Bigotry and a warm cup of coffee

Fighting, predictions, superstitions, and terror. Fear mongers seem to operate on a system of oppression and suppression of knowledge. In societies, or in groups of people, where there is isolation, there is usually a leader who fears losing power. One of the most frustrating things about this phenomenon is the effect of the followers. People who follow so completely that they never stop to question whether their leader is moral, upstanding, or even intelligent. The conditions that are inflicted upon these mindless followers are not only defended by their peers and dogmatic practices, but are perpetuated by the victims themselves. It is absolutely infuriating to watch.



Ok, grasshoppah, take a deep breath and I will tell you where this is coming from. I have started watching a new series, called Big Love. It started out with a devious curiosity, morphed into a tirade of raging injustice, and continues with a sense of overall conflict. The premise of the show is that of a polygamist family. One man, three wives, 7 children with another on the way. It would take far too long to go into the plot of the series, but there is a fundamental problem I have.

If I were to read the history of man from beginning to end, came to the chapter that covers 2011 and saw that there were still religious wars being fought I would probably say "Seriously? Are we still on this, come on guys, really?" If oppressive conversion worked we would have achieved a universal religion by now. There are even factions of the same religion that agree on some parts, but not all parts. Those who fight for peace cannot even find peace under the same religious banner. I do have fundamental arguments with polygamy, but while playing out this argument in my head I got caught in a rather disturbing catch 22.

One of the characters on the show says "We're polygamists Bill, hiding is a part of our lives." They believe that they are living righteous lives, but they cannot live their life in the light. They also force their children to lie, deny their family members in public, and the 'sister-wives' are not allowed to have friends outside the family for risk of exposure. Not in all cases was it the choices of those involved to participate in a plural marriage. Forcing practices on unwilling participants is torture. If someone doesn't believe what you believe does it then become your mission to convert them? Hence the age old phrase "It's none of your business." However, it is a concern in this community that young girls will be married before having a chance to build a life for themselves, or being at a legal age to consent to marital relations. So there is also an element of needing to be involved in order to protect the innocent. Hence the catch 22.

Civil liberties should allow people to practice their religion, beliefs, and way of life without being attacked on the basis of dogmatic arguments. However, there are other laws in place that protect the innocent, and when many of these laws are broken there may  be a certain invasion of privacy or a challenge of what some may call civil liberties in order to bring the entirety of the law breaking into the light.  So despite the millions of arguments I've got with the interactions and practices of this new series I've recklessly entered into, rather than judging these actors for the people they represent I have instead decided to think about how I can examine my own opinions to further understand my own beliefs. That way if I am asked to speak and defend what I think, I can speak confidently from my own sense of truth.