[Trigger warning.]
Just this very morning, I wrote about the Catholic Church's deflection of legitimate criticism by casting critics as wicked scoundrels with an agenda.
And this afternoon, I read: "Pope Benedict XVI's personal preacher on Friday likened accusations against the pope and the Catholic church in the sex abuse scandal to 'collective violence' suffered by the Jews."
OMFG. So…basically anyone who objects to the institutional abetting and concealment of the sexual abuse of children is sorta like a Nazi or something? Sure.
The Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa said in a Good Friday homily with the pope listening in St. Peter's Basilica that a Jewish friend wrote to him to say the accusations remind him of the "more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism."
Said without a trace of fucking irony, despite the fact that the Church's culture of silence is one of critics' main criticisms. ("We talk about it
…"[Jewish people] know from experience what it means to be victims of collective violence and also because of this they are quick to recognize the recurring symptoms," the preacher said.
Quoting from the letter from the friend, who wasn't identified by Cantalamessa, the preacher said that he was following "with indignation the violent and concentric attacks against the church, the pope and all the faithful of the whole world."
"'The use of stereotypes, the passing from personal responsibility and guilt to a collective guilt remind me of the more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism,'" Cantalamessa said his friend wrote him.
In the sermon, he referred to the sexual abuse of children by clergy, saying "unfortunately, not a few elements of the clergy are stained" by the violence. But Cantalamessa said he didn't want to dwell on the abuse of children, saying "there is sufficient talk outside of here."so you don't have to because you don't!") As is the fact that the Church is more concerned about their sex predator priests being "stained" by THE VIOLENCE THEY PERPETRATED than about what their victims have suffered/are suffering.
And, hey—speaking of irony! I strongly recommend you add Constantine's Sword on your Netflix queue, Father Cantalamessa!
I look forward to Cantalamessa's next sermon on how irony is just the sort of thing that Nazi-like villains notice.
[The BBC has more. H/Ts to Shakers Lynsey and EastSideKate.]
Wow
Shaker Help Request
Shaker NameChanged emails:
I am currently pregnant with my second child. I live in a rural town in Farmington, NM. My daughter was born by C-section after a long labor and an inability to dislodge her from my pelvis. We were treated by midwives before and after the C-section, and my midwife was a proponent of VBAC for any future children. Unfortunately, this was in a larger city in the state, approximately 3 hours away.
The hospital in Farmington has a no VBAC policy, as does the hospital in nearby Durango, CO, although the midwives from Durango have indicated that there is a process to attempt a VBAC, but it requires some convincing.
I am in the process of having my new OB review my files from my first birth to at least determine if I would be a good candidate for VBAC (even if the hospital won't do it). I was wondering if there is more that I should be doing.
Do any Shakers who have experience in this? I am not getting any answers here, because all of the women I know in Farmington were able to deliver naturally for each birth.
I also know that things are different for different hospitals, but any similar situations would be appreciated.
Governors Not-Threatened
More news of those in government being non-threatened. A group calling itself Guardians of the free Republics has warned U.S. governors to leave office "within three days" or "be removed":
The FBI is warning police across the country that an anti-government group's call to remove governors from office could provoke violence. The group called the Guardians of the free Republics wants to "restore America" by peacefully dismantling parts of the government, according to its Web site. It sent letters to governors demanding they leave office or be removed.So far 30 governors have received letters, and the FBI expects all fifty U.S. governors to receive them in time.
The FBI has "no specific knowledge of plans to use violence, but they caution police to be aware in case other individuals interpret the letters as a 'justification for violence or other criminal actions.'"
The Guardians of the free Republics' website states over and over their goals are to be reached by non-violent means. Though, I don't know how the Guardians of the free Republics think "three days or else" is supposed to be interpreted.
Today in Extraordinarily Bad Ideas
[Trigger warning.]
