Scary Fundies Mark V: Eastern Idaho Edition
I occasionally heard it said, when I was a kid growing up in the Happy Valley, that eastern Idaho could out-Utah Utah. Indeed, the prevalence of Mormons along the I-15 corridor in Idaho handily outweighs that of Salt Lake City or Ogden, and BYU Idaho (formerly the two-year Ricks College) overlooks the heart of Happy Valley North, in Rexburg, ID. But I've met several intelligent, open-minded people who had grown up in the cultural wilds north of Pocatello, so I admit to some amazement at the venomous right-wing hatred and narrowmindedness bubbling up there in connexion with the recent election.
We go to KBCI in Boise, ID, for the first report (11 Nov. 2008; archived here, with grocer's apostrophes intact, against short half-life):
REXBURG - Controversial words spoken by kids on a school bus have some Madison County parents concerned.
Matthew Whoolery and his wife aren't blaming the school district for what happened on the bus but they do think all parents need to be careful about what they say and teach their children.
Whoolery and his wife couldn't believe it when their second and third graders got off the bus last week and told them what other students were saying.
'They just hadn't heard anything like this before,' said Whoolery. 'They were chanting on the bus, "Assassinate Obama. Assassinate Obama." Then adding in a name sometimes of a classmate on the bus, "Assassinate Obama and Kate."'
The Whoolery's explained to their kids what assassinate means then contacted the school about what was happening.
'I think the thing that struck us was just like, "Where did they get the word and why would they put that word and that person together?"' said Whoolery.
It's not that the Whoolery's are big Obama fans they just don't like people joking about a serious matter concerning any leader of the country.
'I'm assuming if it were, "Assassinate McCain" you'd feel the same way?' asked reporter Nate Eaton.
'No question about it,' replied Whoolery.
After the incident, the Madison School district superintendent sent an email to all teachers, principals, and bus drivers saying that all students should show proper respect for elected officials.
If a student does say something inappropriate, the adult is to calm them down and tell them the behavior is unacceptable.
'I don't think that the majority of people in Rexburg have extreme ideas like that but we were just surprised that it would go that far,' said Whoolery.
The Whoolery's moved to Rexburg a year ago. They came from the Middle East where they lived for three years.
In all their time living there, they never heard any comments similar to these about any leaders there or here.
Gosh, where have I heard about innocent children singing violent, extremist hate songs before? I dunno, maybe...fundamentalist Islam? The Axis of Evil?-the Islamofascists?-the TERRORISTS?!?
Our next story concerns Dawn Anderson, a Mormon Democrat (yes, they do exist) and professor of English at BYU-Idaho. In an interview with Salon.com, she says about her experience in Rexburg:
'The climate surrounding faithful membership in [the Mormon Church] is not always conducive to challenging authority,' she says. 'People here are reluctant to openly criticize the president and his administration, even if they privately disapprove of his job.' And many of them don't disapprove, even privately. 'After 20 years of teaching Mormon students, I've learned that the majority of them have little knowledge of issues outside the Republican platform. They only know that Democrats are lesbian baby-killers.'
But how much to heart to they take this blatantly libelous message? Just how deeply are the lies ingrained-and how early? Again we hearken back to impressionable youth, as Ms. Anderson recounts a disturbing incident:
She says the political homogeneity can be isolating and depressing and sometimes a little scary. She remembers the time when a group of classmates followed her third-grader home, shouting out "baby-killer" all along the way. She took it up with the teacher, who didn't seem to mind.
Wow. Just-wow. I've envisioned rural Idaho as kind of a sleepy, relaxed, how's-the-wife-and-kids kind of a culture. And perhaps it was, thirty-five years ago. Can we credit the Reagan revolution for radicalizing America's farm country, in addition to legalizing white-collar crime?
Upon reflection, I suppose I shouldn't be at all surprised. When the inability to think critically, long endemic to Mormonia, intersects with an ignorance- and hate-based political campaign like John McCain's presidential bid, this is what inevitably ensues.
We go to KBCI in Boise, ID, for the first report (11 Nov. 2008; archived here, with grocer's apostrophes intact, against short half-life):
REXBURG - Controversial words spoken by kids on a school bus have some Madison County parents concerned.
Matthew Whoolery and his wife aren't blaming the school district for what happened on the bus but they do think all parents need to be careful about what they say and teach their children.
Whoolery and his wife couldn't believe it when their second and third graders got off the bus last week and told them what other students were saying.
'They just hadn't heard anything like this before,' said Whoolery. 'They were chanting on the bus, "Assassinate Obama. Assassinate Obama." Then adding in a name sometimes of a classmate on the bus, "Assassinate Obama and Kate."'
The Whoolery's explained to their kids what assassinate means then contacted the school about what was happening.
'I think the thing that struck us was just like, "Where did they get the word and why would they put that word and that person together?"' said Whoolery.
It's not that the Whoolery's are big Obama fans they just don't like people joking about a serious matter concerning any leader of the country.
'I'm assuming if it were, "Assassinate McCain" you'd feel the same way?' asked reporter Nate Eaton.
'No question about it,' replied Whoolery.
After the incident, the Madison School district superintendent sent an email to all teachers, principals, and bus drivers saying that all students should show proper respect for elected officials.
If a student does say something inappropriate, the adult is to calm them down and tell them the behavior is unacceptable.
'I don't think that the majority of people in Rexburg have extreme ideas like that but we were just surprised that it would go that far,' said Whoolery.
The Whoolery's moved to Rexburg a year ago. They came from the Middle East where they lived for three years.
In all their time living there, they never heard any comments similar to these about any leaders there or here.
Gosh, where have I heard about innocent children singing violent, extremist hate songs before? I dunno, maybe...fundamentalist Islam? The Axis of Evil?-the Islamofascists?-the TERRORISTS?!?
Our next story concerns Dawn Anderson, a Mormon Democrat (yes, they do exist) and professor of English at BYU-Idaho. In an interview with Salon.com, she says about her experience in Rexburg:
'The climate surrounding faithful membership in [the Mormon Church] is not always conducive to challenging authority,' she says. 'People here are reluctant to openly criticize the president and his administration, even if they privately disapprove of his job.' And many of them don't disapprove, even privately. 'After 20 years of teaching Mormon students, I've learned that the majority of them have little knowledge of issues outside the Republican platform. They only know that Democrats are lesbian baby-killers.'
But how much to heart to they take this blatantly libelous message? Just how deeply are the lies ingrained-and how early? Again we hearken back to impressionable youth, as Ms. Anderson recounts a disturbing incident:
She says the political homogeneity can be isolating and depressing and sometimes a little scary. She remembers the time when a group of classmates followed her third-grader home, shouting out "baby-killer" all along the way. She took it up with the teacher, who didn't seem to mind.
Wow. Just-wow. I've envisioned rural Idaho as kind of a sleepy, relaxed, how's-the-wife-and-kids kind of a culture. And perhaps it was, thirty-five years ago. Can we credit the Reagan revolution for radicalizing America's farm country, in addition to legalizing white-collar crime?
Upon reflection, I suppose I shouldn't be at all surprised. When the inability to think critically, long endemic to Mormonia, intersects with an ignorance- and hate-based political campaign like John McCain's presidential bid, this is what inevitably ensues.