These people constantly reinforce one another within their delusional bubble. Anything that takes them out of their comfort zone is a good thing in my book.
For far too many people in this country freedom is limited to the freedom to conform to the standards of the prevailing herd, or suffer the consequences. Evidently, this board wants to reinforce the idea with these high school artists they are only allowed to hold opinions the board approves of. This is how authoritarians operate. What this board is attempting to do with high school students, is what the religious right would do for the entire country if given the chance.
Abby Driscoll I am proud of you for staying true to your original artwork. It's art. Art has a message that's hard to hear. ( I personally like her artwork in "question") It's the schoolboard here the United States Supreme Court should call into question. The schoolboard is all about themselves and their sad mixed up views of the world. They All need to be fired. Abby Driscoll I hope you succeed in everything you do!
Can we all presume that their idea of a 'culture of respect' is one where no LGBTQ person ever in any way, shape, or form, not for the tiniest of seconds lets anyone else know they exist - or are aggrieved by how the 'good people' treat them? The Talibangelicals are marching about in high dudgeon expressing their displeasure. I suspect that Abby is one of the ones they will end up driving from their community to purify it.
Sounds like "Piss Christ" all over again, never mind a whole bunch of snowflake Christians getting all bent out of shape about a work of art that shows them in a light they don't like. My message to them is simple: 𝗚𝗥𝗢𝗪 𝗔 𝗣𝗔𝗜𝗥. Freedom of expression, especially as it comes to art, always seems to come under attack when the topic of the work involves an iconoclastic attitude toward religion, and right here is a first-class example thereof. As is too often the case, there are Christians who cannot deal with an opinion other than their own and their knee-jerk reaction is to censor the work and possibly the artist along with it.
At times I really genuinely wonder when they are going to learn that FREE SPEECH frequently means dealing with speech that they don't like.
They are casting about for a way to 'legally' block speech they disapprove of. They have a deep-seated need to suppress anything Gay or Secular because it challenges their deeply-held religious beliefs. Can't have that now, can we.
I don't think they're all that "deeply held", if they react like this. These are people that are very afraid, because their position in society is slipping.
They can "cast about" all they want, so long as they understand that THEIR actions can have consequences, brought about by the FFRF, American Atheists, the ACLU, and a few other organizations I can think of who actually value free speech.
The funny thing is that Andres Serrano thought he had to go to the extreme of submerging a crucifix in urine to get a rise out of the religious. Talk about overkill. Here we have a high school artist, who didn't use any offensive language or images, and they are still upset. Andres Serrano could have simply glued googly eyes to Jesus, and had the same results. The bar to get overly religious people upset is so low, a worm wouldn't even see it as a speed bump.
Hell, they want to go back to when the Church was virtually all-powerful ... or they THINK they do. I wonder how they'd feel if they themselves would actually have to live in such an environment.
I think their shorts would be BROWN, and in a hurry at that.
That's the ONE THING I seriously doubt that any of these Christians (and ESPECIALLY Christian Nationalists!) take into account. Considering the thousands of Christian denominations that are scattered across the US, there is no telling who might wind up in the Front Office.
And just what that Front Office holder might do with the free speech rights of those who disagree with them.
Back past when El had a wife Asherah, before King Josiah brutally put Yahweh as the only god of Israel. Back to the Goddess Inanna who at one time was the most powerful Sumerian god. She was interesting.
“ At times I really genuinely wonder when they are going to learn that FREE SPEECH frequently means dealing with speech that they don't like.”
They are not going to learn. There is idealism and there is reality. When a beehive is poked one can expect a lot of agitated bees to swarm. That is called tribalistic behavior in humans. As you mention the Piss Christ by Andres Serrano, the artwork did what was intended.
Interesting that Serrano is the name of a spicy chile quite popular where I live but not as popular with the white population that moved here-Tucson—from the Midwest and East. Though being a gringo myself, I use Serrano chiles in my cooking almost weekly. Some like spice, some do not, often depending on where one grew up and/or ethnicity.
