pc perfessor bites back

[Diana York Blaine]

Alan asks if the "piss Christ" brouhaha is "the other side of the cunt
controversy."

No, I think that would be "prick Christ."

Seriously I am hard-pressed to believe that I was slammed today by someone
who belongs to the pynchon-list for taking a less-than-holier-than-thou
look at the institution of Christianity.  Huh?  I was reading my messages
quickly in between seeing students in office hours so maybe I
misunderstood, and maybe because it's because I just reread Paine's Rights
of Man and taught Langston Hughes' "Goodbye Christ," but I feel if you
aren't in serious conflict about the manifestations of that religion in
the last thousand years you must be quite an amazing specimen.

And then I am supposed to believe that Americans can have race-neutral
reactions to "jokes" lampooning a group of Americans who were
intentionally edited out of the Declaration of Independence to appease
Southern racists.  Yeah, sure.  And frankly I expect to hear "hey it's
only a joke" from naive youths unaware of the power of discourse, but how
could these people also be devoted to an author who seems so keenly aware
of these issues?  Bring together your Hitler thread with your ebonics
"jokes" for a nice look at how genocide gets validated.

If you have a hostile reaction to these comments it doesn't mean I am
wrong. Nor does the fact that I am an educator make me an idiot. In the
last several weeks I have been rereading colonial documents fundamental to
our history and the value systems we continue to manifest.  If you'd like
to talk about the issues of religion and race in America you're welcome to
do the same:
	John Winthrop's Journal
	Samuel Sewell, The Selling of Joseph, A Memorial
	Cotton Mather, Magnalia Christi Americana (a real beaut)
	Jonathan Edwards, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (of course)
	Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography and The Way to Wealth
	Crevecoeur, Letters from an American Farmer
	Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man, Common Sense
	Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano
	Phillis Wheatley, collected poems (which America wouldn't publish)
	
If you think there's a comfortable distance between the racist hatred then
and our present day, think again. I am not interested in elevating myself
at y'all's expense.  I am not interested in hurling cynicisms. (That's way
too easy and immediately transparent, as you can see from the sad state of
those who can only foist cruel jabs at everything some of us say on
this list and hope it will render them superior.)  But I am also
uninterested in validating uninformed garbage under the rubric of
"personal opinion." There is no such thing.

Diana