In Calhoun County, Alabama, around two dozen seniors at Oxford High School "were disciplined for violating the dress code at her school's prom Saturday. The students in violation were allowed to stay at the prom, but the following week, each was given the option of receiving corporal punishment or accepting a three-day suspension from school, Oxford principal Trey Holladay said."
Based on the article, it appears that most (all?) of those disciplined students were girls whose dresses were deemed "too revealing."
Aunt B notes the obvious problem here:
You let grown adults spank young teenager women for being too sexy? I'm going to spare you the feminist parsing of this sexualized violence against these girls (others will get to it I'm sure). Let's just stick to the obvious.Slut-shaming with actual spanking?! Prediction: The marching band fundraiser this year will be for the Oxford High School Legal Defense Fund.
You let grownups touch the asses of girls you've identified as too sexy?
Let me repeat, you have grownups in your school systems who will willingly touch the asses of underage girls as punishment for them being too sexy.
Friday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by Shaxco, makers of Melissa McEwan Brand Official Letter-Writing Stationery.
Recommended Reading:
Marcella: Carnival Against Sexual Violence 91
Lorenzo: Why Ricky Matters (to Me...and Maybe a Few Other Boys)
Shannon: Fat Girl on Girl Action
Bilt4cmfrt: The Politics of Food and Fat
Melissa: Interview with Sharon Lawrence, President of Women in Film Foundation
Andy: Congressman Worried About Guam Tipping Over, Capsizing
Leave your links in comments...
Today's Edition of "Conniving and Sinister"
See Deeky's archive of all previous Conniving & Sinister strips here.
[In which Liss reimagines the long-running comic "Frank & Ernest," about two old straight white guys "telling it like it is," as a fat feminist white woman and a biracial queerbait telling it like it actually is from their perspectives. Hilarity ensues.]
You, Too, Can Be the Professional Wife of an Important Asshole
There is a lot—a lot—to disdain in this New York Times profile of Norris Church Mailer, Norman Mailer's "last" wife, starting with the fact that, to quote Shaker SamanthaB who sent the link, "I'm happy for her if she's been able to construct a reasonably contented life for herself in any fashion she has chosen, but that doesn't make it acceptable for the Times to shape the most phenomenally retrograde crap out of said life." But perhaps nothing else so much as this:
But one of the oldest stories out there is that beauty is no guarantee of a husband's fidelity. Norris says that in their first eight years together, she believes he remained faithful — more or less. By the time John Buffalo was 14, she discovered that Mailer had been cheating on her with "a small army of women."UGH. Where to begin? The invocation of the Beauty Guarantees Fidelity chestnut. The treatment of fat and beautiful as mutually exclusive concepts. The regard for male insecurity and associated cruelties as pitiable. The idea that a life cannot be lived (or "made") without a partner. The notion that marriage and fatherhood are inextricably linked, but marriage and motherhood are not (that is, you're a father only as long as you're still married to a mother, but a mother is a mother always). It's such a clusterfuck.
…When Norris discovered the scope of Mailer's infidelities, she was struck by how many of the women were either his age — he was near 70 then — or significantly overweight. "He made the remark, 'Sometimes I want to be the attractive one.' I think he felt if it wasn't somebody young and beautiful, he wasn't betraying me as much. He just couldn't resist someone who told him what a great man he was and what a great writer he was. Every time he fell for it. After I found out, I kept saying to him, 'Why didn't I know?' And he said, 'It's not hard to fool somebody who loves you and trusts you.' "
That's rather devastating. She nodded. "You don't ever love and trust them the same way again. But by that time, I had been around town long enough to know the guys who were available, and I thought: Is there somebody else I want to make a life with? Is there someone else I want to be the father of my children? I couldn't think of one single person. If I had, maybe I would have taken that step."
And it's ever so much worse because the entire piece frames Norris Mailer as the ideal wife, positions these attitudes as not merely understandable in some particular context, but as appropriate—as somehow the key to her success as a professional ("amateurs and outsiders take note") wife. UGH.
We're so in the backlash, Shakers.
