Jesusland map
The Jesusland map is an Internet meme satirizing the red/blue states scheme created very shortly following the 2004 United States Presidential election. It has been cited throughout American and global media since its creation.[citation needed]
Origin
The original image was created on November 3, 2004 by G. Webb, a poster on yakyak.org, an Internet message board for fans of the work of Jeff Minter (see the original discussion). Its creation has been incorrectly attributed to many different individuals, most notably Michael Moore.[citation needed]
Geography
The meme is in the form of a map of North America less Mexico which depicts a new hypothetical national border between the United States and Canada. The "blue states" from the 2004 election have been merged with Canada to form a single contiguous nation, which is labeled the "United States of Canada". The remaining "red states" are labeled as "Jesusland".
The map's appearance highlights the fact that the "red states" (except Alaska) are all contiguous with one another, while the continental "blue states" are also contiguous when combined with Canada. Adding to "Jesusland" the Canadian province of Alberta (which usually leans the most conservative among the provinces) does not break the contiguity of either "country".
Variations
Similar maps give different labels to the geographically separated blue states. The northeastern states are alternately referred to as "Eastern Realitania", "Northeastistan", "Western France", or "New America";[1] the central blue states near the Great Lakes are labeled "Central Realitania" or "Minniwillinois"; and the blue states along the Pacific Coast are called "Western Realitania", "Pacificstan", "Southern Canada" or "Baja Canada" (with Hawaii being separately labeled "The Tropic of Canada"). Another has chosen the overall name "Realistan". The red states in these variant maps are called "Jesusistan", "Redstateistan", "Redneckistan",[1] the "United States of Evangelicals",[2] "the United State of Texas", or in the most extreme case, "Dumbfuckistan" (referenced by a December 18, 2004 TV Funhouse cartoon on Saturday Night Live[3]). Some maps purport to show a capital city of Crawford, Texas, the home of U.S. President George W. Bush. One map shows Alaska as having been returned to Russia.
Another variation of the map pokes fun at the political divide in Canada by including Alberta – which tends to vote conservative in Canadian elections – in "Jesusland."
Analysis
In the context of the Jesusland map, the states in which a majority voted Democratic in the 2004 election are viewed as more socially liberal in outlook, and therefore having more cultural similarities with Canada than with the remainder of the United States. The Republican-voting red states, in common with twenty two percent of all voters nationwide, tended to vote based more on what they referred to as moral values, such as opposition to same-sex marriage and embryonic stem cell research.[4] Holders of these values are characterized by a high degree of faith in Evangelical Christianity, thus causing the name of Jesus to be affixed to the hypothetical country;[5] in an article by Ron Suskind of the New York Times, a Republican official characterized the divide as being one between a "faith-based community" and a "reality-based community".
The gap is seen as stark enough that some Democratic bloggers have ironically or semi-seriously advocated secession, whilst some on the Republican side (such as Mike Thompson, a past chairman of the Florida Conservative Union) suggested that the federal government expel the blue states.[6] To that end, some have noted the similarity between the electoral map of the U.S. in 2004 and a map of the United States in 1860, showing the free and slave states prior to the American Civil War.[7]
Physical versions
The map has been reproduced on postcards, clothes, bags, and mugs.
Cultural References
Singer-songwriter Ben Folds wrote the song "Jesusland" for his 2005 album Songs for Silverman. The song describes Jesus Christ walking through a hypothetical community in Jesusland, full of shopping malls, riverboat casinos and McMansions.
Science fiction writer Richard Morgan uses the Jesusland division of the US as the background for his 2007 novel Black Man (published as Thirteen in the US).
See also
- Canada and the 2004 United States presidential election
- The Day America Told the Truth
- Nine Nations of North America
- Soviet Canuckistan
- Red state vs. blue state divide
- 2004 United States presidential election controversy and irregularities
References
- ^ a b http://vegasmusictalk.com/images/usa3waysplit.gif
- ^ http://www.muslimwakeup.com/main/archives/2004/11/a_possible_solu.php
- ^ http://mediasluts.blogspot.com/2004/12/drunken-weekend-lotsa-oc.html
- ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5297138
- ^ http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/144/31.0.html
- ^ http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=5652
- ^ http://archive.michiganimc.org/usermedia/image/7/large/election%202004%202%20maps%202f6760.JPG
