If you read my last post titled "Why Romney Can't Win the Presidency and Still be a Good Mormon," you're fully aware that I do not feel that Mr. Romney can campaign, be the POTUS and still uphold the basic tenets of the Mormon faith.
A lot about Mr. Romney's political belief systems have come to light over the past couple of weeks with the RNC convention and his recent "secret" videos released, much to the Republican's dismay (and Democrat's glee).
Early Mormons (of whom Mitt is a direct descendant) practiced communalism (used or shared in common by everyone in a group). "In early Utah, Brigham Young continued to emphasize—even more earnestly, perhaps—community over the individual. 'I have heard Elders say they were not dependant upon any man,' President Young once chafed. This was a gross misunderstanding of the gospel, he explained, 'for I consider that we are all dependent one upon another for our exhalta-tion & that our interest is insperably connected.' http://www.patheos.com/blogs/peculiarpeople/2012/07/individualism-communalism-and-the-foreign-past-of-mormonism/
The Mormon church has been lauded as one of the most successful corporations in the world, a top-down, hierarchal, partriarchy with billions of dollars in assets, from property, business, amusement parks, etc. The Mormon church also does extensive philanthropic work, from the Bishop's Storehouse (a sort of in-house welfare system for those members unable to feed their families), to natural disaster relief all over the world. I have great admiration for the Mormon welfare system and have, as a child (and one of 7 children in a family that hit some rough financial patches) been the recipient of this beneficence (and may explain to this day why I hate fake potatoes, unsalted ketchup, and powdered milk).
In Businessweek magazine, an article titled "How the Mormons Make Money," the author writes “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints attends to the total needs of its members,” says Keith B. McMullin, who for 37 years served within the Mormon leadership and now heads a church-owned holding company, Deseret Management Corp. (DMC), an umbrella organization for many of the church’s for-profit businesses. “We look to not only the spiritual but also the temporal, and we believe that a person who is impoverished temporally cannot blossom spiritually.” http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-07-10/how-the-mormons-make-money
Over time, the Mormons moved from communalism to a more accepted economic model (perhaps when the Mormons had to give up polygamy to achieve statehood, or when they figured that doing business with Gentiles was just too darn good to pass by?), but when did the economic model and the economic values that nominee Romney espouses turn into unmitigated disdain for 47% of the American electorate? In his now infamous tape scandal of the past week, Mitt Romney, for once an animate life form, said this of the people he believes will not pay any income taxes (the 47% recently mentioned, you know, the elderly, veterans, working poor, single mothers, etc. that still pay payroll tax, but never mind, I digress), "...I'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."
To a Mormon, all work is missionary work. Every encounter with someone of a different faith or lifestyle is an opportunity, cancel that, a responsibility of every believing Mormon, to share the truth of the gospel from their hearts. Unless you're the Republican candidate to be president of the United States at a $50,000 a plate fundraiser.
This is from the Doctrine and Covenants, a Mormon scripture written by Joseph Smith, said to come to the prophet directly from God:
For verily I say unto you, the time has come, and is now at hand; and behold, and lo, it must needs be that there be an organization of my people, in regulating and establishing the affairs of the storehouse for the poor of my people, both in this place and in the land of Zion.
For a permanent and everlasting establishment and order unto my church, to advance the cause, which ye have espoused, to the salvation of man, and to the glory of your Father who is in heaven;
That you may be equal in the bonds of heavenly things, yea, and earthly things also, for the obtaining of heavenly things.
For if ye are not equal in earthly things ye cannot be equal in obtaining heavenly things.
Doctrine and Covenants 78:3-6
I added the bold. For fun.
See, this much touted Republican party line and its gutting of education, the arts, community works, ad nauseam and its Rand-esque leanings is completely at odds with what Mormons inherently believe about living in a society that shares responsibilities and helping people in a time of need. This marauding rampage through the middle class, Mitt Romney's political solution is indeed inherently opposed with scripture written by the founder of the Mormon church, a Mormon church that Romney regularly attends. That Romney pays 10% of his income to. That Romney supposedly BELIEVES in.
