Today the principal of Eden Prairie High School sent out an email to all EPHS families, [which includes ours]. It’s concerning the likelihood that protesters from Fred Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka KS will show up at the EPHS graduation ceremonies at the U of M next month.

It really doesn’t concern us that personally — our kids don’t graduate until next year and 2008, respectively, but it does say something of value about our kids’ school and, by extension, our community.

It says that even tho Eden Prairie welcomed Smirky McFlightsuit with open arms last year when he came to a GOP pep rally a photo op with Norm Coleman give a speech at the high school, and even tho EP went red [but not by that wide a margin] in last fall’s election, we do live in a place where people still can recognize hate speech when they hear it, and will take a stand against it even while ignoring the hatemongers when they show up on our doorstep.
Here’s the message from the principal:

Dear EPHS Parent:

I want to make you aware that there is a group out of Topeka, Kansas advertising the fact that they will be protesting at our graduation at the University of Minnesota. The reason for their protest is our sponsorship of a Diversity Fair and Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) student club. We are working with the University on how we will respond in the event of a protest.

University of Minnesota police have dealt with this group in the past. They tell us that the group has typically been very orderly. They also informed us that groups can assemble in the Northrop mall, can carry signs and can chant. What they are encouraging us to do is to avoid any response or contact with the group. If protesters are present, the University police will monitor them and make sure they do not directly interact with our students and families. No one, except people bearing tickets, will be allowed into the Northrop auditorium itself.

Our goal is to provide a graduation ceremony that honors our students and celebrates their accomplishments. It is for this reason that we will instruct our graduates to ignore any protesters who might show up and to focus on the events of the graduation ceremony. Any response we give this group will give them attention we don’t want to give, and detract from the attention we want to pay to our graduates. We will reinforce these points with our seniors at the graduation rehearsal.

I know, whether we have protesters present or not, that graduation will be a great day. We will do everything we can to keep the focus on the very deserving members of the class of 2005!

Sincerely,

Conn McCartan

And to that I say: Go Eagles!

Posted: May 31st, 2005 under General.
Comments: none

Got nothin’, folks. Nothing interesting to say. Nothing interesting to see.

I’m gonna exit the Mondo Bloggé for a while and do some other stuff. Like try to read some books, for one thing. Novels. It’s been at least 17 years since I last read sizable quantities of fiction. Seventeen years ago — funny, that’s also when I had my first baby. Gosh, d’ya think there could be any correlation?

On the extremely remote chance that anybody is interested, here’s what I’ve got for starters:

The Flanders Panel, by Arturo Pérez Reverte, 1996.

Captain Alatriste, also by Arturo Pérez Reverte, 1997 (new English language edition just published, May 2005).

Nancy Dale: Army Nurse, by Ruby Lorraine Radford, 1944.

Into the Wilderness, by Sara Donati, 1998.

The Bulls of Parral, by Marguerite Steen, 1956.

Last Boat To Cadiz, by Barnaby Conrad II, 2003.

Mara, Daughter of the Nile, by Eloise Jarvis McGraw, 1953.

Make what you will of this list. I honestly do not care one way or another what you think my choices say or don’t say about me. They are what they are.

Gods, I need a break. So that’s what I’m taking.

Posted: May 28th, 2005 under General.
Comments: none

Another Great Moment in Unsung History, 1951:

Posted: May 27th, 2005 under General.
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Via skippy.

Our condolences to the Lourey family, Minnesota and our nation.
Cards. Letters. Your thoughts.
Send them.

75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Room G-24 , St. Paul, MN 55155-1606
capitol phone: 651.296.0293
capitol email: sen.becky.lourey@senate.mn

More from Minnesota Public Radio.

Posted: May 27th, 2005 under General.
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More interesting commentary from John Shelby Spong. This week’s Q&A:

Rev. Dore via the Internet writes:
“I am a New Thought Minister who presents the Bible and the Christ in much the same manner as you do in your articles and books. Can the Christ and Christianity survive the adolescence period where all is in flux, change and turmoil and emerge as the loving empowering way of life that Jesus intended and that we so desperately need or will the Fundamentalists win the day? Will we make it to Spiritual Adulthood?”

