In the South, if you are not part of the iconic, invasive,
Bible-breathing hive-unit, married to the idea of proselytizing
and spitting out scripture, alternately condemning and kissing ass,
you are essentially marked by the 'sign of the beast.'
It's like being behind enemy lines in a despicable military
war, where you have to watch how heavily you breathe, and
only move at night, lest you be spotted and ended, mercilessly.
You don't know which of your friends and neighbors--
or even family members--are a part of the resistance,
and all hope seems lost. One wrong move can ruin
your standing and separate you from your protection,
your favor, your resources.
only a tightly-clenched-teeth facade of normal living
while just under the surface persists danger, bile, hate,
and seething.
The religious nut is a dire sort, all pretense and posturing,
never truly living (for fear of sex and independence taking
over, or, more importantly, being observed.) Yet they are
duly entrenched in the midst of others' lives, self-important
savers of men, meddling in matters large and small, without
invitation.
The churches rule with a seemingly-subtle iron hand, engaging
in lies, child abuse, gossip, intimidation, and all manner of false
representations in order to maintain their grip.
These lies are so thoroughly, fearfully, inextricably mixed within
the DNA along with their compatriots obedience, shame,
self-consciousness, repression, blind adherence to militarism,
wife-beating, consumerism, poor-eating habits, isolation, myopia,
xenophobia, and so on.
To find freedom within is an individual achievement which
has to be embraced and highlighted, even if occasionally
hidden away. The idea of extracting the region from their
psychotic addiction to cults is a pipe dream. The hold is too
great, the history too long held, the extremism too widespread.
There are invisible shackles, and the cacophony of voices
decrying their existence doesn't lessen their impact in
the least. The insidiousness is the public pretense
that they do not exist, while people lay burdened with
their weight on a daily basis.
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