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Posted by Virginia Rigney on September 13, 2008 at 11:27 a.m.

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The Politics of Lipstick

This blog is in response to this article in the New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/13/us/politics/13mccain.html?hp "Politics is a game," I hear some say. A game it is; albeit one with potentially grave consequences. We are, after all choosing the next leader of the free world. It comes as no surprise to those of us who have been around for awhile that the negative rhetoric of the presidential campaign has intensified as we head into Election Day. What has changed, at least for me is the new lows to which candidates are willing to stoop.According to polls, few among us are happy with the job that George Bush has done. Yet according to polls, voters are currently favoring the Republican candidate who embraces the same policies as George Bush. In addition, John McCain is using the same unethical political tactics, courtesy of the same people who wanted George Bush in office.With the economy in the tank; the quagmire in the Middle East growing increasingly complicated; and Americans in increasing numbers concerned about healthcare, jobs, education and retirement; how can this be?In this recent article, Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics, George Lakoff says that rather than choosing a leader based on the issues that affect us, Americans vote on these characteristics, "Values; Authenticity; Communication and connection; Trust; and Identity." He says that "McCain and Palin are being marketed as American icons: the war hero and the ideal mom." Lakoff advises Obama to drop his thoughtful discussion of the issues in favor of an identity campaign in order to regain his favor with voters.My dilemma is this: if the candidates don't run on the issues how are we, the voters, to know where they stand?I believe that meaningful change comes from the bottom up rather than the top down. Perhaps it is time we voters change the rules of this game called politics and consequently take our government and our country back. That would take responsibility on the part of voters to check for accuracy in advertising and statements by the candidates. My Grandson suggests the candidates be connected to lie detectors during debates. Hopefully, such drastic measures won't be necessary for voters to see the pig for the lipstick.

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Posted by Virginia Rigney on July 21, 2008 at 2:20 a.m.

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Women Priests Ordained

I'm a fan of Eileen Roddy. And her post commemorating Nelson Mandela on his 90th birthday is no exception. After contrasting Mandela's ideals of freedom and equality with the divisiveness we are experiencing in America, she offers this profound thought, ":I can be a channel for harmony or a source of discord." Ok, so I was feeling enlightened(ish) and resolved to be a "channel for harmony" from this day forward. But:then I read this article about three women who wanted to be Catholic priests:so they got two female bishops to perform the ordination ceremony:but the Church said it didn't count:but they said yes it did because the bishops were ordained by "all-male Roman Catholic bishops who are in good standing with the church"...but the Church said they would be excommunicated anyway:You get the idea.According to the article "Catholics who are excommunicated cannot receive sacraments. The penalty can be lifted if those who have been punished are sincerely repentant."By now the "source of discord" in me was starting to rear its ugly head. I hit the email-this-article-to-a-friend-button and began spewing in the add-a-personal-message box: Sincerely repentant?...or sincerely and passionately defended?... "Speak out," I told my fellow Catholic women. "Write a letter to the editor; contact your local bishop; wear a veil to mass on Sunday in protest:do it for your daughters and granddaughters."But then...I thought of Eileen and wondered, "What would Nelson Mandela do?":Ok, so I pushed the send button.

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Posted by Virginia Rigney on May 9, 2008 at 9:27 p.m.

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The Hand That Rocks The Cradle

Mothers Day, like so many of our holidays, is rooted in ancient times. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans celebrated motherhood by honoring their goddesses. In Medieval times, in the British Isles, goddesses were replaced by "Mother" Church.Mother's Day was introduced from Europe by Julia Ward Howe, best known for her lyrics in the Battle Hymn of the Republic. Howe suggested that June 2nd be a day of peace in honor of mothers in the United States. In 1870 she wrote A Mother's Day Proclamation, urging mothers in America and around the world to work towards peaceful co-existence.In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson declared Mother's Day a national holiday to be celebrated the second Sunday in May. In contrast to the commercialized holiday it has become, it was to be a day in which Americans flew the flag to honor mothers whose sons had died in war.In her book, "We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For," Alice Walker talks about the Swa people of the Amazon. In their culture, men and women are equal but different. It is the man's job to hunt, to cut down trees, and to make war when necessary. Women take care of the home the garden and the children, but their most important job is to "tell the men when to stop."Walker says, "When the Swa are brought to this culture they observe:that the men have cut down so many trees and built so many excessively tall buildings that the forest itself is dying; they have built roads without end and killed animals without number. 'When, ask the Swa, are the women going to say stop?'" My young friend Natalie became a mother on Wednesday. I am going to give her a book that my daughter reads to my grandson. The book is "Potatoes, Potatoes" by Anita Lobel and is a story about two brothers who go to war for opposing armies. After battling in their mother's beloved potato garden with near disastrous consequences, she finds a clever way "to say stop." The real religion of the world comes from women much more than from men - from mothers most of all, who carry the key of our souls in their bosoms. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

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