Dear Rev. Dore,

I think your image of adolescence is exactly correct. However, I suspect that the fact that Christians are not eager to grow up comes from two realities, one is external pressure, and the other is internal pressure. The Church as an external institution clearly craves power and achieves it by keeping its followers in perpetual immaturity. Childlike, uncritical dependency that expresses itself in guilt-laden obedience is the Church’s unstated goal. The message of the Christ who, according to the Gospel of John, came that we might have abundant life, is portrayed theologically in our churches as coming to rescue ‘wretched sinners’ who are taught that there is no possibility of doing anything right without God. In order to reveal the greatness of God in this gift of salvation, the Church found it necessary to concentrate on the depravity of human life. Therefore, salvation came to those who accepted the forced status of being passive, dependent and childlike.

The internal pressure comes from our own evolutionary struggle. We are self-conscious creatures who live in the dimension of time. We remember yesterday and anticipate tomorrow. That means two things. First, fear and anxiety are essential, necessary and chronic in human life; second, we must embrace our own mortality. Both of these realities mean that it is the uniquely human thing to search for security. A parent God with supernatural power, who can watch over, protect and defend us, provides that kind of security. So we accept chronic childhood so as not to lose parental security. We prefer to be born again to growing up. It is a bad swap - perhaps even a delusional swap. The religious system that will survive must encourage self-development and maturity. That means God must be redefined in a non-theistic understanding as enabling, enhancing and encouraging a new humanity. Paul Tillich, a 20th century German Lutheran theologian, started us in this direction. The split in most Christian churches today reveals our adolescent spirituality. Some of us become fundamentalists who live in the past and others who cannot be bound by yesterday live in the future. Both are simply aspects of our journey out of adolescence into the maturity of wholeness. It will probably take a generation or two to move fully into the new consciousness, but I think it is inevitable. Blessings on your ministry.

Posted: May 25th, 2005 under General.
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For months now I’ve been receiving promotional e-mails from retired Episcopalian Bishop John Shelby Spong. He, or, his website, solicits subscriptions for $25, which gets you new weekly content for one year. I’ve never signed up, but his publishers keep sending me e-mails anyway, probably hoping that someday I will. Most of the mail consists of short Q&As, which are usually well worth reading. Here’s one of the more recent ones:

Cynthia from Englewood, NJ writes:
” I belong to a church that has a fairly sophisticated membership. We are inclusive and pride ourselves on our openness to diversity of race, socio-economic background, ethnic background and sexual orientation. It’s a warm, comfortable atmosphere in which to worship, and people remark on the welcoming nature of our congregation.

I cringe, however, every time we enter the Lenten season, especially as we get closer to Palm Sunday and Good Friday. Some of the references to the Jews clearly foster an anti-Semitic atmosphere. There are Jews in the choir and some in the congregation as well. While sophisticated people realize there is a 2000-year span of time between the Crucifixion and today, still there are people who succumb to literalist interpretations and justify their own prejudices. I am especially concerned about the impression this makes on children and for the feelings of the Jews who sit in the pews and listen to these readings. How can we address this and still read the accounts in a faithful manner?”

Dear Cynthia,

I share your concern. The greatest source of anti-Semitism derives from Christian liturgy and from Christian Sunday School material where the phrase, the Jews, is almost always said with a negative ring. Anti-Semitism is a product of the Christian West that we need to face with overt honesty.

Where do we start the task of correcting these injustices? One place would be to force into the Christian consciousness the fact that Jesus was a Jew. He was probably brown skinned with jet-black hair, as were almost all Middle-Eastern people. Likewise all of the disciples of Jesus were Jews, plus Paul and Mary Magdalene. The 9th decade introduction into the Christian story of the Virgin Birth narrative has been used to de-emphasize Jesus’ Jewishness. Even Adolph Hitler spoke of him as “an Aryan.” Second, we need to recognize that Christianity was born in the Jewish Synagogue and did not break from the Synagogue until 88 C.E. Most of the people in the first generation of Christianity were Jews. This means that what we read in the New Testament, as overt anti-Semitism was in fact a reflection of the tension between the revisionist Jews who were the followers of Jesus and the Orthodox Jews who were not. It was a fight within the Synagogue. That does not excuse the hostility, but it is nonetheless true that most of the biblical hostility toward Jews, actually was leveled by Jews. Unfortunately, today we tend to hear these words today as a battle between Jews and Christians.

