[Vision2020] America the Illiterate

[Kenneth Marcy]

On Sunday 16 November 2008 08:53:02 keely emerinemix wrote:
> Thanks, Kenneth, for showing us this.

You're welcome.

> It's become increasingly clear to me, and more so after reading this
> article, that the greatest danger the United States faces is from ignorance
> within, not from terrorism outside.   It's ignorance that feeds racism,
> sexism, classism, homophobia and xenophobia, and poverty results when those
> who have power manipulate to keep those who don't in a continued downward
> spiral.  Further, if "ignorance" as it relates to the poor means only a
> lack of understanding, education, and power, then ignorance and poverty
> will bring this nation down far more than even the most sophisticated
> nuclear, biochemical, and conventional attacks.

If in political parlance budget cut means a reduction in the rate of growth of 
a budget, then illiteracy is an affluence cut for the national well being.

> The "ignorance" -- better, powerlessness -- of the poor has numerous roots;
> the ignorance -- better, stupidity -- of those who enjoy a degree of
> affluence and security does, too.  The difference is that with a
> willingness to plunge into shallowness and vapidity comes enormous
> accountability of an individual and corporate nature that God will not
> overlook.  If churches equipped and encouraged people, all people, to learn
> and to discern and then to plunge into a world of complexities, there would
> be a tremendous improvement.

That's a mighty large if you're suggesting. Many churches do outreach work 
beyond their congregations, but those charities don't usually upset the rules 
for business as usual within the congregation. Not only must the budget be 
met, but motivations to attend, participate and contribute must be 
maintained. These activities go together, hand in hand, and woe betide the 
impolite who would disturb the togetherness.

The difficulties of maintaining the relationship have long been recognized. 
The original protestant suggested a less than salutary relationship between 
rationality and diabolical service. Modern physiologists suggest the link 
connecting the brain hemispheres contributes to the balance of thinking and 
emotion. Managing the interplay and balance between them through a church's 
annual budget calendar is as important to a congregation's success as is 
managing the image flow and discussion to a political campaign.

Churches encouraging learning and discernment do so in ways not conflict with 
their own interests, which may not be the same as those of their congregants 
or communities. One might think that an environment within which one learns 
basic literacy could hardly conflict with interests of others or community, 
but memories, stories, and jokes abound concerning the strictures of 
religious education. Yet if the difference between religious education and 
not is the difference between basic literacy and not, choosing the latter is 
not appropriate.

On the other hand, religious literacy education is like whole life insurance 
in the sense that there are two products conflated into one package. The two 
products are easily confused, and both may not be appropriate for a customer. 
Whole life insurance unifies an insurance component, which most buyers want 
primarily, and an investment component, which is presented as a nice add-on. 
Religious literacy education brings together reading and writing education, 
which most people want primarily, and religious doctrine and dogma, which 
couldn't be too much of a problem, could it?

Many people recognize insurance as a hedge against risk, and as an expense, 
which is different than an investment, which is not an expense, but rather an 
asset extended, at risk, for reward. Keeping the two concepts separate allows 
better management of each. Many people recognize literacy as a primary skill 
enabling individuals to participate in more productive work, more enjoyable 
play, and more contributory community participation. Religious doctrine and 
dogma may have their places in personal and community lives, but linking them 
to primary education has a long and well-recognized history of cognitive 
dissonance.

> On the other hand, it's just sooooo much easier to stick to the hot-button
> simplicity of "Adam and Steve" and Presidents-elect sharing a milkshake
> with Bill Ayers . . .

Or Ellen and Eve watching a stage performance given by a shoulder-length 
haired person, well cosmeticized for feminine attractiveness, wearing a 
silky-hued A-line dress, arching backward in emotional self-absorption while 
playing a four-string bass guitar . . .

"Yeah, but the snake has all the lines."  -- Christopher Kerr


Ken