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Stacked along my walls are boxes and boxes of books that I have already read and will never read again... yet I am so attached to them that I will not part with them.
Mingled amongst the books are binders filled with papers I have written, notes I have taken, and random thoughts I have scribbled. I will never review them. And indeed, there are many notebooks that made their way from West Virginia with them that I have never opened in the three years I have lived in Denver. I have mustered up the strength to toss those in the trash this go around, rather than haul them back to West Virginia.
I have long argued against American consumerism... and yet, it would seem that I have given in to the American fetish of collecting.
It causes me to take pause and reflect over the past three years spent at Iliff School of Theology. Iliff is a liberal school. Depending on whom you speak to, it is either a radically liberal school, a liberal elitist school, or a school of liberal fundamentalism. I tend to favor the latter description.
However, as I said in the midst of those predominantly white liberals, listening to the constant rants and raves of the left, I heard a condemnation of American ideals... yet these people embraced those ideals whole heartedly. They drove SUVs, Mercedes, and other nice, gas guzzling cars. They lived in upscale suburbs and in places like Boulder (if you're from Colorado or have ever lived there, you know what that means). They have more floor space than they need, yet they fill it up. They have so many clothes that they could wear a different outfit every day and still have clothes left over at the end of the month. They eat at nice restaurants, paying enough for one meal to feed a family in the two-thirds world for a month.
How much does that sort of liberalism serve us? If we are willing to acknowledge our privilege, it's a step. But if we end with that, we have done nothing. Sometimes I think my ultra-conservative father has progressed more than these so-called progressives. At least my dad recognizes that he earns more, spends more, and has a higher quality of life than many people in this world. Granted, he does nothing to demand more equality or justice... but at least he acknowledges that he has privilege and cherishes it, not wanting to give it up.
The liberals I have encountered over the past three years cling to their privilege, and pretend to be rejecting it. It doesn't do a starving child in South Africa, orphaned by AIDS any good.
I'm leaving Denver a little confused, a little angry, a little frustrated, and thoroughly disgusted with the American Left. Yet, I have been disgusted with the American Right for quite some time. So, I guess this move is also a journey to discover a better way... there has to be a better way... right? Right?
