This might be rambling, but so what? That's how I get when I feel overwhelmed with grief.
Just about every day that I live on this earth, I feel I can't bear it another second, cannot bear the whole-scale slaughter of every beautiful precious magic-infused being in service to profit and power by the psychopathic criminals who have come to run corporations and governments that span the globe, but particularly in the U.S.
Now a study shows that whales the world over are filled with toxins. The lead researcher says the only future he can see for whales is extinction.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100624/ap_on_sc/whaling
It hurts my heart and soul to a depth I can't express. When the US invaded Iraq to steal their oil and establish military bases, I suggested to our peace group that we have weekly grief circles on the MIT campus. I thought really wailing out our anger and desperation and soul-searing pain might be a good first step. I was ridiculed. But maybe that is what we need, for real. Grief. And then ACTION.
Maybe grief circles for the prehistoric Pelicans who are being slaughtered by British Petroleum (a company with one of the worst safety records ever, and no oversight from the oil boys' hand-picked government reps, and WHERE are the criminal arrests?) would start the process.
Then grief circles for the bees, who are dying of a "mysterious" illness which just HAPPENS to coincide with widespread introduction of genetically modified crops and newer better pesticides specifically DESIGNED to kill insects? (colonies are, not surprisingly, testing with deadly high levels of pesticides)
Oh but Monsanto needs to make MORE money, dontcha know? Who cares if we lose 3/4 of our food supply as a result of bees dying out, not to mention the simple tragic loss of a most amazing insect?
How about grief circles for the poor people of Baghdad who could not escape the bombs launched at no risk to American invaders, and shown on TV like some really cool video game? The rich Iraqis had plenty of advanced warning, and left the country. Only the poor were left behind to deal with the "shock and awe" of dead and maimed babies and grandmothers, as the US and their power- and oil-mad "allies" (i.e. partners in crime) killed several birds with one stone. A HUGE defense industry DEMANDS invasions and invented enemies. Otherwise, who will buy the bombs? And Iraq has the "richest" oilfields on earth, but Saddam had become reticent about "sharing" these riches with the US and its allies. Oh, but this is all old news, right?
Not so for the poor people of Baghdad. Hard enough to deal with a child growing up missing a limb or too with decent health care. Just try it with NO health care and NO money. And don't forget, the US is STILL in Iraq. And Afghanistan.
And how about grief circles for the Florida panther, trying its very best to repopulate (with help from a few wonderful scientists) despite being wiped out sometime last century. And then mowed down by a car driven by someone speeding to his/her vacation in the sun, at some fake oceanside resort. Wonder how these folks are enjoying the oil soaked beaches? Oh right. Small price to pay to drive that car, which killed that panther, who lay there dying in an incomprehending daze. What predator had pulled him down? The predator of greed and stupidity. The predator with insatiable need, the predator who can never stop and ask, "What can I do to CHANGE this catastrophe?".
Here's a suggestion: STOP DRIVING YOUR CAR!!! You KNOW you can!!! Walk or take a bus or commuter rail or ride a bicycle. And if your community doesn't offer public transit, ORGANIZE to change that. At least, if you MUST drive, SLOW THE FUCK DOWN for wildlife!!!
Or if you are living in the burbs, too far removed for biking, consider downsizing intentionally and moving closer to the city, where it will be easier to bike, walk and take a bus.
What ELSE can you do? Stop buying CRAP that you don't need. Start looking for ways to truly connect and those toys will lose their meaning.
And start speaking up. Call and write your government reps. Take your money OUT of oil stocks. Vote! Organize! Boycott! Go live in a cabin in the woods. Do whatever it takes to change the path these killer criminals have put us on and save our precious planet.
Oh hell, maybe nothing will help. But if we all stand here in a catatonic daze and shrug our shoulders, it is CERTAIN nothing will change. WAKE THE HELL UP NOW PEOPLE!!!! Grieve, and then organize, and ACT TO CHANGE this insanity. You know you can. You know you can.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Sex and the City 2 Review, Part 2 and a BP comment
Well gosh darn it, I HAVE to finish my SATC2 review so that I can move onto other things, such as WHY aren't the BP pricks all in JAIL, arrested and charged for their heinous crimes against nature and humanity?
