Lent Madness

It’s here! Lent. And I have many thoughts. Instead of giving up a thing, I’m giving up sloth. I’m going to try to establish a routine daily that includes writing every day. Either here,  or in my book, or thank you notes, etc.

Ashes, ashes! I’ve already fallen down. Not choosing something to give up until today makes me feel like I’m already falling down on the job. But today’s sermon at our Ash Wednesday service reminded me, that I’m ok whether I beat myself up or not. God loves me and forgives me anything. I need to not worry about trying so hard.

So here I am. Writing. I’m doing it. I’m going to spend most of this time updating my page. It’s going to be better than ever.

Stop Screaming!

I said months ago that I was back, and that I would start writing again on a regular basis. I think it’s obvious at this point I haven’t done that. In the meantime there has been a lot I’ve wanted to say.

Without many details, what I want to say is this:

When it comes to right or wrong, I want to err on the side of love.

Of course you say, “But, Marybeth, what about all those evil abortionists, and heathen homos, and all those devil-worshipping Atheists, murderous Muslims, slutty women, and those greedy bums on the street that don’t work? How could you believe that those people are good? How could you love them? Why would you not stand against the evil in this world? It’s in the Bible! Thou shalt not murder! Thou shalt not commit adultery! Thou shalt have no other gods before me! If a man lies with a man it is an abomination! Aren’t you a Christian?!?!? You are against conservative values. You should have been raised better than that.”

That is what I hear every time I peruse Facebook or turn on network news. People screaming at the world to condemn homosexuals to a life of second class citizens because the Bible says so, to turn a blind eye to the homeless and destitute because they’re lazy (and we all know sloth is a deadly sin!). All I see is people who I love dearly calling me a baby murderer. Hearing or reading those words directed towards women just like me feels like being punched in the gut so hard you can’t breathe. The ignorance of it is intolerable. I’m tired of hearing people screaming that women who are raped must in some way have deserved it or asked for it, that women give consent simply by being female (more on that later). I’m tired of hearing love ones think that the undoing of the world is going to be the offering of medical care to those who can’t afford it because they think they’re lazy bums. Stop screaming that as a Christian the secular world is out to get you. Just because you can’t pray in school out loud or place the 10 commandments outside your city hall doesn’t mean that you are under attack. You’re not. You have it better than most religions in the world. Trust me. If you’d, for one minute, try to put yourself into the shoes of another person who isn’t a white American Christian, you would understand. You are blessed beyond measure and you have nothing to complain about.

I love my friends and family, but you’ve got to stop screaming.

It’s gone international. And some reflection.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2507680/Christian-love-guru-Justin-Lookadoos-speech-Texas-high-school-sparks-outrage.html

Now.

Folks.

I am not one to partake in running people’s careers into the ground. Richardson ISD will never have Justin Lookadoo back again, and as news and anger spread around the world there will be more places that will reject him. There will be places that were considering him, or where he may have been invited to, that will now chose differently. His career has been changed forever.

There will always be a handful of institutions, churches, and organizations that will agree with what he has to say. They will book him and allow him to speak to their children because they’re too chicken to have a dating conversation with their own kids. But one day, they won’t. Hopefully.

I don’t think this guy deserves to lose his livelihood, or that he should rot in hell. From my research he is married and has a few adopted children. It is important to those kids for him to do well. I believe he means well, he’s just ignorant. This is apparently the first time in 4,000 programs that he has ever received this kind of push back. He doesn’t know any better.

I don’t condone his behavior or beliefs, but he is a human being. I’m a human being. We want the same kind of basic things out of life. Love, shelter, food, faith, etc.

He may still be a douche, but primarily out of ignorance and not pure hate.

Something to think about.

Let’s not even use words

Ok, Um. I’m speechless. Almost.

Apparently, this is a “thing.” By “thing” I mean a current phenomenon in popular culture. A culture I am increasingly agitated about.

I came across a post in my Facebook feed by Perkins School of Theology biblical interpretation professor and feminist author Jaime Clark-Soles. She is, and many of my friends are, appalled by a mandatory assembly her teenaged daughter was made to attend in her public school in Richardson, TX. It’s called R U Dateable. See what I mean? We’re not even using words here.

Here is the link to the “rules” on the website for this phenomenon.

Gross…Eww. Stop it with they misogynistic, gender biased based “rules” for dating. It makes me want to vomit.

Here is Dr. Clark-Sole’s reaction to finding out about this event on her Facebook page.

“I am speechless here in Richardson, TX. Richardson High School (which has a new principal) is making my daughter miss her Math class tomorrow (and shorten the other classes) without any notice to the parents, in a public school, to be subjected to some misogynistic religious speaker named Justin Lookadoo who wants her to sign “Dateable Rules” that include Rule #6: “Dateable girls know how to shut up” (literally) and “letting the guy lead” because boys are adventuresome and girls are soft and gentle. Clearly, we are writing the principal as a first step. Obviously, we have given Chloe permission to stage a walkout. If you have practical suggestions about the next steps we should take (I mean this in a deadly serious way, not joking), please advise.”

She has been working the past couple days to find a way to stop or opt-out of the event. At print time of this blog, it looks like the event is still on, but now parents may opt-out their children from the assembly.

Over a decade ago, as a teenager, I was subjected to a similar situation. As many readers know, I attended a private, conservative Christian school for most of my young life. It was awful, and we’ll leave it at that. About the 9th grade, under a new principle (one later fired for porn on his computer), we were corralled into the gym, boys and girls together in several different grades, to have “sex ed.” This consisted of a series of videos and speakers that told us, and I’m paraphrasing a little, that if we have sex, we will die. I’ve had sex. I’m not dead or pregnant.

Ur gonna die!

It was extremely uncomfortable, not just because of the subject matter, but because of the motivation and undertone of the assembly. Our school’s leadership intended to undermine comprehensive sex education by presenting a patriarchal, abstinence-only view of the sexual relationship between men and women. In many sessions, the burden of sexual responsibility was placed on females. We, as the childbearers rather than breadwinners, are responsible for being modest, “lady-like” in appearance, allow men to lead and feel more important, know when to speak when spoken to. The very things listed in this silly “R U Datable” thing.

Ugh.

I feel icky and tired now. Go forth and be angry for me!