January 12, 2006
-
Alito The Hun
Sometime in 2008
A girl of about thirteen or fourteen stands in a very intimidating courtroom. She constantly looks over her shoulder to make sure her older sister is there and everytime she sees her sister mouth ‘It’ll be ok’. The girl turns back around to look at the nine black clad adults sitting and conversing amongst themselves. She cannot help but think about the nine black clad ringwraiths from Lord of the Rings. It used to be one of her favorite movies, from a different time, a different place, a different life it seemed like. She looked at the clock to see it read 3:25 and felt it was moving far too slow and far too fast at the same time. ‘At least all the reporters are stuck outside’ she thought to herself. Television crews, despite all their lawyers best efforts, were still not allowed inside the Supreme Court during proceedings. The girl found herself looking at the black clad persons who would hear her case in just a matter of minutes. She thought she should know some of their names, but really hadnt paid much attention during social studies back in 6th grade. Nevertheless her eyes looked at each one and rested on the only one she could remember. Samuel Alito, the one her sister had once called ‘Alito the Hun’. She didnt know too much about him except that he was appointed by President Bush 3 years ago. She knew lots about President Bush and for the first time she found herself getting nervous. ‘Will he try to understand what happened?’ ‘Will he care about what I’ve been through’ ‘Does he really even know my name?’ She asks herself these questions over and over as the seconds tick away. As the clock hits 3:30 only one thought remains within her ‘I’m so scared, please don’t make me keep his baby’.
Up on the bench, Samuel Alito looks down upon the girl and back to his docket report given to him by his clerk. ‘Hmm, 14 years old, troubled family history, began drinking with an older crowd…Ah, so she is pregnant as the result of a rape and wishes to get an abortion without notifying her parents’ He barely looks at the information about the parents, but catches enough to see that they make even him look like a liberal. ‘This case could overturn Roe! I could set the president’s legacy in stone and make myself a legend among Republicans(and especially the conservative base) everywhere!’ He looked once again at the girl and saw that she had begun to shake and was rubbing her elbows. ‘I wonder if she has any clue how instrumental a role she is going to play’.
January 12, 2005:
A bunch of democrats pose for their lobbyists and Samuel Alito evades every answer he can as deftly as an ivy league grad can and still maintain credibility. The fact that Alito nearly always rules in favor of expanding governmental powers is barely mentioned beyond a little James Carville segment on the Today Show. The fact that Alito was the sole vote against a woman filing a sex discrimination suit against Dupont in 1995 is part of a consistent pattern against sticking up for the little guy(or 14 year old girl). The man may not say a word about how he would rule on an abortion case, but his record in every other case where a david is up against a goliath shows where he stands. The confirmation theatrics are almost over, which means the reign of Alito is about to begin.
-Dan(Independent), Ohio: Nay
Comments (5)
not Kincaid. it looks a little like it from a distance though. it’s a house and some trees. nice colors in it.
I think it put me in hell because I put no on the been to church recently question, because I hadn’t been in a week or two. silly. what are your religious beliefs? don’t know the song, but very funny. 2nd or 3rd? um… no.
Well my father is a pator so I grew up in the church and went to a christian school and everything. I wasn’t quite to the zealot level, but if you’ve seen saved, I was pretty much around there in terms of religion. Not quite full-throttle since I’ve always been a questioner, but I certainly believed, and even-recommitted in 2000. In 2003, I moved out on my own and went to a number of churches to try and find one I could call my own. I was never a fan of the ginormous churches and attended three or four churches with relatively small congregations(100,75 or less), just trying to find a place that felt like home. Well most places around a campus like Ohio State aren’t going to be a traditional, home+family kind of church. I grew very disollusioned with religion and the state of the church to be honest. I figured the traditional church was the norm and the progressive church was the fringe. Well last year during the whole process of picking a new pope, there were countless articles and discussions about the state of the catholic church. Now I’m not catholic, but it definitely translated into a massive internal discussion about the state of Christianity as a whole.
So maybe you weren’t looking for that much info, but with something as involved and personal as religion, background is necessary I think. My beliefs as I’m typing to you right now are that there is a God, that we aren’t here by random chance and aren’t here for a random purpose. I’m not in the business of condemning another person’s religion, but the only kind I really detest is the cafeteria style religion. I like this part, this part, not this part, this part, not this part, this part, this part, not this part, OK…voila! My version of Christianity! I’m not privy to seeing Christianity’s core beliefs being cast aside in favor of what is currently in fashion. I personally don’t practice any part of any ‘religion’ since I more or less believe that if love is truly unconditional, then being required to worship in some way, in any way, is a contradiction. I do view myself as being deeply spiritual however, in that I do enjoy discussing God’s nature, values, morality, ethics, and enjoy figuring out ways that we as a human race can rise above what we as a human race, currently are. ‘Transcendence’ is my favorite word.