But here, I feel, is the great disappointment. The Mormons, who feel so out of step with mainstream society for their religious views (and are regularly labeled by evangelicals as non-Christians and cultish), their secret temples and sacred vows of secrecy, finally have their guy. MITT! He was a bishop! A stake president! A businessman! We love him!!!!!
Which can only lead me to conclude one of two things: either Mitt is simply a talking head for the people pulling the strings of American plutocracy, or he really decided he wanted to be president more than he wanted to go to the Celestial Kingdom. My bet is on the latter.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Why Romney Can't Win the Presidency and Still be a Good Mormon
The Mormons finally have their candidate for President! No Mormon has run since Joseph Smith in 1844, and members are basking in their "Mormon moment." There are many things to savor: the LDS church is making in-roads with their gay and lesbian brethren, staying out of gay marriage battles such as California's Prop 8, we are seeing more friendly journalism toward Mormonism in the New York Times and Religious Dispatches, openly gay men are serving in their bishopbrics, even BYU has done an "It Gets Better" video. It's almost as if Mormonism has joined the *gasp* mainstream.
As much as Mormons like being a little more accepted and understood at least culturally, I think that what Mormons abashedly like about themselves is that they ARE different. They hold their value system very high and it is an integral part of your upbringing in a Mormon household.
Part of what makes Mormonism unique is the Word of Wisdom. The Word of Wisdom has some guidelines in place for good health and it's pretty simple in its rules: don't smoke, don't drink, no coffee, no tea, don't eat too much, and eat mostly vegetables (very paraphrased, of course, but that's the idea). A few tenets of the Word of Wisdom are ignored regularly though, in fact John A. Widtsoe in 1930 said that refined flour was contrary to the Word of Wisdom. I don't know a single Mormon that didn't grow up on Wonder Bread and the boxed Mac & Cheese, so I suppose there is some wiggle room or everyone would have lost their temple recommends.
Wandering the city streets, I was wondering to myself what a Romney White House would be like. Would the White House dinners for Heads of State be alcohol free? Would they serve coffee with dessert? Would workers be allowed to smoke on the porch? What would Mitt do if say, the president of France brought him a bottle of wine as a gift, or the Spanish ambassador brought him a box of cigars? What would Romney do?
Here's what I think he'd do: I think he'd accept the gift and then sell it on Ebay or Craig's list, because everything about Romney seems to be up for negotiation.
Adherence to the Word of Wisdom is taken pretty seriously, with those who violate it, especially the big ones like smoking and drinking, held to disciplinary action by their lay-clergy, or bishop. Speaking of bishops, did I mention that Mitt Romney was both a bishop and a stake president? So if you were in Romney's ward and had a drinking/smoking problem, he would be the one to deny your temple recommend.
Unless you've been living under a rock and have never heard of Citizens United, the political game is changing this year and it's about unlimited funds and the Super Pac. For a look at what super pacs do in a way that can make the explanation un-snooze worthy, check out this link by my unbeknownst to him boyfriend, Stephen Colbert: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colbert_Super_PAC
One of those conservative super pacs is Restore Our Future. Renaissance Technologies http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/contrib.php?cmte=C00490045&cycle=2012 gave $1 million to them and their holdings include approximately a 1% stake in Lorillard, a tobacco company, and another nearly 1% in Philip Morris. Renaissance Technologies has over $23 billion in holdings (that's right, with a "b"), so though 1% may not seem like a lot, it is. That's a lot of money being made through their tobacco investments, investments made on the backs of one in five deaths caused by tobacco use. 443,000 people die per year from smoking. http://www.lung.org/finding-cures/our-research/trend-reports/Tobacco-Trend-Report.pdf
$1million may not seem like a lot of money in the political grand scheme of things but that'll buy a lot of cigarettes.
Now, let's move on to something super fun! It's called gambling and the Mormons don't approve. At all. The link below is what Mormons have to say about gambling. I'm paraphrasing here (you can read the link below for the full story), but they basically think it's of the devil, leads to illegal and destructive behavior, and have never supported it under any circumstances. Ever.
http://www.whatmormonsbelieve.org/mormons_gambling.html
Now, J. Willard Marriott is the CEO of Marriott International and a practicing Mormon. The Marriott corporation is a behemoth, with properties all over the world, including (upon a simple google search) casinos in St. Kitts, Aruba, San Juan, Curacao, and the mother land, Las Vegas.
