A Few Things I'm Getting Tired Of

Last night while watching "Boston Legal" James Spader's character was arguing a case for a 15 year old girl. His character (whose name I can never remember) usually gets the best cases to argue. And he always makes a strong case for some issue we are facing in our country. Last night in his closing argument he brought up "faith based" initiatives and how the "current administration" has broken the boundary between Church and State.

It gave me pause to think. I really appreciate that prime time television is taking on major issues and arguing them a moral and ethical point of view. I appreciate that they bring faith and religion into the mix.

I am tired of people in the media, whether a TV program, the news, the radio, the newspaper, defining faith ONLY through the lens of ultra-conservative, sometimes fundamentalist, Christianity.

There is a more diverse perspective in this country. There are deeply caring thoughtful people of faith from all across the spectrum who are wrestling with the issues we face today. But only one perspective makes the news. Or at least the headlines, the other perspectives may be buried in the article or a subtext to program, however most people stop reading or their attention wanders before getting that far.

I am tired of the idea that there is a separation of church and state when in this country there really isn't. And, I'm not sure we should go on pretending there is. I think we need to have a broader range of faith based voices speaking up and discussing issues.

I'm tired of headlines about schism. As if THAT is the issue...

I'm tired of anything having to do with Brittany, Lindsay, Paris, or Nicole.

I'm tired of the media obsession with Diana, let the woman rest in peace.

I'm tired of Presidential debates.

I'm tired of media speculation about everything and anything.

I'm tired of the war and the lying and the torture.

I'm tired of an administration that acts like a school yard bully.

I'm tired of studies that indicate this or that causes cancer.

And then next week a study that counters the previous one. I'm tired of those too.

I'm tired of reality TV shows and bad comedy, cop shows, and doctor shows...

I'm not in a bad mood today. I'm not whiny. I'm just sayin'...

...what about you? What are you tired of?

Comments

Anonymous said…
It seems we're tired of a lot of the same things :)

And I think the main reason for the media's obsession with conservative, evangelical Christianity is that they're probably the loudest and most political.
RevErikaG said…
I so get this vibe, mompriest! Today's morning news here in LA was focused on whether Jennifer Lopez was pregnant or not!
Last week there were historic talks between North and South Korea and the news focused on whether Britney was a good mother or not. WHO CARES?!?
Like you, I'm tired of focusing on things that don't really matter!
Terri said…
kievas, sadly they are the loudest, all the more reason why others need to speak up and not be "afraid" of church/state stuff. I wish Boston Legal had been able to present a more complex faith perspective than the "current administrations faith-based initiatives"....which were the subtext reason why the 15 year old was suing her school.

There is so much good that people of faith are doing in this complicated world. Why can't some of that make the headlines?

hey, erika, glad you stopped by! yeah, the whole "where is Britany now..." or is she pregnant stuff, please...oh my.
Unknown said…
I am tired of people not learning the truth of what is hapening the world, which I think is kind of what you have said here.

Unfortunately the truth is very gray.

I am tired of not being happy.


(I had to look up schism.)
Terri said…
Wyldth1ng, yes, there are always shades of truth, and it is very difficult to learn about what is really going on. So much info is simply not available....

I'm sorry you are not happy. I have felt that way myself many times for long periods of time....
Lori said…
I'm tired of all the same things on your list.

And finally most oh very most of all, I am really tired of myself and like minded folks being too tired and having no time to affect positive change and shifting of the paradigm back to ways of life that will make us energized again.

Remember the mini merry go rounds in parks when we were kids? And the enormous effort it took to change the direction when it spun very fast one way? That's what I'm tired of feeling with all this societal keerap.

Ahhh, thanks, I feel better now. But still don't have enough time to help change anything remarkably.....
personally i'm tired of the media's "twist" of what it is to be conservative or evangelical...

kinda like the jon mayer song (or however he spells his name)...that says of the media "if they own the information then they can bend it all they want"...mmm?
Terri said…
PBG, yup. But still gotta keep tryin'

HC - YES! Me too...can they? Not if we speak up... That's what I mean about having a plurality of voices speaking up and revealing the shades of gray that really exist, not the black and white stuff....

but then again maybe PBG is right, we are all just too tired. Gosh, I hope not. I mean we are tired. I just hope we are not TOO tired...I hope that somehow a little bit is getting through...
RevDrKate said…
Oh yeah! I am tired of AAALLL the same things you all are...and I am also tired of being told what I think and what I need and what I want and what I SHOULD think and need and want. I think a lot of this yammer out there is designed (do I sound paranoid? I get that way when I'm tired) to keep us believing that everything is simple, everything is black and white and that we SHOULD (there's that word again) pick a side and trench in and not ever ever speak to or have any thing to do with the "other side" and if possible maybe even just wipe them right out.
Terri said…
revdrkate, no. you do not sound paranoid. You sound like a woman fed up with a lot of stuff in our world...sigh...me too.
Katherine E. said…
Bravo to your list, mompriest! I'm with you!

I'm tired of Congress...for lack of leadership, for polarization, for assuming we're all dummies and can't see through their keerap (as PG put it), for oh, for so many reasons!

I'm tired of stupid violent movies.

I'm tired of milk that goes bad, and sugar-free ice cream (that definitely has something in it that doesn't agree with me!)

I'm tired of people who mumble.

I'm tired of those horrible crickets that are still invading my office. Crunch crunch crunch.
Jan said…
I'm tired, tired, tired of all the things you are tired of, too. At the non-violence class tonight, I got tired of our own yammering about these big problems and same-old, same-old stories. . . .We get stuck in our liberal boxes, too. My daughter says she doesn't want to be put into the box her friends expect her to be in, and now I'm feeling the same. . . .
Grace thing said…
Amen, sister.
Diane M. Roth said…
I'm tired of being tired.

I'm tired of trying to do everything.

I'm tired of hearing about "the media"

and I'm tired of how "the media" is not doing what they are supposed to be doing as the 4th estate

I'm tired of who our heroes mainly are (Britney? Paris?) (How about Will Steger?)

I'm tired of ennui.

I want to be excited about something
Terri said…
Stuck in our own liberal boxes...that is at the heart of a lot of this, that an yammering but not really doing anything...or not doing anything about this stuff because we are tired from just trying to make a living....

Wouldn't it be nice to be excited about something...
revhipchick said…
AMEN & AMEN! i'm totally hearing all of my sisters this morning and most every day now that i think about it.

we definately need to break down all the damn boxes!

we need to find a way to raise our voices loud and clear that there are a MULTITUDE of xian perspectives in this country and that's GOOD!

great post mompriest!

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