Re: The Mirror of Erised
Submitted by frank on February 11 2002 13:13:35
In reply to The Mirror of Erised submitted by J on February 11 2002 00:34:04
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[technical question to bach : does your software preclude responses to old posts? i despatched a long reply to J about four hours ago by using the follow-up form at the bottom of J's sixth sense oldpost link but as my message hasn't appeared on the board i am forced to conclude it's been despatched into the void. now i've got to type it all out again]. J a pity you didn't have your wits about you when the turnkey called you a freak. "look who's talkin'" would've been an apt retort. or "takes one to know one, sweetheart". are they allowed to address inmates like that? it's unprofessional conduct. i guess it's diffiult to file a complaint when one's feeling cowed and intimidated by one's first experience of incarceration and unless one has powerful and vigilant friends in the outside world who can make sure retributive measures are not taken. it might still be worth writing to congresspersons,the dept of corrections,ACLU etc. if no-one kicks up a fuss, guards will assume they've got carte blanche to behave any way they want. in britain sex offenders usually go to dedicated vulnerable prisoners units which aren't so bad. an acquaintance who had an enforced vacation at albany prison on the isle of wight says the atmosphere was quite jolly and stimulating - with so many clerics and teachers it was like an up-market college campus. i too have had haleyesque happenings in my life. i queued for three hours in the cold to see haley arrive at the london premiere of AI. the teen girls and boys who were waiting must have been perplexed by my presence but when haley emerged from his limousine accompanied by an entourage i was at the front of the seething mob, waving and gesturing,hoping for a kiss. unfortunately haley was surrounded by a throng of heavily built security personnel so my plan for some erotic horseplay (graeco-roman wrestling etc) proved to be unviable. nevertheless, i managed to touch the hem of his garmment as he was hustled from the sidewalk into the building and briefly caught his eye. i was tempted to shout: "i luv u haley" but didn't feel a public arena was the right place to express such feelings. subsequently i joined the allboyslove haley joel osment fansite but when i posted my first rapturous appreciation of haley's talents, the moderator deleted it on grounds of taste and decency. how sad that one can't even allude to the sexuality of boys without facing opprobrium. is it a crime to hand in a cinematographic critique with the urgent headline : ' "rubadubdub - haley in the tub!"? J - i hope you won't think it presumptious of me to comment on your problems living as a christian but i wonder if you aren't focusing too narrowly on establishing your equilibrium within a christian context? might it not be better to build a diverse range of social connections? it verges on the morbid and omphaloskeptical to spend so much time worrying about the exact moral co-ordinates you need to set for a christian life. get a life - if you can - if you're in a financial position to do so. i realise that's a heterodox statement to make on a proselytizing board but letting religion dominate your life in the way it appears to do ain't healthty (IMHO). if i were in your shoes here's what i would do if i wanted to practice my christian faith. identify someone fairly high up in the church hierachy who has a positive track record in regard to gays and other ^outcasts^. someone like bishop jack spong in new york. explain your predicament and say you're looking for a faith community which will accept you as you are. i'm sure he'd engage constructively with you to explore available options. good luck. i hope no-one on the board objects to me putting my two cents worth into the message melting pot. it's all too easy for religious zealots (sorry - i have to use that word even tho' it's a description you'll resist] to become insular in outlook. |
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