Tuesday, July 26, 2005

The White Rose Movement

You see them bringing their CDs to the party, thick vinylized cases clutched in determined hands. Turns out you like Cadence Weapon and Outkast, but they like Megadeth. You like Vitalic and White Rose Movement. But they like Aimee Mann. You like Avenge Sevenfold and Blood Brothers. And Aqua! But they don't. So out goes your music, and in goes their stuff. They never ask, do they? You could say, "No, thanks," then, or you could nod politely and say, "Why not?". Or engage them in a lively game of Chinese checkers. Or loudly laugh and punch them in the meaty part of their shoulders. But your party, your car, your stereo, should never be taken for granted. Let them get their own! How is that unreasonable? And by the way, I LOATHE Avenge Sevenfold. But I'm not going to hit up some random goth/metal/glam/hardcore party and slip "My Oh My (Spike, Clyde'n'Eightball Club Mix)" into the CD player. K, well, I might, but I'll bloody well ask first.

Which means I am for the Catholic Church, and I am against the woman-priest movement. "Nine women," the National Post says, "were ordained as Roman Catholic priests and deacons on the St. Lawrence River yesterday." Ordained? Such a term implies offical recognition. Ordained by whom? Not by the Vatican, or by anyone speaking for the Vatican. Therefore, not ordained by the Vatican. Therefore, not Roman Catholic. Listen, I personally am not against female priests, deacons, pastors, reverends, or female anything in religion. But these women are coming to a party to which they've never been invited. They're wedding crashers. To be labelled a Roman Catholic, one must hold certain positions, certain definitions. To hold other positions is to redefine oneself by another label. To believe, for instance, in the divine authority of Allah is to label oneself Muslim. To believe in the divine authority of Jesus Christ, who said "No man cometh to the Father except by me" is, among many things, to exclude oneself from Islam. To believe that women may be appointed as priests is to exclude oneself from the Roman Catholic church. To insist otherwise is to pigheadedly play your unwelcome Meshuggah over someone else's Electrocute.


Reading: No reading! Reading is over. I'm never reading again. Reading is a city in England. A county? Somebody else google that. I'm never going there, tell you that. I'd rather go to Little Storping. Reading is right out.

Listening: Saturday morning, J phoned me at work. "Are you sitting down?" he said. "Arcade Fire is coming to Edmonton! With Wolf Parade!" I checked the tour dates on Merge and Sub Pop and IT'S TRUE! YAY! I thought I would have to move to Chicago or Belgium before I would ever hear these guys live. And I hear they're amazing live! BUT I will not post any AF links or any signposts to WP. I will keep my excited smile under wraps. Wraps! Today, I am listening to a different side of things, the side of things against other things, the good against the bad. But I am not alone. Many are here with me. Even Morrissey, it turns out, is listening to "Love Is A Number" + White Rose Movement

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