29 January 2009

Another Baby Step, And The Myths Live On

I almost laugh about it now, it was so easy and such a nothing event, but for some time I'd wondered if I could ever actually do it. I would walk past and think "How could I possibly? Everybody would know! My secret wouldn't be secret anymore!" I imagined a huge scarlet G blossoming instantly on my shirt and snarky comments from cashier and onlookers in the queue.

Somewhere, though, it appears I've picked up some self-confidence, because tonight when I brazenly pulled a copy of The Advocate off the bookstore shelf and paid for it, the cashier didn't bat an eye, I was smiling all the while with head up and not a single flutter in the gut. And nobody in the queue even seemed to notice. Another milestone passed! I might even subscribe.

I chuckle thinking about taking it to church and reading it on the back bench before Sacrament Meeting just to see if anybody even recognizes it (I doubt they would), but probably won't. Why kick a beehive. Hey, that's actually quite the appropriate metaphor, isn't it.

Speaking of church, last Sunday after I finished teaching the lesson in Priesthood meeting, I was chatting with a new guy who'd felt prompted, he said, to sell his business and move his family to Utah because "alternative education" was coming to his state and he didn't want his children exposed to it. He didn't elaborate but I could guess what he was trying to avoid. He pronounced Provo "absolute heaven" and said his family was blissfully happy there.

One of the other guys in the quorum congratulated him on his move and mentioned with ominous tones and furrowed brow how the plague of "alternative education" was spreading, how fortunate the Californians were to have dodged a bullet by passing Proposition 8 because if they hadn't, all those poor innocent California children would have been force-fed "the gay agenda" and taught in schools that same-sex marriage was okay and the Mormons would have been forced to perform such marriages in their temples. They both harrumphed over such depravity and seemed quite satisfied that they'd managed to remain untouched by it.

Out of deference to our visitor, and recognizing that it would have done no good in the circumstances to say anything, I kept silent. But the teeth marks on my tongue are still there. To paraphrase Voltaire, "there is nothing more durable than a favorite myth." And Augustine: "O Lord, make me intelligent, but not yet, let me cling to my prejudices for just a while longer."

Sheesh. Patience, Alan. The tide is turning.

4 comments:

Scot said...

"Speaking of church, last Sunday after I finished teaching the lesson in Priesthood meeting, I was chatting with a new guy who'd felt prompted, he said, to sell his business and move his family to Utah because "alternative education" was coming to his state and he didn't want his children exposed to it."

Maybe we could set up some sort of real estate exchange between LDS Californians and gay Utahans. Of course, even I'll be upset when they drop mathematics from the curriculum there, in order to accommodate the full six hours per day of sex ed, as is the gay agenda. We'll manage though.

Abelard Enigma said...

Maybe you should buy the new guy in your ward a subscription to The Advocate :)

Ezra said...

@Scot - The problem with the Californian LDS/Gay Utahan exchange would be that the homes in Utah aren't worth as much, and we all know that if there is one thing Mormons love more than destroying other families its proving their status as the chosen people by their material possession.

LOL, I don't know, I always found it funny that Mormon's seem to be so well off.

The nice thing about the gay agenda though, is that they'll be able to keep gym and kids will actually want to go, being that instead of tag, they'll have tag-team orgies. (Sorry, I couldn't resist, very distasteful I know)

Beck said...

Knowing you as I do, I can't believe that you were able to bite your tongue. Are you sure you didn't have to run to the emergency room to have it sewed back on?

I've bit my tongue, too, and each time I've done so, I feel upset with myself for having not said something. The problem has been that typically at the moment, emotions get the best of me and I don't think as cleverly as I should and I feel I will say something that will zing to hard and be hurtful rather than helpful. I wish I could stay calm and level-headed and think more clearly in these situations.