Large Fierce Mammal

“Witch hunt” is a well entrenched term in the English language, meaning actions undertaken to root out anyone who you are hell bent on blaming for whatever ails you. If you’re powerful enough you can play this out for centuries and use it as a tool to whip a population into line simply because they’re just so damn glad not to be among the ranks of those accused.

Ask a Jew. Ask any gay man or woman. Ask anyone who on any level criticized American foreign and military policy during the McCarthy era. Ask anyone who did that last week. All this and I haven’t even left the North American continent yet!

Twenty-first century human culture worldwide still tolerates murder, torture, and eradication of entire cultures on religious grounds. Before, after, or entwined with all that, we have that covetous constant called greed. No matter the driving force behind it, we’ve proven ourselves to have a tendency to accept attack on dissent, or even attack on those daring to be different from what is graciously granted the definition of “normal”, based on the premise that such deviations represent the thin edge of the wedge for the entrance of evil into the world. This is done by forcefully equating the dissent with specific alternate agendas that are defined as evil in the extreme, thereby creating an “us or them” framework of the power monger’s devising. The alternate agendas always turn out to be little more than being contrary to the interests of people of means who have an agenda of their own, a big part of which normally includes maintaining those means at the expense of  people they want to keep under their heel. Good news though. It’s not just our society of today that’s prone to this. The pattern repeats going back into antiquity, because if there’s one thing we learn from history,  it’s that people don’t learn anything from history. Oh sure, some of us do, but society is a really big crowd, and elections prove my thesis that any crowd is only as smart as its least intelligent and drunkest member.

Our dark sentiment du jour presents a documentary film from the National Film Board of Canada. Made in 1990, The Burning Times was directed by Donna Read and was part two in a trilogy on women and spirituality. The Burning Times has been criticized as feminist revisionist history and I can see a reasonable argument in support of that in some parts. Still others, particularly the end segment, caused near painful eye rolling. For the most of it though, and taking into account its message, this film is a worthy document.

Speaking as a man who is blessed with the love of  a powerful, talented, and wise woman, I present tonight’s entertainment free from further personal preamble, leaving the art to speak for itself. I do not, however, excuse my audience from engaging in commentary here intended to fan the flames of spirited discussion. In fact, I demand it! Enjoy me hearties!