Thursday, January 29, 2009



My spouse and I have recently become addicted to movies again. There were some good ones out this season. We saw “Doubt” yesterday and loved it. Meryl Streep plays a crusty old nun who is the principal of a school. Beneath this façade of sternness she also has a caring heart. She is terrific and deserves an Academy Award for best actress.

Streep runs a tight ship at the school and doesn’t put up with any foolishness from the kids or the head priest. She becomes suspicious about the relationship of a priest and a young male student. Armed with some information and observations from an innocent young teacher, Streep sets out to get the priest. The movie gives much insight into the behavior of both nuns and priests and the running of a Catholic school. The movie does a great job of addressing the problem of abnormal sexual behavior of priests and its coverup, which has plagued the Catholic Church in recent years. Streep has a lot of circumstantial evidence to support her case against the priest, but the question is he guilty. You have to see the movie to find out but, most of all, the viewer will see why the movie gets its name. It’s a great flick.

Unfortunately, kinky sexual behavior in men of the cloth is not uncommon. Recently, Oprah interviewed Ted Haggard the TV evangelist who admitted to having a long time homosexual relationship with a guy he paid for the service. Haggard is also married with five kids and takes drugs to boost his sexual performance. Everything is now okay because he has confessed to Oprah and told his church he is sorry. The world is full of these people like Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker, etc. etc.

All this behavior by so called, “men of God”, is enough to shake ones faith. It’s not just their sexual behavior but their conduct in general. As Holden Caulfield said, “it’s enough to make Jesus puke.” I have known some of these folks personally and have been greatly disappointed.

There is no escaping perverts and weirdness in the world. I even see it from the porch as I observe the behavior of the deer in my backyard. In most cases animals seem to have better morals and behavior than humans. As Mark Twain said, “ if you have your dog with you when you get to the pearly gates, don’t ask if he can come in, because dogs aren’t permitted. Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit you would stay out and the dog would go in.”

2 Comments:

Blogger jeff ludwick said...

If guys like Swaggart, Bakker and Haggard wouldn't make Jesus puke then nothing would other than possibly most politicians. Oprah must be hard up for guests if she has to resort to one of those vermin for air time. When I look at those guys I think that I should have gone into sales at an early age. If scum like that can "sell" themselves into being billionaires surely I could have sold some vacum cleaners or a few sets of steak knives.

Politicians, preachers and people in prison seem lately to have a lot in common. All three are always apologizing for something and all have "found the Lord" and want to go forward with a clean slate and someone else's money..... One of my favorite movies is "Oh God" with John Denver. All of the priests, preachers, reverends, etc. cannot come to grips with the thought that the Almighty would actually speak to a common man who works at a grocery store. Not much has changed...

7:26 AM  
Blogger Andy Montgomery said...

I never thought there would be a profession that made attorney look good. I was wrong.

7:52 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home