OK, back to SATC2, and why I liked it. First, I LOVED the gay wedding. Waaayyy over the top--it was dazzling! Liza Minnelli singing and dancing to "Single Ladies" was pure ART, so inspired, and so absolutely perfect. She puts all the fake lip-syncing music industry product "singers" to shame.
Thought it was a pretty interesting move to bring a big chunk of the movie to Abu Dhabi in the middle east, and show the abundance of wealth over there. Oil money has not been confined to the rich creepy American oil boys, clearly. Made me think about the future of the American Empire, or perhaps, the illusion of such. These days, isn't it really a Global Corporate Capitalist empire, with no national boundary? The boundary is really, "I have the money and power, so I will make the laws I want. You have no money or power, so you either shut up or go to jail." Need to have a government of, by and FOR the people!!! Isn't that what the constitution says? Oh, wait, I forgot, the Supreme Court decided recently that corporations ARE people. Oops. Time to limit Supreme Court appointments to 4 years at a time.
I know some may object to the caricature of Muslim men oppressing women, and in particular scantily clad 50 year old women. But I felt really that they were a stand-in for men in general, in the good old US of A-holes. And don't tell me women are not oppressed in this country.
Women still earn only 75 cents on the dollar to men for comparable work. Men are still not held accountable for their crimes (for example, only a tiny percentage of rapes on campuses are ever reported, and an even smaller fraction end up in court). Women still face aggression, judgment, abuse, ridicule, impoverishment, and all sorts of other very damaging treatment at the hands of men. So I LOVED the scene where Samantha tells an entire group of judgmental tittering men, "YES I HAVE SEX" and then gives them all the finger.
After all, so much of women's oppression is STILL about controlling or filtering their sexuality. If it can be turned into a commodity, objectified, used to make women even more insecure, then, hey, that's GREAT. But if a woman truly claims the right to her OWN body and her OWN sexuality, that is dangerous as hell. Just might lead to a revolution.
What else did I like in this movie? OK, yes it was fun to experience the vicarious thrill of riding in true first class luxury on a plane to Abu Dhabi. Individual compartments, enough space to sleep, food and drink and warm towels. Made me think I might overcome my fear of flying in such conditions. Might...
I loved the almost ridiculous homage to old-time movie-making. A handsomely rugged man rides up out of nowhere to a desert tent, leaving the four women gasping. (although admittedly I was the only person laughing at this scene, oh well...)
I HATED Big and Carrie's really fancy NYC apartment. Also not a fan of the luxury suite in the hotel in Abu Dhabi. Too much Trump-style clutter, and too many dark blues and greys. Maybe a new art director in SATC3?
Also, the male partners of these women were pretty much relegated to the background. That's OK, but for SATC3, I would LIKE to see more of Miranda's bespectacled ex-bartender hubby Steve and Charlotte's sweaty bald sexy Jewish lawyer spouse Harry. A little bit of Big goes a long way, but maybe Samantha's younger hunk Smith Jarrod could make more of an appearance next time?
OK, that's about it for SATC2. Next, the much less happy subject of oil criminals who have fully infiltrated the US government. Ciao for now.
OK, back to SATC2, and why I liked it. First, I LOVED the gay wedding. Waaayyy over the top--it was dazzling! Liza Minnelli singing and dancing to "Single Ladies" was pure ART, so inspired, and so absolutely perfect. She puts all the fake lip-syncing music industry product "singers" to shame.
Thought it was a pretty interesting move to bring a big chunk of the movie to Abu Dhabi in the middle east, and show the abundance of wealth over there. Oil money has not been confined to the rich creepy American oil boys, clearly. Made me think about the future of the American Empire, or perhaps, the illusion of such. These days, isn't it really a Global Corporate Capitalist empire, with no national boundary? The boundary is really, "I have the money and power, so I will make the laws I want. You have no money or power, so you either shut up or go to jail." Need to have a government of, by and FOR the people!!! Isn't that what the constitution says? Oh, wait, I forgot, the Supreme Court decided recently that corporations ARE people. Oops. Time to limit Supreme Court appointments to 4 years at a time.
