Zappa

I'm stealing this lock-stock and barrel from wildsects because it's worthwhile seeing. It's quite amazing how spot on Frank Zappa was in terms of how he discusses the emergence of a "theocracy".

Zappa: The biggest threat to America today is not communism; it's moving America towards a fascist theocracy and everything that has happened during the Reagan administration is steering us right down that pipe.

When you have a government that prefers a certain moral code derived from a certain religion and that moral code turns into legislation to suit one certain religious point of view and if that code happens to be very, very right wing almost toward Attila the Hun...

Lofton: Well then you are an anarchist. Every form of civil government is based on some kind of morality, Frank.

Zappa: Morality in terms of behavior-not in terms of theology.

The exchange can be seen here. Click on the green "watch" button, and sit through a short commercial.

It's extraordinary when you look at the world now, versus how it was 20 years ago. That's good news. We can see that we've come a long way since then. This morning, I listened to Howard Stern on the radio and occasionally they used the word "fuck" or "cock" or whatever.

The world did not end. Nobody died. I laughed. At work today, I did not use the word "fuck" in any business communication, because it's not traditionally appropriate.

It is about choice. I have the choice to listen to Stern or not, and being a very strict libertarian, I abhor the idea that the government can tell me what I can see, or hear, or read.

It's so amazing to hear Zappa articulate so quickly and clearly everything I've tried to say about the concept of what a word is. I had asked a question way back, should I stop using the f-bomb on my blog. Some people (1 actually) said yes, everyone else said no, write the way you write. So I did.

Fuck.

And that is exactly what Zappa's point was in pointing out the absurd ambiguity in trying to put morality into language. Morality is about actions, not a string of syllables.

So, watch the video and be amazed at the brilliance of Zappa. Watch to see how we are winning this culture war against the conservative theocrats. Watch to see one smart liberal guy kick the shit our of a couple of conservatives idiots in debate.

And realize, 20 years from now, we'll have made just as much progress. Maybe someday American's will realize that the word "fuck" doesn't hurt anything, the act of "fucking" is actually a good thing, and the chemistry of love and sex between human beings is to be celebrated, not shunned as if it is what causes the evils in the world.

It is violence and religion that causes the evils in the world. It's pretty simple stuff.