I Write Letters
Dear Sir or Madam Raccoon, as the case may be,
Last evening, when you climbed up onto my second-story deck and rapped imperiously at the door, what did you hope to achieve? Did you think that I would come out and present you with a Hot Brown and a mint julep on a silver tray? I understand that you are quite fastidious about washing your food; perhaps I could interest you in this crystal finger bowl—look, it has a gardenia floating in it.
Maybe some drunken undergraduates have thrown you scraps in the past so they could watch you use your tiny hands just like a little person. But you'll get no Bugles, Funions, or Ring Dings here, Sir or Madam!
Please understand that I have nothing against your species. You are undeniably wicked cool. I mean, you're like a cross between a dog and a monkey, and in masquerade to boot! Still, I've seen the scratches you left on my door frame, and I also suspect that you have fleas. Furthermore, I did not fail to notice the enormous deuce that you dropped on the icy deck right outside my door after the last snow for me to shovel up.
So I must ask you to move along, and take those squirrels with you!
Good day, Sir or Madam. I said Good Day!
Not yours to order about,
S.
Quote of the Day
"Sigh. Jamie Oliver. I love Jamie Oliver. I love his food, I love his books, I love his app, I love the mission he is on. Jamie Oliver is trying to change the way we eat, and by doing so, he plans to deal a massive blow to the likes of obesity, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. He is trying to encourage us to get back into the kitchen and cook for ourselves and our families, thereby cutting out the fast and overly processed foods that are making us sick. And fat. And depressed."—Gwyneth Paltrow, in her latest "GOOP" newsletter, a revoltingly indulgent project she uses in order to explain to the average peasant how very easy it is to live a cultured and healthy life if you're privileged to begin with.
[Related Reading: Save Me from Myself, Skinny Jesus Chef!]
Shaker Help Request
A Shaker who wants to remain anonymous emails:
I want to ask Shakesville its opinion on something that's just happened to me: I need a reality check, please and thank you. I'm job hunting. I got an email yesterday while I was out at a networking event asking for a phone interview. I responded this morning saying that I'd be happy to chat and asking about scheduling. The contact replied with how about now and I said that today's not good how about Tuesday. The contact then came back with something along the lines of "No, you're not going to go about your work with a sense of urgency so I withdraw the request for an interview." Am I right that I've totally just dodged a bullet?My thought: Absolutely so. That is the response of someone who doesn't know how to communicate at all, and good communication, which includes listening, is a requisite quality in someone with whom you want to work on a project as important as finding a job. Assuming that you've got no sense of urgency, as opposed to a scheduling conflict due to job hunting (e.g. an interview) or as opposed to a family emergency or as opposed to a medical issue or any one of a million other possibilities, is evidence of someone who won't listen to you or your needs.
If zie'd even just asked you to confirm you are approaching job hunting with urgency, that would be fair enough. But assuming you're not strikes me as a way of essentially communicating zie doesn't have the time and/or inclination to work with you. I'd take that message and move on.
What do you think, Shakers?
Pop Quiz
[Trigger warning re: clergy abuse.]
Q: What do the Pope and George Bush have in common?
A: Executive Privilege!
Pope Benedict, accused by victims' lawyers of being ultimately responsible for an alleged cover-up of sexual abuse of children by priests, cannot be called to testify at any trial because he has immunity as a head of state, a top Vatican legal official said on Thursday.Well, isn't that delightfully convenient?
The interview with Giuseppe dalla Torre, head of the Vatican's tribunal, was published in Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper... Dalla Torre outlined the Vatican's strategy to defend the pope from being forced to testify in several lawsuits concerning sexual abuse which are currently moving through the U.S. legal system.
"The pope is certainly a head of state, who has the same juridical status as all heads of state," he said, arguing he therefore had immunity from foreign courts.
Lawyers representing victims of sexual abuse by priests in several cases in the United States have said they would want the pope to testify in an attempt to try to prove the Vatican was negligent.
