The Greater Fools
Linda and I have been watching Aaron Sorkin's HBO Series "The Newsroom". The series focuses on the challenges facing a newsroom in putting forth the televised daily news: real news, real stories about the day's significant events, and not entertainment fluff.
The final show in the first season was entitled "The Greater Fool." The Greater Fool is one who can succeed where others fail. The Greater Fool is delusional, rather out of sync with the status quo, yet who presses on towards what he/she perceives is the finest goal. One of the characters says: "America was founded by Greater Fools." Think of Don Quixote.
I would suggest to be Christian is to be a Greater Fool. My evidence? Look to scripture: Amos 2:6: "Thus says the Lord: For the three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke punishment; because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals." Luke 1:52-53: "He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty." Luke 11:"But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mink and rue and herbs of all kinds, and neglect justice and the love of God....When he went outside, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile toward him and to cross examine him...lying in wait for him, to catch him...." The message of the Christ was love, compassion, and justice. To be one with the people, to dress similarly, to eat bread and drink water and wine, to heal, to reconcile, to live like a commoner.
On the contrary, the message of the power elite, the religious sages, the ecclesiastical gurus was to protect their positions, to live in leisure, to parade in white robes, to wear gold and jewelled head pieces, to sleep on soft pillows, to be waited on by scented servants, to trumpet exclusivity. The Scribes and Pharisees failed to address the people's true needs. Similarly, the Roman occupation demanded taxation which further stressed the people's well-being.
As THE GREATER FOOL, Jesus was big on equality, listened well, responded to the cries of the weak and sick, wanted folks to share the wealth as each according to need, took action to address the common needs of the people. It took THE GREATER FOOL to establish the Reign of God! It took "Holy Delusion" to counter the calculating broken souls of the power elite.
On the contrary, the message of the power elite, the religious sages, the ecclesiastical gurus was to protect their positions, to live in leisure, to parade in white robes, to wear gold and jewelled head pieces, to sleep on soft pillows, to be waited on by scented servants, to trumpet exclusivity. The Scribes and Pharisees failed to address the people's true needs. Similarly, the Roman occupation demanded taxation which further stressed the people's well-being.
As THE GREATER FOOL, Jesus was big on equality, listened well, responded to the cries of the weak and sick, wanted folks to share the wealth as each according to need, took action to address the common needs of the people. It took THE GREATER FOOL to establish the Reign of God! It took "Holy Delusion" to counter the calculating broken souls of the power elite.
What is the venom of the broken souls? In the midst of an unjust, unkind, cruel government, a leadership just passed a CROMNIBUS budget bill which imperils fairness, equal opportunity, and future security. Consider this travesty:
Guaranteed taxpayer bail-out of careless derivative investments by banks and Wall Street, the wealthy can give ten times to political groups what they could before, lessening the influence of everyone else,
cutting funding for the IRS which means the wealthy will have fewer people to check on their tax evasion schemes, cutting funding for the EPA so corporations can further pollute the earth and release carbon into the air without hindrance from inspectors, cutting into guaranteed pension plans which means less for retirees, showering the Pentagon with nearly 60% of discretionary spending, cutting the WIC program by $93 million and allocating over $400 million for three F-35 fighter planes the Pentagon didn't request, cutting Pell Grants for low income students to go to college, and sending the cuts to for profit companies that provide loans for students as a pay back.
And don't forget the pending Trans-Pacific Trade Deal which will cost perhaps millions of American jobs.
Those who passed this Cromnibus Bill and are working to pass the TPT are not GREATER FOOLS. They are the calculating leeches, the market marionettes, the back room swindlers wise to the machinations of the corporate-business cycles, the pompous plutocrats, the obnoxious oligarchs, the fat, fanatical fascists, who utilize their power to play us all as their entertainment, bowing to the god of profit! Under the guise of success and power, it is these who have failed the nation, failed humanity, failed the test of justice.
Who are THE GREATER FOOLS? It is the followers of the Christ. It is the people! The supposed powerless! Those who swim against the odds, who do the unscripted, who throw the curve balls, who dance to the rhythms of justice for all, who believe in sharing the wealth, providing housing and food for all, guaranteeing education and healthcare as rights for all, assuring that infrastructure needs are addressed, spending less on guns and bombs, promising that all citizens can vote without being subject to the canard of voter fraud.
ARISE, GREATER FOOLS!
cutting funding for the IRS which means the wealthy will have fewer people to check on their tax evasion schemes, cutting funding for the EPA so corporations can further pollute the earth and release carbon into the air without hindrance from inspectors, cutting into guaranteed pension plans which means less for retirees, showering the Pentagon with nearly 60% of discretionary spending, cutting the WIC program by $93 million and allocating over $400 million for three F-35 fighter planes the Pentagon didn't request, cutting Pell Grants for low income students to go to college, and sending the cuts to for profit companies that provide loans for students as a pay back.
And don't forget the pending Trans-Pacific Trade Deal which will cost perhaps millions of American jobs.
Those who passed this Cromnibus Bill and are working to pass the TPT are not GREATER FOOLS. They are the calculating leeches, the market marionettes, the back room swindlers wise to the machinations of the corporate-business cycles, the pompous plutocrats, the obnoxious oligarchs, the fat, fanatical fascists, who utilize their power to play us all as their entertainment, bowing to the god of profit! Under the guise of success and power, it is these who have failed the nation, failed humanity, failed the test of justice.
Who are THE GREATER FOOLS? It is the followers of the Christ. It is the people! The supposed powerless! Those who swim against the odds, who do the unscripted, who throw the curve balls, who dance to the rhythms of justice for all, who believe in sharing the wealth, providing housing and food for all, guaranteeing education and healthcare as rights for all, assuring that infrastructure needs are addressed, spending less on guns and bombs, promising that all citizens can vote without being subject to the canard of voter fraud.
ARISE, GREATER FOOLS!
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