I can picture and hear Marilyn Monroe singing “Some like it hot.”
Let me tell you, as someone born and raised on the east coast, I did not know what good Mexican food WAS until I moved to SW Kansas. Even way out here in rural America, we have taco trucks. Then there's the Mexican restaurant in town where the abuelita makes the tortillas, OMG.
Please forgive them, for they know not what they are missing.
Strange how the world changes in spite of bigotry. Awhile back while watching A Scandinavian movie in one scene the movie characters were preparing their weekly Taco Tuesday.
Sorry. I do not remember the exact movie. Maybe it will come back to me. It was actually in a series. What is coming up in my consciousness is that series—I think on Netflix—where the teenager starts finding out he is Thor.
If one day you come to France, don't try Mexican restaurants. Their food is tailored for French taste and even DM is able to eat what they call salsa 🙄
I would never go to France and eat Mexican food. I love French food even more. Of course, they've never heard of French food in rural Kansas, so I haven't had any in decades! ;) Good for my waistline, at least....
Oh, I don't expect their kind to learn quickly. Still, hit 'em in the wallet enough times, whether THEY actually ante up or not, and the message may finally sink in. The Freedom From Religion Foundation has taught such lessons in the Deep South and elsewhere multiple times, and they are damned good at it.
As for spice, I got two words for ya: BRING IT! I don't care whether it's Mexican, Szechwan, Cajun, or Indian; I LOVE food that talks back to me. I should mention, too: my gal makes a jambalaya that'll light up your life! 😁
I remember that wars were fought so that Europeans could access spices from Asia. Without spices the European diet was BORING. I have it from a direct source that when the ancient Israelites invaded Canaanite land they were quite exorcised because god given Manna was almost tasteless. They had a battle cry “Give me spice or give me death.” Imagine their disappoint to not find spice and having to rely upon Matzo for a diet. They were truly passed over.
Once upon a time, wars were fought over nutmeg from the East Indies. In the end, England traded a spice island for Manhattan, which was then under the control of the Dutch. Fact.
With all the discussion above about loving good ethnic food, it is sad that so many Christians do not like the people or cultures that bring us this spicy food.
Chickpeas? I eat what you call chickpeas often primarily in menudo but sometime posole. I must ask when ordered to remember the chiltipens as most gringos don’t eat them. Then again, few gringos eat menudo.
They are designed to eat and spread seeds, through their mostly liquid defecation. Their stomach acid strips off the protective seed pods cover, and it is already fertilized upon deposit.
I find some are mild and others nice and hot. Depends on the batch. I have found the same variation with jalapeños and poblano chilies. I have started purchasing Chinese chile in oil and the same.
That is what project 2025 is all about, they want to take over so they never have to be offended again. (and force everyone else to live under their poorly thought out rules)
"By allowing torn pages from the Holy Bible to be the canvass of a clearly anti-Christian message, we are opening the door to all religious texts for all religious faiths to be subject to being treated the same way."
You say that like it's a bad thing. I say "Bring it on!"
The complaint creates an obvious opportunity: Abby should now produce a Warhol-like sequence of differently colored versions, with the background pages, hands, and maybe even the cross removed so that the ONLY thing on the canvas are the words "God Loves You" and "But Not Enough To Save You." Seven of those standing in a row, R O Y G B I V, should create a pretty powerful message. And the school board will have to admit that the 'oh noes pages' thing was just a made-up excuse and it's really the message they object to, or they'll have to let it go.
I would give real money to see a confrontation with the school board on one side and Abby and the ACLU on the other. Personally, I'll take Abby and the points!
They never are. One time back when I was in a Barnes and Noble and this dude started talking to me. I forget how it came up but I told him I didn't believe the bible because it was assembled by men who had an ulterior motive in doing so. Also in the fist council of Nicea they literally voted on Jesus' divinity. He got all huffy and said He never learned that in Christian School! I smiled and said "Exactly!"
A friend of mine's daughter and two of her friends (all college students at the time) were barred from B&N after taking a stack of Bibles and placing them in the fiction section.
