For the record...

At this moment in time and space, I feel it incumbent to make one fact perfectly clear. I'm fat. I'm not proud of this fact, per se, but denial is futile.

And now, for a sideways view of the obvious...

There has been recent debate about whether gay actors can portray straight characters or not.

Uh, hasn't this been the case in theater since the Greeks used masks? Hasn't it been this way since Shakespeare? Wasn't Rock Hudson the epitome of the Lady's Man?

Kids, let's untwist our knickers and go to the movies.

Curse of Babel/Joy of Pentecost

The curse of Babel is that humanity decided to "make a name for itself" (Genesis 11:4). The joy of the Pentecost is that God gave the world the words so that "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Acts 2:21)

It's as easy as that.

Perspective and Priorities

Today ESPN's award winning "Outside the Lines" documentary series did a piece on swim coaches who sexually abuse their young charges, some victims as young as ten years old.

Before the episode host Bob Ley said, "This report contains material of a sexual nature which some may find disturbing." By the way, I am sure this was worded very carefully by the ESPN legal department and not an off the cuff remark by the host.

I find two things about this statement disturbing:

1. So, what we may find disturbing is the sex but not the assault? I say it is a shame that our culture finds more distress about the sexual aspect of this issue than it does the assault aspect. We have become so dulled to violence that it doesn't even get a mention in the warning. Anyone who wants to comment that it is the whole issue, the full sexual assault issue, not simply the sex that is disturbing then I ask why did the warning only mention the sex and not the assault.


2. We are warned that we may find this disturbing. Shout it from the mountaintops people! In a time and place where sexual assault against youth by people in positions of trust and authority has become everyday, we must be disturbed by this report. I hope everyone who watches this wants to vomit because of the ghastly nature of these crimes.

Our priorities, and those of the ESPN legal department, seem to be more attached to the sexual aspect of the story than the perspective of the assault against young girls, and this needs to stop. Both are horrible, but we seem to have become numbed by the amount of violence we see everyday, it no longer disturbs us, this perspective must change.

Praise needs to go to the young girl in this story, a fifteen year old named Julia, who was able to bring to justice a man who had been assaulting girls for thirty-one years. Julia--you are a brave young woman, God be with you and your family.

Cudos to Bob Ley and the entire "Outside the Lines" staff. This is some of the best documentary and investigative journalism done on television bar none. Please follow this link and watch the report, but beware. The nature of these crimes against women should be disturbing, both for their sexual nature and for the violence against these young girls.

That's Why They Call It Statutory

This morning I saw the "Lawrence Taylor Sexual Assault Story" on ESPN. Let me just say this, if your defense is "Sure, I ordered a prostitute, but I ordered the full-grown model, not a junior " you don't have much of a defense at all.

Fact--LT got himself a prostitute and paid $300 for "the pleasure."
Fact--She was sixteen,
Fact--LT didn't know Fact #2 and wasn't told about Fact #2,
Fact--Intent doesn't matter. That's why they call it"statutory"!

The law makes this distinction: In most situations, minors aren't legally capable of making decisions for themselves. This is why minors can't sign contracts. This is why minors can't consent to sex. So by law, by statute, sexual intercourse with a minor is illegal. That's one of the ways we protect children in this society.

BTW, it makes me wonder this side legal point: If the girl is charged with prostitution and arraigned as an adult, does this make the "minor" point in LT's case moot? Can she be an adult in one sense and a minor in another sense in the same offense? Is it the same offense? That's for the courts to decide. Somewhere there is a 21st Century scribe and a pharisee discussing this on cable news right now.

One more time though, there is only one fool-proof way to prevent this issue: NO HOOKERS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!

Follow this link for the ESPN story and footage of the Lawrence Taylor sexual assault story.

Congress Shall Establish No Law...

Here's the most key phrase in the Bill of Rights, "Congress Shall Establish No Law..." By way of codes and interpretation, one of the many things this phrase has come to mean is that public any display of religious faith allowed on public lands must be similarly granted to all faiths.

Yes, I have an example...

This week, in conjunction with the National Day of Prayer, several churches in Berryville are reading the Holy Bible from cover to cover on the town square. Yes, the square is a publicly maintained piece of land.

Here's the rub...

Any faith based religious organization which asks to use the square cannot be denied similar access to the square.

Yes, I have an example...

If a mosque wanted to have a Qaran reading on the square, it cannot be denied out of hand because it's not our faith. This is the same if a synagogue wanted to hold a similar reading of the Torah on the square. Gotta church? Gotta holy book? Get the square.

Yes, I am a Presbyterian Minister, and I want us all to read scripture, particularly I am a fan of the Holy Bible (I'm an NRSV man and don't take stock of the apocrypha but to each his own.), but in this land of opportunity, in this land of equal access; we must be cautious because the doors we open cannot be closed so easily.

What's the difference between a fundamentalist Christian group and a fundamentalist Muslim group on the square? Nothing in the eyes of the law...and that's all our judges are allowed to use in making judgement. When the Congress, or the State, or the Quorum Court establishes and implements law for one, it must be for all.

Remember that great final line from the Pledge of Allegiance: Liberty and justice for all.

As hard as this can be to swallow, this includes unpopular points of view too.

Incendiary Rhetoric

So this is why I have quit watching the news...

A Caucasian woman on FoxNews the other day said that if she were in Arizona and if she were asked, she would be proud to produce documents that proved she was a citizen of these United States. Of course...

1. She would never be asked for her papers, she's lily white, and
2. What would she produce?

This is my question...What document would she produce? Drivers licence? Social Security Card? In America, citizens don't have to carry citizenship papers. We don't! If you don't want to drive, you don't have to carry photo identification. Sure, it's easier to get beer if you have an ID, but you don't have to carry ID and you don't have to buy beer.

Does this mean that in Arizona having a lack of papers is cause for suspicion?

I get it. The issues with immigration are many and complex. Aliens, whether in this country legally or not, take jobs from Americans and jobs that no American (read: Anglo) wants to take. Pretty much everything in this world is more complex than a segment on a talk radio or cable news show.

The problem with nearly every issue in our country today is not so much the foundational issue, it's the rhetoric used to deify and vilify. We are a nation that is heading toward a place where ration is being replaced by reaction.

Thank God that at this moment, there are enough people in each camp that one is not in a position to completely annihilate the other, because if that were true then the opening of "reeducation camps" would not be far away.

If you think I'm crazy, what about the talk of "liberal-left-wing-media" as a form of reeducation. What about local "Tea Parties" and before that "Rush's Bake Sale" to reeducate. Both of these groups are well meaning (GOD let them be well meaning), but there is no longer room for middle ground when the rhetoric is hotter than the surface of the sun.

Remember, it's all good fun until the Hopi busts someone in Arizona and ships them back to England.