So today in synagogue, we have the day of atonement. And we pray to be better people, and for tolerance and, and a world of peace. We speak about “sins of injustice” such as waging war upon others or trying to use violence to change things.
And I come out of syngague, and into a world where sins of injustice are presidential policy, and a madman shoots children in Amish Country, and an art teacher loses her job–her contract terminated–apparently because a parent complained that their child had been exposed to nudity…during a class trip to an art museum (the school board claims “other reasons” were involved, but this is an award winning teacher of 28 years’ standing; the claim rings false.)
The problem with a day of pondering one’s own sins and shortcomings is that it prompts you to resolve to try and do better…and then you come out into a world aligned against such philosophies. It says something when the only place where utopias exist are in the pages of a prayer book…or fantasy novels.
PAD
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Hi all.
First let me say that I live about 40 miles from the town where the Amish school shooting occurred. Central PA is still pretty numb by the whole senselessness of it. No one can really understand how something like this can happen. The horrible thing is accepting that no laws, no security measure short of locking the children in the cellar 24/7 could have prevented. By all accounts, the shooter was a disturbed individual plagued by demons of his past that may or may not have been real.
On to the Foley question, it’s amazing to me how much spinning is going on. You’d think that the conservative commentators wouldn’t want to come within 500 feet of this story, but both Rush and Drudge had insinuated that the pages were the real predators. Rush this week actually went as far as to suggest that the democrats paid the pages to approach Foley. And, of course, Hannity did his best to spin it around to make sure everyone knew that he thought, no matter what Foley did, Clinton did something worse. Even if Hannity had to lie about Monica Lewinski’s age to do it. Then O’Reilly tried to rewrite history by putting D-Fl next to Foley’s name.
Sickening.
On a happier note, this weekend, we attended my in-laws’ 50th wedding anniversary and they held a special mass in their honor on Sunday. Now, I wasn’t raised Catholic. My wife was, but she isn’t practicing. As for many Catholic priests being gay, well, we learned that one of the priests that presided over our wedding 14 years ago has since left the priesthood and is now living in South Beath as an openly gay man.
Take that for what you will.
“Now one could make the argument that I’ve seen that men who desire sex with boys should not be considered “gay” but then I would also request that men who want sex with young girls also not be considered “straight”. (As in “Most child molesters are straight.” Fair’s fair.)”
To me the problem doesn’t stem from whether same-sex pedophiles are gay. The problem is the notion that *because* someone is gay they are, by definition, potential child molestors. As in, We don’t want a gay man as a scout master because–due to his sexual orientation–he’s automatically a danger to the kids.
To me this is right up there with the assertion that all men are potential rapists simply because they have the equipment for it. I would venture to say that most people would classify this as a narrow, extremist and ultimately false view of the world…and yet some would not hesitate to assert that all gays are potential child molestors, and not see the conflict or irony in those two viewpoints.
PAD
Well, it didn’t take long for me to find something from Coulter in the “99.5% wrong” category: her latest article tagline, which I spotted while scrolling through Yahoo, is “Foley is a closet Democrat”.
Of course he is.
And I’m the King of Canada. Hail to the king, baby!
Well, it didn’t take long for me to find something from Coulter in the “99.5% wrong” category: her latest article tagline, which I spotted while scrolling through Yahoo, is “Foley is a closet Democrat”.
Well, I suspect that’s part of the entire Democrat = Gay = Godless Sodomite = Evil = Vote-Republican-no-matter-what meme the right wing’s shooting for. The comment of “closeted Democrat” pretty much screams it out.
Right now, though, people will make PAD’s leap of logic about gays and molestation. It’s like one of those standardized tests questions, just because SOME members of group A are a certain way, to these people ALL members of group A are that way. These are the same people, that if you said the men/rapist statement, too, would just reply “Well, that’s DIFFERENT.” For some people, it’s just a gut reaction that they don’t think much over.
Den, southeastern Pa. is also still pretty on edge, from what I’ve seen. Kinda makes me glad Brian’s in a school hidden by trees that no one can find.
I know the “Wonder No More” thread is the new hot topic, but I thought I’d try to sneak one more thought into this thread.
Sometimes I actually pine for the days when I was part of an organized religion. Why? Religious holidays like Yom Kippur break you out of your normal mindset and help you reflect. It’s easy to say, “OK, just set aside a day like that yourself and reflect,” but it’s not that easily done. There’s something about a particular day with a history behind it and the collective bond of worshipping and praying with other believers that can allow you to transcend normal everyday thinking in a way that is otherwise not possible.
Don’t get me wrong. I have no regrets about my choices and remain firm in my beliefs. I won’t be going back to organized religion. Ultimately, I found worshipping as part of a collective was more harmful than beneficial (although I do not look down upon those who disagree; to each their own). But I do sometimes miss those few things I found beneficial about religion.
Peter, thank you for doing such a wonderful job of articulating the difficulty inherent in resolving to be a better person in a world that is, as you so aptly put it, “aligned against such philosophies.” I didn’t interpret your words as a repudiation of hope, but rather as a somber reflection on the disparity between the world as it ought to be, and what it actually is.
“It says something when the only place where utopias exist are in the pages of a prayer book…or fantasy novels.”
On the other hand, thank God we have those prayer books and fantasy novels, to give us the image of an alternative.
“Good words. That’s where ideas start.”