Last Updated: 3/1/04; 1:49:36 AM
Last Updated: 3/1/04; 1:49:36 AM
Conservative Christian gives opinion on inevitability of gay marriage Finally a conservative Christian owns up to the fact that neither heterosexuals in general, nor conservative Christians in particular, make much of "poster children" for the institution of marriage: "The gay community could not treat their marriage vows any worse than many Christians treat their own. ...remember that Christians and conservatives long ago met the real enemy of the sacred institution of marriage -- and we are that enemy." Now here's a good graduation speech Harkening back to my post on the Chris Hedges anti-war graduation speech, I came across this and thought, in contrast, what a great speech. This has to do with the theme of the day and with the students and would please me to hear on my big day! At first I fell for yet another in the eternal stream of phony Internet legends and believed it was delivered to a graduating class at MIT by Mr. Kurt Vonnegut, but in fact it was written by a very good newspaper columnist at the Chicago Tribune, Ms. Mary Schmich. It was never delivered, simply published as a would-be speech. Upon visiting the Tribune's site, I discovered that just today she's published another good column with some interesting commentary on the Janet Jackson breast fiasco. I don't really agree with her conclusion, although I didn't see the show, and didn't know that Janet cowered, but anyway, it's a good column. (I'm not sure about the recent one, but in order to see the older one you have to do a free registration deal.) Anyway, here's the graduation speech: Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young Inside every adult lurks a graduation speaker dying to get out, some world-weary pundit eager to pontificate on life to young people who'd rather be Rollerblading. Most of us, alas, will never be invited to sow our words of wisdom among an audience of caps and gowns, but there's no reason we can't entertain ourselves by composing a Guide to Life for Graduates. I encourage anyone over 26 [oh boy, I just make it—I guess I'm officially old!] to try this and thank you for indulging my attempt. Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97: Wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now. Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine. Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday. Do one thing every day that scares you. Sing. Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours. Floss. Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself. Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how. Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements. Stretch. Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't. Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone. Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's. Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own. Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room. Read the directions, even if you don't follow them. Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly. Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young. Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel. Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders. Respect your elders. Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out. Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85. Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth. But trust me on the sunscreen. Same-sex couples seek religious unions As the right-wing ever more loudly and vehemently spews its obnoxious anti-gay rhetoric about "God's will" and "Biblical law" and "sin" and "decency" and "tradition" and the "moral fabric of America"...and on and on, more quietly, and ultimately more spiritually and more faithfully, dozens and hundreds and thousands of same-sex couples are choosing to declare their vows to one another in religious ceremonies. Sometimes they do so within religious movements (such as Paganism, Reform Judaism, and Unitarian Universalism) and Christian denominations (such as the United Church of Christ, Congregationalism, Friends (Quakers) & the Metropolitan Community Church, some congregations within United Methodism & Presbyterianism, and some dioceses of Episcopalianism) that openly welcome them, and sometimes they do so even within such officially condemning movements as Roman Catholocism. In defiance of any and all traditional religious doctrine that opposes their very existence, gay and lesbian couples are refusing to deny their natural human spiritual and religious needs and desires and are instead creatively seeking out ways to have them met. Hallelujah! (Looks like the religious right is spinning its wheels deeper and deeper into the mud to me.) Today's kids: "Live and let live" It's not always the case, but today I love teenagers! :) The children are our future...la..la..la... *grin* (Note: Right now this is on the linked website, but I'm not sure how long it will be there, so I've downloaded it, so it will always be here on this blog.) January 22nd, 2004: What are your thoughts on same-sex marriages?
More on US soldiers in Iraq: an interview
O2- I want to talk about this and tell people how bad it really is in Iraq. It is a complete fucking slaughter and it is only going to get worse. The attacks in the last month or so have been meticulously well planned and executed. We are seeing a level of sophistication that the chain of command did not ever expect. Many of the officers knew that they were going to be dealing with well trained Iraqi army and militia units. There might or might not be outside support and insurgents, but I know the Iraqis are more than capable of messing up your day. These guys have been trained to fight guerilla style and they don't give up. We are in deep shit now that they have started to get more organized.
O1- I don't think that some of the higher level planners expected this kind of resistance and guerilla activity. We tried to tell them months ago that it wasn't just Ba'ath party members and Saddam supporters. Some of the most highly trained guerillas are Shiite and Kurdish. We are going to be in some real trouble if the Kurds ever decide to join together with the Shiites and fight against us. Throw the Sunni radicals into the mix and it's total chaos with our guys stuck smack in the middle. It's one giant cluster fuck and the US soldiers are going to be the one that gets hurt and killed. That country is on the brink of civil war right now. Years of subdued hatreds are now boiling over. That is why you see all the different targets that are being hit by the car bombs. O2- Yeah, we are in a real meat grinder right now. The real danger is that the whole country will erupt in civil unrest and the US troops will be caught between many different rival factions. I don't look forward to going back there, but I don't have a choice. My comments: What a nightmare. I hope the UN can do something. Kofi Annan was in Washington yesterday and met with Dubya (poor Kofi) and said: "We are going to go there [to Iraq] to help the Iraqis, to help them establish a government that is Iraqi, a government that will work with them to assure their future, in terms of political and economic destiny." I hope so. A "wardrobe malfunction" LOL!! "I'm sorry if anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the half-time performance of the Super Bowl," Timberlake said. My bet is that it was covertly intentional, but I say great! As a naturist, I think public nudity laws are a violation of our human and civil rights, and I especially think that laws that allow men to be bare-chested in public but criminalize the same behavior from women are sexist, discriminatory and a blantant civil rights violation. I'm disappointed in CBS, MTV, Timberlake, and whomever else for caving in to the conservative pressure and making all of these lame apologies. Go Janet! ;) P.S.
George W. Bush
is "a miserable failure on foreign
policy and on the economy and he's got to be replaced."
George Bush Has Got to Go! *** Flush Bush! *** Anyone But Bush in 2004! *** Have you taken a good look at George W. Bush lately? |
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Madeline's Weblog
—> All of this rambling is © 2004 Madeline Althoff <—
"Anybody should be able to do anything they want."
"If they're happy, they can get married if they want. Who
cares?"
"I think it's perfectly normal and people should respect them
for who they are."
"It's their choice on what they want to do."