That's certainly an experience I've had, talking to Muslims. I hope it reflects a desire to understand, and not just "you need to know your enemy, and at least some Christians are DEFINITELY your enemy".
Should've also let him know that once Nicean Christianity was made the law of the Roman Empire in 380 CE, other secs of Christianity were deemed heretical, lost their legal status and even had their property confiscated by the Roman state.
Wonder how he would've reacted to those inconvenient facts?
More conservative hypocrisy on free speech. You know they would cry to high heaven about any kind of similar reaction were a message they agreed with in art met this way.
Art colleges should be tripping over each other trying to hand Miss Driscoll scholarships- her career is going places, if she's able to create something that powerful in high school. Get that young lady a gallery, a studio, and a truckload of art supplies, 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵!
Congrats Abby, for taking a stand. In 1970, I was tasked with writing about a 20th author of my choice. The Catholic school admin was horrified with my choice. And that why I comment as Camus to this day.
Dear old Simone would have had the school board fainting on the spot. No time to clutch the pearls and no time to get to the fainting couch. As for Voltaire, they'd all have gone into cardiac arrest. If only... Good choice for Camus, the school DID say an author of YOUR choice. What did they think would happen?
I decided Camus was more of a humanist than an existentialist, and therefore less offensive to them than Beauvoir or Sartre. Voltaire never made it to the 20th century.
I probably have the details wrong but… my bride tells a story about entering a scholarship essay contest at her synagogue. It was sponsored by a ladies group. They had never, in anyone’s memory, awarded a scholarship to a girl.
My bride’s essay was about Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She did not win a scholarship.
You know, I realize now that my art teachers in school failed me. It wasn't until I was an adult that someone really clearly explained the purpose of art to me. This whole situation really reminds me of that.
I was performing at a Renaissance Faire as an adult, and we did a "living chess game", where we acted out as pieces on the board, had sword fights whenever someone captures an opposing piece, etc. But unlike some faires, we made a point of having a story to ours, and one year, we did a story about a poor man making a deal with the devil, then using the chess game afterward to try and get out of it. In our story, the devil won the chess game and got the soul he came for - an example of a Renaissance style morality piece, where the lesson is not to make deals with the devil (both real or metaphorical devils), because you won't be able to back out of them.
One day, after performing that show on a week day, when there were several schools in attendance from field trips watching our performance, our group leader (who was also the narrator in the show) was late for the group huddles we always did after the show. Apparently, he'd been stopped by a nun from a Catholic school who berated him for showing a story like that to children, where the good guys don't win and the devil captures someone's soul. So our narrator came to the rest of our group, explained what the nun had said and told us all, "Congratulations! We pissed off a nun! Since the purpose of art is to elicit an emotional response, that makes our show a successful work of art!"
Good for Abby! The truth hurts. This is art that speaks.
Anything that pisses off the religious right is a good thing, generally.
So true!!
Up to a point... they are being constantly inflamed and agitated by their coreligionists and the reichwing media. She could be in danger.
I do not know if it is a “good” thing but I like it.
These people constantly reinforce one another within their delusional bubble. Anything that takes them out of their comfort zone is a good thing in my book.
For far too many people in this country freedom is limited to the freedom to conform to the standards of the prevailing herd, or suffer the consequences. Evidently, this board wants to reinforce the idea with these high school artists they are only allowed to hold opinions the board approves of. This is how authoritarians operate. What this board is attempting to do with high school students, is what the religious right would do for the entire country if given the chance.
Abby Driscoll I am proud of you for staying true to your original artwork. It's art. Art has a message that's hard to hear. ( I personally like her artwork in "question") It's the schoolboard here the United States Supreme Court should call into question. The schoolboard is all about themselves and their sad mixed up views of the world. They All need to be fired. Abby Driscoll I hope you succeed in everything you do!
It's funny that the head of this skool bored can't spell 'Supreme Court.' Dude needs an editor, or an English class.
Tell you what he definetly needs-- a life. Skool bored! Love it.
