I hadn’t realized it has been a year since RightWingProf died of cancer. It’s also my mother’s birthday, who also died of cancer, at 43. She would be 60 today. So here’s to both of them.
UPDATE: I think this passage, from around the time when RightWingProf discovered he was terminally ill from cancer, is profound:
Focusing exclusively on Christianity, however, when a woman says, “‘And all mankind’ makes me feel excluded,†she is being narcisssistic. The church and its worship is not about her, or me, or how it may make us feel. It is about worshipping God. Period. My feelings, exclusion, political correctness, all of these are substituting ourselves as the focus of worship. Further, it is narcissistic to the point of dishonesty, as she knows that “mankind†is a gender-neutral word, as is “man.†By insisting that it is not, she is placing herself at the center, and demanding that the liturgy revolve around her.
The crucial concept here is substitute. Narcissism is not merely injected into worship. It replaces God with oneself. It is the purest, most heinous blasphemy. And it goes far further than just wanting “inclusive†language.
Churches can be divided into two groups: Those who view worship as worshipping God, with God at its center; and those who view worship as affirmation of one’s essential goodness, in which God plays no real part.
That’s applicable in realms broader than religion.
The Church of Self is very much with us today…my sister worships there, as do the Liberation Theologists.
A kind, decent, and very intelligent man. He will be missed. And yeah, I was surprised it has been a year already, too.
And here’s to your mom on her birthday!
I’m very sorry for your loss of your mom, and hope that the passage of time makes it easier to bear.
No need to be sorry. It was a long time ago.