The Darkside Of Morality

[Stone holm]

Have been watching the second part of Ken Burn's "Prohibition". I was previously unaware of the fact that one of the Organizations which strongly backed that social experiment was the KKK. There always seems to be a Darkside to certain types of morality politics which makes for uncomfortable fellow travellers. Is this simply unavoidable with such legislative activities?

[Storm Rider]

Commonalities between organizations and objectives can produce strange bedfellows.  I think it is unavoidable to assume that simply because you find a serious issue that you deem vital that only identical groups will find support for it. I don't think morality has anything to do with it; it has more to do with topic.

 

It does not make sense to not support something only because a group you don't like also supports it. We do seem thrown to those kind of actions or choices. I used to enjoy B. Streisand's music and movies; then she became politically active for causes that I did not support.  I found I was not as interested in listening or watching her anymore because of her political choices. I have never like that about myself.

 

As an aside, once as a young boy I remember my father taking me for a drive around his area where he grew up. At one point we came upon a simple, large, concrete block building with no paint situated under some huge oak trees and out in the sticks. He pointed at it and told me that was were the KKK met when he was a boy. He then told me that when he was a boy the KKK of the panhandle of Florida was known most for "monitoring" fathers/husbands that did not provide for their families. If a father was drinking away the family's income or if the father was just not providing/working as he should, the KKK made a visit to that home at night and took the man for a drive. Typically the man return bloodied and prepared to change his ways. This was not a story that I have heard others tell very often.

 

As a boy I still remember flat-bed trailers loaded with hooded figures drive through downtown. They came without notice and then were gone. People would stop and stare or turn away from them. They stopped doing that when I was in my teens and I never saw them again.

[rpn]

I do not think one should change their position because someone they don't like shares it.   But I do think it is wise to fully understand why the person/entity you don't like DOES support it so that you can determine whether there is grounds for changing your position now that you understand the cause better.

[The Nehor]

There are extremist wackos who hold every view. Take their votes if they are on your side, pat them on the head, and make sure they are marginalized in every other way.

[Questing Beast]

Have been watching the second part of Ken Burn's "Prohibition". I was previously unaware of the fact that one of the Organizations which strongly backed that social experiment was the KKK. There always seems to be a Darkside to certain types of morality politics which makes for uncomfortable fellow travellers. Is this simply unavoidable with such legislative activities?

Yes, unavoidable. "Strange bedfellows" is a good term alrighty....

[thesometimesaint]

I'm reminded of the company Jesus kept.

[Questing Beast]

And Mother Teresa....

[The Nehor]

I'm reminded of the company Jesus kept.

I just want to know who appointed Judas to keep track of their finances.

[thesometimesaint]

It was either the Prophet or the Profit.

[Stone holm]

I'm reminded of the company Jesus kept.

 

Ah no, that was more like the people that help get Him crucified.  The KKK became big in Indiana shortly after the premiere of "Birth of a Nation", I remember having it assigned when I was in an American Studies graduate course.  I think, however, there may be an affinity between such organizations and certain forms of moral legislation.  Prohibition was primarily aimed at saloons and anti-German sentiment was what got it finally enacted after all of the various religious and progressive reformers failed.  As such it was also primarily aimed at certain classes of recent immigrants.  In our part of Indiana, for lack of certain racial minorities to persecute, they primarily went after Catholics.  Which also made sense since the Catholics weren't terribly enthused about Prohibition.  So looking back over our history, I would say that morality legislation does seem to attract awkward fellow travelers.

[thesometimesaint]

Jesus consorted with the down trodden, the poor, the tax collectors, and the rejects of society. He didn't have much good to say about the Sadducees, and even less about the Pharisees(The poweful and important people of his day).

 

As far as the KKK is concerned. It was nothing unusual for the town shariff, and town counsil to have been in  both. The former during the day and the latter during the night.

Edited September 3, 2013 by thesometimesaint

[Stone holm]

And Mother Teresa....

 

She kept company with thugs that lynched people and burned crosses in their yards?

[cinepro]

Commonalities between organizations and objectives can produce strange bedfellows.  I think it is unavoidable to assume that simply because you find a serious issue that you deem vital that only identical groups will find support for it. I don't think morality has anything to do with it; it has more to do with topic.

 

It does not make sense to not support something only because a group you don't like also supports it. We do seem thrown to those kind of actions or choices. I used to enjoy B. Streisand's music and movies; then she became politically active for causes that I did not support.  I found I was not as interested in listening or watching her anymore because of her political choices. I have never like that about myself.

 

As an aside, once as a young boy I remember my father taking me for a drive around his area where he grew up. At one point we came upon a simple, large, concrete block building with no paint situated under some huge oak trees and out in the sticks. He pointed at it and told me that was were the KKK met when he was a boy. He then told me that when he was a boy the KKK of the panhandle of Florida was known most for "monitoring" fathers/husbands that did not provide for their families. If a father was drinking away the family's income or if the father was just not providing/working as he should, the KKK made a visit to that home at night and took the man for a drive. Typically the man return bloodied and prepared to change his ways. This was not a story that I have heard others tell very often.

 

As a boy I still remember flat-bed trailers loaded with hooded figures drive through downtown. They came without notice and then were gone. People would stop and stare or turn away from them. They stopped doing that when I was in my teens and I never saw them again.

 

You might get a kick out of this story:

 

How Superman Defeated the KKK

 

In the 1940s, The Adventures of Superman was a radio sensation. Kids across the country huddled around their sets as the Man of Steel leapt off the page and over the airwaves. Although Superman had been fighting crime in print since 1938, the weekly audio episodes fleshed out his storyline even further. It was on the radio that Superman first faced kryptonite, met Daily Planet reporter Jimmy Olsen, and became associated with "truth, justice, and the American way." So, it's no wonder that when a young writer and activist named Stetson Kennedy decided to expose the secrets of the Ku Klux Klan, he looked to a certain superhero for inspiration

You can listen to the story in the prologue of this podcast:

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/285/know-your-enemy

Edited September 3, 2013 by cinepro

[Questing Beast]

[Mother Teresa] kept company with thugs that lynched people and burned crosses in their yards?

She kept company with some of the most vile sinners of the world, dictators and murderers of their own people. All of them admired her, for political reasons if not for any others. I'm not aware that MT ever pointed out the sins of individuals who made a point of meeting her in front of the Medía, she always preached the tenets of her crusade(s) in general terms applying to all....

[Stone holm]

Well finished "Prohibition" tonight and wondered what a different world it might have been had religious bigotry not defeated Al Smith.

[thesometimesaint]

Well finished "Prohibition" tonight and wondered what a different world it might have been had religious bigotry not defeated Al Smith.

 

I don't beleive it was just religious bigotry that defeated Al Smith. Voters we tired of Tammany Hall politics, and Hoover had a greater appeal, at least at first. Also Al decame increasing harsh of FDR's policies intended to stop the Great Depression.

[Stone holm]

Al Smith was a Catholic. They riled up the WASPs to go after him.

[thesometimesaint]

Al Smith was a Catholic. They riled up the WASPs to go after him.

 

Yes I know. But that still wasn't the only factor.

[Stone holm]

Yes I know. But that still wasn't the only factor.

 

Pretty durn big 'un though.

[Hestia]

Turned political.