So I went to church today....

[n2mark]

we were told to practice penance until Christmas......I wanted to stand up and yell, "I am practicing penance as long as the idiot is in the WH.

[patrice]

1. I know what you mean BUT . . . .

It shouldn't be penance, because it's NOT you!

Anyone who saw Falwell on Meet the Press this a.m. knows Mathew Gross is right about this.

http://mathewgross.com/blog/archives/001041.html

<snip>

. . . . Any battered woman in America, any oppressed person around the globe who has defied her oppressor will tell you this: There is nothing wrong with you. You are in good company. You are safe. You are not alone. You are strong. You must change only one thing: stop responding to the abuser. Don’t let him dictate the terms or frame the debate (he’ll win, not because he’s right, but because force works). . . .

[PoiBoy]

2. Thanks for the link..!! What a great article...

..it deserves a thread all its own... he really nails it!

<snip>
The answer is quite simple. They beat us because they are abusers. We can call it hate. We can call it fear. We can say it is unfair. But we are looped into the cycle of violence, and we need to start calling the dominating side what they are: abusive. And we need to recognize that we are the victims of verbal, mental, and even, in the case of Iraq, physical violence.

As victims we can’t stop asking ourselves what we did wrong. We can’t seem to grasp that they will keep hitting us and beating us as long as we keep sticking around and asking ourselves what we are doing to deserve the beating.

Listen to George Bush say that the will of God excuses his behavior. Listen, as he refuses to take responsibility, or express remorse, or even once, admit a mistake. Watch him strut, and tell us that he will only work with those who agree with him, and that each of us is only allowed one question (soon, it will be none at all; abusers hit hard when questioned; the press corps can tell you that). See him surround himself with only those who pledge oaths of allegiance. Hear him tell us that if we will only listen and do as he says and agree with his every utterance, all will go well for us (it won’t; we will never be worthy).
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