Happy Friday, Gentle Readers,
I hope you had a peaceful, reverent, and bountiful Thanksgiving. Snow arrived in my part of the world today, which means I need to no longer worry about mowing the grass. I must now devote every spare minute to shoveling snow. And tending to chickens that don't do particularly well in foul weather (pun intended). Hey, you try shoveling snow out of a chicken coop in freezing rain. It separates the men from the boys. Or the sane from the insane.
What Would Fr. Mulcahy Say?
We had a chaplain when I was in college. He was a monk named Brother Bob. I forget what order he was in, but he was laid back, easy to talk to, and understood that as Dean of Men, he was dealing with a bunch of hormone-laden lunkheads. I remember when I ran into him after I graduated. I was in a chaplain intern program at a Salt Lake hospital, and he was there on some business. We met for lunch, and he said something to the effect of, "Oh dear God, you really are in the chaplaincy program! I had a disciplinary file on you an inch thick!"
He probably did. I was one of those collegiate frat rats who thought "Animal House" was an instructional video. I was not quite John Blutarsky, but I could have run as a close second. Brother Bob was evenhanded, easygoing, and understanding, but not to the point that he would have advocated a BDSM workshop on campus.
Dateline: Memphis, Tennessee. The Rev. Beatrix Weil at Rhodes College recently raised some eyebrows with her intention to host a BDSM workshop on campus. Call me old-fashioned or an old, white member of the patriarchy, but I don't think that the words "Reverend" and "BDSM" belong in the same sentence.
Fox 13 in Memphis managed to get a copy of the invitation, which read:
Chaplain Beatrix will host a local dominatrix to share wisdom on how to safely, sanely, and consensually learn about bondage, discipline-domination, sadism-submission, and masochism. There will be an opportunity to ask questions anonymously.
The college told the news outlet that the event was canceled as soon as it caught wind of it, stating that the workshop was not a school-sanctioned event. Well, that's at least one college that has not gone 'round the twist. Student Clay Coleman told the station: "I think it is absolutely ridiculous. I don’t think anything sexual like that or any seminar like that should be held on a college campus. Even though this is a private school and they can get away with it, I don’t think that that belongs here, especially at Rhodes where I go. I’m not proud of it." By contrast, Phillis Lewis, who runs the anti-domestic violence group Love Doesn't Hurt, commented:
There’s so much stigma around it because a lot of people when they hear BDSM or kink they’re automatically assuming that it has something to do with impact and that’s just a piece of it. The piece to a 200-piece puzzle, the kink spectrum is so broad that a lot of people see as kinky is like wearing lingerie, doing a strip tease for your partner, doing a sensual massage for your partner.
Chaplain Beatrix declined to comment.
According to a piece in the New York Post, Chaplain Beatrix is a member of the Universalist Unitarian Church, which goes a long way to explaining the mindset behind the event. She hosted a similar event in the past. Regarding that particular gathering, she reportedly said, "It went so well that I’ve had my first angry parent phone call to the President’s Office because of it. It took 6 years of working at this school, but hello, I’ve finally *made it*.” Uh-huh. You go, girl. Slay, queen!
This is the problem that plagues the mainline Protestant denominations. It doesn't plague the Universalist Unitarians because they were all in from the jump. That problem is that the "ministers" of these denominations are no longer interested in the Word of God, Salvation, or Jesus. Their task is to dismantle and destroy. Once the wreckage is complete and has been surveyed, these people offer nothing but more demolition. The endorphin rush that accompanies said destruction does nothing to feed the soul and wears off relatively quickly. Beware those that build nothing but destroy everything. The warnings against such people go back as far as The Didache. They care nothing for their flocks and everything for themselves.
Wine Recommendation: Because you need something to go with all of those leftovers.
We skipped the holiday on Thursday. Mrs. Brown was working and we are empty-nesters. Our children are too far-flung to visit us at the moment. But we are celebrating on Saturday. I am concocting a drink consisting of Prosecco and Martinelli's Sparking Apple Cider to see if I can create a "Thanksgiving Mimosa." I'll keep you posted. I may be on the verge of something spectacular, or maybe not. But it will require quite a bit of R&D. In the meantime, may I suggest the 2021 Ruffino Lumina Pinot Grigio?
To my relatively uneducated palate, this turned out to be an outstanding Pinot Grigio. In fact, the bottle I had was darn near flawless. Crisp, dry, fruity, with a good cross-palate appeal. It's very dry with decent acidity and contains a good dose of citrus, along with a very subtle hint of green apples. This would be an excellent choice for chilled shrimp, oysters, lobster, or a seafood salad. It is more of a warm-weather wine, so if you live in a hotter climate or are just sick of winter already, pick up a bottle today.
That's it for me. Have a turkey and dressing sandwich and think of me. I'll see you next week.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member