I know some may object to the caricature of Muslim men oppressing women, and in particular scantily clad 50 year old women. But I felt really that they were a stand-in for men in general, in the good old US of A-holes. And don't tell me women are not oppressed in this country.
Women still earn only 75 cents on the dollar to men for comparable work. Men are still not held accountable for their crimes (for example, only a tiny percentage of rapes on campuses are ever reported, and an even smaller fraction end up in court). Women still face aggression, judgment, abuse, ridicule, impoverishment, and all sorts of other very damaging treatment at the hands of men. So I LOVED the scene where Samantha tells an entire group of judgmental tittering men, "YES I HAVE SEX" and then gives them all the finger.
After all, so much of women's oppression is STILL about controlling or filtering their sexuality. If it can be turned into a commodity, objectified, used to make women even more insecure, then, hey, that's GREAT. But if a woman truly claims the right to her OWN body and her OWN sexuality, that is dangerous as hell. Just might lead to a revolution.
What else did I like in this movie? OK, yes it was fun to experience the vicarious thrill of riding in true first class luxury on a plane to Abu Dhabi. Individual compartments, enough space to sleep, food and drink and warm towels. Made me think I might overcome my fear of flying in such conditions. Might...
I loved the almost ridiculous homage to old-time movie-making. A handsomely rugged man rides up out of nowhere to a desert tent, leaving the four women gasping. (although admittedly I was the only person laughing at this scene, oh well...)
I HATED Big and Carrie's really fancy NYC apartment. Also not a fan of the luxury suite in the hotel in Abu Dhabi. Too much Trump-style clutter, and too many dark blues and greys. Maybe a new art director in SATC3?
Also, the male partners of these women were pretty much relegated to the background. That's OK, but for SATC3, I would LIKE to see more of Miranda's bespectacled ex-bartender hubby Steve and Charlotte's sweaty bald sexy Jewish lawyer spouse Harry. A little bit of Big goes a long way, but maybe Samantha's younger hunk Smith Jarrod could make more of an appearance next time?
OK, that's about it for SATC2. Next, the much less happy subject of oil criminals who have fully infiltrated the US government. Ciao for now.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Why I Like Sex and The City 2 (Part One)
Disclaimer: I am NOT a SATC fanatic, never have been. But I really enjoyed SATC 2. SATC1 was a little too fluffy for my taste, but SATC2 deals with some hefty issues (OK, not hefty in the sense of war and famine, but how about mother-guilt, workplace bullying, anti-women behavior, pro-sex menopause, gay marriage?). AND it made me laugh. So here is MY review, Part One:
I am 100% convinced that one reason some movie critics are shitting all over SATC 2 is because they are closet misogynists. Misogynists REALLY hate women past the age of about 30, because that is typically the age when women start to SPEAK UP and become less inclined to put up with crap. And of course the SATC women are in fact all over the age of 40, even 50. OMG!!! How shocking!!! Aren't women supposed to be knitting socks and sitting home watching soap operas by that point? How DARE they be out in the world, sharing opinions, traveling to Dubai, getting in trouble, having sex? Don't they KNOW BETTER???? What is WRONG with the world? It seems to have gone completely HAYWIRE!!!
Kathie Lee Gifford commented that "the girls were not well-lit". OK, she has a point. The lighting was not terribly flattering. But you now what, I kind of LIKED that about this movie. It meant that the actresses actually LOOK like 40 or 50-something women, rather than a 45 year old woman with the smooth (botoxed, surgically enhanced, perfectly lit) skin of a 17 year old.
Yes!!! It's a REVOLUTION!!! Again, how shocking. A 50 year old woman on screen, having sex, and sporting a wrinkle or two. No doubt the whole capitalist system is set for a collapse in another year or two, with this kind of revolution taking place on screen.
