Three Things on Thursday

Last updated on: October 21, 2021 at 7:13 am by Anne Kennedy

Three Things on Thursday 2021-10-21T07:13:56-04:00 Anne Kennedy

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As usual, I didn’t mean not to blog yesterday, I slept long past my ordinary time, which was good, because then I wrote something else that’s been hanging over my head. This business of missing days blogging here and there is very grievous unto me, but is probably just as well what with the internet being full up of too much stuff anyway. If it is God striking me down, I am fine with that. Anyway, I have some interesting tidbits for this morning.

The First Thing

This was pretty interesting. Apparently, the largest gay pride movement in the northeast has dissolved itself:

Not surprisingly, the 2021 iteration of Pride month was a dud in Boston, with almost all the June events being either cancelled or boycotted. The only major event to take place was the second Trans Resistance March and Vigil for Black Trans Lives. On June 9th, amidst this depressing climate of conflict and failure, Linda DeMarco told the Boston Globe that she planned to resign as board president. She added that her resignation was “a little accelerated now because I think the boycott is really hurting the community.”

But far from being a victory for activists, the move turned out to be a defeat for everyone—because rather than continue with a coerced process of “transformation,” Boston Pride’s board simply announced its dissolution.

Pride 4 The People and its allies were scathing, accusing board members of preferring to shut down the organization rather than include black and trans people. That explanation seems unlikely, given the servile posture the board had assumed toward these same groups. But the truth is that no one knows exactly why board members took the route they did. Whatever their reasons, though, Boston Pride is no more, New England’s largest LGBT parade is in limbo, and whatever leadership emerges to fill the void will, in all likelihood, assume a posture that is more radical, more shrill, and more off-putting to the general public.

The writer, I think rightly, points out that the dissolution of organizations like this is generally due to their own success rather than being a failure. They have achieved all the measurable goals they had, and as a result, they have nothing to do with all their money and angst, except turn in on each other, which he finds very sad, but I find apocalyptically comforting. Anytime a group of people gets together under the banner of Pride, that isn’t good for them. They may work and build their flamboyant structures up to the very tip of the sky all the livelong day, but if they are in rebellion against God, they are only doing it to their own destruction. The dissolution of projects and the scattering of people is a sign that God is merciful, that there is hope for humanity.

The Second Thing

This is a fascinating spectacle:

One of the protesters at Netflix today. This is someone we’re supposed to listen to and take seriously.

https://t.co/AdsEBfFKDP

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) October 20, 2021

I saw on Twitter that Netflix was showing signs of caving in and so I rushed over to actually watch the special, as I believe it is called. Dave Chappelle is, as everyone knows, pretty funny, but what surprised me most was the end, when he talked at length about a transgender person who was, so to speak, his biggest fan, and who was a very funny person. That person stood up to the mob on his behalf. Chappelle made a heartfelt plea for the humanity of individual people not to be lost in the rush for mob “justice” and he also–and this was pretty courageous I thought–invited the LGBTQ+ community not to ride the train of oppression that more rightly belongs to the black community. He violated, as he meant to do, all the orthodoxies of the day, and in so doing he nuanced the issue immensely. But, of course, that’s just not ok.

The Third Thing

My podcast with Melanie about ATR is up. You can listen here. The article is available to subscribers also. If you get the magazine you should soon have it in your hot little hands. There is an interesting comment on the podcast that I am trying to formulate an answer to. I didn’t talk about the BLM angle much in the podcast, it’s more fleshed out in the article. The commenter’s claim that “BLM is about mostly ONE thing, police brutality and inequity and oppression, period” is fascinating. The word “mostly” is eminently acceptable. It is about “mostly” police brutality and oppression, but then the “period” should be left off, because there are a lot of other conflicting and fascinating trends within the larger movement. One of those fascinating trends is that some of the founders of BLM have consciously adopted some ideas and beliefs associated with ATR. To say that isn’t to accuse them of anything, but merely to remark the phenomenon and wonder about what it portends.

And now, I am so sorry, I must rush along. Have a nice day if you like!

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