So today it's warm, no
downright hot, and I am not at the beach being a human
signpost but at home attempting to be a tech writer, web
developer, grant writer, and scientific editor all at the
same time. Actually, add t-shirt designer to that list
today because Ned came over to work on this idea he had
for a t-shirt. I did the design and set it up on
Cafe
Press for him.
I mostly want to go to sleep. I've
read that the southwest wind makes people sleepy, but it
sure didn't do that yesterday. Personally I think it's
the pollen and the humidity and the brief, fast-acting
stomach bug I've had for a couple days. Well, that and
lack of sleep because some Spanish-speaking guy called me
at 3:30 in the morning thinking he was calling his
girlfriend. At least that's what I think he said. I have
learned enough Spanish to know not to feed the pigeons in
the bus station but not enough to understand all the
wrong number phone calls I get. Verizon really should
provide a phrase book for all phone customers in the
greater Lawrence area. Either that or figure out why so
many calls get misdirected.
Speaking of phone calls, I got a
very disturbing call a couple of days ago. It was one of
those recorded political messages except that the speaker
did not identify himself, there was no caller id, and the
message though ostensibly political was vaguely
threatening anti-gay hate speech. It started out as a
political message calling for people to attend a rally
against gay marriage but then segued into weird stuff
about God's will and God's position not just against gay
marriage but against homosexuality in general. It was
creepy. I don't know if the religious driver for it was
fundamentalist or Catholic. I sincerely hope it was not
Catholic, but given some of the other weird stuff that
has been going on here with Catholic legislators being
harrassed (by fellow Catholics) if they believe in not
writing discrimination into the state constitution, I'm
seriously afraid it is a Catholic hate group making these
calls. That's pretty hard to take. All that is good and
decent and on the side of compassion and love and peace
and social justice in my character comes from a strong
Catholic upbringing and education. My drive to serve the
community and work for peace and justice came entirely
from Catholicism. The idea that the Catholic church is
sponsoring anonymous hate phone calls is
horrifying.
Speaking of the church and its
foibles, the local
bishop type guy who listed feminism among the evils of
modern civilization along
with the drug culture seems to have found a dictionary
and realized that feminism is not quite what he meant to
denounce. He has apologized publicly in the pages of the
diocesean newspaper. I'm proud of the the prez of my alma
mater for speaking out and standing up to him on this.
The women of my alma mater seem to still have the kind of
Catholicism I was raised on, if their response to the
bishop guy's silly statement is any indication. If I had
any money I'd up my annual donation to them.
The other interesting thing about
the bishop's apology was that he expressed admiration for
both Mother Teresa and Dorothy Day, both of whom are up
for canonization. I have to admit that back in 2000 when
I heard that the "cause" for Dorothy Day was accepted at
the Vatican saint-making bureau (I forget what they call
it) I didn't believe it. She will never be canonized
during the reign of the current pope because her
political ideas are too close to communism for him. I
wish I could write about this better and more
coherently.
Anyway, speaking of Dorothy Day is
speaking of The Catholic Worker, which reminds me that
the Wheels
of Justice tour is visiting
North Andover High today. That sparked controversy among
the parents who were afraid the students would be exposed
to anti-Semitism because there's a Palestinian speaker on
the tour. The local school superintendent is a true hero
of the first amendment. He invited opposing speakers and
allotted lots of time for student questions. And
apparently the thing went off without a hitch according
to the article
in the Eagle Tribune
(benefit of writing "today's entry" on the day after --
you can reference the press coverage.)
Apologies to the three remaining
readers of this journal, who were probably expecting used
books and new birds rather than religious
angst...
I want so much to believe that the
universe is on the side of justice.