The Marriott Corporation gave $1 million to Restore Our Future.
Sheldon Adelson is a casino owning billionaire. He pretty much single-handedly funded the failed Gingrich run for president. He has a LOT of money to spare and he REALLY doesn't want to pay taxes on it.
Adelson himself only donated $7.5 million to conservative super pac Winning Our Future, but his wife, under her own name and also under the name of Adelson Drug Clinic donated $12.5 million. That math, kids, totals $20 million. Conservative super pacs are outspending the liberal super pacs $114 million to $26 million (http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/summ.php?cycle=2012&type=p&disp=O) to which one might ask, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?! During the course of my research, I saw that the conservative super pacs were being funded largely by oil, energy, refining, technology, real estate, and land development companies, whereas liberal ones were essentially in the business of preventing those companies from running rampant through the land and the economy.
I think Romney has a bit of a conundrum. Does he live by the spirit of the law, or the letter of the law? Does he sleep soundly at night, knowing that his run at the presidency is being paved in large part by gambling and tobacco interests, two industries completely and comprehensively at moral odds with the Mormon belief system?
As much as Mormons like being a little more accepted and understood at least culturally, I think that what Mormons abashedly like about themselves is that they ARE different. They hold their value system very high and it is an integral part of your upbringing in a Mormon household.
Part of what makes Mormonism unique is the Word of Wisdom. The Word of Wisdom has some guidelines in place for good health and it's pretty simple in its rules: don't smoke, don't drink, no coffee, no tea, don't eat too much, and eat mostly vegetables (very paraphrased, of course, but that's the idea). A few tenets of the Word of Wisdom are ignored regularly though, in fact John A. Widtsoe in 1930 said that refined flour was contrary to the Word of Wisdom. I don't know a single Mormon that didn't grow up on Wonder Bread and the boxed Mac & Cheese, so I suppose there is some wiggle room or everyone would have lost their temple recommends.
Wandering the city streets, I was wondering to myself what a Romney White House would be like. Would the White House dinners for Heads of State be alcohol free? Would they serve coffee with dessert? Would workers be allowed to smoke on the porch? What would Mitt do if say, the president of France brought him a bottle of wine as a gift, or the Spanish ambassador brought him a box of cigars? What would Romney do?
Here's what I think he'd do: I think he'd accept the gift and then sell it on Ebay or Craig's list, because everything about Romney seems to be up for negotiation.
Adherence to the Word of Wisdom is taken pretty seriously, with those who violate it, especially the big ones like smoking and drinking, held to disciplinary action by their lay-clergy, or bishop. Speaking of bishops, did I mention that Mitt Romney was both a bishop and a stake president? So if you were in Romney's ward and had a drinking/smoking problem, he would be the one to deny your temple recommend.
Unless you've been living under a rock and have never heard of Citizens United, the political game is changing this year and it's about unlimited funds and the Super Pac. For a look at what super pacs do in a way that can make the explanation un-snooze worthy, check out this link by my unbeknownst to him boyfriend, Stephen Colbert: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colbert_Super_PAC
One of those conservative super pacs is Restore Our Future. Renaissance Technologies http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/contrib.php?cmte=C00490045&cycle=2012 gave $1 million to them and their holdings include approximately a 1% stake in Lorillard, a tobacco company, and another nearly 1% in Philip Morris. Renaissance Technologies has over $23 billion in holdings (that's right, with a "b"), so though 1% may not seem like a lot, it is. That's a lot of money being made through their tobacco investments, investments made on the backs of one in five deaths caused by tobacco use. 443,000 people die per year from smoking. http://www.lung.org/finding-cures/our-research/trend-reports/Tobacco-Trend-Report.pdf
$1million may not seem like a lot of money in the political grand scheme of things but that'll buy a lot of cigarettes.
