The down side of a small town.
I have written before about the local AM station in town that plays classic country (it isn't) and features a local morning show from 6-10 a.m. The last half hour of that show is called "Party Line" and local folks call in to wish people a happy birthday, try to sell old VCRs for $200, and occasionally go off on some issue of local import.
The beloved host of the morning show retired a couple of weeks ago after 37 1/2 years. He was replaced by another local guy who has been doing a decent job at keeping the morning hopping along.
BUT...the new guy has restructured Party Line a bit, too. Instead of keeping it loosey-goosey, with maybe the occasional suggestion of something to talk about like the last host did, he suggests a topic each morning.
That's not the bad part. The bad part is that he is not at all interested in hearing the community's views about that topic--unless those views exactly match his own. And he is using that microphone to make sure that you know those views, too. Those right-wing, stupid-argument-centered, conservative Christian views. Hoorah.
Yesterday as I was happily and productively working in my office, I suddenly heard this blurt from my radio:
"Today on Party Line we're going to be talking about that atheist creep in California who is trying to get 'so help me God' removed from the inaugural oath. Do you think it's OK for a radical minority to dictate to the rest of us? (Insert other righteous bullshit about God and Country here). I also want answers to the question 'Can America survive without God in it?' So please call in and voice your opinions."
Yeah. Right.
So the calls started coming in, with people saying dumb crap like "I'm not very smart about this issue, but I think that our country is in trouble because liberals try to take God out of our country and, you know, I went to the mall and there were people saying 'Merry Christmas' and I talked to these salesgirls and they told us that their manager was telling them to say 'Happy Holidays' instead of Merry Christmas and that's just wrong! Jesus is the reason for the season!"
And dumb stuff like, "You know, there is no such thing as an atheist cuz' if you sent 'em all to Baghdad and started shootin' at em' (ah, bliss!) they'd all start sayin' 'God get me outta here!' so there's no such thing as an atheist."
And the host would say dumb stuff like, (Chuckling) "That's so true! I like that, I like that a lot."
So I called.
And I said, "I'm wondering why it's appropriate to call someone a 'creep' for exercising his American right to voice his opinions about an issue that is very important to him and to many people. I read the articles about the lawsuit and it's obvious that he doesn't expect to win but that he does want to draw attention to this issue and that is exactly what he is doing. Also, I don't listen to right wing or left wing radio because I don't like the way people talk to or about each other on those shows and I would be really disappointed if this show, which represents people in a small town who do hold varied viewpoints and includes non-believers as well, became like those shows."
Or something like that. I kept it civil and mostly focused on the whole civility issue. I didn't give my name because, when it comes to belief, I have found that it's best to keep my lack thereof to myself. And that pressure to conform to the Christian norm is exactly why that creep in California keeps filing lawsuits about the intrusion of monotheism into government ceremonies. And, I tell ya, it turns my stomach.
A few minutes later, a woman calls in and agrees with the DJ--which, again, is the only opinion he's really interested in hearing, thanks for the fair and balanced show--and then says, "And that caller who said that you shouldn't have called that guy a creep? Well, you are just expressing your opinion just like she is and I'm sure that she has said things that aren't so nice in her life (uh, she got me there, dear reader! How does she know me so well?) so who is she to tell you that you can't express your opinion?"
Fair enough. Stupid, but she has her rights to say stupid things. But here's what the DJ said:
"I appreciate that. You know, I was thinking the same thing and I'm just glad that someone else said it for me."
And I said to myself "GOD! Get me out of here!"
That's when I really got pissed. And then sad. So sad, in fact, that my belly churned most of the day (though it could have been because I had to fast all day for a cholesterol test later in the afternoon) and even felt like crying a couple of times. I don't know why--people call radio shows and say stupid things every day. And it was no secret that the past host was a deep Christian, and that the local radio station allows local preachers to record a 'moment of inspiration' and follow it up with what is always a hideously bad song about faith. But I should have known that the tides were turning when that very morning's moment of inspiration was about how Christians NEED to support Isreal, that the other side offered nothing but terrorism and take take take, and--I'm sorry. Is that inspiration or politics? And if it's politics (it is), where the hell is the other side? Public airwaves, people.
I was upset because this is my radio station. I need Party Line to get the word out about the chamber and tourism. I advertise on that station ($300 month). I want that station to realize that small towns are like big families--you might not like everybody, but you live in close quarters and need to find ways to get along.
And I don't want to live in a town, and work my ass off for a town, that is full of people who would flat-out reject me because I don't believe in God. That is distressing. And not being able to say my name out of fear that people will stop buying monuments from us, or drop their chamber membership, or otherwise throw us to the lions. They don't think. They don't realize that atheists are right there under their noses, making monuments for their loved ones, creating economic opportunities for their town, putting up Christmas trees on their Courthouse lawn! I feel betrayed by their simmering anger and hatred. I have spent my whole life (outside of few really loud years in the late 80s) adjusting to the Christian majority, bowing my head at prayertime, not making a stink about them putting up Christmas trees on government property (oh yeah--that was Kevin and me doing that). And then they call in and start going off.
We're going to talk to the sales rep for that station. We really like her. She is the daughter-in-law of the owners. We're going to ask her if the station is really going to go in this direction. (Friday's Party Line was the most intense, but the whole week has had this inflammatory edge. Believe me--these people don't need any excuses to get all riled up about something.) And, if it is, we're going to stop advertising on it, to hell with the ramifications. We simply won't support a station that allows that kind of disrespectful dialog.
