Utah Makes International Headlines-Again!

 Well, Utah, our holier than God himself arrogance has done it again. I mean, it is very important to show the nation, and in this case the world, just how righteous and right-wing pandering a state can be when it really, really tries hard! This effort was so massive that even "average, right thinking" citizens got involved! How much more grass roots and hypocrisy-laden can it be! We are so much better at it than anybody else. No other state comes close to us in right-wingerery, I think we even outdid Florida, and that is saying a lot.

I am referring, of course, to the Davis county school board book banning controversy. A "lot of good, God-fearing, Bible loving" people are up in arms because someone wants the Holy Bible King James Version banned from schools due to the amount of racial discrimination, violence, child abuse, sex, adultery, homosexuality, etc, it contains. One could say the Bible is the worlds greatest porn book ever written, if one believes it is the greatest book ever written.

The crux of this issue is historical, and the old adage "those who fail to learn from history are bound to repeat it" is on open display. I say it is historical for this reason; every attempt to ban books that are offensive to the group or person currently in favor, ends up banning books that are favored by many, if equal application of the ban is applied.

In short, one persons great historical novel is sinful in another's eyes. While a vocal minority voices disapproval of books containing content they think might be harmful, their same litmus test also provides ample grounds for the banning of books they themselves approve of.

Would it not be better to allow individual parents or guardians to review or discuss the books their children read with the children, rather than sit as judge and jury on what books are available to all children? When an individual adult, or group of adults, sets themselves up as "The Committee For Public Safety" relative to the books available in school libraries, the virtual beheadings have begun. Libraries, free and open libraries, exist to allow dispersal of thought and ideas, yes, even the thoughts and ideas of those we disagree with. As a youth, I read Marx, Lenin, and Hitler; they assisted me in developing a firm belief in democracy and basic free market economies. Reading those books, which my parents would not approve of, allowed me to grasp, examine, and discard ideas I found to be unproductive. Reading stories of children who came from homes that were not 1950's "Leave it to Beaver" perfect encouraged me to think I could also do well, even if my upbringing was not whitewashed perfection.

In fine, the Utah right-wing person or people that want books banned because the ideas make them uncomfortable, the same ones that are now furious about the Holy Bible King James version being banned are reaping the seeds they have sown.

I can only hope there are some adults in the room.

Thanks for reading, please pass my article along and as always, your comments are welcome and encouraged.

R. M. "Bob" Hartman

Before you flame me: I do hold the Holy Bible in high degree. I also do not believe any books need to be banned.

824,000. Who's next?

 I consider myself to be a patriot; although I am not one of those flying a tattered flag from the back of my pick up truck. Fortunate indeed are those individuals who were born in the United States, or have become American citizens, for we have rights and freedoms that are indeed the object of admiration and even jealousy from those throughout the world whom are not so fortunate. While America does have it's problems, and they are many, we also have the ability to solve those problems when we cooperate on solutions instead of aggravation. 

Nothing positive is gained when we grab our flags and scream at each other in the name of freedom; following false prophets down rabbit holes only ends one way: you are tired, dirty and worse off than before.  Our country is gripped by a political, moral, and social malaise, magnificently complicated by the strident voices of a very vocal but ignorant few who willingly replace facts with fiction; reality with alternative universes, social responsibility with political desires.

There have been numerous times in our history when the needs of the nation overrode the desires of the individual; you might consider the sacrifices endured by Americans during the Second World War as an example. You may have wanted to exercise your freedom by driving across the country to visit Aunt Mabel, but the needs of our war machine for gasoline, steel, and rubber denied you this "freedom." 

More than 824,000 citizens of the United States of America have died from Covid-19 in less than 2 years. That is more than the number of Americans killed in all international wars since our country gained it's freedom in 1776. It is a greater number than were killed by the Spanish Flu in 1918-1919. 

824,000 patriotic, voting, loving Americans. Grandparents, uncles, aunts, moms and dads, sisters and brothers. Fellow students, co-workers, the family in the next pew at church. The friend that always had a joke, the one that fixed your car. Your child. Your spouse. They are all dead.

Yet, you stand there and tell me you are a patriot, and you have rights and freedoms; that the evil government can't mandate a vaccine because "freedumb" and all that. You tell me it is against your children's constitutional rights to have to wear a mask in school. I cannot fathom how you have managed to twist saving lives into a rant on Democrat vs. Republican, right-wing vs. left-wing, but I have to hand it to you, you did it. I have been told to my (masked) face, real patriots don't wear masks. Seriously!  

Yes, in America, we have rights and freedoms; as I wrote earlier, they are the envy of the world. Those rights and freedoms, great and magnificent as they are, come with duties. Those duties are not to be neglected for limelight; rather they are to be undertaken whatsoever the cost.  

Our duty now is as clear as Grandmother's crystal glasses. Roll up our sleeves, and get vaccinated. If you have been vaccinated, get the booster. If you won't do it for yourself, do it for your family, for your grandparents, your neighbor, the family in the corner house down the street. 

The President of the United States must speak nicely, but I am not held to such a position, so here it is:

Just roll up your damn sleeve and get the shot. You can bitch and moan about it all the next week for all I care. Man up, Cowboy up, whatever you want to say, just do it. Cut the C**p and do it! The life you save may be your own.

Thanks for reading; your comments are always welcome. 

R.M. "Bob" Hartman