The funny thing is, a 30-something guy like Ewan McGregor is considered a sexy hunk even when he's got lines and blemishes all over his pretty face. But a 50 year old actress needs to be smooth as a 15 year old, to be considered fuckable (i.e. attractive), at least in Hollywood-land.
Now what is THAT all about? Maybe Hollywood is run by a bunch of borderline pedophiles who really crave pre-pubescent girls? I know the music biz is--I've been to a few music industry events and witnessed the not-so-yummy middle aged creeps slobbering over talentless 16 year olds while passing up interaction with a talented 27 year old woman. So maybe the same is true in H-Wood Land.
OK That's part one. In part two I will deal with fashion vs violence and asexual crones vs sexy hormonal 50 year olds. I will also comment on Carrie and Big's UGLY fancy apartment (PLEASE HIRE a better Art Director for the next film!!!) and the wonderful gay wedding.
I am 100% convinced that one reason some movie critics are shitting all over SATC 2 is because they are closet misogynists. Misogynists REALLY hate women past the age of about 30, because that is typically the age when women start to SPEAK UP and become less inclined to put up with crap. And of course the SATC women are in fact all over the age of 40, even 50. OMG!!! How shocking!!! Aren't women supposed to be knitting socks and sitting home watching soap operas by that point? How DARE they be out in the world, sharing opinions, traveling to Dubai, getting in trouble, having sex? Don't they KNOW BETTER???? What is WRONG with the world? It seems to have gone completely HAYWIRE!!!
Kathie Lee Gifford commented that "the girls were not well-lit". OK, she has a point. The lighting was not terribly flattering. But you now what, I kind of LIKED that about this movie. It meant that the actresses actually LOOK like 40 or 50-something women, rather than a 45 year old woman with the smooth (botoxed, surgically enhanced, perfectly lit) skin of a 17 year old.
Yes!!! It's a REVOLUTION!!! Again, how shocking. A 50 year old woman on screen, having sex, and sporting a wrinkle or two. No doubt the whole capitalist system is set for a collapse in another year or two, with this kind of revolution taking place on screen.
The funny thing is, a 30-something guy like Ewan McGregor is considered a sexy hunk even when he's got lines and blemishes all over his pretty face. But a 50 year old actress needs to be smooth as a 15 year old, to be considered fuckable (i.e. attractive), at least in Hollywood-land.
Now what is THAT all about? Maybe Hollywood is run by a bunch of borderline pedophiles who really crave pre-pubescent girls? I know the music biz is--I've been to a few music industry events and witnessed the not-so-yummy middle aged creeps slobbering over talentless 16 year olds while passing up interaction with a talented 27 year old woman. So maybe the same is true in H-Wood Land.
OK That's part one. In part two I will deal with fashion vs violence and asexual crones vs sexy hormonal 50 year olds. I will also comment on Carrie and Big's UGLY fancy apartment (PLEASE HIRE a better Art Director for the next film!!!) and the wonderful gay wedding.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Maybe Time to Change Our Ways?
Let me be VERY clear: I am REALLY glad the rigged car did not blow up in Times Square. My daughter lives in the NYC area, and I LOVE NYC. It is full of the most amazing people from all over the world--artists and activists of all stripes, people with light in their eyes and something going on upstairs.
HOWEVER...let's also be clear. It would take a complete idiot not to comprehend anger at the US from places such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, etc. etc. Hell, even many Canadians and Europeans hate the US!
Let's face it. All these millions of angry people are NOT just "mentally ill", or "jealous about the American system", or simply part of the "Old Europe", or uneducated or uncooperative or just plain difficult.
It doesn't take much imagination to comprehend, for example, that villagers in the hills of Pakistan/Afghanistan might be just a TAD pissed off about the many civilian deaths caused by US drones. The most conservative estimates show that TEN TIMES the number of civilians (women, children, old men, wedding parties, people eating breakfast) as actual intended "targets" (and most of the time these targets are turned in by neighboring villagers, who may simply be using the US to gain more tribal power) are killed in drone attacks.
It also doesn't take much intelligence to comprehend how citizens of Baghdad and Iraq might be a little annoyed at the US, after this country bombed the crap out of that city/country, killing and maiming many innocent civilians in the quest for oil and domination in the Middle East. Estimates give up to ONE MILLION civilians killed by the US.