What are your beliefs?
On a side note: I’m noticing a pattern, is it Xanga custom to answer another person’s question in their latest post no matter the topic? It’s not a big deal to me, but I’ve noticed it happening. I’m not really used to blogging and am much more used to message boards and the customs that occur on them.
Interesting. So you see progressive churches as taking the place of traditional ones?
I grew up in the church too, until 6th grade. We moved around a few times before then, and we had just moved back to Charlotte, NC. My family quit going to church. Then we moved to Georgia, where we are now. I’ve been in public school my whole life. I started going back to church with friends, and my family went for about a year. They haven’t gone since, except for just a few times. I’ve been in small and large churches, and I liked a smaller one (80 or so) best, but it split because the pastor turned into an alcoholic. Now I’m going to larger ones (400 or so, one at home and at school), but I miss the community of the smaller ones. If I’m home much over summer (I’m taking a trip or two–Oxford for honors, New England for English) I’ll probably try to find a different church, if I have the patience for church hopping. The service is good, the pastor and singles leader are great, but it’s lacking in community and those essential things that make it a loving and effective church, to me.
Here’s what’s wrong with church here, then I’ll give my vision of what it should be. Church is a reflection of our culture and it can’t work the way it’s supposed to like that. It’s like an institution with the administration and the contributions that keep it going and help it grow, so it can expand and become a mega-church. We sit back and let the ministers do most things, when we could all be doing something, rather than just attending to get our fill of spirituality. People eat up what they say and don’t always think about it or live it. The church is about hype and commercialism. If we try to “jazz up Jesus” then the power is soon lost in the cheesiness. People run after spiritual experiences rather than God Himself. We try to get a quick fix of spirituality with our hit songs that evoke hype and emotion rather than a true and steady pursuit of God. The songs aren’t bad, but it’s the way they’re used.
The vision of church I have is of love, discipleship, and integration into life, within small groups that also recognize their interdependence with other groups in the area and in the global community. As for dividing people into groups, I’m not sure on specifics. Putting people of differing spiritual levels together would be great for the older to disciple the young and for the young to grow and have role models. People would also be experienced in dealing with people from all stages of life. Also, putting people in groups that we have now (like Sunday School groups, by age and status–couples, singles) could be beneficial. Either way, both similar and dissimilar relationships should occur. Relationship should be the basis, not a pre-set service, but if someone has a song or a teaching out of sincerity, not out of the obligatory “I have to do this every Sunday and Wednesday,” it could be beneficial to the whole group. Life experiences are shared, people are encouraged, people are accountable to each other and loved, not judged. People spend time together outside of “spiritual” time to have fun and bond. People also help each other with practical needs, like moving, getting a job, cooking, babysitting, whatever.
Hm, now that I’ve thought about this more, I don’t know. Maybe the outside form doesn’t matter so much, but some forms may facilitate worship and fellowship more. What matters most is what happens within the form. Maybe different kinds of churches work for different people. The more I think about it, the more I see more sides to the issue and the more I don’t know. All I can say is the Church isn’t as loving and effective as it ought to be, and it’s not going to be perfect, but all I can do is love and do what I can where I am. As for reform, I don’t know whether I’ll be a part of any of it, but I hope I’m ready and willing if I need to be. I yearn to see the Church ‘transcend’ above where it currently is.
As for my beliefs, the basics are in line with most other protestant Christians, then there are a few differences, but they don’t matter much in the scope of things, and I’m still trying to figure some things out.
As for comments, I don’t think there’s any right way to do it. I comment back on others’ sites as a courtesy to make sure they get the message, because not everybody has the time and remembrance to check back on everybody else’s posts for replies. When you have a lot of subscriptions, it’s just not practical.
yea, it just seems to be the way things are on xanga. not the same as msg boards at all. to be honest, you are the only one that i check back posts to see what comments you left to my comments. b/c you never know how far back you will have to go to keep up with everything. it’s not organized the way the msg boards are, it’s more like everyone’s daily thoughts and whatnot. but i guess you can do it whatever way you choose. there is a way to check on one’s own site if people have made back comments without going through every post, but there is no way for someone to do that on someone else’s post. so i guess in this format, it’s just easier that way. but for you i make an exception