Mewsings from Lowecat (aka Indianacat)

My rants, ravings, and overall 'mewsings' on life, the universe, and everything.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Open Mouth Insert Foot



 
 
 
 
 
(Taken from an email sent via Democrats 2012): In last night’s Indiana Senate debate, Republican candidate Richard Mourdock declared, "Life is a gift from God. Even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen."


He said it tearfully, with a catch in his voice.  He was emotional about it.  To him, he was thinking of how all life is precious, no matter how the inception came about.  He was stating his anti - abortion agenda off the cuff, and it backfired on him.



In political speak, it's called a gaffe.  Back in the Watergate era it was called a 'Spewl - all' as in Vice President Spiro Agnew's tendency to open mouth and insert not one, but several feet. 



His comment went viral, all over the interwebz, nearly as soon as it was uttered, and with disasterous results for him.   He claims his comments were taken out of context, that he never intended to make light of rape, and that those of us who are upset by his off the cuff remark are such because we deliberately chose to misinterpert his comment. 



Seriously? 


We choose to deliberately misinterpert it? 


Sure, and polar bears shit in the woods.  


I'm not enanored of either candidate for our US Senate.  Unfortuantely, the incumbent, Richard Lugar, is out of the runnin'.  Not that I'm that happy with Lugar, but at least his evil I know.  The new jokers is a whole 'nother evil entirely.


This is not to say that I find the candidates evil, just politics in general.  Plus, I was leaning against the saying 'Better the evil the you know than the evil you don't know.'


Anyway.  Back to the reason for this blog.   THE Gaffe.  A 10 second sound bite that has been heard 'round the world.   It is a short comment that is going to have some very serious repercussions.  At least amongst women.


There are cases of male rape, but let's face it, the majority of the victims of rape are women.  Rape is about control.  It's about degration.  It'd about a vile act of domination on an unwilling person.  Frankly, I don't give a damn of both partiies are buck nekkid on the bed, about to have at it.  If either party decides 'No!' and the other party, male or female, forces the act, it's rape. 


Once upon a time, rape was rape.  There weren't classifications of it.  Now we have date rape, acquaintance rape, maritial rape, etc..  No matter how you try to sugar coat it, it's the same ugly thing, forced sex.  Whether a weapon such as a knife or gun is used or not, it's still forced. 


And it leaves a rotten after effect in the mind, body, and spirit.  Sometimes the act results in a pregnancy, and this is where Mourdock crossed the line.    I don't think the God I look to (and yes, I still believe in a higher power despite my disappointment in organized religion) EVER intended for man to forcibly impregnant a woman in that manner. 


Yes, I'm a firm believer that no woman should be forced to carry a child that was conceived out of forced sex.  Victims of rape and/or incest should NOT be forced to carry the child to term because some idiot in Congress thinks 'It's God's will!'  Screw that (no pun intended), or because the sperm donor asserts his right to be a father.   That's a whole different crime of its' own.


Am I incensed by what Mourdock said Tuesday night?  Hell yes!  Any woman, whether a victim of rape/incest or not, has a right to be incensed.  It shows just how close - minded this man is.  


Yes, I do believe that the minute the little swimmer and the egg come together, then life begins.  If Mourdock had stopped right there, he'd have been OK.  Or, if he'd not even brought up the rape conception comment, he'd have been OK.  But he took it a step further, and that's where he crossed the line. 


As for his apology, I don't accept it.  Because his apology puts the blame back on those of us who got upset by the comment HE made.  That's not an apology.  That's just trying to spin the situation to his advantage. 


I'm kind of a middle of the road person, laughingly calling myself a conserberial.  I'm liberal about some things, and conservative on others.   I'm both pro choice and pro life.  I'm in favor of homosexual partners and opposite sex unmarrieds should have the same rights as married couples and don't mind that they get to be covered as dependents.   That's just how I roll. 


Richard Mourdock can take that apology and stick it in his briefcase.  He should have just said 'I'm sorry.'  Nothing else.  That he tried to put the blame elsewhere offends me.  That wasn't an apology.  It was spin.


And it's all gonna come out in the wash come Election Day. 







Sunday, October 21, 2012

OK, I'm Really Not a Happy Kitteh






During a recent blog, I posted about having a crisis with my faith.  As all y'all know, my father was a retired United Methodist Minister when he died.  I grew up with an intimate knowledge of the professional of the ministry.   It's a true callin', all right, as these men and women of the cloth are always on call, and often under the microscope more than celebrities! 



I've often been accused of measuring other ministers by the yardstick of my father.  And that's a valid accusation, especially when some ministers don't measure up!  Let's face it, men and women of the cloth are just as human as the rest of us.  We hold them to a higher expectation than most other humans.  Sometimes we may expect too much. 


In that previous blog, I listed my expectations in regards to losin' Daddy on 4 May in regards to my own minister.  I also listed how that minister fell extremely short of those expectations.  And still has.  Nearly six months later.  


So what has prompted this blog?  


A paid advertisement in the religion section of our local paper.  This month, in case you weren't aware, is Clergy Appreciation Month.  It's a time for the faithful to find ways to say thanks.  Maybe a card, or a note.  In the case of my church, a small ad was taken out in that section of the paper to thank the minister for all that he does for the church family and the community at large.


I don't doubt that the congregation as a whole feels great satisfaction in the pastor.  He does work hard to meet the needs of the majority of his flock.  Unfortunately, this one black sheep doesn't share that feeling.  Nor do I share their warm feelings of appreciation for his service. 


It's not that I don't respect the title of pastor/minister/clergy.  I do respect it.  I'm still lickin' my wounds from that ghastly day of 4 May and the fact that my own pastor has done little to help lift the burden of loss from my soul.  As of this day, not a card, or a letter.  Not a call or message left on either of the voice mails.  Not even a calling card stuck in the door to tell me (us, countin' the DH), that he at least stopped in. 

I recall times when Daddy would stop at a member's house while he was out making visits to the sick at home or hospital.   If the member was home, he'd enter upon their invitation to talk a few moments, see how the parishioner was doing, have a prayer, and then go on.  If that church member (and sometimes family member) wasn't home, he'd write a little note on the back of his business card and leave it stuck in the door to let them know he'd been by. 

Except for the blurb in the June newsletter, nary a thing has come my way to show that both my minister and my church of these few years gives a damn.   Even some of the members who know us best have been silent. 


And that hurts.


So pardon me if I don't share my church's feelings of appreciation for our pastor.  Or don't pardon me.  It's a free country, and you're welcome to your own opinion. 

Maybe that's why I now consider myself a hedonistic biker chick.  I've found more compassion and support from my biker friends than from my own church.  

Weird.

I will say this.  To all those other ministers out there, whether Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, or whatever who answered the call to preach and to serve, who strive daily to continue in that difficult journey of being God's representative on this Earth, thank you for what you do.  It's not the easiet path and those who follow it are always expected to toe the line.  You're not always allowed to be human.  I salute you.