Now, let's move on to something super fun! It's called gambling and the Mormons don't approve. At all. The link below is what Mormons have to say about gambling. I'm paraphrasing here (you can read the link below for the full story), but they basically think it's of the devil, leads to illegal and destructive behavior, and have never supported it under any circumstances. Ever.
http://www.whatmormonsbelieve.org/mormons_gambling.html
Now, J. Willard Marriott is the CEO of Marriott International and a practicing Mormon. The Marriott corporation is a behemoth, with properties all over the world, including (upon a simple google search) casinos in St. Kitts, Aruba, San Juan, Curacao, and the mother land, Las Vegas.
The Marriott Corporation gave $1 million to Restore Our Future.
Sheldon Adelson is a casino owning billionaire. He pretty much single-handedly funded the failed Gingrich run for president. He has a LOT of money to spare and he REALLY doesn't want to pay taxes on it.
Adelson himself only donated $7.5 million to conservative super pac Winning Our Future, but his wife, under her own name and also under the name of Adelson Drug Clinic donated $12.5 million. That math, kids, totals $20 million. Conservative super pacs are outspending the liberal super pacs $114 million to $26 million (http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/summ.php?cycle=2012&type=p&disp=O) to which one might ask, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?! During the course of my research, I saw that the conservative super pacs were being funded largely by oil, energy, refining, technology, real estate, and land development companies, whereas liberal ones were essentially in the business of preventing those companies from running rampant through the land and the economy.
I think Romney has a bit of a conundrum. Does he live by the spirit of the law, or the letter of the law? Does he sleep soundly at night, knowing that his run at the presidency is being paved in large part by gambling and tobacco interests, two industries completely and comprehensively at moral odds with the Mormon belief system?
Sunday, May 20, 2012
I'm Sorry, I Won't Do That Again
I confess. I've done it. I have walked down these New York City Streets and come upon a woman who was obese and wearing short shorts and a tube top. I have taken that surreptitious picture and sent it to my girlfriend, and we laughed over her bad fashion and lack of gym time. I have walked into stores and seen women whose rumps were so round that it looked like watermelons were stuffed in her jeans, and what did I do? Took a picture and sent it to my friend.
I actually feel a little queasy writing about this because it seems to me, upon examination, a great moral failing on my behalf. I am making myself sick thinking of the quickening of pace on the sidewalk to catch up with a girl wearing horrible shoes, an unfortunate dress, a clueless tourist with salon set hair, or a Jack Spratt type holding hands with his very large wife (in my not-so-defensible defense, I always delete the photos and never post them on the web. Never).
And it's always women (unless there's a man walking down the street wearing a leotard and stilettos or a man walking with a cat perched atop his head).
There have been several things in the past few months that have really brought these thoughts to the forefront. The first was Ashlee Judd's beautifully articulate and powerful letter to the media chastising them for calling her old and puffy in her television series (I blogged about it, just look a few entries down). There have been several legislative actions unfolding that are seeking to take away a women's right to contraception, which in turn greatly effects her ability to family plan, which effects her long term wages and the income of her family.
Then there was the Time Magazine cover that featured the words "Are You Mom Enough?" and a picture of a very attractive woman breastfeeding her three year old son. Here is the link to more pictures of women breastfeeding older children. http://lightbox.time.com/2012/05/10/parenting/?iid=lb-gal-viewagn#1
When this magazine came in the office mail, I was intrigued and admittedly, a little repulsed. Here it was, a sensationalized, almost prurient picture of a beautiful woman with a little boy at her breast, and then it made me angry. Angry at whoever put that picture on the cover and angry at whoever put the crazy-eyed Michelle Bachmann on the cover of Newsweek.
Later that week I was at book club with four of the brightest girls you could hope to meet, and the topic of the cover came up. I am the first to admit that sometimes our line of conversation wanders a bit, but we ended up on the topic of what makes a woman successful. One girl told the story of someone she went to high school with whose only goal in life was to marry her high school boyfriend and have his babies. My friend said that she is one of the happiest people she knows. Some in the group argued that this woman was delusional, that there was no possible way she could be happy, she simply didn't know any better, didn't know that there was a great big world out there for the taking.
