I
didn’t have a picture, so here are a thousand words. My heart goes out to the victims and families
of the tragedy in Texas, and the atrocities of Boston and Newtown. It also goes out to those who so desperately
desire to hoist a villain, the unhyphenated, who is a married (to a woman)
white, male, protestant Christian, misogynist, military veteran (I think that
one allows them to get around pesky mental issues with PTSD) and conservative
tea party member. Maybe someday. A little contemplation of that demographic,
however, might show you why the odds are against you.
As
a member of this apparently volatile group let me explain who we are. Whether we are in uniform or not (and many of
us have them) you will likely encounter us running towards the crisis, be it
gunfire, flames, or the “sounds of war.”
It is very difficult for the secular agnostic or atheist to do that
because there is nothing else for them if things don’t go well. LTC Dave Grossman wrote in his book On Combat about Sheep, Wolves and
Sheepdogs, politics and race aside, many of the “unhyphenated” traits are key
to the composition of the Sheepdog[i]. The “unhyphenated” has the monopoly on being
the Sheepdog, however, many of the adjectives used for the “unhyphenated” run
counter to being the Wolf.
Our
Christian values make us face our faults everyday and strive to become better;
this is why you frequently find an inspiring woman by our side to help us on
that path. Those moral values both
achieved and striven for, conflict with senseless murder and destruction. Odd, I know, but bear with me. There is nothing in our moral beliefs,
outlined in the Bible, that justify, excuse, or demand, killing those that
differ from us. We can, however, have
discourse with those people and inform them of what we believe and why. Today, many misconstrue this as “hate,” but
it used to be called debate with no derogatory meaning what-so-ever.
Unfortunately
I cannot lay claim to being a tea party member, but they are likely to have my
sympathies on most issues. I am,
however, conservative and I think that would scratch the itch for our academic
purpose here. I do have a baseball hat
with “Don’t tread on me” and <gasp> a coiled snake. I purchased the hat before the modern
political tea party associated it with their cause. I bought it because I’m a student of history
and was touring the battlefield at Lexington and Concord. I recognize it as a symbol of the Gadsden
flag named for the General and statesman.
The flag was flown by the Continental Marines. A red and white striped version with an
uncoiled snake was the Continental Navy’s first Jack and re-emerged on Navy
ships after 9/11. Did I mention that I
am in the Navy? I do enjoy the looks I
get from those on the left when I wear it in public, but save yourselves some
heart beats and fear and read some history books on the American Revolution. I’d like to think that I would have had the
courage to have joined those men, but I’m not sure that I’ve ever been
confronted with such a monumental choice.
It
is intriguing that progressives continue to point to some mystical fanatical
right. There seems to be no historic
precedence for such a thing. While it is
true that the establishment right also rejects the tea party, that is largely
because they will not conform to all the “rules.” As for the extremists on each side; to the
left one goes through socialism, fascism, communism, and totalitarianism. To the right, away from large government and
towards the empowerment of the individual, one could only arrive at anarchy in
the extreme. Strangely, anarchists are
associated with the left, because anarchists in practice do not seek to empower
every individual, they seek power for themselves and right back to
totalitarianism. So the political
beliefs constrain this individual as well, as they tend to value individualism
and that makes them less likely to try to force you to comply by means of force
or terror.
If
you were to actually have a conversation with that demographic the most notable
thing you would discover is that person would not use many of those
adjectives. The best one could hope for
in terms of a self-description would be a Christian-American, but most likely
you would just get American. No gender,
no political affiliation, no race. In
fact, none of those issues factor into that person’s concept of diversity. They have probably been amused by the
differences and naiveté of those with isolated urban and rural upbringings, as
well as rescued by the unique educations that both bring. That is where they find diversity.
Racism
brings a plethora of epithets. Epithets
can only be used for dehumanizing. If
our opponent is not human, whatever happens next is of little consequence to
us. When members of the “unhyphenated”
stray, as is human nature, they generally find themselves on the wrong side of
their wife who is not shy about demanding a behavior change. Trust me when I say that if she can restrain
me from saying something in anger with a simple look, I’m confident she can
restrain me from committing a human atrocity.
It
is interesting that many of our nation’s enemies point to the fruits of secular
political success as the justification of our “evilness.” They point to figures like the divorce rate,
out of wedlock births, and abortion. It seems more than ironic that the group
that can be restrained by the love of a woman is misogynistic and those that
force their women to cover all of their skin are not.
Most of the adjectives assign are red
herrings and admittedly, these descriptions of beliefs and restraints apply to
countless others, perhaps you. That is
the point. I understand with so many
theses failing scrutiny, the “Love them/Love us” foreign policy thesis, the
“Spend/Bailout” economic policy thesis, desperation is going to creep in
surrounding the remaining ones.
Unfortunately this one is doomed too because of a basic lack of
understanding. The bad guy is not going
to be a fantasy stereotype, the real “bad guy” is the hyphen. I don’t know anything good that comes from
the hyphen. In English, as in
mathematics, it seems to detract or subtract from the whole; it makes something
less than what it was. I don’t know what
a hyphenated American is, but I suspect it is something less than America as a
whole.
[i]
Grossman,
. "Killology Research Group." Accessed April 23, 2013.
http://www.killology.com/sheep_dog.htm.
