The Michigan Daily - Monday, August 1, 2005 - 5
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Wasting my life
Homosexuality
promotes sex with
children, beasts
TO THE DAILY:
I have received word of the New
York Pizza Depot rainbow sticker
issue (Gay pride sticker sparks con-
troversy at pizzeria, 07/18/05) via e-
mail from Andrew Shirvell. Being a
recent University alum, I remember
enjoying great pizza many times at
NYPD with a wonderful environ-
ment that typified what it meant to
be in Ann Arbor.
I remember many businesses that
obviously catered to the homosexu-
al agenda and made this known by
displaying a rainbow sticker on the
storefront window. While there is
a notion that people who choose to
live sexually perverted lives are wel-
come in the store as any other pay-
ing customer would be, there is an
underlining deeper issue.
Displaying the rainbow sticker
is not a symbol so that homosexu-
als can know who will accept their
business and who will not. It is a
symbol to further the radical homo-
sexual agenda, spearheading the
deeper motive of normalizing the
homosexual lifestyle. When sexu-
ally deviant lifestyles are normal-
ized and embraced in a society, then
their breakdown begins. When we
embrace one form of sexual devi-
ance, then we begin a trend that
embraces more and more sexually
perverted lifestyles. Pedophilia, bes-
tiality and other sickening sins will
logically follow the progression.
God ordained sexual relation-
ships to be between one man and one
woman in holy marriage. Period.
This has always proven to be the
best way for society and individuals.
Watch and see - if homosexual-
ity is embraced, then accepting these
other sins will not be much of a stretch
to make as the trend continues.
I strongly encourage you to stand
up for what is godly in this situation.
Ask the question, "What would
Jesus do?" Our highest and most
noble aspiration in life is to follow the
perfect example of Jesus Christ. He
showed us how to live and then urged
us to "follow him" no matter what it
might cost us. Jesus would certainly
minister to the homosexuals, as he
ministered to all types of sinners. In
fact, he was often considered to be a
sinner just from his association with
them. However, the rainbow sticker
is not an emblem that you are seeking
to love and minister to these patrons
as you would anyone else. To all, it
is painfully clear that these stickers
are meant to show your support for
their lifestyle. Why should a business
feel compelled to do this? Is one in
business to sell a product to all who
walk in the doors or to be a tool of
the homosexual agenda?
I believe that Jesus would minister
to the homosexuals as he did to all
types of people. He would go out on
the streets and converse with them
in an upfront, loving manner, bring-
ing these lost souls to repentance
and new life as His followers.
Jesus was willing to suffer and
take up His cross, and He calls us to
follow in His steps. We must be will-
ing to do God's will and lead holy
pleasing lives to God no matter what
the cost. Jesus said to "be harmless
as doves and wise as serpents." Do
not be deceived by the obviously
sinful agenda the rainbow sticker
has come to represent! Demonstrate
wisdom by acknowledging what the
sticker represents and the reputation
of a business by showing this. Dem-
onstrate holiness by not agreeing to
promote this agenda. Demonstrate
courage by tearing down divisive,
sinful emblems and promoting love
and acceptance of all people, not
lifestyles.
Mark Drinkall
Alum
ALEXANDRA JONES Cc
So I had a
bit of a rev-
elation this
week. The blatant
obviousness of
the idea to which
I was so suddenly
introduced makes
me feel like a tool
to tell you about
it, but here goes: I have, for most of
the past six months, felt increasingly
tweaked - anxious, stressed out, over-
worked, depressed, hopeless. There
was no unforeseen trauma, no death or
illness, nothing big to report. All I did
was go to my shitty classes, work at my
shitty job, come home to my tiny and
perpetually messy apartment and feel
bad that I wasn't cheerful and energetic
when I saw my boyfriend. All I could
think about was how, no matter how
much or how hard I worked, I'd never
get to a point where I could stop. After
classes ended, all I did was work (food
service, for those of you who don't
know) and feel like, somehow, nothing
was ever going to get any better. And I
hated myself for not snapping out of it,
for not being able to suck it up and deal
with my crappy situation.
So one day, after six hours of chok-
ing back tears at the insurmountable
injustice that separated me from the
comfortable middle-class profession-
als to whom I serve skim lattes for a
living, I came home to a present from
my boyfriend. It was a book called
"How to Be Idle" - I'll spare you the
details, but go read it, now - and it's by
Tom Hodgkinson, who happens to edit
a British magazine called The Idler. At
first glance, I thought it must be some
tongue-in-cheek, ultimately pointless
self-help book; rather, it's one of the more
seditious tracts I've ever read. Hodgkin-
son encourages us to take our lives back
from the post-Industrial workday and
become "master(s) of the self' through
laziness - dozing past 8 a.m., taking
long lunches, napping, drinking. To him,
"living is an art," not whatever you do
when you're not working. I hadn't been
doing anything, really, besides working,
and that's what was driving me crazy.
We're taught from childhood that
working is a virtue: Ever since my sis-
ter and I were old enough to wash a dish
or Windex a surface, my parents foisted
many household chores on us. Perfectly
normal, but here's where the bullshit
comes in: I don't know if my stressed
out, well-meaning parents read this in
a book or came up with it themselves,
but they stipulated that the day's chore
had to take at least half an hour. Rather
than rewarding the speed and efficien-
cy with which I could, say, clean the
bathroom or vacuum the floor, they
created a mandatory maximum. It's
normal - instinctive, even - to want
to expend the least possible time and
energy on a task, whether you're hunt-
ing for sustenance or making a living.
It's why I wait until the last minute to
do schoolwork and chores. While those
things might not qualify as drudgery, I
need sufficient time to relax, slack off
and otherwise dick around beforehand.
