Reciting Hail Mary on this site is sacrilege to the site. That woman is famous, more for the condition of her vagina, then she is for anything else. What the #&@*?!? I'm offened by that, and I for one, want to defend her memory and give her some privacy and dignity. I've come to Escape Pod to get away from the insanity of the real world.
I don't want to get along with Donald Trump, anymore than I want to get along with any other abuser, and I don't want Escape Pod to tell us to do that. Shoot! Nor do I want to think about any misogynistic bull#@&% prayer. Don't get me wrong, I believe in the 'Love Message' taught by the Catholic Church, but it's practice has been somewhat shoddy throughout history.
I'm a bit of a weirdo; I'm 57, a retired sex worker, and a nerdy, Sci-Fi loving Grandma. I'm told my opinions are a bit outragous...I never want to offend, but I do believe in saying what I think. If I've gone too far, I apologize.
Thanks for your time and consideration,
Mommabird a.k.a. Lisa
Hi, Mommabird / Lisa,
First, let me say that none of my commentary was meant to offend. If it did so,
I sincerely apologize.
It was a big part of the reason I made sure to clearly say that I was only speaking for myself and to encourage anyone who wasn't down with hearing a prayer that they might want to skip ahead (and, yes, I realize that depending on where you are and what you're doing, that might be hard to do.)
Second, if I have given any impression that we should compromise or "get along" with Trump or any other abuser, racist, misogynist, bigamist, homophobe or anyone else who advocates for hate I
definitely want to clarify that impression right away.
Fight Trump and his cronies. Fight 'em hard at every turn and kick him in the metaphorical ass!
We all have freedom of speech and freedom of assembly and those are our strongest weapons against this demagogue right now. It's going to be a hard four years, but they are ones we can make just as hard on Trump.
When I was talking about the evil dying with our generations, I was mainly talking about the old white men who overwhelmingly voted for Trump. The distribution maps of voting trends for 18-35 year olds give me hope.
(If it isn't clear after this, I voted for Hillary).
All this said, I do also believe that part of the reason that Trump was permitted to come to power was that we tend to lump political opponents into broad generalizations and stereotypes and not listen to legitimate grievances and look for areas of compromise and middle ground.
This is what I meant by saying we are talking past each other and that we should resort less to mudslinging.
Instead I encourage to "heap burning coals" on the heads of our enemies by returning kindness for hatred. (From personal experience, this drives nasty people such as Trump
insane.). Of course, I completely support yelling, shouting and shaking of fists in response as well...
Finally, let me talk to Mary and to Catholicism.
I grew up as American Baptist, so I had a quite negative view of "those Catholics" for a long time. What I discovered was that I was still thinking of the Catholic Church of the middle ages.
Yes, I completely agree that the church has been far from its message of love - sometimes for centuries upon centuries.
Without excusing or being a defender of any of those periods, I think that in modern times we have learned from those awful mistakes and become better at more fully living out the social teachings of Christ.
As for Mary herself... the Catholic view of her goes waaaaay beyond a pristine vagina. A few points:
-She had the courage and faith to accept God's plan to bring Christ into the world, even in the face of misunderstanding, negative judgment and condemnation of the world around her.
Think about it, as far as the society around her was concerned, she would have been seen as a "loose woman" for becoming pregnant before marriage. She had the courage and trust in what God told her - and amazing belief in herself and her own virtue - to keep going and believe that what she was told was true. She perservered, ignoring the insults the world might throw at her.
-She is seen as a defender of the weak, the dispossessed, the outcasts, which is a large part of why she is venerated.
-Without Mary, Christ doesn't come physically into the world as a human being. As such, without Mary there would not have been the possibility for salvation in the Christian manner.
-In other words, Mary was gutsy. She was powerful. She was (and, Catholics believe, still is) a strong woman. It's why we lift her up. It's why, in this episode, I felt the need to call upon her intercession.
I want a gutsy, powerful woman interceding on our behalf with God to take out this Godless, spineless, woman-hating idiot out of the position of power he just got elected to.
Trump's black outreach coordinator (Yeah, he actually has one of those) Omarosa Manigault got braggadocios about a Trump victory, saying "Every critic, every detractor, will have to bow down to President Trump. It is the ultimate revenge to become the most powerful man in the universe."
Well, first, off, no he isn't. But second off, we often call Saint Mary "Queen of the Universe." (Which always makes me smile. It sounds so sci-fi).
I called on the Queen of the Universe to help us defeat this pretender to the title of "Most Powerful Man in the Universe."
I hope that makes sense...
Finally, I'm sorry if my religious convictions offend you, but I have often listened to agnostic, atheistic and other religious views on Escape Pod without it stirring any offense within me. I might not agree with every view, but I truly believe I can learn from everyone. Moreover, their beliefs do nothing to diminish or invalidate my own religious beliefs (and, I may mention, vice-versa). I feel that if other hosts may discuss their own faith walk, it's fair game to talk about my own (if you disagree, I'd certainly be interested in the reasoning for why it isn't OK).
As a sign-off, I love your description of yourself, Lisa. Just from those few lines, I think you sound like a delightful person to know - with a wealth of stories and life experience to share. I'd buy you a beer any day and sit down to chat with you and just soak up your personality and the obvious joy in life.
I personally hope that my little "soapbox moment" hasn't ruined you on EP and subscribing to the podcast financially, as it will hurt my heart to know that you aren't out there helping us if you decide to drop the support.
All the best to your and yours,
-Adam