I have a draft for a prelude to discussing Sexxx Dreams that is all about a new vision I had a couple of weeks ago for Quantum Sex Cults. I thought I would finish that and then write this one, but this is more important to do today, now, this morning at 4:20 AM mountain time.
I don't know what Gaga has been up to, I think she is still on Cheek to Cheek tour, now, and I have seen some things about her working on new songs. But the last thing I remember seeing her "do" is watering her garden. In a magical sense she is nourishing seeds she planted previously and in this way this one image of her - in her white outfit with her watering can - is symbolic of nurturing Justice: She planted seeds of justice by supporting gay rights and marriage equality and continues to do this. Watering seeds is necessary to grow plants, but the magical message I am taking from this image, at this time, is that in the future we will have plants, and we will have justice. This is something we must know and believe in - otherwise it would be pointless to water dirt. But just believing we will one day have plants and justice is not enough, we must do the watering, too. We must work towards it. And when it is issues of justice, whether it is marriage equality or ending police brutality and murder, we can know that we are on the Bright Side of History, that our ideals are of the future and what the future will be founded upon, and this faith and knowledge can inspire us so that we are using the purest, most magical water and care in our actions, but we need to have those actions, too.
We need both, faith and work, and our work is better when it is done with faith. If Gaga were to put out a message today to try to sway the court's decision it would probably not reach or influence them, even though she is Gaga. But she has been putting this message and call for equality out there for years, many people have, and our efforts are bearing fruit in poll numbers that show the majority of Americans now support gay marriage and this number keeps growing. I've heard some people being interviewed on the news who represent the fearful conservatives who say the court should not decide this issue because then we will debate it politically, while at the same time claiming the right thing to do is let states decide and continue to debate it politically. Don't try to understand that, these people are idiots and it makes no sense. The truth is, if you believe in the process you have to be able to believe, ultimately, in all of the process. I think most Americans disagree with the Supreme Court decision, as it now stands, that corporations are "people" and can spend as much as they want to influence and buy elections. And we will change this, either with a better decision by them or through another mechanism, even a constitutional amendment. In discussing this upcoming case, pundits on NPR were comparing the decision to ones made over anti-sodomy laws in Georgia and Texas. The first upheld Georgia's homophobic, oppressive and perverted laws against some kinds of sex that makes folks' sex into government business, but a generation later they overturned sodomy laws. The same process happened with laws against interracial marriage: the court upheld them, continuing racism, then overturned them a generation later. This is how the system works. If people have a problem with gay marriage and they think it is an actual social problem, not just their own bigotry and idiocy, then surely the rest of society will see the problem and demand the courts and government change course. But this won't happen, just like we will never go back to making pot illegal but more and more places will legalize it. Because there is nothing wrong with weed and nothing wrong with gay marriage and the more people are aware of that the less chance fearmongering will lead to oppressive laws.
This is just The Future coming true. I wondered what my role would be today in magically influencing the course of history as the Supreme Court hears this case. I thought how pathetic the whiners sound who are afraid the court will decide against them, that they are going to do the same thing they did with abortion and whine about it and elect war-loving 1% assholes in order to try to "get their way" - oppression - but they won't get their way, ultimately, because their way is wrong. Just like they will never "get their way" that we won't do anything about global warming because if we don't there won't be anybody's "way" to get because we will all be dead. There is no reason to respect ideas based on fear and idiocy. Now, will our court make a decision that is fearful and idiotic? Maybe - we are apparently relying on Justice Kennedy to join the liberal justices to end anti-gay marriage laws. But it will be the wrong decision if they do that, and we will have to change it in the future and work hard to do so. But even when they make the right decision, hopefully today or soon regarding this case, or in the future - but whenever it is we will still have work to do, to counter the "blowback" from conservatives and to ensure justice for all people who are oppressed in other ways. Even if they plant the seeds of justice today we still have to water them and bring them to flower. And while I hope we will have a breakthrough on this social justice issue, we severely need one to address police brutality, too.
The news was reporting that the Ayatollah of Iran was tweeting to shame America for police murders of black folks even when we have a black president. He's right. We should be ashamed and we should be doing more about it. They are burning down parts of Baltimore now, and the Man (woman mayor, in this case) calls them Thugs. But they are us. They want us to accept that communities and police must work together, but that does not mean we have to accept police brutality. To me, it means we should start training replacement police forces in case we have to fire or jail whole departments. It means the police have to change, and change a lot, if they want to keep their jobs and lives. They are saying gangs are now putting aside their differences in order to kill cops in the upcoming chaos in Baltimore. (CORRECTION: this was a bad early report and I checked FOX News and they are still reporting that the gang pacts are to kill cops - and maybe they are elsewhere. But the pastor from Baltimore said the local gangs there had formed a pact with him and other religious leaders to commit to Non-Violence, and that the rioters were high school students and incited by an outside gang, the Black Guerillas. So this just shows the gangs are more responsible than the cops, or the media, and the gangs organization may be what is needed to fill the power vacuum.) Violence is not the answer but it can sure bring a lot of attention to what the problems are - and when they try to hide, deny, and ignore the problems that is what you get. In too many cases the police ARE the problem and need to own up to it and change instead of trying to blame the victims, the people. The police, the army, the US government - all of these are powerful, in a way. But the greater power is the truth of Justice and Love, the truth of the Future. Because the only way we can even have a future is if we build it from the foundations of Justice and Love. And if the power of the system is continued to be used as an obstacle to that future, well, this system will collapse - into smoke and rubble or into fields of green and flowers. But if it does not change it will go away and we will be better off without it. But it can change, and will - this is the beauty and promise of democracy.
Some people don't really believe in democracy, just assume this system has kept them privileged and don't want to change a thing. Conservatives don't believe in democracy because they know the will of the people will not allow them to continue certain oppressive ways. If they really thought they represented a majority they would calm down and let the votes sort it out. But they don't, they believe in voter suppression so only "their kind" of people can make the decisions. And when they are afraid the Supreme Court will undo their fake democracy they denounce it. I'm not saying I have faith in the Court, only that I do have faith that marriage equality is the right thing and like all issues of justice, those who stand in the way will ultimately be swept away. But when I imagine how this will go today, I just can only see liberals happy and conservatives upset about the outcome, which is the way it should be. Because conservatives are just wrong, and maybe when they actually realize that they, or people they know, are gay, when they actually go to some gay weddings and have a good time, when they toke up some weed in a non-judgmental or incarceration-y environment - or when record temperatures melt their cars or more record snowstorms bury them - they will see the error of their ways. In the meantime, if a decision by 9 (or 5, really) justices can make changes in the world that allow more people to live freely, with less fear, and allow all of society to benefit from that openness - as we are finding as weed becomes more and more socially acceptable - then that is what needs to happen and will happen. I am writing this not exactly to be prophetic, just to add some water.
Justice isn't instant. But the dust of justice is everywhere, waiting to come to life. Just add water: you're awareness, your work, your emotions to share the stories that change folks' hearts. So believe, because we are voting and singing and rioting our way to a better day. And let's all take care of this garden we share, our community of beings and the earth itself, by tending our gardens and honoring the seeds our hearts have planted by seeing them through to flowering. Paws up for Justice and Equality! Thanks, Gaga, for growing us, your babies, so lovingly! I love you!