People who purchase NFTs of Jesus giving Trump a reach around are having thoughts about artistic license and sensibilities.
They all have iron poisoning.
I like Putin picture of that, showing trumpolini what to write, and sign, better, though more truthful.
Ouch. I had no idea that is what reach-around meant.
Can we all presume that their idea of a 'culture of respect' is one where no LGBTQ person ever in any way, shape, or form, not for the tiniest of seconds lets anyone else know they exist - or are aggrieved by how the 'good people' treat them? The Talibangelicals are marching about in high dudgeon expressing their displeasure. I suspect that Abby is one of the ones they will end up driving from their community to purify it.
Their 'culture of respect' only goes one way.
She will leave their town of small minds, and be the better for it.
And other kids who aren't gay, aren't outspoken will leave with her.
Because they're watching this stupidity and they want no part of it.
Sounds like "Piss Christ" all over again, never mind a whole bunch of snowflake Christians getting all bent out of shape about a work of art that shows them in a light they don't like. My message to them is simple: 𝗚𝗥𝗢𝗪 𝗔 𝗣𝗔𝗜𝗥. Freedom of expression, especially as it comes to art, always seems to come under attack when the topic of the work involves an iconoclastic attitude toward religion, and right here is a first-class example thereof. As is too often the case, there are Christians who cannot deal with an opinion other than their own and their knee-jerk reaction is to censor the work and possibly the artist along with it.
At times I really genuinely wonder when they are going to learn that FREE SPEECH frequently means dealing with speech that they don't like.
They are casting about for a way to 'legally' block speech they disapprove of. They have a deep-seated need to suppress anything Gay or Secular because it challenges their deeply-held religious beliefs. Can't have that now, can we.
I don't think they're all that "deeply held", if they react like this. These are people that are very afraid, because their position in society is slipping.
I agree. They fear.
They can "cast about" all they want, so long as they understand that THEIR actions can have consequences, brought about by the FFRF, American Atheists, the ACLU, and a few other organizations I can think of who actually value free speech.
The funny thing is that Andres Serrano thought he had to go to the extreme of submerging a crucifix in urine to get a rise out of the religious. Talk about overkill. Here we have a high school artist, who didn't use any offensive language or images, and they are still upset. Andres Serrano could have simply glued googly eyes to Jesus, and had the same results. The bar to get overly religious people upset is so low, a worm wouldn't even see it as a speed bump.
A worm wouldn’t see it as a speed bump? Great image, never heard it before.
https://ih1.redbubble.net/image.5105319083.0883/fposter,small,wall_texture,product,750x1000.jpg
PERFECT!
They want to go back to the time when religions could censure art.
Hell, they want to go back to when the Church was virtually all-powerful ... or they THINK they do. I wonder how they'd feel if they themselves would actually have to live in such an environment.
I think their shorts would be BROWN, and in a hurry at that.
It might not even be THEIR church in charge. Arrogance. Not even considered as to why no church deserves secular power.
That's the ONE THING I seriously doubt that any of these Christians (and ESPECIALLY Christian Nationalists!) take into account. Considering the thousands of Christian denominations that are scattered across the US, there is no telling who might wind up in the Front Office.
And just what that Front Office holder might do with the free speech rights of those who disagree with them.
Normal since studying history is seen as a bad thing.
1500 years of christian sects infighting in Europe are just fake news I guess.
All in on this absurd lottery because their god says they are the special-est.
I want to go back to when pagans could censor Christian’s.
Alexandria's library. Imagine how many historians would love to go there.
*Sigh*
Indeed all the knowledge lost because of the primitive, unthinking, Christians!
Like the pre-Columbian advanced cultures of the Americas.
🎯❤️😁
And ran the world !
Back past when El had a wife Asherah, before King Josiah brutally put Yahweh as the only god of Israel. Back to the Goddess Inanna who at one time was the most powerful Sumerian god. She was interesting.
“ At times I really genuinely wonder when they are going to learn that FREE SPEECH frequently means dealing with speech that they don't like.”
