ljplicease (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ljplicease) wrote2004-12-24 10:35 pm
ljplicease) wrote2004-12-24 10:35 pm
Entry tags:
- abuse,
- argument,
- athiest,
- australia,
- bear lake,
- british empire,
- byu,
- christmas,
- clare,
- college sports,
- constitution,
- don,
- empire,
- feminist,
- fish,
- funeral potatoes,
- gelatin,
- gough witlam,
- grandma,
- jelly,
- john kerr,
- kay,
- marriage,
- mormons,
- mum,
- naïve,
- neutral,
- nudity,
- photography,
- politics,
- polygamy,
- queen,
- republic,
- slc,
- switzerland,
- utah,
- utah state,
- wine,
- woman
From the Sublime to the Ridiculous
Yesterday we went up to visit my mother's friend and mentor, Clare, at her rustic cabin home which looks over Bear Lake. Last July I took a photograph which now is on the welcome page of my web site up there. For "Christmas" dinner, we had fish. Although I am not a fan of fish and I did not have seconds, it did taste pretty good. We also drank lots of Australian wine; that probably helped.
Clare is an intellectual and a feminist, and one of the smartest people I've met. She has exactly the sort of temperament that I would find very attractive in a woman my own age or thereabouts. I found it interesting to listen to what she had to say about just about everything. This morning we got to talking about and critiquing the Mormon religion. For someone, such as Clare, who is non-religious and who lives in rural Utah, it is quite a treat to converse with people who are not Mormon.
Apparently there are colonies of Mormons who still practice polygamy. I had always assumed that these were largely isolated groups, but it seems this view may have been fairly naïve. The general consensus at the table was that there was no justification for polygamy in the modern world and that by not coming out and condemning it, the church is granting these fringe elements tacit approval, and perpetuating the abuse of women who have little or no legal rights, due to the unofficial status of their "marriages".
Then somehow we got to talking about Australian politics, which usually my mother avoids when my grandmother is around because they have polarized apposing views on the subject. In particular the Constitutional Crisis of 1975 in which Gough Whitlam was dismissed by the then Governor General of Australia John Kerr. My grandmother is a die hard British Imperialist. I say die hard, because although the British Empire has died, she is still very much pro-Empire. My mother on the other hand, takes the position that the dismissal of Gough Whitlam by the representative of a foreign head of state was an illegal act.
I took the part of Switzerland in this argument, although I will admit that am not an impartial witness, as I believe that while the dismissal may have technically been constitutional, I think that the disillusion of the Australian Labor government by a representative of the Queen of England was an abomination and I am an ardent Australian Republican; meaning that Australia should no longer, in this day and age, be a constitutional monarchy and should become the Republic of Australia.
In short, our range of topics was both wide and deep, and intellectually stimulating.
Then we drove back to Salt Lake City where we attended the annual Christmas Eve party for Don's (my step father) family. Gosh... where to begin. First of all, there were about 41 people there from four generations, most of whom knew each other, and many of whom remembered me from last year, but of course since there were so many I had no hope of ever remembering anyone's name, so I just gave up the ghost on that one. There were many screaming children.
Second, we had for grub various strange traditional Mormon foods, such as "Funeral Potatoes" (which are named thus for a good reason, but I forget what it is) and fruit suspended in gelatin dishes. The baked beans were actually pretty good, but you don't want to eat too many of those because... well you know.
Third, a popular topic of conversation was which college team was beating whom. I personally find this to be among the dullest topics ever, but it was actually one of the more interesting ones that evening. From what I can tell almost everyone there went to one of: BYU, University of Utah or Utah State. Each individual of course was rooting for the school that they attended. It was really refreshing to hear one of the mothers say that she hoped that her daughter would chose to go somewhere completely different for college, maybe not even in Utah at all! Maybe even in the northeast. There is hope yet!
Somebody told a story about Kay (one of the few people whose names I do know) involving nudity and a reference to the moon. I didn't quite catch it all but laughed politely. Then he said that he had so many funny stories about Kay he would have trouble choosing one to tell at her funeral. I'm not going to even touch that one. Well maybe I will a little bit: that's just wrong.
After dinner we listened some of the younger kids play the piano out of key and off tempo. One of the "my" generation guys sang an almost passable "Oh Holy Night" to an almost in sync piano rendition. Then one of the - I am guessing - teenagers sang a song she had written with a friend on the beach while strumming her guitar. The refrain for this song was "I love God.. something something something else."