The thing is, it's hard not to getcaught
up in the cycle. If you're anything like
me, you probably think of yourself as a
fun-loving,relaxed pleasure-seeker: You
like to sleep late, drink on weekends and
other special occasions, and participate
in activities you enjoy. You're not crazy
about work or studying, but hey, that's
what pays for all the fun you're so fond
of - there's no way to get around that.
So you do your damnedest to get ahead
career-wise, volunteering for assign-
ments and tasks, staying late, taking
a full course load and generally doing
more than is expected of you. Because,
as we're reminded whenever we feel
like slacking off, money is what makes
fun andcomfort possible. We getmoney
by working our asses off, by competing
for status in the eyes of our peers and
superiors. The crazy thing is that we've
been training all our lives to, well, not
be able to have one.
So here's this week's big question:
Why the fuck should we work so hard
in school when all we're getting after we
graduate is I.) a huge student loan debt,
which goes along nicely with 2.) the
opportunity to work, five days a week
and probably more, for the rest of our
lives in order to be seen as the respect-
able, too-busy-to-thinkbuying machines
we are? And, more importantly, when
are we going to stop?
Jones is a Dailyfall/winter associate arts
editor.She can be reached at
alma jo@utich.edu.
The not-quite-as-great generation
KARL STAMPFL 5>'(N\ N
LETTERS POLICY
The Michigan Daily welcomes letters from all of its readers. Let-
ters from University students, faculty, staff and administrators will be given
priority over others. Letters should include the writer's name, college and
school year or other University affiliation. The Daily will not print any letter
containing statements that cannot be verified.
Letters should be kept to approximately 300 words. The Michi-
gan Daily reserves the right to edit for length, clarity and accuracy. Longer
"viewpoints" may be arranged with an editor. Letters will be run according
to order received and the amount of space available.
Letters should be sent over e-mail to tothedaily@michigandaily.com
or mailed to the Daily at 420 Maynard St. Editors can be reached via e-mail
at editpage.editors @umich.edu. Letters e-mailed to the Daily will be given pri-
ority over those dropped off in person or sent via the U.S. Postal Service.
f aliens are
tuning in to
our television
shows, they must
not have a very high
opinion of the 18 to
24-year-old demo-
graphic. Chalk that
up to MTV, which
portrays us as
petty drama queens whose few concerns
include winning challenges on Road
Rules and making the high school cheer-
leading squad.
Don't believe me? Right now I'm
watching "The '70s House," and Peter
just said to a fellow housemate "I don't
feel like you be keeping it real in this
house" after someone failed to wash a
cereal bowl from breakfast.
On CNN, our parents usher in the
computer age and demonstrate Amer-
ica's resilience after Sept. 11 on CNN.
("Then the firefighters rushed into the
collapsing building, eyes blazing with
courage.") Our grandparents stave off
Nazism and survive the Great Depres-
sion on The History Channel. ("We have
nothing to fear but fear itself.") Mean-
while, we stand by as Xzibit pimps our
rides and Ashton Kutcher tricks celeb-
rities into awkward situations on MTV.
("Look like you been punk'd, dawg.")
I'm not worried about what aliens
think of our hip-hop flippancy, but I am
worried about how our elders perceive us
as a result of what they see on television.
After all, they are the people who will
hire us when we get out of college and
who decide whether our teenage brothers
and sisters can enter convenience stores
at a clip of more than two at a time. If
MTV has convinced them of our child-
ishness, we could all win Nobel prizes,
and we still wouldn't stand much chance
of earning their respect.
In the last week, I've watched a spat-
tering of MTV from the perspective of a
45-year-old. Here's what I found:
Saturday, 1 p.m.: Xzibit changes
someone's life by painting his broken-
down Dodge Caravan psychedelic colors
and inserting faux-waterfalls. And who
says our generation isn't generous?
Sunday, 8 p.m.: On "The '70s House,"
a group of twenty-somethings are locked
into a house and immersed in the culture
of the '70s. Sample quote: "It's not fair
that we have to wear these '70s clothes all
the time." Later, on a preview for a future
installment, one of the girls says, "Um,
I didn't use the record player because I
don't even know how to!"
Tuesday, I a.m:: On "Room Raid-
ers," a lesbian searches the room of
a trio of girls to decide which one to
date. She finds scandalous underwear,
handcuffs and other assorted items that
you wouldn't want your parents to find.
Nothing says responsible young adult
like agreeing to share your sex toys on
national television.
Wednesday, 9 p.m.: On "Made," a
girl is frustrated because her quest to
become prom queen is failing. One of
her friends puts a poster advertising her
campaign in the boys' washroom. A
few seconds later, her friend comes in
and says: "They pissed on it, and they
ripped it off. That's not cool!" Later in
the show, a classmate rips the head off
of another one of her posters.
If you're an older person and you're
watching this, what are you thinking?
Probably not that our generation is ambi-
tious and resilient. If they've watched
even only 15 minutes of MTV while flip-
ping through the channels, people must
think we're disrespectful, sex-crazed,
petty, selfish and utterly obsessed with
Lindsay Lohan. Now that's the kind of
person I want to have in my office. If we
keep this up, our grandparents will be
known as the Greatest Generation, and
we'll be known as the Not-Quite-As-
Great Generation.
Don't get me wrong; MTV is enter-
taining, cutting-edge and a huge money-
maker. I don't think it should change to
the point where it shows teenagers doing
community service 24 hours a day. That
would be inaccurate and, worse, boring.
But maybe it could meet the older gener-
ation halfway. The network could maybe
show one normal kid once, say, every
two or three days, and older people could
agree to keep an open mind and divide
reality from reality television.
If that fails, all is not lost - at least the
aliens will think we're attractive.
Stampflis a DailyfAll/winter administra-
tion beat reporter. He can be reached at
kstampf@umich.edu.