political revolution on behalf of our Republic -- just hang on and do the best you can for the next four years.
For those paranoid parents out there who fear the socialist agenda of our current presidency, seriously, chill out. This film wasn't even produced by the White House, but by a group of loyal admirers of Obama. Perhaps everyone needs to take a deep breath and realize that not everything from Obama is evil or part of a plot to take over the world. (I'm talking to you, Dan.)
I will, however, become concerned when school districts across America begin directing their students toward giant images of President Obama during the pledge of allegiance, like one Henderson, NV elementary school.
Utah Republican Gov., Gary Herbert, is urging parents to keep their kids in school to hear what the President has to say this Tuesday about his plans for the future of our country. The children are then encouraged to discuss what was shared with their parents an to either agree or respectfully disagree.
How do you think this address should be addressed?
Right on man. Very necessary post.
ReplyDeleteB-tan, As always your blog entertains. I can agree with you about some people taking this issue a little bit to the extreme. However, the clip does have a lot of subliminal messages that are definitely partisan and politically charged. And they are presented by people that I would not want as my childrens' role models (Ashton Kutcher's "be a good representative of America" bull... and some people wonder why we have religious zealots flying planes into our buildings with pervert "reps" like him.) The other problem I have is the use of iconography of Obama and tying it to some sort of "allegiance to Obama". Obama did not start the United States, and, in many people's opinions (including mine), he doesn't really embody the values that have shaped this country. To have people that kids admire (for whatever reason) pledging their support to a man and not the country seems like a slick, subversive way to warm people up to the idea that if you don't support him, you're not a loyal American. The truth of the matter is he, as president, has and should continue to pledge his support to America and to the American people, not the other way around. He works for us, we don't work for him. So far as abiding by the 12th... I know for a fact that Joseph Smith did not support any of his political leaders without careful thought, and ultimately disagreed with them so fundamentally that he felt that the only way to have a decent president was to run for the office himself. Thus dissent is part of being not only American, but also Mormon. So lets make sure we pledge allegiance to the right things: flag, Republic, one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all. And not a giant tricolor Obama face and the agenda (some of it good, some less good) associated with it.
ReplyDeleteUtah's governor is no longer Jon Huntsman. It's Gary Herbert.
ReplyDeletePropaganda is built by filling the message with true, good things and then sneaking in things that are either untrue, controversial, or serve the purposes of the creators. Thus, I think the video is a prime example of propaganda. On the other hand the creators of the film, as you importantly pointed out were not the whitehouse.
If I had a child in school right now, what would make me nervous about the president speaking to the children is the fact that parents aren't invited. If there were easily accessible information on how parents could watch either with their children, or before their children see it, I would be perfectly ok with it. Children are very easy to convince, seeing as usually they don't know the whole story, or the other point of view. (I spent half of third grade convinced that if Ross Perot were elected we would have to go to school on the weekend too.) That's why I think that parents have every right to be bugged about political messages being fed to their children without any screening privileges given to themselves.
I'm racking my brain, and I can't think of a politician I would trust to speak to my children without my listening ear. Especially when the audience is so widespread and impressionable, the temptation is just too great to sneak in bits of your own ideology.
Send me a transcript of the speech, Mr. President, and I'll send you my children's ears. That makes it food for discussion rather than indoctrination. If, miraculously, he really only does talk about staying in school, then I can only HELP him to get that message to my children, I certainly won't stand in the way. And if you're sneaking in ideology, shame on you for trying to keep me out of what you tell my children.
If I'm not mistaken the speech will be available tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteBe sure and tape it while reading it aloud. That way you can play it backward and hear his REAL message.
Thanks everyone for your comments. Your ideas make my innards bubble with synergy.
ReplyDeleteAlex and Anon, I do appreciate your short, yet sweet contributions to the forum.
Lee, I can always count on you for bringing forth your beautifully fundamentalist, first-amendment-hugging ideals.
I agree with you that we must be careful not to let the man come before the message. As we can learn from the 26th verse of the 29th chapter of Mosiah in the Book of Mormon, democracy and the voice of the people ought to be king. May the day when "contention and much bloodshed" will be necessary to "dethrone an iniquitous [ruler]" remain far, far from us.
Talyn. The voice of motherly wisdom and reason. I agree with you completely. Your quote, "Send me a transcript of the speech, Mr. President, and I'll send you my children's ears" ought to be the rally cry of every parent in America. I hope people read your comments.
p.s. Thanks for the notice about Gov. Huntsman. I totally posted the wrong article. It's fixed now.
Thanks Lee and Talyn for giving voice to my somewhat vague and jumbled thoughts-I agree with you both for the reasons mentioned. Though I'm proud that we can elect a president of color in this country I remain wary and nervous that many of us are running blindly behind him and his questionable agenda like the herd of swine off the cliff into the sea...because he is charming, well-spoken and hip.
ReplyDelete