As I sat with them in the settling dusk on 75th Street at an outdoor cafe, I thought to myself, "This kind of conversation among us isn't going to help." Women, for the same job at the same level, make about .75 cents on the dollar that a man does. Women are having to, in some states, undergo unnecessary medical procedures in order to have an abortion which, in case you forgot Roe vs. Wade, is legal. Yet we far outpace men in Bachelors and Masters Degrees, we make up more of the total workforce. If every woman in America didn't show up to work, things would grind to a halt.
We have power. Yet cultural and social norms tell us to be nurturing, to ask permission, to be gentle and have a reserved opinion. They tell us to not claim our power. They tell us to ask for it with a "pretty pretty please."
I know we can claim it, but there are a few things that have to stop: Judging each other's choices, creating snide commentary about those who wear what you might consider bad clothing, bad hair-dos, being overweight or obese, and judging their bigger life choices, such as breastfeeding, marrying their high-school boyfriend, being a stay-at-home mom, or on the other side of this equation, judging women who choose to delay childbirth and rearing, those who choose to work, those who choose to simply not marry. Just because a woman is not married does not make her a hag, just because she has "feminist" beliefs does not make her a bitch, just because she has five kids and wears sweatpants all day does not make her a baby pushing doormat.
Let's listen with compassion and an open mind to each other's stories, THEN make decisions about character.
I saw this on a friend's facebook page. This is part of the problem, this stereotyping of ourselves. Don't let men, other women, or politicians define you. You define you.
How do you feel about this poster? For me, it's up there with "Gol, why do you have to be so PMS-y! Sheesh."
I actually feel a little queasy writing about this because it seems to me, upon examination, a great moral failing on my behalf. I am making myself sick thinking of the quickening of pace on the sidewalk to catch up with a girl wearing horrible shoes, an unfortunate dress, a clueless tourist with salon set hair, or a Jack Spratt type holding hands with his very large wife (in my not-so-defensible defense, I always delete the photos and never post them on the web. Never).
And it's always women (unless there's a man walking down the street wearing a leotard and stilettos or a man walking with a cat perched atop his head).
There have been several things in the past few months that have really brought these thoughts to the forefront. The first was Ashlee Judd's beautifully articulate and powerful letter to the media chastising them for calling her old and puffy in her television series (I blogged about it, just look a few entries down). There have been several legislative actions unfolding that are seeking to take away a women's right to contraception, which in turn greatly effects her ability to family plan, which effects her long term wages and the income of her family.
Then there was the Time Magazine cover that featured the words "Are You Mom Enough?" and a picture of a very attractive woman breastfeeding her three year old son. Here is the link to more pictures of women breastfeeding older children. http://lightbox.time.com/2012/05/10/parenting/?iid=lb-gal-viewagn#1
When this magazine came in the office mail, I was intrigued and admittedly, a little repulsed. Here it was, a sensationalized, almost prurient picture of a beautiful woman with a little boy at her breast, and then it made me angry. Angry at whoever put that picture on the cover and angry at whoever put the crazy-eyed Michelle Bachmann on the cover of Newsweek.
Later that week I was at book club with four of the brightest girls you could hope to meet, and the topic of the cover came up. I am the first to admit that sometimes our line of conversation wanders a bit, but we ended up on the topic of what makes a woman successful. One girl told the story of someone she went to high school with whose only goal in life was to marry her high school boyfriend and have his babies. My friend said that she is one of the happiest people she knows. Some in the group argued that this woman was delusional, that there was no possible way she could be happy, she simply didn't know any better, didn't know that there was a great big world out there for the taking.
As I sat with them in the settling dusk on 75th Street at an outdoor cafe, I thought to myself, "This kind of conversation among us isn't going to help." Women, for the same job at the same level, make about .75 cents on the dollar that a man does. Women are having to, in some states, undergo unnecessary medical procedures in order to have an abortion which, in case you forgot Roe vs. Wade, is legal. Yet we far outpace men in Bachelors and Masters Degrees, we make up more of the total workforce. If every woman in America didn't show up to work, things would grind to a halt.