We're hoping the management tells him to shut the hell up.
The beloved host of the morning show retired a couple of weeks ago after 37 1/2 years. He was replaced by another local guy who has been doing a decent job at keeping the morning hopping along.
BUT...the new guy has restructured Party Line a bit, too. Instead of keeping it loosey-goosey, with maybe the occasional suggestion of something to talk about like the last host did, he suggests a topic each morning.
That's not the bad part. The bad part is that he is not at all interested in hearing the community's views about that topic--unless those views exactly match his own. And he is using that microphone to make sure that you know those views, too. Those right-wing, stupid-argument-centered, conservative Christian views. Hoorah.
Yesterday as I was happily and productively working in my office, I suddenly heard this blurt from my radio:
"Today on Party Line we're going to be talking about that atheist creep in California who is trying to get 'so help me God' removed from the inaugural oath. Do you think it's OK for a radical minority to dictate to the rest of us? (Insert other righteous bullshit about God and Country here). I also want answers to the question 'Can America survive without God in it?' So please call in and voice your opinions."
Yeah. Right.
So the calls started coming in, with people saying dumb crap like "I'm not very smart about this issue, but I think that our country is in trouble because liberals try to take God out of our country and, you know, I went to the mall and there were people saying 'Merry Christmas' and I talked to these salesgirls and they told us that their manager was telling them to say 'Happy Holidays' instead of Merry Christmas and that's just wrong! Jesus is the reason for the season!"
And dumb stuff like, "You know, there is no such thing as an atheist cuz' if you sent 'em all to Baghdad and started shootin' at em' (ah, bliss!) they'd all start sayin' 'God get me outta here!' so there's no such thing as an atheist."
And the host would say dumb stuff like, (Chuckling) "That's so true! I like that, I like that a lot."
So I called.
And I said, "I'm wondering why it's appropriate to call someone a 'creep' for exercising his American right to voice his opinions about an issue that is very important to him and to many people. I read the articles about the lawsuit and it's obvious that he doesn't expect to win but that he does want to draw attention to this issue and that is exactly what he is doing. Also, I don't listen to right wing or left wing radio because I don't like the way people talk to or about each other on those shows and I would be really disappointed if this show, which represents people in a small town who do hold varied viewpoints and includes non-believers as well, became like those shows."
Or something like that. I kept it civil and mostly focused on the whole civility issue. I didn't give my name because, when it comes to belief, I have found that it's best to keep my lack thereof to myself. And that pressure to conform to the Christian norm is exactly why that creep in California keeps filing lawsuits about the intrusion of monotheism into government ceremonies. And, I tell ya, it turns my stomach.
A few minutes later, a woman calls in and agrees with the DJ--which, again, is the only opinion he's really interested in hearing, thanks for the fair and balanced show--and then says, "And that caller who said that you shouldn't have called that guy a creep? Well, you are just expressing your opinion just like she is and I'm sure that she has said things that aren't so nice in her life (uh, she got me there, dear reader! How does she know me so well?) so who is she to tell you that you can't express your opinion?"
Fair enough. Stupid, but she has her rights to say stupid things. But here's what the DJ said:
"I appreciate that. You know, I was thinking the same thing and I'm just glad that someone else said it for me."
And I said to myself "GOD! Get me out of here!"
That's when I really got pissed. And then sad. So sad, in fact, that my belly churned most of the day (though it could have been because I had to fast all day for a cholesterol test later in the afternoon) and even felt like crying a couple of times. I don't know why--people call radio shows and say stupid things every day. And it was no secret that the past host was a deep Christian, and that the local radio station allows local preachers to record a 'moment of inspiration' and follow it up with what is always a hideously bad song about faith. But I should have known that the tides were turning when that very morning's moment of inspiration was about how Christians NEED to support Isreal, that the other side offered nothing but terrorism and take take take, and--I'm sorry. Is that inspiration or politics? And if it's politics (it is), where the hell is the other side? Public airwaves, people.
I was upset because this is my radio station. I need Party Line to get the word out about the chamber and tourism. I advertise on that station ($300 month). I want that station to realize that small towns are like big families--you might not like everybody, but you live in close quarters and need to find ways to get along.
And I don't want to live in a town, and work my ass off for a town, that is full of people who would flat-out reject me because I don't believe in God. That is distressing. And not being able to say my name out of fear that people will stop buying monuments from us, or drop their chamber membership, or otherwise throw us to the lions. They don't think. They don't realize that atheists are right there under their noses, making monuments for their loved ones, creating economic opportunities for their town, putting up Christmas trees on their Courthouse lawn! I feel betrayed by their simmering anger and hatred. I have spent my whole life (outside of few really loud years in the late 80s) adjusting to the Christian majority, bowing my head at prayertime, not making a stink about them putting up Christmas trees on government property (oh yeah--that was Kevin and me doing that). And then they call in and start going off.
We're going to talk to the sales rep for that station. We really like her. She is the daughter-in-law of the owners. We're going to ask her if the station is really going to go in this direction. (Friday's Party Line was the most intense, but the whole week has had this inflammatory edge. Believe me--these people don't need any excuses to get all riled up about something.) And, if it is, we're going to stop advertising on it, to hell with the ramifications. We simply won't support a station that allows that kind of disrespectful dialog.
We're hoping the management tells him to shut the hell up.
posted by lulu | 4:54 AM
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