Let's be honest, folks. The US just doesn't have a great record in the way it allegedly "spreads democracy" throughout the world. At this point, with globalization and all, it really is difficult to know who is pulling what strings, isn't it.
But let's ask the "bomb-huggers" (I LOVE this phrase, not sure who coined it), of EVERY nationality, to STOP IT NOW!!!
CO2, which is primarily a by-product of burning oil and coal, is destroying our atmosphere, and as a consequence, a planet.
Wars kill people, and so do invasions and drone searches for "insurgents"--and let's not forget that the US was FOUNDED by "insurgents".
Money that could be spent on health care and education and care for the poor and weak among us, and environmental protection and a million other fabulously HEALING projects is WASTED on bombs and invasions and search for more oil, when we should NOT be burning it AT ALL.
Come on BOYS!!! Enough is enough. Please, tomorrow morning, wake up and REALIZE there is another path. Try to imagine what it might be like if we all start cherishing life, and let go of hierarchies and power struggles and bullying and seek ways to connect and love and laugh together.
Honestly, it would be just amazing. And it is the only way we will survive as a species.
HOWEVER...let's also be clear. It would take a complete idiot not to comprehend anger at the US from places such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, etc. etc. Hell, even many Canadians and Europeans hate the US!
Let's face it. All these millions of angry people are NOT just "mentally ill", or "jealous about the American system", or simply part of the "Old Europe", or uneducated or uncooperative or just plain difficult.
It doesn't take much imagination to comprehend, for example, that villagers in the hills of Pakistan/Afghanistan might be just a TAD pissed off about the many civilian deaths caused by US drones. The most conservative estimates show that TEN TIMES the number of civilians (women, children, old men, wedding parties, people eating breakfast) as actual intended "targets" (and most of the time these targets are turned in by neighboring villagers, who may simply be using the US to gain more tribal power) are killed in drone attacks.
It also doesn't take much intelligence to comprehend how citizens of Baghdad and Iraq might be a little annoyed at the US, after this country bombed the crap out of that city/country, killing and maiming many innocent civilians in the quest for oil and domination in the Middle East. Estimates give up to ONE MILLION civilians killed by the US.
Let's be honest, folks. The US just doesn't have a great record in the way it allegedly "spreads democracy" throughout the world. At this point, with globalization and all, it really is difficult to know who is pulling what strings, isn't it.
But let's ask the "bomb-huggers" (I LOVE this phrase, not sure who coined it), of EVERY nationality, to STOP IT NOW!!!
CO2, which is primarily a by-product of burning oil and coal, is destroying our atmosphere, and as a consequence, a planet.
Wars kill people, and so do invasions and drone searches for "insurgents"--and let's not forget that the US was FOUNDED by "insurgents".
Money that could be spent on health care and education and care for the poor and weak among us, and environmental protection and a million other fabulously HEALING projects is WASTED on bombs and invasions and search for more oil, when we should NOT be burning it AT ALL.
Come on BOYS!!! Enough is enough. Please, tomorrow morning, wake up and REALIZE there is another path. Try to imagine what it might be like if we all start cherishing life, and let go of hierarchies and power struggles and bullying and seek ways to connect and love and laugh together.
Honestly, it would be just amazing. And it is the only way we will survive as a species.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Simple Joys, Walden Pond, Real Magic
Swimming at Walden Pond, water so cold it makes you scream when you first jump in, ducking through "Path Closed" police tape and wading on a path in water two feet deep (bad spring floods) but finally you find a nice little perch on two rocks in the sun and a black bird comes by and just sits and looks at you calmly and you swear you have never felt better in your life.
The really horrible thing about what we are doing to our earth is that we are destroying ourselves, I mean our REAL selves, that person we meet when a bird jumps up on a table to eat the cookie crumbs we have left while we were mindlessly nibbling, staring angrily at a computer screen when really we would SO MUCH rather be laughing and sharing a beer with a friend, and yet this silly small bird, not knowing anything about all our traumas and neuroses, just jumps right up, and helps herself to the crumbs we left, and in spite of everything, we just smile.
