Amazing piece, over 5 years old, that was well worth the wait. “Inside the Pathology of Gilbert Arenas” [Esquire]
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Friedrich Nietzsche “But if you continue to stare at the abyss a little longer, it will wink at you. And you can wink back at the abyss. And you will both giggle simultaneously” Me. This morning (putting my philosophy minor to good use)
The weather is perfect, the food extraordinary, the art sublime. Only trouble is that the RPettes and I are going to try to watch THE GAME at 3 AM while Mrs. RP sleeps. At least everyone over here is part of the Big Blue Nation. I spotted the T-shirt to the left at Florence’s famous leather marketplace. Didn’t know Audrey Hepburn was a Cats fan, but apparently she anticipated Marquis Teague’s three-point form decades before he was born. We are sincerely hoping that tonight Sylvester finally catches Tweety bird — What’s a Jayhawk anyway? — as Thomas Robinson discovers that Anthony Davis owns the paint on both sides of the court. He’s not in Kansas anymore!! (I assume that joke’s being overused back home, but it’s getting big laughs here in Italy! Or maybe they are laughing because they have no idea what I’m saying.)
Well, it seems there was a little misunderstanding. Let me put it this way — I didn’t take any pictures. The T-shirt at right is the best PG-rated presentation of the scenery in the Red Light District. To recover from the shock and awe, I decided to take a detour into a “coffee shop.” Turns out they didn’t serve coffee, and the place was hazy and smelled like a Jimmy Buffett concert. The good news is that after spending a few minutes in the place, all of my cares disappeared, and I became relaxed and happy; although for some strange reason I was (Terrence) Jones-ing for a bag of Cheetos. Apparently, I’m very popular in Amsterdam as well. Whenever I introduced myself, people asked if I was the same Jonathan Miller who wrote an article in The Huffington Post advocating for the legalization of marijuana. OK, back to my vacation…I promise to send another post(card) soon.
New Ways Ministry has a critical mission, since changing the Church will help those who suffer from ill treatment not only here in the United States but around the world, where the Church has so much clout. The Church has millions of members in Africa and South America, where being gay or lesbian can lead to a death sentence. Worse, the Church’s own teaching encourages bigotry and harm. Just last year, my father’s memorial, the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, gave its human rights award to Frank Mugisha, a gay activist in Uganda whose good friend had just been brutally killed in his own home. American missionaries have encouraged the discrimination Mugisha suffers. Refuting their religious arguments is critical, and so is making a moral and religious case for gays. What we need is a transformation of hearts and minds, not merely a change of laws.
The fight for the dignity of the LGBT community is a fight for the soul of today’s Church. Some conservatives see the hierarchy’s current, traditional teaching on sex as the Church’s defining position. They don’t really like to talk about, or even be reminded of, the Church’s teachings on immigration, or protection of the environment, or the greed that produces financial meltdowns, all of which they would find distastefully liberal. Read the rest of… |
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