They are not going to learn. There is idealism and there is reality. When a beehive is poked one can expect a lot of agitated bees to swarm. That is called tribalistic behavior in humans. As you mention the Piss Christ by Andres Serrano, the artwork did what was intended.
Interesting that Serrano is the name of a spicy chile quite popular where I live but not as popular with the white population that moved here-Tucson—from the Midwest and East. Though being a gringo myself, I use Serrano chiles in my cooking almost weekly. Some like spice, some do not, often depending on where one grew up and/or ethnicity.
I can picture and hear Marilyn Monroe singing “Some like it hot.”
Let me tell you, as someone born and raised on the east coast, I did not know what good Mexican food WAS until I moved to SW Kansas. Even way out here in rural America, we have taco trucks. Then there's the Mexican restaurant in town where the abuelita makes the tortillas, OMG.
Please forgive them, for they know not what they are missing.
Strange how the world changes in spite of bigotry. Awhile back while watching A Scandinavian movie in one scene the movie characters were preparing their weekly Taco Tuesday.
What movie was that?
Sorry. I do not remember the exact movie. Maybe it will come back to me. It was actually in a series. What is coming up in my consciousness is that series—I think on Netflix—where the teenager starts finding out he is Thor.
"Ragnarok"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnarok_(TV_series)
Animated?
I tried looking it up. No luck ("The Bothersome Man," maybe?)
I thought Scandinavians had their weekly tacos on Friday.
I once had chili rellenos at a "Mexican" restaurant in Olympia WA. They put spaghetti sauce on it. (!!!!!!)
OMG, LOL!
Give me the address so I can burn that place down. Disgusting. Yuk. I might have bad dreams imagining that.
To those from Texas. Good Mexican food DOES NOT MEAN USING CUMEN. That is Tex-Mex and I deplore Tex-Mex. Yuk.
Japanese do it "better". Bon appétit
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naporitan
If one day you come to France, don't try Mexican restaurants. Their food is tailored for French taste and even DM is able to eat what they call salsa 🙄
I would never go to France and eat Mexican food. I love French food even more. Of course, they've never heard of French food in rural Kansas, so I haven't had any in decades! ;) Good for my waistline, at least....
Ratatouille is your waistline's friend 😁
When I was in college many years ago, most of the midwesterners and Easterners didn’t know what an avocado was. How things have changed.
Sadly this country now loves its ethnic food but doesn’t seem to like ethnics.
I loves me some ratatouille. :9---
Oh, I don't expect their kind to learn quickly. Still, hit 'em in the wallet enough times, whether THEY actually ante up or not, and the message may finally sink in. The Freedom From Religion Foundation has taught such lessons in the Deep South and elsewhere multiple times, and they are damned good at it.
As for spice, I got two words for ya: BRING IT! I don't care whether it's Mexican, Szechwan, Cajun, or Indian; I LOVE food that talks back to me. I should mention, too: my gal makes a jambalaya that'll light up your life! 😁
I’ll invite myself to your home for dinner.
I remember that wars were fought so that Europeans could access spices from Asia. Without spices the European diet was BORING. I have it from a direct source that when the ancient Israelites invaded Canaanite land they were quite exorcised because god given Manna was almost tasteless. They had a battle cry “Give me spice or give me death.” Imagine their disappoint to not find spice and having to rely upon Matzo for a diet. They were truly passed over.
𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔭𝔦𝔠𝔢 𝔪𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔣𝔩𝔬𝔴.
What's the status of your CHOAM contract, dude? 😁
Contract? I don't need no stinkin' contract!
Once upon a time, wars were fought over nutmeg from the East Indies. In the end, England traded a spice island for Manhattan, which was then under the control of the Dutch. Fact.
One of the reasons I don't like French food. Too bland for me.
I like all the different foods. However, I must confess, I keep my poblano sauce handy.
With all the discussion above about loving good ethnic food, it is sad that so many Christians do not like the people or cultures that bring us this spicy food.