I witnessed this today, in a frustrated-looking young student, and I've witnessed such miracles a million times.
So we are destroying the very thing that saves us from ourselves, or rather, from our false selves--the selves that obsess over silliness--mean stupid bosses and money worries and the right coat or perfect boots and am I smart enough or pretty enough or good enough or bad enough. Some little bird or fall leaves or a stormy sky or a breeze full of flowers or a buzzing bee or a school of very friendly fish might happen by, and for those few minutes, we forget all that silliness, and just feel fine.
If it ever occurred to anyone that all of these beautiful beings and manifestations of nature are truly blessed, are in fact goddesses and gods, a portal to pure happiness, REAL magic, would we THEN be able to STOP this destruction?
Will new shoes or the perfect haircut or a better car or bigger house or shinier toys EVER bring that sense of simple joy, peace, being happy just to connect? I don't think so.
It's time to save ourselves, by saving our planet. Fast.
The really horrible thing about what we are doing to our earth is that we are destroying ourselves, I mean our REAL selves, that person we meet when a bird jumps up on a table to eat the cookie crumbs we have left while we were mindlessly nibbling, staring angrily at a computer screen when really we would SO MUCH rather be laughing and sharing a beer with a friend, and yet this silly small bird, not knowing anything about all our traumas and neuroses, just jumps right up, and helps herself to the crumbs we left, and in spite of everything, we just smile.
I witnessed this today, in a frustrated-looking young student, and I've witnessed such miracles a million times.
So we are destroying the very thing that saves us from ourselves, or rather, from our false selves--the selves that obsess over silliness--mean stupid bosses and money worries and the right coat or perfect boots and am I smart enough or pretty enough or good enough or bad enough. Some little bird or fall leaves or a stormy sky or a breeze full of flowers or a buzzing bee or a school of very friendly fish might happen by, and for those few minutes, we forget all that silliness, and just feel fine.
If it ever occurred to anyone that all of these beautiful beings and manifestations of nature are truly blessed, are in fact goddesses and gods, a portal to pure happiness, REAL magic, would we THEN be able to STOP this destruction?
Will new shoes or the perfect haircut or a better car or bigger house or shinier toys EVER bring that sense of simple joy, peace, being happy just to connect? I don't think so.
It's time to save ourselves, by saving our planet. Fast.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Well Ain't That Funny...Mormons Mess Up, Again
So the Mormon church, which in 2008 invested heavily in the anti-gay marriage proposal, Prop 8, in California (it succeeded, for now) has once again had to pay out some big money to a victim of child sexual abuse.
http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/apArticle/id/D9F2GO382/
Kerry Lewis, 38, was abused by Scoutmaster Timur Dykes in the 1980's. Dykes had already confessed to a Mormon Bishop that he had abused 17 boys. The church did not call the police, OR turn him in. Nothing. In fact, church leaders stated that they had decided it was OK for Dykes to be around children, "because he had repented".
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/03/mother_of_man_suing_boy_scouts.html
Amazingly, the Mormon Church states that it "absolutely condemns any kind of child abuse" (unless the perpetrator has "repented" I guess). However, even a quick Google search will bring up a number of cases settled by the church involving child sexual abuse. Here's one from 2001: http://www.mazeministry.com/mormonism/women/mormonsex3.htm
Like other organized religions (Catholicism, for example), the approach taken by the Mormon church has been to cover up these cases. In the 2001 case, a church member excommunicated for child sexual abuse was then reinstated and went on to abuse an 11 year old boy.
Now HOW do the policies of the Mormon Church make sense? It's OK to hide killer pedophiles (and I used the word "killer" intentionally because child rapists DO destroy lives), but not OK to want to marry the love of your life, if that person happens to be the same gender?
I am getting to a point where I am really wondering about the whole POINT of organized religion. Is it just to hide stuff? To intimidate people? To occasionally do some good and the rest of the time wreak havoc? Was organized religion just invented to steal property (a HUGE motive behind witch trials AND forced "conversions" of native Americans)?