We have power. Yet cultural and social norms tell us to be nurturing, to ask permission, to be gentle and have a reserved opinion. They tell us to not claim our power. They tell us to ask for it with a "pretty pretty please."
I know we can claim it, but there are a few things that have to stop: Judging each other's choices, creating snide commentary about those who wear what you might consider bad clothing, bad hair-dos, being overweight or obese, and judging their bigger life choices, such as breastfeeding, marrying their high-school boyfriend, being a stay-at-home mom, or on the other side of this equation, judging women who choose to delay childbirth and rearing, those who choose to work, those who choose to simply not marry. Just because a woman is not married does not make her a hag, just because she has "feminist" beliefs does not make her a bitch, just because she has five kids and wears sweatpants all day does not make her a baby pushing doormat.
Let's listen with compassion and an open mind to each other's stories, THEN make decisions about character.
I saw this on a friend's facebook page. This is part of the problem, this stereotyping of ourselves. Don't let men, other women, or politicians define you. You define you.
How do you feel about this poster? For me, it's up there with "Gol, why do you have to be so PMS-y! Sheesh."
Thursday, April 26, 2012
I'm Baaaaaa-aaaaacccckkkk! Friday Fiction! Ish...
After a week hiatus, I am back to the blog, and for this entry I am going to keep it simple. It's Fiction Friday everyone, and as I was walking through the chaos of the city streets, instead of paying attention to where I was going I was thinking of my favorite books.
I apologize in advance for not REALLY keeping these to fiction. But they are great books and ones I think that everyone should read:
In no particular order:
Refuge, by Terry Tempest Williams
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins
Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer
Marking the Sparrow's Fall by Wallace Stegner
Upon examining this list is there is only one female author, and she writes non-fiction. Is it that I am more attracted to so-called "masculine writers" or that I am more interested in a "male" style of writing? Are there specific styles that lend themselves to masculine and feminine voices in literature?
What do you think? Who would be on your list?
I apologize in advance for not REALLY keeping these to fiction. But they are great books and ones I think that everyone should read:
In no particular order:
Refuge, by Terry Tempest Williams
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins
Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer
Marking the Sparrow's Fall by Wallace Stegner
Upon examining this list is there is only one female author, and she writes non-fiction. Is it that I am more attracted to so-called "masculine writers" or that I am more interested in a "male" style of writing? Are there specific styles that lend themselves to masculine and feminine voices in literature?
What do you think? Who would be on your list?
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Thankful Thursday
Today I hiked in Pine Valley in the southwest corner of Utah. The image is from the Forsyth canyon trail.
I got lost. About 3/4 of the way down, I realized that the creek I had been following was on the wrong side of me. I came to the clearing and instead of the dirt lot I had parked the rental car, I was in a clearing of scrub. Brittle, scratchy scrub.
I am now lying in a cozy condo in Park City and blogging about it, so I obviously found my way, but I am thankful, honestly, that I'm not hunkered down under a log shivering through a freezing night.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Wilderness Wednesday
This is where I hope to be today for Wilderness Wednesday. Eagle's Crag, in Rockville, UT, just south of the Zion National Park entrance. It's a short hike, only 5 miles round trip, but I wanted to acclimate to the altitude with something short in a beautiful place.
See, I'm headed to Utah today via Las Vegas to do some hiking, see some friends, and recharge my batteries.
New York City can be depleting. I have wonderful friends here. There are beautiful parks. But you know what I can't find in New York City? Solitude. Alone-ness. Quiet.
I'm a Gemini with monkey mind and a somewhat insatiably curious nature, so it helps me to take myself hiking and quite literally, like a small child, wear myself out.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Tea for Tuesday
There are some things in this world I simply don't understand in the I-can't-possibly-wrap-my-brain-around-this-kind-of-cruelty-horror-ignorance-etc. way. Like the Holocaust. Or child molesters. Mass murderers and purveyors of homophobia, xenophobia, and people like Assad in Syria murdering his own people so he can stay in his own diabolical dictatorship. You know who else I would add to this list? The Tea Party.