But the pope is protected by diplomatic immunity because more than 170 countries, including the United States, have diplomatic relations with the Vatican. They recognize it as a sovereign state and the pope as its sovereign head.
..."The Church is not a multi-national corporation," dalla Torre said. "He has (spiritual) primacy over the Church ... but every bishop is legally responsible for running a diocese."
It's so awesome how the biggest organization in the world ostensibly tasked with human accountability, of which confession for wrongdoing has been made a ritualistic centerpiece, has cloaked itself behind so many layers of Super Specialness—We're a religious institution! We're a sovereign state! Our leader is also a head of state with diplomatic immunity! Our real business is making money, but we're not a corporation!—that countless survivors of institutional sex abuse abetted by the Super Special Organization can neither get justice, nor hold accountable the chief abettor, nor even insist on fundamental changes to ensure as best as possible that no further victims are created.
Amazing.
I love how Giuseppe dalla Torre, head of the Vatican's tribunal (LOL the Vatican's "tribunal," which is probably a bathhouse with jewel-encrusted tubs where Vatican officials sit around laughing about what a stroke of genius the whole becoming-a-sovereign-state scheme was), took a moment to note that the Catholic Church "is not a multi-national corporation." In case no one had noticed.
Q: Besides NOT PAYING TAXES, how can you tell the Church isn't a multi-national corporation?
A: If Microsoft, say, were discovered to have been covering up an international child rape ring among its ranks for (at least) decades, and Bill Gates were discovered to have authored a letter ordering members of his organization to keep it secret, and the Dublin office had been discovered to be conspiring with police to hide evidence and silence survivors, and employees who had been identified as child rapists were just moved to other offices, like pedophilia is all about location location location! and because the organization's reputation is more important than protecting children from known rapists, and Microsoft spent more time deflecting responsibility and blaming its gay employees (FOR FUCK'S SAKE) for the crimes committed by the sexual predators the organization had abetted and protected...Microsoft would be OUT OF FUCKING BUSINESS.
Because no one would be making any goddamn excuses for any multi-national corporation, no matter how much other "good stuff" they'd allegedly done, if that organization had been found to be disproportionately staffed with men eminently capable of committing or concealing child rape, corruptible from guy in the local franchise straight to the CEO at the top.
That corporation would be DONE.
But claim to have a direct line to God, and suddenly everything's different.
That is Christian privilege of almost inconceivable proportions, right there: As long as you assert a belief in divine justice, you're more likely to escape human justice.
It's a particularly cruel irony that those who assert moral authority are given the most latitude to behave in immoral ways without the inconvenient bother of being held accountable for their crimes.
And when people who are decidedly unthrilled about the privilege conferred upon religious institutions, particularly in the midst of a worldwide crisis of sexual assault in which countless children have been victimized, challenge this privilege, they are dismissed as bigots, as wanton haters of the Church, or its adherents, or its doctrine—as if there is not a preponderance of evidence to warrant legitimate criticism, as if they are being unfair, as if standing up for children, vociferously and unyieldingly and despite knowing the shitstorm of accusations of bigotry to come, is somehow evidence of a "real" moral failing.
As if compassion for countless children being sexually assaulted is just a convenient excuse to criticize the Church used by atheists and secularists and feminists and other nefarious types.
That is an accusation I have received repeatedly in my inbox from self-identified Catholics: "You must love the pedophile scandal because it gives you an excuse to bash the Church," they tell me. It takes my breath away every time. So divorced from compassion for survivors, they can conceive only that I have an irrational hatred I (further) exploit survivors to wield, rather than imagine the thought of institutionalized child rape enrages me all its own, that it is inherently contemptible.
That a survivor of sexual assault, who writes endlessly about the rape culture and its purveyors, even (and especially) when it's a fallen hero, can be readily cast as the scoundrel with an agenda for being critical of the largest-scale institutional sex abuse crisis in recorded history, pretty much says everything that needs to be said about this situation and the enormous, fucked-up privilege at work here.
