I apologize for the long period between posts. I’m actually planning a series of posts on the general topic of political philosophy. It should shed some light on the sorry mess that serves as an excuse for politics in the U.S. Oddly enough, my first post in that series will be on the topic of sex. First, however, I have to get my thoughts organized, and deal with a lot of things coming up in my everyday life.
Dr. Helen asks Why are Diamonds a Girl’s Best Friend?
In the past generation, the powers-that-be have conspired to turn Valentine’s day from a day where people exchanged tokens of love into a day where men are required to abase themselves and debase their personal economies by giving ridiculously expensive gifts to women in return for …civility.
What the hell is wrong with that picture?
For me, it’s still a day to celebrate, however. I celebrate my freedom from this burden. Last night I went to Wal-mart to buy a few little gifts for my 5-year-old nephew*, and was utterly repulsed by the crowds of people in there.
I have to admit to a bit of schadenfreude. It’s not quite so much taking pleasure at the suffering of men out there who have to buy cut roses, diamond rings, chocolate, and other useless trinkets for the demanding women in their lives, but rather relief at not having to.
(By the way, what does dead plant material, crystallized carbon mounted on circlets of debased soft metals, and highly-fattening foods of questionable nutritional value have to do with romance?)
Tonight, I plan to celebrate being single.
*Army men and toy cars. What boy wouldn’t love those toys?
Hypocrisy, thy name is Duke University.
When a mentally deluded stripper accused three Duke University lacrosse players of a brutal gang rape at a March 2006 off-campus team party during spring break, dozens of activist Duke professors were not content merely to give great credence to the rape charge, even as evidence of its probable fraudulence poured into the public record. They also treated the lacrosse players as pariahs for having hired strippers at all. So, too, did Duke President Richard Brodhead, Board Chairman Robert Steel, other campus administrators, many in the media, and others.
…
To underscore its horror, the university adopted a new rule: “Strippers may not be invited or paid to perform at events sponsored by individual students, residential living groups, or cohesive units.”
So, some might be surprised to learn that on this year’s Super Bowl Sunday, Duke University played host to a group of strippers, prostitutes, phone-sex operators, and others in a “Sex Workers Art Show” to display their “creativity and genius.” The university spent $3,500 from student fees and various programs to pay the performers and cover expenses.
Gee, why am I not surprised?
Story here. Quoted in full:
Making a strong statement against the annual performances of The Vagina Monologues on Catholic college campuses, the United States bishops’ Committee on Doctrine moved a theological seminar, which was scheduled to start today, February 11, at the University of Notre Dame, to a nearby convent.
Bishop John D’Arcy of Fort Wayne-South Bend, who is not a member of the doctrine committee, issued a statement describing the action as a direct response to the planned Monologues performance at Notre Dame on March 26-28. In previous years, Fort Wayne Bishop John D’Arcy has publicly stated that the lewd play is “offensive to women” and “antithetical to Catholic teaching.”
The move comes just weeks before Pope Benedict XVI visits the United States, including an April 17 address to the presidents of all American Catholic colleges that many anticipate will repeat the Vatican’s calls for the renewal of Catholic education.
The Committee on Doctrine has seven members: Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, Conn., who is Chairman; Bishop Leonard Blair of Toledo, Ohio; Archbishop José Gomez of San Antonio; Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester, who chairs the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Education; Bishop Arthur Serratelli of Paterson, N.J.; Bishop Allen Vigneron of Oakland, Calif.; and Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh. The committee’s consultants include Cardinal Francis George of Chicago and John Cavadini, Chairman of Notre Dame’s theology department.
“Faithful Catholics nationwide are immensely grateful for the public witness of these bishops against this terrible scandal,” said Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society. “The message is clear: The Vagina Monologues has no place on a Catholic campus.
The Notre Dame performance will follow performances planned at 18 other Catholic colleges and universities across the country. The Notre Dame event is especially upsetting to faithful Catholics, because it is the sixth year since 2002 that the nation’s most well-known Catholic university has hosted performances of the Monologues.
In the seventh year of the Cardinal Newman Society’s efforts to rid Catholic colleges of the obscene and offensive Monologues, the number of performances has declined to 19, from a peak of 32 in 2003.
The Vagina Monologues is a sexually explicit and offensive play that favorably describes lesbian activity, group masturbation, and the reduction of sexuality to selfish pleasure. In one scene, the lesbian seduction of a teenage girl is described as the girl’s “salvation” that “raised her into a kind of heaven.” The performances make a mockery of Catholic teachings on life, love and sexual ethics.
I’m gratified that the Catholic Church has not succumbed to the forces of “multi-culturalism” and “political correctness.”
A while back, I came to the conclusion that I’m better off single than in the dating “game.” I don’t even flirt. That said, I’ve noticed something. When looking for a large purchase, such as land or vehicles, the seller usually asks me about my wife, probably because there’s a co-owner line on the contract. A simple, “I’m not married,” usually is enough for them to drop that line of inquiry. I just chalked that up to the majority of people in my age group are married, so they’re playing the odds.
However, it’s a different situation socially. People make the assumption that I’m married for some unknown reason. At a happy hour one time, a woman in the group began complaining about being single (again) and made it well-known that she wished for a man to date. A male co-worker (I’ll forgive him, because he was drunk) said to her, “What about Egghead, here?” Then she replied, “I can’t date him! He’s married!!! This was, of course, news to me.
Now, I’ve never said I was married. Why did she assume I was? Was it because I had shown no interest in her? I try not to encourage that sort of attention. Does that work out to me putting off some sort of “leave me alone, I’m married” vibe?
I haven’t the foggiest notion, but I wonder.
You are currently browsing the Egghead’s Observations weblog archives for February, 2008.