The Peregrin Falcon

As I have stated before, I am a conservative. However, being a conservative does not mean I throw away the analytical part of my brain and simply follow in lock-step with the pundit of day.

Last night, I saw Real Time with Bill Maher for April, 22 2008. Mr. Maher was explaining comments he made on an earlier program about The Pope. The explanation started with Mr. Maher explaining his comments away as a joke, implying that because he said “the Pope used to be a Nazi” along with a string of other outrageous statements that it was harmless joking. I am not a Catholic, and I do not harbor any ill-will towards Catholics; but even I knew Mr. Maher was not genuine in his half-handed apology. The question isn’t whether or not an apology is necessary. The question is when are we going to stop supporting political-hack commentators that make passive-aggressive statements and then hide behind the skirt of comedy.

Mr. Maher reminds me of someone who constantly puts people down and belittles them until confronted. When confronted he simply says, ‘oh, I didn’t mean it, I was just joking’, all the while his true feelings and intent go unchecked because a little shoulder shrug and smug smile make everything ok. The show continued with Mr. Maher implying that religion (as he made no distinction between faithful and religious people) is a product of fantasy and that only irrational people give any stock to any religion. I have tuned in occasionally to Mr. Maher’s various specials, shows, and commentary. I remember at one time he was very fond of pointing out his Jewishness. I wonder if he was simply referring to his lineage, or a religion. In either event, he still made a very blunt impression that all of his fellow faithful Jews must be irrational, as they still believe in a Jehovah and miracles and such.

Mr. Maher, have you been to synagogue lately? When was the last time you sung? What day did you suddenly become a rational person? Please let us know so we can disregard any statements you made before that eventful day, since they were made by someone who was less than reliable.

Lastly, Mr. Maher there is a difference between faith and religion. I would hope you would know since you came from a mixed familly of a Catholic and a Jew. Both are well-known for faithful followers and religious traditions.

Faith: Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.
(American Heritage Dictionary)

Religion: a particular system of belief or worship
(Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version))

Faith is the actual believing and the submitting of one’s will, which causes observable change in behavior and thought in one’s heart, mind, and soul. However, religion is simply an organized way for many people to practice faith, or appear to outwardly practice faith. Yes is it possible to be very religious and have no faith, and it is possible to be very faithful and to not associate with a religion.
To be continued……………..

Fad causes by activist stars:

As a parent of a child that has many of the symptoms of Autism, but is as of yet not diagnosed as such; I am asking the celebrities to step-away from the subject.

The help of celebrities, in my opinion and many others, seems to cheapen the cause. Try a few Google searches sometime to see the stacks and stacks of articles about how inept celebrities and famous do-gooders can actually hurt a cause.

It becomes chic for a time, people by ribbons, or pins, or t-shirts with catchy logos, and go to concerts, benefits, dinners, golf challenges, and marathons etc, etc, etc; and at the end of the day people are so sick of hearing about a topic that it seems to fade into the mist.

AIDS ; Poverty, genocide, death etc. in Africa ; Breast Cancer ; Tibet ; Homelessness ; and Parkinsons Disease have all been promoted by celebrities. All are yet to be cured, or solved, and all seem to ebb out of the socail conscious as quickly as they come in. All are now politically charged issues (more than before). The parents of autistic kids that I know want a few simple things, insurance approval for treatment, for their child to be valued as an person, less testing and more results, and progress towards a cure (of course we all want a cure).

Speaking for myself, I don’t want Aerosmith, U2, Madonna, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Sean Penn, et. al. to be seen holding some kid’s hand looking at a camera with practiced pity to give to the “race for the cure” or “battle for a cause” or whatever catchy phrase they choose.

I don’t want my son’s problems to be another bumper-sticker movement that fades into pop-culture history. I do want those with the brains and resources to find a cure, or at least a cause, or a defined diagnosis. If a wealthy celebrity with guilt for having so much wants to quietly give to those people, please do. Just don’t make it so in your face, over the top, can’t get away from it annoying, that everyone gets sick of hearing about Autism and then no one is left to help.

I hope this made sense, but the closer a topic is to home; the less eloquent I am.