Marc Turner said, in response to a post of mine: > Normally, I'd just stay quiet on all this, but something about today just > makes me want to play devil's advocate or something... > > Black earlier wrote (Sorry Stephen but your earlier comment was the easiest > to get): "I wonder how Bush et al view the harm reduction approach. I'd > imagine they > welcome it as much as they do sex education and the teaching of evolution in > schools, the use of condoms to prevent AIDS, and stem-cell research. " > > Yep, I can see how one might take that as a neutral political statement... > and actually, as I re-read it, is probably one of the more neutral comments > I've seen about Bush on this list :)
[Marc means that it's not, of course] Aside from the fact that Marc declared that he was only "devil's advocate" (as if the devil needs the help), he then proceeded to dispute my assertion above. I'm rather surprised by this, because it seemed to me that the assertion was a no-brainer, accepted equally by both God-fearing, Bush-loving Americans and by those who qualify on none of those grounds. In other words, I didn't think it was in the slightest degree a controversial or political statement, merely a statement of fact. Where the views diverge is whether such a lack of welcome is justified. Bush supporters believe that there are good reasons not to support sex education, evolution, the use of condoms, and stem-cell research. Others, such as myself, consider such views sadly misguided and incomprehensible. But that would be politics, and we don't want to go there (anyways, Marc doesn't want us to). And speaking of sex education in America, although it's a bit early, I'd like to recommend a powerful documentary on the attempt of a courageous teen-ager to bring appropriate sex education and respect for gays into her school in Lubbock, Texas. It's called _The Education of Shelby Knox_ and will be shown on PBS TV June 21 at 10:00 pm (Canadians have already seen it). This assumes it's not cancelled the way _Postcards from Buster_ was cancelled for showing viewers a nice Vermont family at maple-sugaring time who just happened to include lesbian parents. For details on _Shelby_, see: http://www.incite-pictures.com/Shelby_Knox.html and http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2005/shelbyknox/about.html One more thing. I ended my post with the curious comment "Or do I disassemble?" I was hoping to be severely mocked for misusing the word. Yet all I received was one polite comment sent to me privately gently questioning it. This means either: a) No one knew, noticed, or cared about the word usage b) You knew but were too polite to point it out c) You watch Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show". Because George W. Bush, in a recent press conference, said in his inimitable syntax about Amnesty International calling Guatanamo Bay a "Gulag" that: "It seemed like to me they based some of their decisions on the word of and the allegations by people that were held in detention, people who hate America, people who have been trained in some instances to disassemble, that means not to tell the truth." Now if the leader of the most powerful nation on the face of the earth tells me that "disassemble" means "not to tell the truth", that's good enough for me. If I don't want to be invaded, I mean. [see http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2002296931_dionne03.html You can also catch it direct from Bush in a video clip from "The Daily Show" at http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_daily_show/index.jhtml (click on "Sunshine Boys"--it's about half-way through the clip). ] Stephen ___________________________________________________ Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. tel: (819) 822-9600 ext 2470 Department of Psychology fax: (819) 822-9661 Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Lennoxville, QC J1M 1Z7 Canada Dept web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy TIPS discussion list for psychology teachers at http://faculty.frostburg.edu/psyc/southerly/tips/index.htm _______________________________________________ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