I ate a homemade vegetables and chickpeas green curry for dinner yesterday. AFAIK I am the only one in my family able to eat spicy food.
Chickpeas? I eat what you call chickpeas often primarily in menudo but sometime posole. I must ask when ordered to remember the chiltipens as most gringos don’t eat them. Then again, few gringos eat menudo.
I thought Menudo was a band from the 80s or 90s?
JK, I am aware that the band was named for the food.
I was not, so thank you for sharing!
ENJOY! 😋
Necessary if I want to prevent DM to steal all my food 🤣
Oh, you sneaky-boots! [chortle!]
Serranos are kind of mild as far as chilis go... I use them a lot, and my parrot likes them.
Fun fact, birds are immune to capsaicin. They could chow down on a plate full of ghost peppers and not even notice.
They are designed to eat and spread seeds, through their mostly liquid defecation. Their stomach acid strips off the protective seed pods cover, and it is already fertilized upon deposit.
...On my car.
You need a better car:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFEwObFDa_o
I knew a scarlet macaw that would hide a hot pepper in his lower mandible and slip you the pepper when you gave him a kiss. And then he'd LAUGH!
I find some are mild and others nice and hot. Depends on the batch. I have found the same variation with jalapeños and poblano chilies. I have started purchasing Chinese chile in oil and the same.
That is what project 2025 is all about, they want to take over so they never have to be offended again. (and force everyone else to live under their poorly thought out rules)
Then we go to the American Inquisition with torture, forced confessions, 🔥 on the stake.
Never mind a secular insurrection, spawned almost immediately as a result. Those idiots may be in power, but they'll never have a moment's peace.
Holy $#*T! I was thinking of "Piss Christ" as well.
They aren't offended that a child was deeply hurt by their practice of faith, but are offended that she had the gall to speak up about it.
Yes, because she is not really a person she should know her role. Uh huh.
🎯
"By allowing torn pages from the Holy Bible to be the canvass of a clearly anti-Christian message, we are opening the door to all religious texts for all religious faiths to be subject to being treated the same way."
You say that like it's a bad thing. I say "Bring it on!"
The complaint creates an obvious opportunity: Abby should now produce a Warhol-like sequence of differently colored versions, with the background pages, hands, and maybe even the cross removed so that the ONLY thing on the canvas are the words "God Loves You" and "But Not Enough To Save You." Seven of those standing in a row, R O Y G B I V, should create a pretty powerful message. And the school board will have to admit that the 'oh noes pages' thing was just a made-up excuse and it's really the message they object to, or they'll have to let it go.
Love this idea! Pretty sure the “pages” thing isn’t really a thing.🤷🏻♀️
I would give real money to see a confrontation with the school board on one side and Abby and the ACLU on the other. Personally, I'll take Abby and the points!
The pages aren’t even torn. Why is everyone accepting this revisionist argument uncritically?
Can we ask the guy who is so upset about “desecrating the Bible” for his take on Trump’s “God Bless America Bible”? Please?
"Culture of respect." From Christians? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Apparently, Mr. Simmons is not a student of his religion's recorded history.
When they say, "culture of respect," they MEAN: "culture of deference ... TO THEM."
We know that. I honestly wonder if they know that.
Sometimes I think all they know is when their privilege is threatened, whereupon they lose their shit in fortissimo forte.
They never are. One time back when I was in a Barnes and Noble and this dude started talking to me. I forget how it came up but I told him I didn't believe the bible because it was assembled by men who had an ulterior motive in doing so. Also in the fist council of Nicea they literally voted on Jesus' divinity. He got all huffy and said He never learned that in Christian School! I smiled and said "Exactly!"
A friend of mine's daughter and two of her friends (all college students at the time) were barred from B&N after taking a stack of Bibles and placing them in the fiction section.
My daughter worked at B&N, and would have been someone who would have had to move the bibles back, but I bet she would have giggled first.
Granted that it's old news, but I find it wonderfully ironic that those who don't believe in the bible know more about it than those who do.
