doom letter #20

In December 2009, I had a chance encounter with a local that was putting together a protest against a local payday loan outfit. Due to the fact that I believe that the modern day loan shark, along with “tax preparers” that juice you with fees and interest on your tax refund, is among the lowest class of American alive today I was excited to participate. Any chance I get to fuck with people who I think are scummier than politicians, I’ll be there. But something happened to this agnostic boy on his way to the protest…

I realized that not only was I meeting up with fellow protestors at a church, but upon my arrival I found that most of them (judging by the bowed heads during the prayer) were bonafied, head-bowing, praying Christians. And I agreed with them. Not only did I agree with them, but I rather enjoyed their company on two consecutive cold Saturday afternoons in December. They were kind-hearted people with smiling faces and surprisingly aggressive tactics for their protests. We sang songs, chanted, delivered letters to the CEO’s, carried signs and someone even dressed up like santa and gave the payday loan-sharks some coal.

What…The…Fuck?

Christians are not supposed to be into this kind of stuff, at least not in my narrow view of the American Christian. They might kill abortion doctors or protest gay marriage at the funerals of soldiers, but I was surprised to find out that they were also participating in issues that fall close to my values. They came, they called for socio-economic justice and they didn’t even try to convert me.

My lesson learned from my two days with the christians is this, If you can’t find god, find something. And I should add to that “don’t hold it against those who have found god, because they could be your friends.” I am not a believer in anything other than my strongly held belief that I don’t know shit when it comes to questions of existence. It no longer does a whole lot for me to dwell on it, and I don’t get that special tingly feeling atheists get by debating religious people about their beliefs. I say believe whatever you want to believe, keep it away from the government and try to keep it to yourself whenever you can control yourself. I will do the same and lo and behold we just may end up protesting something together someday.

I don’t know what that something is exactly that you should find if you can’t find god. I am still trying to find it and I am currently filling the void of something with community and attending a church that doesn’t give a fuck what I believe in – which works out OK for me, I get all of the civil society networking that I can stomach without any of the Sunday Jesus stuff that I want to avoid. I hope that you picked up on the theme that I don’t think you should discount involvement with religious organizations simply on principle as they may not agree with you on some issues that are important to you. I think civic life, outside of an intentional community setting in which certain principles are agreed upon, should be treated like any other politico-economic endeavor – appreciate what you have in common with others and hold your nose for the stuff you think smells of male bovine feces. There is a treasure trove of networking opportunities within religious circles for those of us who want to facilitate change at the local level. And it is an unfortunate statement to make, but there are no other real options outside of these circles for any voice against the status quo since the American labor movement is a comical image of its old self.

Find hope wherever you can, because the world already sucks, and it is only going to get worse.

doom drinks,

mike mayberry