At some point during the... um... I dunno "show" (?)... my mother turned to me and whispered "From the sublime to the ridiculous." By which I took to mean comparing our time at Bare Lake with our time with the crazy Mormons.
And I should say here, that when I say crazy Mormons, they are actually relatively sane. In fact, by Mormon standards they are positively mild and inoffensive. But I am an Atheist, and an evening of shallow conversations and dense religious innuendo grates on nerves, and even saddens me sometimes.
It is possible that what my mum actually meant was referring just to the evening with the crazy Mormons.
Clare is an intellectual and a feminist, and one of the smartest people I've met. She has exactly the sort of temperament that I would find very attractive in a woman my own age or thereabouts. I found it interesting to listen to what she had to say about just about everything. This morning we got to talking about and critiquing the Mormon religion. For someone, such as Clare, who is non-religious and who lives in rural Utah, it is quite a treat to converse with people who are not Mormon.
Apparently there are colonies of Mormons who still practice polygamy. I had always assumed that these were largely isolated groups, but it seems this view may have been fairly naïve. The general consensus at the table was that there was no justification for polygamy in the modern world and that by not coming out and condemning it, the church is granting these fringe elements tacit approval, and perpetuating the abuse of women who have little or no legal rights, due to the unofficial status of their "marriages".
Then somehow we got to talking about Australian politics, which usually my mother avoids when my grandmother is around because they have polarized apposing views on the subject. In particular the Constitutional Crisis of 1975 in which Gough Whitlam was dismissed by the then Governor General of Australia John Kerr. My grandmother is a die hard British Imperialist. I say die hard, because although the British Empire has died, she is still very much pro-Empire. My mother on the other hand, takes the position that the dismissal of Gough Whitlam by the representative of a foreign head of state was an illegal act.
I took the part of Switzerland in this argument, although I will admit that am not an impartial witness, as I believe that while the dismissal may have technically been constitutional, I think that the disillusion of the Australian Labor government by a representative of the Queen of England was an abomination and I am an ardent Australian Republican; meaning that Australia should no longer, in this day and age, be a constitutional monarchy and should become the Republic of Australia.
In short, our range of topics was both wide and deep, and intellectually stimulating.
Then we drove back to Salt Lake City where we attended the annual Christmas Eve party for Don's (my step father) family. Gosh... where to begin. First of all, there were about 41 people there from four generations, most of whom knew each other, and many of whom remembered me from last year, but of course since there were so many I had no hope of ever remembering anyone's name, so I just gave up the ghost on that one. There were many screaming children.
Second, we had for grub various strange traditional Mormon foods, such as "Funeral Potatoes" (which are named thus for a good reason, but I forget what it is) and fruit suspended in gelatin dishes. The baked beans were actually pretty good, but you don't want to eat too many of those because... well you know.
Third, a popular topic of conversation was which college team was beating whom. I personally find this to be among the dullest topics ever, but it was actually one of the more interesting ones that evening. From what I can tell almost everyone there went to one of: BYU, University of Utah or Utah State. Each individual of course was rooting for the school that they attended. It was really refreshing to hear one of the mothers say that she hoped that her daughter would chose to go somewhere completely different for college, maybe not even in Utah at all! Maybe even in the northeast. There is hope yet!
Somebody told a story about Kay (one of the few people whose names I do know) involving nudity and a reference to the moon. I didn't quite catch it all but laughed politely. Then he said that he had so many funny stories about Kay he would have trouble choosing one to tell at her funeral. I'm not going to even touch that one. Well maybe I will a little bit: that's just wrong.
After dinner we listened some of the younger kids play the piano out of key and off tempo. One of the "my" generation guys sang an almost passable "Oh Holy Night" to an almost in sync piano rendition. Then one of the - I am guessing - teenagers sang a song she had written with a friend on the beach while strumming her guitar. The refrain for this song was "I love God.. something something something else."
At some point during the... um... I dunno "show" (?)... my mother turned to me and whispered "From the sublime to the ridiculous." By which I took to mean comparing our time at Bare Lake with our time with the crazy Mormons.
And I should say here, that when I say crazy Mormons, they are actually relatively sane. In fact, by Mormon standards they are positively mild and inoffensive. But I am an Atheist, and an evening of shallow conversations and dense religious innuendo grates on nerves, and even saddens me sometimes.
It is possible that what my mum actually meant was referring just to the evening with the crazy Mormons.