Austin's Dome

This actually happened to me. A lot of the rage that Anne Coulter and Rush Limbaugh pour on "the liberals" comes from how the left acted during the late 70s and early 80s. The problem is that it is 25 years later and now it is the right who is acting self-righteous.



The meeting was in the be-bop-mod church
at the edge of the large lawny
southern sprawl of the campus, the posters
said it would explain what the
words "sandinista" and "contra" really meant
to the people living them.


The usual always-present smatter of concerned
activists sat knee-buckled on
the plush blue carpet with their backs pressed
against the grey backdrop of an
abstract wood sculpture depiction of the Gethemane
passion of doomed christ.
Quite a few beat-nick non-students had driven in
from the small towns all along
the river and old acquaintances weaved in among
themselves to chat before filling
into the amphitheatre ring of wooden pew benches.
One group really stood out,
a contingent of smooth faced, ear nicked, tie wearing
business majors who sat right
in the middle of the pack. They didn't speak much
but sort of suspiciously eyed
everything that rummaged and moved around them.


With out fanfare, the three prelates of the university's
active divinities strode before
the butcher block altar's space and stood until the uneven
rippling of murmuring eventually
came to an the end. One stepped out and started to
explain in his epistle laden voice
what the meeting was and who was hosting it.
The tie wearing group seemed
to get more uncomfortable as he started to include his
own political views into the words.
One by one the other two spoke and the last introduced
the organizers, some group committed
to latin-american friendship, who were waved up to the
unfolded neat row of chairs that
were behind the altar. Everyone clapped, except the tie wearing group.


The leader of the friendship group gave an impassioned
plea for the understanding of the
good that the leftist revolution had brought to the country
and then a few other members who
had been in the country stood to expand upon how their
experiences did prove this.
The second of them so angered one in the business major's
group that he leapt up with his
right index finger pointed to the sky and shouted,
"They're nothing but communists!"
which brought out cheers and chanting from his friends.
This shocked the priest who
had begun the meeting, he was totally unprepared and
confused by the outburst which
continued a few minutes until he finally got his wits and quieted
the noise by explaining that the
question and answer period was when the audience had
the chance to voice opinions.


Since the first few questions were from scruffy beards and
long flowing homespun skirts
were mainly speeches about their support of the organization,
I struggled within myself with
the question I wanted to ask. Finally I found the courage and
got up to my feet and said
"Why on earth does the regime that wants to build hospitals
and schools all through out
the nation persecute the ethnic majority on the east coast?"
At the end of the row of chairs
was a genteel elderly woman wearing her late fifties
activism in the cool way her
expression held herself above moral reproach who impatiently
squawked at me, "Young man,
you just can't believe everything that you read."
Even though I was floored,
I thought maybe that I had confused my question so I
struggled out a simpler twist
to it, but her loftiness pushed itself up higher and she doubled
the shrillness to repeat herself.


It was as if a great shame had blasted all the blood in my
face that soon reboiled white anger,
I wanted to fling out my arms and shriek aloud:
"LADY, JUST BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT
YOU BELIEVE DOESN'T MAKE IT BEYOND REPROACH!!"
but I simply caved knees and slumped down
to clutch both my palms into the grainy wood pew.
As my finger tips rubbed circles on my
temples I stared vehemently at her granite countenance
and then turned to the tie wearing group.
The question and answer period went on to its end,
the business majors got boisterous
to the point of once again having to be brought to order.
They left the church shouting
anti-communist slogans in unison. A sense of betrayal
seemed to course through me.
I was no longer a liberal and what I saw on the conservative
side wasn't any more comforting.
As much as the noisy conservative arrogance
seemed much more human
I was scared because I knew they hadn't heard my question either.



I've kept it out for poetic effect, but someone from the friendship group did search me out after the meeting to tell me that I had made a good point with my question.