Minor irritation

[avevale_intelligencer]

This, recommended by a tweeting telynor, is actually not a bad article on why America seems to have been governed for so long by people who don't seem to be that smart. Have a look and try and see where I almost gave up on it in disgust.

Religion does *not* make you stupid. That is a cheap shot almost unparalleled itself in its stupidity, and no-one who writes from a secularist point of view seems to be able to resist it. It's like saying that most American chocolate is disgusting because Americans have no taste. It's offensive and untrue all at the same time, and we know it, but it appeals to the meanness and smugness in our nature.

Religion does not make people stupid. *People* make people stupid. And the people who make people stupid are often themselves quite clever, and realise that (a) keeping people stupid means they (the smart ones) can do what they like, and (b) if they hide behind a religion, other smart people will see what they're doing and, rather than blaming the smart ones, will blame the stupid people for being stupid because they are religious.

It is staggeringly naïve to imagine that the Southern Baptist Convention supported slavery and segregation because its members actually thought it was God's will, and I don't think even the writer of the article believes that for one minute...and yet he can't resist taking a mean, smug little crack at religion on his way. If the American educational system fails, it is because it is made to fail. Fundamentalist religion is just one tool that is used to that end, and one of its functions is to be the scapegoat.

So how do apparently stupid people get into positions of power? Well, strangely enough, that isn't God's will either. This is where the writer finds his way back to common sense and makes some good points. There *is* an American myth that honesty and decency are fundamentally incompatible with intelligence, that "book-larnin'" is conducive to sneakiness and moral turpitude, that the path of honour is to stride down the middle of Main Street and face your enemy head-on, hands hovering over your holsters and brain in neutral, prepared to draw on the word of command and not one split-second earlier. It goes back much further than McCarthyism, I think, and has echoes in other cultures. We have our "play up, play up and play the game" ethos, or we used to, but while we never believed being clever was a requirement, I don't think we ever seriously made it into a bad thing.

But the myth is no more than a myth, as those early Americans could testify who practised the art of camouflage and took pot shots from cover at the Redcoats marching down the middle of the road in their silly uniforms. And when stupid people get into power, the place to look is just behind them, where lurk the smart people who are yanking their strings; who are keeping people stupid, making sure future generations grow up stupid, perpetuating the myth that makes them *proud* to be stupid, and holding up Christianity as a shield in the knowledge that other smart people, despite their smartness, will look no further in placing the blame.

If Obama wins the election, he will have a chance, as Roosevelt, Kennedy and Clinton did, to strike a blow against the pervasive myth--to prove that he is no figurehead--and also to live up to his promises in the field of education. If he can do this, it will be that much harder for the smart people who have hidden behind Bush for the last eight years, and hope to hide behind McCain and then Palin, to work their trick again. I do not think he will waste his time attacking religion; I certainly hope not. Because if we believe, as I think the writer of this article believes, that Barack Obama is an intelligent, educated, knowledgeable man, then that in itself is the ultimate crushing refutation of the smug, mean little canard that "religion makes you stupid."

Comments

[keristor.livejournal.com]

On the first three things in your first paragraph I pretty much agree. Most people have no need to have any opinion on those things. It doesn't matter at all whether the sun actually rises or the Earth turns to bring it into view, all that matters is that it gets brighter and warmer. It doesn't make any difference at all in daily life whether life evolved out of muddy seawater or was created bam 5 minutes ago. And if you really want to know where Iraq is then you look on TV (it's in the news enough that there's bound to be a picture fairly soon with nice clear colours) -- as for many other modern countries I have no idea of where they are or even if they exist or have the same name this week.

Knowing the branches of your government is rather more important, but even that has not much relevance to ordinary people. Knowing who your local representative is, yes, but how many British people actually know which laws are made in what way and by whom? How many know the order of authority of the various courts, until they actually have to use them? Does anyone actually know what laws there are around these days?

Maths -- it depends what they actually mean. Possibly they mean arithmetic (lots of people especially in the medias do mean that when they say 'maths'). But if they mean real mathematics, again how many people actually need calculus, let alone higher forms? Those who do need it learn it, but let's face it I haven't needed to use most of it in a job or daily life.

(I like Boris. If we're going to have to pay for politicians they may as well be entertaining in return...)