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Obama's comments on being bitter
It may come as a surprise to people who spend their lives as "pundits," being at the center of power, or at least on the outskirts, but a lot of people work to live rather than live to work. Many jobs aren't particularly satisfying. You need the money. At present, many jobs don't even allow for the camaraderie that makes the essential meaninglessness of the work endurable. After-work time is in many cases not so satisfying anymore, either. Suburban life and the overwhelming imperative to shop does a fair amount of damage to community, to the stuff that gives life substance. Church and hunting give life community and substance and meaning. In a way, people still living where there are bowling leagues and churches and where fathers teach their sons (and daughters) about guns and hunting are fortunate in that they still have community ties. Perhaps this is why they vote for people who directly or indirectly seem to support, rather than threaten, their symbols of community. I think Hillary is being massively hypocritical in this regard. I actually think Obama "gets it," though not completely. I don't think people retreat to hunting and church; I think they work so they can continue in these meaningful activities. I wish some urbanites could partake of a local church -- not a megachurch, but a community church in say a medium-sized town. It's not "just" church: it's where everything happens, for good and ill, to bind people together.
Comments (1)
I have lived in small towns and gone to small churches. In the south our small towns and rural areas are covered up with one small church after another. That is because they cannt get 10 christians to meet togeter for 5 years without a schism. Small town churches are just another source of friction and community fracture. Have you ever been to the Wednesday night business meeting ant your local church?
April 14, 2008 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
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