Maybe it really is time to return to small local gatherings for spiritual and community purposes. Or simply allow one's own spiritual beliefs to blossom, and let go the need to force any particular belief on anyone else. Rather than churches we could just have local community centers which help disaster victims and the homeless and provide some warmth and comfort. And NEVER EVER hide child rapists. EVER. Shame on the Mormon Church. Shame on the Catholic Church. Shame on any person or organization that hides and "protects" child rapists and other life destroyers.
Thanks to the victim in this case and others for having the courage to speak out and take a stand. That takes real guts.
http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/apArticle/id/D9F2GO382/
Kerry Lewis, 38, was abused by Scoutmaster Timur Dykes in the 1980's. Dykes had already confessed to a Mormon Bishop that he had abused 17 boys. The church did not call the police, OR turn him in. Nothing. In fact, church leaders stated that they had decided it was OK for Dykes to be around children, "because he had repented".
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/03/mother_of_man_suing_boy_scouts.html
Amazingly, the Mormon Church states that it "absolutely condemns any kind of child abuse" (unless the perpetrator has "repented" I guess). However, even a quick Google search will bring up a number of cases settled by the church involving child sexual abuse. Here's one from 2001: http://www.mazeministry.com/mormonism/women/mormonsex3.htm
Like other organized religions (Catholicism, for example), the approach taken by the Mormon church has been to cover up these cases. In the 2001 case, a church member excommunicated for child sexual abuse was then reinstated and went on to abuse an 11 year old boy.
Now HOW do the policies of the Mormon Church make sense? It's OK to hide killer pedophiles (and I used the word "killer" intentionally because child rapists DO destroy lives), but not OK to want to marry the love of your life, if that person happens to be the same gender?
I am getting to a point where I am really wondering about the whole POINT of organized religion. Is it just to hide stuff? To intimidate people? To occasionally do some good and the rest of the time wreak havoc? Was organized religion just invented to steal property (a HUGE motive behind witch trials AND forced "conversions" of native Americans)?
Maybe it really is time to return to small local gatherings for spiritual and community purposes. Or simply allow one's own spiritual beliefs to blossom, and let go the need to force any particular belief on anyone else. Rather than churches we could just have local community centers which help disaster victims and the homeless and provide some warmth and comfort. And NEVER EVER hide child rapists. EVER. Shame on the Mormon Church. Shame on the Catholic Church. Shame on any person or organization that hides and "protects" child rapists and other life destroyers.
Thanks to the victim in this case and others for having the courage to speak out and take a stand. That takes real guts.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Sometimes People Come Through in a BIG Way
Yes, Sometimes People Come Through in a BIG Way, and then you want to cry, or maybe wash yourself in pure water (Walden Pond in April?) and cleanse away the tears and frustration and fear.
Today I took my cat Pooh to the vet for a RadioIodine treatment for her hyperthyroid. There was no other choice, because she had a bad reaction to the drugs given for this condition. We had opted for just an injection with I-131, because the scintigraphic scan was above and beyond the funds we had managed to gather from contributions. The scan provides much greater accuracy, but we just could not afford it.
And at the very last minute, a fellow animal-lover, someone I have never met, called the vet to say she wanted to pay for the scan. I am stunned in disbelief.
So so tired. This has been stressful, but a real learning experience. Sometimes people come through in a REALLY big way, just when you least expect it. Wow. I am really honestly speechless.
Today I took my cat Pooh to the vet for a RadioIodine treatment for her hyperthyroid. There was no other choice, because she had a bad reaction to the drugs given for this condition. We had opted for just an injection with I-131, because the scintigraphic scan was above and beyond the funds we had managed to gather from contributions. The scan provides much greater accuracy, but we just could not afford it.
And at the very last minute, a fellow animal-lover, someone I have never met, called the vet to say she wanted to pay for the scan. I am stunned in disbelief.
So so tired. This has been stressful, but a real learning experience. Sometimes people come through in a REALLY big way, just when you least expect it. Wow. I am really honestly speechless.
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