holiday songs and Oprah's revelations
It's after Hanukkah, but here--the best holiday song I've heard all year, hands down. Matisyahu, the Hassidic Jewish rapper who seems to really, fundamentally, get the religious debate. I love this song.
Do you believe in miracles?
Am I hearing you, so am I seeing you?
Eight nights, eight lights, and these rites keep me right
Bless me to the highest heights with your miracle
The struggle every person of faith has in this world is to not be overwhelmed by the detractors, but more importantly--as he points out here--is not to become hard. I don't care if you're Christian, Muslim, pagan, Jewish, Setian--the one thing you cannot do in this world is decide you are the Only Truth for this varied world. That way leads to people who kill to convert. At that point you're not a person of faith anymore; you're just a thug who's lost the way.
Next up, Roger Ebert's blog has a clip from a Barbara Walters interview airing tonight or tomorrow with Oprah Winfrey. The clip is extremely telling, because the rumors have been fast and thick of late that she's been gay all these years. Considering her causes, her passions, her advocacy for women, and the fact that she is very clear on her boundaries--I truly believe that, while she'd keep the details private, if she were gay, she'd just tell people. She'd make it part and parcel of her activism.
I truly don't think it's a case of protesting too much. Because if you watch her, she's not protesting, she's stating. It makes her angry--but not because people are accusing her of being gay. She's angry because people believing she's gay means people believe she's lying about her life.
Someone who was hiding this? Would be angry, and look hurt, when they were accused, because they were hiding their heart. She's not. She's angry that people think she's not truthful.
This is not someone who would have a problem saying yes, my heart is Gale's, and she'd likely follow it with urging people to be open with who they love. In point of fact, she has urged people to be open with their loves, to show the world it's okay to be gay, to show the world that gays, lesbians and bisexuals have just as much right to the benefits of our society as straights. She's said that to reporters, to other activists, and she's been forefront in the fight for all human rights.
So why would she hide being gay? Hells, some of her causes, it would help her.
I, for one, don't believe she's lying. But I do believe you can have friends that close. It's not everyones' experience of friendship, to be sure, but sometimes, e meet people, and they are family. We know this in our hearts, we accept them, we embrace them, we share ourselves with them. And it doesn't ever have to have anything to do with sleeping with these people.
Do you believe in miracles?
Am I hearing you, so am I seeing you?
Eight nights, eight lights, and these rites keep me right
Bless me to the highest heights with your miracle
The struggle every person of faith has in this world is to not be overwhelmed by the detractors, but more importantly--as he points out here--is not to become hard. I don't care if you're Christian, Muslim, pagan, Jewish, Setian--the one thing you cannot do in this world is decide you are the Only Truth for this varied world. That way leads to people who kill to convert. At that point you're not a person of faith anymore; you're just a thug who's lost the way.
Next up, Roger Ebert's blog has a clip from a Barbara Walters interview airing tonight or tomorrow with Oprah Winfrey. The clip is extremely telling, because the rumors have been fast and thick of late that she's been gay all these years. Considering her causes, her passions, her advocacy for women, and the fact that she is very clear on her boundaries--I truly believe that, while she'd keep the details private, if she were gay, she'd just tell people. She'd make it part and parcel of her activism.
I truly don't think it's a case of protesting too much. Because if you watch her, she's not protesting, she's stating. It makes her angry--but not because people are accusing her of being gay. She's angry because people believing she's gay means people believe she's lying about her life.
Someone who was hiding this? Would be angry, and look hurt, when they were accused, because they were hiding their heart. She's not. She's angry that people think she's not truthful.
This is not someone who would have a problem saying yes, my heart is Gale's, and she'd likely follow it with urging people to be open with who they love. In point of fact, she has urged people to be open with their loves, to show the world it's okay to be gay, to show the world that gays, lesbians and bisexuals have just as much right to the benefits of our society as straights. She's said that to reporters, to other activists, and she's been forefront in the fight for all human rights.
So why would she hide being gay? Hells, some of her causes, it would help her.
I, for one, don't believe she's lying. But I do believe you can have friends that close. It's not everyones' experience of friendship, to be sure, but sometimes, e meet people, and they are family. We know this in our hearts, we accept them, we embrace them, we share ourselves with them. And it doesn't ever have to have anything to do with sleeping with these people.