Religion and language

[Faith No More]

I have never before seen such an infantile lack of awareness of history and perspective from otherwise intelligent people.

Welcome to America!

[Jenny A]

@Jenny A

That was one of the most striking things when I came to the babble belt the first time. They really believe that certain words of the English language are magical.

---

They will make Jesus cry. They will anger God. It doesn't matter in which context they are understood by the speaker or the audience. It doesn't matter that someone might use "fucking" simply as a means of emphasis without even promoting indecent relations with the inanimate objects in question - in the puritan mind, the word itself offends God. Never mind that the English language is a recent concoction even on mere bibliccal time scales, a weird product of a shitload of historical coincidences - no - the words themselves as they are now are magical.

---

I have never before seen such an infantile lack of awareness of history and perspective from otherwise intelligent people.

It goes beyond religion. I worked in the Federal courts in Idaho for a number of years. Numerous people there not only believed weird things like that Federal judges only had admiralty jurisdiction, but that if they said the magic words in court or pleadings, the judge would suddenly become aware of that and lose jurisdiction over their case. As you might imagine, that didn't work out so well for them.

The religious magic I noticed most there was fear of using zip codes or SS numbers, because they are the "mark of the beast" and will damn you forever. But they also had a secular belief that by refusing to use those numbers, you eliminated the federal government's legal control over you. Once again, that didn't work so well for them. Similarly, they believed things like the U.S. Constitution was improperly passed and therefore, if you just pointed that out it would go away.

[Alex K]

I have never before seen such an infantile lack of awareness of history and perspective from otherwise intelligent people.

Welcome to America!

I mean, every crowd has its faults and delusions, possibly even me, my dear Americans simply have their very special brand of D'oh. America embiggens everything, even the lack of reflection is greater.

[AFTT47]

I avoid using religious language in some cases. I never say, "thank God" and I never say, "God, bless you" after someone sneezes. I won't even say, "thank you" after someone "blesses" me. On the other hand, I could never give up, "Jesus fucking Christ, Batman!" Or my favorite, "Jesus fucking Christ on a pogo stick!"

[Faith No More]

I mean, every crowd has its faults and delusions, possibly even me, my dear Americans simply have their very special brand of D'oh. America embiggens everything, even the lack of reflection is greater.

Sure, it's hard to judge when you know you have your own flaws, but imagine going your whole life seeing this lack of reflection and historical perspective staring you in your face day after day. I used to think there was something wrong with me, but then I realized I was surrounded by people that didn't actually absorb, process and apply the information they were being fed.

Now, don't get me wrong, there are many intelligent Americans with worldly perspective, but sometimes it feels like I'm drowning in this overwhelming wave of ignorance and simplicity. If you were to create a human based on averaging out all of the American population's attributes, it would be a fucking moron.

[Alex K]

I mean, every crowd has its faults and delusions, possibly even me, my dear Americans simply have their very special brand of D'oh. America embiggens everything, even the lack of reflection is greater.

Sure, it's hard to judge when you know you have your own flaws, but imagine going your whole life seeing this lack of reflection and historical perspective staring you in your face day after day. I used to think there was something wrong with me, but then I realized I was surrounded by people that didn't actually absorb, process and apply the information they were being fed.

One year was quite enough, I can't imagine a lifetime. Though there are several places I would really like to live in the US if it comes to that again. Just maybe not rural texas indefinitely. I really enjoyed my time in NY and CO. FL and TX have their charms.

Now, don't get me wrong, there are many intelligent Americans with worldly perspective, but sometimes it feels like I'm drowning in this overwhelming wave of ignorance and simplicity. If you were to create a human based on averaging out all of the American population's attributes, it would be a fucking moron.

Of course there are, goes without saying. But simplicity is a good word to describe it, a fetish for simplicity.
It starts with the school curriculum. Almost everything has to be designed such that it can be basically memorized. The media immediately jump on ridiculously simplistic explanations for complex issues.

[Faith No More]

It actually goes well beyond our education system. It's the entire mindset of our culture that's the problem. "Book-learning" is looked down upon and and seen as abnormal, and the social pressure to conform to this way of thinking is powerful. We're pressured by our culture to first and foremost be a "regular Joe," and what that consists of is avoiding any sort of intellectualization. An intelligent person in this country can often times find themselves in situations where they have to dumb themselves down in order to fit in.

[Alex K]

Sounds like life there is the eternal 8th grade.

[Strider]

It actually goes well beyond our education system. It's the entire mindset of our culture that's the problem. "Book-learning" is looked down upon and and seen as abnormal, and the social pressure to conform to this way of thinking is powerful. We're pressured by our culture to first and foremost be a "regular Joe," and what that consists of is avoiding any sort of intellectualization. An intelligent person in this country can often times find themselves in situations where they have to dumb themselves down in order to fit in.

Precisely. Not only is education and those who pursue it suspect, both are vilified. One cannot be both smart and good. To be clever is to invite folly and mischief. The fact that most Hollywood villains are criminal masterminds is no mere coincidence.

[Alex K]

Yeah, there's a TV tropes article on that.