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| This man's name on chopping block? Martin Luther |
As someone who follows the news, even I was surprised when seeing the headline one night about the Calvin Griffith statue being removed in Minneapolis. My generation which once fancied itself as so hip and enlightened, always knew that Griffith was an anachronism. But we did not tend to view him as insidious. No, instead we viewed him in the same light as Archie Bunker. Do the young people of today know what the name Archie Bunker connotes, conjures up? My, we were largely amused by the TV character, found him to actually be endearing in some ways.
Part of the reason was that so many of us saw our own parents, to a degree anyway, in this curmudgeonly and coarse soul. He was the centerpiece of a comedy, remember. It sold itself as a comedy, was its raisin d'etre, even though Norman Lear put it forward with some social commentary. Pure social commentary was not going to cut it in the Nielsen ratings.
So, my generation basically cut slack for a lot of the older folks. Because we knew "their kind" was on the retreat anyway? That the inexorable forces of history would overcome them? That they literally would pass from the scene? No, maybe we were just wise enough to realize that a balance had to be struck, that we'd have to countenance some regressive forces a while longer. We saw the Archie Bunkers as hopefully a benign relic, so we'd even laugh some. Maybe too, we saw the perfect as the enemy of the good.
The boomers continually age and so by necessity we must retire to the sidelines some. So we are the ones fading now just as our less-enlightened elders did. We are hesitant by nature to point fingers a whole lot at our elders, the ones who vanquished the Axis in the mid-20th Century. We might defend them by saying they had bigger fish to fry than to press for perfection in all social attitudes.
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| Chris Matthews |
Can't all of us recall being in a workplace where romances developed? Flowered, even. Consummated in marriage. Well, I have personally been around that in my work background. And I found that to be profoundly odious. A relationship like that begins with "flirting." And so, we're now appreciating this behavior as unacceptable and noxious. Oh, it does seem rather a no-brainer, right? But wait! Many instances of flirting result in receptiveness by the target.
So, it's the target that gets to decide if the overture is acceptable, wanted, or career-destroying as with Matthews? That's terrible. The law demands consistency. If flirting in the workplace is now prima facie to be condemned, this judgment must be made consistently regardless of how the "target" views it. In my case, my best guess is that it was the female who made the first overture to the male. This is just based on being familiar with the principals. We can't assume the males only do this. Assumptions are no-go with the law. The law means nothing if not applied with consistency, that is unless you're an old crony of Trump and you need a break for being spared prison.
It is hard cutting slack for the likes of Calvin Griffith. The argument in favor of his memory is that he was responsible for bringing major league baseball to Minnesota, incredibly significant. By acknowledging him with a simple statue, we are not affirming his beliefs, are we? Erasing history is a troublesome thing.
And based on all the values being applied now, "how are you gonna keep 'em down on the farm" when they learn about Martin Luther? Hoo boy. I repeat: Hoo boy! Is there anything in recorded human history more offensive than what Luther said, at length in fact about the Jews? You can look all this up so easily nowadays, thanks of course to the Internet. Luther's language was so sharp, so far-reaching, it fed into the actions of the Nazis in the mid-20th Century. If we are going to exorcise the memory of Archie Bunker clone Calvin Griffith, and to have Chris Matthews forced abruptly off the air for boorishness or whatever, how in tarnation can any of us continue to call ourselves "Lutheran?"
I personally am becoming self-conscious about this. I have exchanged emails with the presiding bishop of the ELCA re. this. She is sensitive to the problem. The ELCA has done all it can to try to make clear it distances itself from Luther's poisonous language. The current trends indicate this is not enough. I advised Bishop Eaton, in the way of a warning, that all it would take now is for a major public figure or celebrity to put attention on Luther's anti-Semitism, and there goes the ballgame. It would happen quickly.
The term "Lutheran" covers a wide spectrum in the faith. The ELCA is highly progressive but there's another synod quite different, that has as an official position that the Pope is the anti-Christ. And while on the subject of Catholics, that body of the faith simply must get rid of celibacy for priests. Amazing it hasn't happened up to now. The clergy sex abuse scandal has alienated many from the whole Christian faith. Young people are also deterred, according to widespread reports, by the growing perception that people who call themselves Christian are right wingers politically, likely to have great deference to fat ignorant slob President Donald Trump.
Yes, Christianity has significant issues. If there's controversy over a statue of John Wayne at the Orange County CA airport, my goodness! What defense does the Lutheran denomination of Christianity have? Not even a fig leaf.
I invite you to listen to my podcast entry for today, July 12, which starts out with a reminder about the "old" Prairie Pioneer Days of Morris. This would be the weekend, I assume. I mention Luther's Eatery of that longstanding celebration, then it's time to ruminate about the Martin Luther name itself. It's troubling, unfortunately. Here is the permalink:
https://anchor.fm/brian-williams596/episodes/Normally-itd-be-PPD-weekend-egl5ss
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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