Now, they don't exactly fit under the "cruelty and horror" heading I had listed above, but for me, where they really do fit, as a party platform, is under the heading of ignorance.
I am sure there are tons of really nice Tea Partiers who bake cookies and say nice things about gay people and may even have rational conversations with those who oppose their views. But then I read this:
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/04/16/anti-gay-tea-party-speaker-screams-at-lgbt-protesters-we-will-not-be-silenced-by-faggots/
"Scott Lively is an anti-gay hate merchant who is known as a “professional worldwide hunter of homosexuals and top proponent of ‘gay cure’” as well as a supporter of Uganda’s ‘kill gays’ legislation. So it wasn’t very surprising that Lively was allowed to be a speaker at a Tea Party Tax Day rally in Boston, Massachusetts on Sunday. It also wasn’t a surprise that LGBT protesters would hold a counter rally against the hatred."
That's just the first paragraph of the article, here are paragraphs two and three.
Now, they don't exactly fit under the "cruelty and horror" heading I had listed above, but for me, where they really do fit, as a party platform, is under the heading of ignorance.
I am sure there are tons of really nice Tea Partiers who bake cookies and say nice things about gay people and may even have rational conversations with those who oppose their views. But then I read this:
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/04/16/anti-gay-tea-party-speaker-screams-at-lgbt-protesters-we-will-not-be-silenced-by-faggots/
"Scott Lively is an anti-gay hate merchant who is known as a “professional worldwide hunter of homosexuals and top proponent of ‘gay cure’” as well as a supporter of Uganda’s ‘kill gays’ legislation. So it wasn’t very surprising that Lively was allowed to be a speaker at a Tea Party Tax Day rally in Boston, Massachusetts on Sunday. It also wasn’t a surprise that LGBT protesters would hold a counter rally against the hatred."
That's just the first paragraph of the article, here are paragraphs two and three.
“Reports from attendees were that in response to disturbances by protestors, one of the speakers said from the podium, broadcast across the loud speakers at the Commons, “We will not be silenced by faggots.”
"Police then arrived and forcibly broke up the LGBT demonstrators and left the Tea Party alone. The Boston Police Department is now investigating reports that officers used excessive force while breaking up the LGBT counter rally."
I won't say that every individual in the Tea Party espouses this kind of hatred because I don't believe that every Republican is a money grubber and every Democrat a tree hugger. But I do believe that there are common threads that hold the tapestry together, and well, if your tapestry includes treating others as the Tea Party does I'll give them a big pass and remind them that there are people of consciousness in this world who can deal with people who oppose them without using ignorant epithets.
I'll close with this:
“You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. No one is entitled to be ignorant.”
― Harlan Ellison
― Harlan Ellison
Monday Musings
I'm sitting here at the desk in my room, tossing from hand to hand a rubber purple ball with sparkly liquid inside. $5 at Borders before it went away and over the chatter of animated male voices, I can hear the little ocean inside the ball make that "slish" sound as I catch it.
Today is Monday Musings and there are many things that I am musing, mostly what to write for Monday.
See, I fear that I could become insufferable in my tendency to vent my liberal political leanings, that I could alienate family and friends by speaking of Mormons, that I could bore you all with my need to wax poetic about trees and sunsets and moons.
So I muse the world inside the ball; I tilt my head and listen to the boys in the living room; I make note of my headache and try to make plans that seem obstructed my inability to know what the future brings, I smell the lotion on my hands as I bring my hand to my face and feel the little dog by my feet.
Musing with inaction, or rather, creating a plan for action later.
Today is Monday Musings and there are many things that I am musing, mostly what to write for Monday.
See, I fear that I could become insufferable in my tendency to vent my liberal political leanings, that I could alienate family and friends by speaking of Mormons, that I could bore you all with my need to wax poetic about trees and sunsets and moons.
So I muse the world inside the ball; I tilt my head and listen to the boys in the living room; I make note of my headache and try to make plans that seem obstructed my inability to know what the future brings, I smell the lotion on my hands as I bring my hand to my face and feel the little dog by my feet.
Musing with inaction, or rather, creating a plan for action later.
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