Whinge (rhymes with fringe) is Britspeak for whine. Much better word, and it sure fits our lady of Arlington, Cynthia Whinging. Apparently, she met with some members of the church I go to, St. James, Arlington about marriage and it was fairly ugly. St. James is the oldest Episcopal parish in VT and it dates from 1764. The first Mrs. Ethan Allen is buried in our churchyard. The names on our stained glass windows echo through Vermont history. I realize that Cynthia is the whinge with the lunatic fringe on top.
2 thoughts on “Cynthia Whinging (D-Toxic)”
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I don’t have a lot of patience with the losing side’s complaints about “intolerance” or name-calling. Whatever pro-equality enthusiasm/anger they encountered is one one-thousandth of one percent of what was heaped on us nine years ago. And even then, it’s really about their attempts to impose their religious beliefs on everyone in the state via the legislature — and they got called on it. They don’t like it. Their feelings are hurt. Too bad.
I’ll bet they’ve never been evicted from an apartment by the Mayor’s daughter because of their religion (I have, but it was for my “lifestyle”). I’ll bet they’ve never been turned down for a job because of their religion — not in this country, not in the last 50 years. In the last five decades in Vermont, let alone the last ten years, I’ll bet they and theirs have not been beaten up and left for dead because of their religion.
I don’t see anyone calling them “abominations before God,” “disciples of Satan,” baby-rapers or pedophiles (well, except for a few Catholic priests who were protected by their Church and shuffled off to new parishes with fresh batches of available victims). I don’t see anyone erecting huge signs suggesting they are not part of or welcome in Vermont, or that they are not “People” who should be “Listen[ed] to.”
Of course, two (hundred thousand) wrongs don’t make a right. Religious intolerance exists, and right now it’s Muslims who are getting the brunt of it, not fundamentalist Christians. What they don’t seem to understand is that while their goal was to continue to exclude a class of citizens from legal equality, imposing their religious beliefs on the state by way of the government, the law that passed this week bent over backwards to protect their freedom to believe and practice within the private confines of their churches and homes whatever they like. If they want to decide that their God made 10 percent of creation “evil” in their eyes, that’s okay. They just aren’t allowed to make law based on that belief.
On the other hand, we must NOT forget the churches and clergy who stood with us: Rabbis, Episcopal priests (four of whom testified before the joint Judiciary Committees, plus the bishop, who sent his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee via dvd because he was out of town), ministers of some of the bedrock Protestant denominations. They acted out of a belief that their God really is love, not just for some, but for everyone.
I’m not especially religious, haven’t belonged to a church in 35 years. And I have many friends and allies whose integrity I respect, who are believers and members of churches and synagogs. They worked hard to make sure that all Vermonters got the same options with regard to civil marriage. And I thank them.
NanuqFC
The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood. – Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.