That's certainly an experience I've had, talking to Muslims. I hope it reflects a desire to understand, and not just "you need to know your enemy, and at least some Christians are DEFINITELY your enemy".
Should've also let him know that once Nicean Christianity was made the law of the Roman Empire in 380 CE, other secs of Christianity were deemed heretical, lost their legal status and even had their property confiscated by the Roman state.
Wonder how he would've reacted to those inconvenient facts?
Ironic that a plea for civility is called uncivil
"Imagine if these were torn pages from a Koran (Islam), Talmud (Jewish), or religous texts of any other faith."
>oh, suddenly they care about other religions? I think not.
If the pages were torn from a Koran, they would be praising the piece.
Go Abby! Stay strong! Keep making art and speaking out! The world needs to hear your message; I am proud of you for standing up for what is right.
More conservative hypocrisy on free speech. You know they would cry to high heaven about any kind of similar reaction were a message they agreed with in art met this way.
Art colleges should be tripping over each other trying to hand Miss Driscoll scholarships- her career is going places, if she's able to create something that powerful in high school. Get that young lady a gallery, a studio, and a truckload of art supplies, 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵!
Congrats Abby, for taking a stand. In 1970, I was tasked with writing about a 20th author of my choice. The Catholic school admin was horrified with my choice. And that why I comment as Camus to this day.
Imagine if you had chosen Simone de Beauvoir or Voltaire.
Dear old Simone would have had the school board fainting on the spot. No time to clutch the pearls and no time to get to the fainting couch. As for Voltaire, they'd all have gone into cardiac arrest. If only... Good choice for Camus, the school DID say an author of YOUR choice. What did they think would happen?
17 year olds? Most of them picked Hemmingway.
They got off easy. I was confused why this would be a bad choice. Drag mom, dad and a parish priest in for all this clownshow.
And it had to be a 20th century writer. Voltaire might just go for the juggler.
I decided Camus was more of a humanist than an existentialist, and therefore less offensive to them than Beauvoir or Sartre. Voltaire never made it to the 20th century.
Sorry, I skipped the part about 20th century.
Voltaire was snarkily brilliant, and has some of the best quotes ever!
I probably have the details wrong but… my bride tells a story about entering a scholarship essay contest at her synagogue. It was sponsored by a ladies group. They had never, in anyone’s memory, awarded a scholarship to a girl.
My bride’s essay was about Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She did not win a scholarship.
You know, I realize now that my art teachers in school failed me. It wasn't until I was an adult that someone really clearly explained the purpose of art to me. This whole situation really reminds me of that.
I was performing at a Renaissance Faire as an adult, and we did a "living chess game", where we acted out as pieces on the board, had sword fights whenever someone captures an opposing piece, etc. But unlike some faires, we made a point of having a story to ours, and one year, we did a story about a poor man making a deal with the devil, then using the chess game afterward to try and get out of it. In our story, the devil won the chess game and got the soul he came for - an example of a Renaissance style morality piece, where the lesson is not to make deals with the devil (both real or metaphorical devils), because you won't be able to back out of them.
One day, after performing that show on a week day, when there were several schools in attendance from field trips watching our performance, our group leader (who was also the narrator in the show) was late for the group huddles we always did after the show. Apparently, he'd been stopped by a nun from a Catholic school who berated him for showing a story like that to children, where the good guys don't win and the devil captures someone's soul. So our narrator came to the rest of our group, explained what the nun had said and told us all, "Congratulations! We pissed off a nun! Since the purpose of art is to elicit an emotional response, that makes our show a successful work of art!"
A nun explained to me what heaven was like when I was a child. I've been hoping to land in hell since...
I know, right, an eternity with those stuffy, cruel fucks is not the selling point they think it is.
Someone (I forgot who) once said: "Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company."
"I think, from all I can learn, that heaven has the better climate, but hell has the better company."
-- Ben Wade, speaking at a National Conference of Charities and Correction in 1885
(Both Mark Twain and JM Barrie have similar quotes, but Wade is the earliest)