I occasionally sit alone, at least to start with, having coffee at Schwartz's book store reading something or other. One seemingly to be a UFO arrival after sitting himself at my table began to talk incessantly about some of the religious components of American elections and the relevance of religion within the American culture.
This UFO visitor, whom some would of course describe as odd, reminded me of some of blemishes of what he referred to as “your Christian based Western culture.” He started with the Jews and Muslim Moors that were banished from Christian Spain during the 15th century and mentioned the Spanish inquisition.
He then reminded me of the European witch hunts that began before that time. During the 1500s and 1600s witches were sometimes hanged in England and burned at the stake in Scotland and Ireland. There were also significant incidences of witch hunting and executions in the English colonies in America that were linked to that heritage.
Let's not forget the crusades. And he didn't want me to forget the religious motivated treatment of the natives of North America, the so-called “Indians” and the way the Spanish vanquished the natives of South America. Americans haven't been all that accepting of the various immigrate groups, especially those of uncommon religion.
He strongly believes that this background still influences our idea of “equality,” indicating that slavery was part of the early American culture, with slaves even being mentioned as each less than one person in the American constitution. After the American “civil war” former slaves and their decedents were never free from the fear of being lynched.
These, he reminded me are significant events and part of the Christian history and American heritage. He believes that Americans still suffer from a certain degree of slave mentality that is especially reflected in the concepts of the individual, especially the individual functioning within a Christian-type capitalistic culture.
Racism and the inequalities represented by these attitudes, he pointed out are still reflected in our political contests today. He suggested that I should think about his quick and brief sketch of history that he provided me and that we should discuss this further. He then thanked me for allowing him to talk to me, indicating he'd like to meet again, when he next returns, from I guess, out there.
I think that Schwartz's is one of best unplanned community centers in Shorewood, where people come together informally and have great conversations. Thanks to Harry Schwartz.
I've only presented the gist of what my UFO guest said and I've researched the subject somewhat since and added some dates. Now I've been left with a lot to think about and some questions that I want to ask our learned friend next time in the coffee section of Schwartz's book store in Shorewood.