Except, perhaps, this: The Pope has immunity. And he's invoking it.
Pissed Off
A urologist in Mount Dora, Florida, has posted a sign on his office door telling patients who voted for President Obama to take their business elsewhere.
"I'm not turning anybody away — that would be unethical," Dr. Jack Cassell, 56, a Mount Dora urologist and a registered Republican opposed to the health plan, told the Orlando Sentinel on Thursday. "But if they read the sign and turn the other way, so be it."Doctors are entitled to their right of free speech and free association, just like anyone else. But I would also call into question his judgment and maturity as a person and as a practitioner if he is so petulant about his politics that he has to post them on his office door.
The sign reads: "If you voted for Obama … seek urologic care elsewhere. Changes to your healthcare begin right now, not in four years."
Crossposted.
Roeder Sentenced to Life in Prison
Good:
Scott Roeder, the antiabortion extremist who murdered George Tiller, one of the handful of American physicians who performed late-term abortions, was sentenced to life in prison in a Wichita, Kan., courtroom Thursday and will not be eligible for parole for more than 50 years.Fuck you, Roeder. Go rot.
"The blood of babies is on your hands!" he yelled at prosecutors as bailiffs led him from the courtroom.
Question of the Day
Dear Deity_Of_Choice,
WTF? Why is it HOT? It's April 1st, FFS! Is this some kind of JOKE???!
I'll be in a cool bath if you need me,
S.
I Write (More) Letters
Dear English-Speaking World:
Pursuant to previous letter, please immediately cease all use of the word "emotional" wherein its application is intended to be synonymous with hysterical, irrational, overwrought, or some other word traditionally used to dismiss women who are rightfully angry about, upset by, or contemptuous of misogynistic behavior.
Using "emotional" as a dog-whistle to marginalize women's concerns—or the concerns of any other non-privileged group, for that matter—doesn't make you better than overt misogynists who call women hysterics, and you're really not fooling anybody.
Implicitly juxtaposing "emotion" against "reason/rationality" treats the two as mutually exclusive processes, which they are not. The human response to many things is both emotional and rational/reasoned.
The damnable lie that reason without emotion is the only reasoning worth shit is one of the most pernicious myths of the Patriarchy, inextricably tied to the woman- and man-hating presumption that women are emotional and men are reasonable (and thus is reason superior to emotion).
Men are emotional creatures as much as are women.
And every man I've ever heard deny that truth has spent no small amount of his life living and dying by the fortunes of his favorite Ballsport Team.
The exhortation to extricate emotion from reason, commonly wielded against women to dismiss their rightful ire at the manifestations of their oppression, is as unrealistic and dishonest as it is a contemptible pile of fetid, stinking rubbish.
Knock it the fuck off already.
Love,
Liss
I Write Letters
Dear English-Speaking World:
"Bitching," as a synonym for "complaining," is misogynistic bullshit. Women—and the feminine men you also like to call "bitches"—are not the only human beings who complain.
There are, literally, dozens of appropriate words available for your use to convey the same idea—complain, whine, grumble, moan, grouse, groan, whinge, gripe, object, bellyache, bother, fuss, yap, wail, etc.—that do not unavoidably smear feminine-identified people by necessarily implying that they've got the market cornered on complaining.
By necessarily implying that bitches bitch while men endure.
That's nonsense.
And it's misogynistic nonsense at that.
Knock it the fuck off.
Love,
Liss
Drowned Out
Shaker babydyke forwarded the below video of a great counter-protest staged by a group of students from Bay Area Gunn High School, which was recently chosen as the site of a protest by the odious Westboro Baptist Church clan, who really just need to give it the fuck up already. Enjoy!
[Transcript provided courtesy of Quixotess is below. Thanks, Q!]
[Opening shot of one of those changing signs; under "GUNN HIGH SCHOOL" the changing sign says "The highest result of education... / ...is tolerance. / Gunn High School / Celebrating Diversity." Students singing "This Little Light of Mine."]