One further thing that we must begin to do is to challenge every religious system the world over that claims to possess the ultimate and final truth of God. That is sheer religious propaganda. It is also the seed of an eventual religious imperialism. If I possess the truth as these churches claim, anyone who disagrees with me disagrees with God because I am the only one who understands God perfectly. It is a strange argument but a version of that argument is reflected in the various church claims of having such things as an infallible Pope, an inerrant Bible or that a particular is the “only true church” That irrational mentality leads first to expansionist and conversion activities, then to religious intolerance and it finally expresses itself in religious persecution. That is the fatal religious flaw that drives so much of the religious anger in our world today.

We Christians have spawned more than our fair share of this and we need to own it first and to seek to confront it second. Thanks for raising the issue.

See? There are people out there who are not only persons of faith, but also of reason and rationality.

This has been a Public Service Announcement brought to you by Tild~.

Posted: May 22nd, 2005 under General.
Comments: none

Norwegianity: Stoning Indra Nooyi For Shits n’ Giggles
Excuse me if you think I link to the Wege [Sorry. He hates that name, folks] too often, but there’s a reason. Go read his stuff. Now that’s some damn fine writing. And damn fine analysis. And damn fine insight. Just all-around Damn Fine!

Badtux the Snarky Penguin: Free Stress Tests!
I’m heading over to Badtux’s corner of the polar ice floe more and more often these days, because I need the laughs he is so adept at providing. To say nothing of the extremely hot n’spicy penguin porn blogging. Yow.

“An old soul…”: Warren Beatty: I Don’t Want To Run For Governor
Oh the gods! I predict Warren’s next opus: “Sacramento Can Wait”.

Body and Soul: Allowances Must Be Made
I’d split the whole 25$ between Krugman and Frank Rich.

Flamingo Jones: Harry Potter Is Dead
No, it’s not what you think. My condolences, FJ.

Hilde Corneliussen’s blog Gender and Computing
She’s brilliant. She’s Norwegian. She posts fantastic photos that IMO are like little sunlit glimpses of paradise. And she has really great dogs, too. Go read everything she posts.

Mac Diva: Commentary: Avoiding ‘the bottle’ still current
Welcome back from your unavoidable hiatus, MD. This post is a pip.

Out of the Frying Pan: Saturday May 21, 2005
I love your garden photos, Madame OotFP. Serenity conveyed via carefully arranged pixels. Thank you for posting them.

Posted: May 22nd, 2005 under General.
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You scored as Existentialist.

Existentialism emphasizes human capability. There is no greater power interfering with life and thus it is up to us to make things happen. Sometimes considered a negative and depressing world view, your optimism towards human accomplishment is immense. Mankind is condemned to be free and must accept the responsibility.

Via Rox.

Hmmm. 100% Existentialist? I don’t know exactly why, but these results compel me to dress in black slacks and black turtleneck and matching black beret. I’ve also resumed smoking [Gauloises,unfiltered], and have taken up the bongo drums.

Posted: May 19th, 2005 under General.
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This is how crazy the Bushco thugs and their reign of terra have made me:

When I heard the news that Pickles Stepford will be our emissary to wherever all those people are who are so distraught about us flushing Korans down the crappers at Gitmo that they’re rioting in the streets and stuff, the very first thought that came to my mind is:

She’s being set up.

Dubya is in need of some sympathy and some renewed patriotic fervor from the Amurcan people. What better way to drum it all up than to send the “very popular” Missus into the inferno?

Yeah, that’s the ticket. Let Laura talk to all them screaming ragheads. They’ll listen to her. They like her.

And if some horrible mischance should occur: Her plane crashes into a mountainside; her motorcade is ambushed; a suicide bomber jumps into their midst….

Oh no! The tragedy! Heinous! Poor li’l Dubya. The W will then stand for (*sob!*)Widower !

The Amurcan people must support him in his hour of grief! What, oh what can the Amurcan people do to make Poor Dear Leader feel better, hmmmm? What can we do?

I pray to every possible deity in existence in every possible dimension of time and space that I’m wrong.

Posted: May 18th, 2005 under General.
Comments: none

Today we celebrate the 1300th anniversary of

the day that Saint Kjettil-Bjarne

drove the tomtes out of Norway

so that the rommegrot could flourish.

Wear Rommegrot Beige today in honor of glorious Syttende Mai!

Posted: May 17th, 2005 under General.
Comments: none