Cat, Gunn High School student: Today, the WBC came to our school to protest sort of our acceptance and the fact that we are a really accepting school.
Daisy Renazco, Gunn High School teacher: "Who is this group that's coming?" and I realized, "Oh my god, it's Fred Phelps." And my heart just dropped. I can't believe they're coming. Like, why us? Of all the schools, why us?
[Text on screen: A Kansas hate group known as the Westboro Baptist Church announced it would picket at Bay Area schools and Jewish institutions.]
Daisy Renazco: I knew there was a planning meeting that was happening, so I kind of sent my thoughts to him, saying "I understand that the best response is no response sometimes. But for my students, if they want to go and respond in some sort of peaceful way, I want to support them en that, and hopefully you guys would be okay with that." And they were great. The administration's been super-supportive.
Cat: There was--one person said that it would be a really good idea if there was just nobody there, and if it was just this barren school, and "we're just not going to listen to you." And that would have been really effective, and it would have been really cool, but we decided that realistically wasn't going to happen. Because when we walked out there this morning, we were expecting to see a handful of people out there, but there were like--oh my god, it was just covered in people, right across the street!
[Many members of the Gunn community outside protesting. We can see their signs: Legalize gay!, Love thy neighbor, Moms (heart) our kids (heart) Gunn (heart), Leave our kids alone.]
Daisy Renazco: So the Westboro Baptist Church came this morning, and they picketed right across our street [she points; there are a couple dozen protestors on that side of the street]. So as a community, we decided to come, have signs and songs to kind of show our love for each other. [Many, many people counterprotesting. The lopsidedness of the numbers is obvious; there are probably hundreds of people here. Signs say Gunn Cares, God is love.] We're here, and no matter who you are, we still love you.
Ria, Gunn High School student: I am so glad that this worked out. It's not violent or anything.
Will, Gunn High School Student: And, uh, this is basically just meant to demonstrate that Gunn is a loving and accepting place. [Sign: Love is free.]
Daisy Renazco [as students sing in the background]: The Gay-Straight Alliance, actually, once they found out, they actually set up a Facebook group. And they invited all their friends from all schools in the Bay area, and started the conversation that way online. [WBC signs: Fags are beasts, America is doomed, God hates Obama, etc.] And they decided as a group that they wanted to sing, [Gunn sign: Love thy neighbor] and when the administration talked about planning a lunchtime activity, they said "Great, we'll go out, we'll sing there too." So they really have stepped up and taken a lead role and set the tone for the campus.]
Noreen Likins, Gunn High School Principal: What we've done as a community is I think really talk about this ahead of time. With an assembly on Tuesday I was able to actually talk to all of the students about what to expect, what kind of organization they were looking to come here. And I think that has given them time to process and time to think about it in a way that, if it had just been sprung upon them, it would have been hard. I'm very, very proud of the kids. They did a super job. [Sign: All you need is love.]
Student [at microphone, addressing the crowd of students outside]: Thank you so much for coming out and supporting your fellow students, trying to create a sense of community. [Students applaud and cheer.]
[Two students at microphones, with sheet music & music stands, singing "Let it Be."]
Daisy Renazco: So I think what really affirmed today is what a positive environment we have at Gunn [Student's shirt says "Gay? fine by me."] and how accepting everyone is. And, you know, I feel like a lot of people say the word "tolerance," but, you know, that's not true. We don't tolerate each other, we actually accept each other. [Students, including Cat, playing bongos & guitar and singing "Lean on Me."
Cat: I am so proud to be a Gunn student, every day, but especially today. [Student adds to a board of sticky notes saying things like Gunn is love!, :D, Love = music Gunn coffee, The point of LOVE is to love everyone.] Really, the support was amazing. [Sticky notes: HOPE, love laugh love. Students singing "We Shall Overcome."]
[Gunn High School changing sign: "Not in our schools...Not in our Town." End card: NOT IN OUR TOWN / www.niot.org / copyright The Working Group.]
