Life Without St. Liz

Can a woman who belonged to no particular denomination, converted to Judaism, married 8 times, played Cleopatra on screen and off, and scandalized the world with her affairs be made a saint? Benedict XVI certainly wouldn't approve, but there are many people who would nominate her and pray to her image every day. 

Elizabeth Taylor was beautiful to almost everyone: in her marriages she took a stance: you had to be a strong personality, and if you thought you had to compete, then you didn't stand a chance. She attracted both sexes. She learned early on that celebrity status could be used for fun and for compassion. She proved to be what she was most proud of: a survivor. She was vulnerable to physical illness but not to critics of her choice of lifestyle. She was passionate about the people who were her friends* - and she made friends everywhere. She became devoted to helping people with AIDS at a time when many people (e.g. Mike Huckabee) wanted to quarantine the entire gay community. Her compassion seemed eternal. She seemed eternal ... and the patron saint of survivors. 

But, like Benedict XVI, people noticeably shunned her... or at least her persona. 

My mother, only knowing of Elizabeth Taylor's affairs and husbands, (never seeing any of her movies and not knowing of her philanthropy) called her a "high-priced whore." Pulpits screamed about her affair with Richard Burton and synagogues whispered of her seemingly cavalier conversion to Judaism (she was raised in Christian Science). Yes, there were a lot of people through the years who hated the very image of Elizabeth Taylor. They failed to realize that their hatred was against a persona which they themselves had helped to create: every move, every role, every outfit, every love affair was magnified ten times by the excoriations of sacred cows. To them she was a dreaded feminist, screen goddess, home wrecker, libertine, and glamorous evil that pervaded Hollywood. The more they reviled her, the more alluring she became to the American public. She was simply her own person - a person she would not have been if she had followed the dictates of a crumbling Hollywood system  and a group of self-righteous malcontents. 

Some people would go to extravagant lengths to prove that St. Liz had an evil side: on JesusIsSaviour.com Elizabeth is aligned with the Satan because she once gave the "I love you" sign for the deaf and everyone knows that the inventor of the sign, Helen Keller, "was an occultist and Theosophist."

So Elizabeth Taylor will never be canonized a saint. Her image will not grace churches. Miracles will not be attributed to her. Schools will not be named after her. No one will celebrate her birthday or her feast day. People will not hawk her relics. 

Elizabeth Taylor, however, is enshrined everywhere: in art (Andy Warhol's painting of her recently sold for $62 million), in film, in the annuls of charity, in history. She is also shrined in our hearts. 

It will be difficult surviving without Elizabeth Taylor in our lives to tell us how to survive and help others to survive. It will be live without her presence emanating glamor and compassion. To whom can we turn to for advice on living? To whom can we turn to when we need a friend? Our friend, our mistress, our confidante is gone. Hopefully, she is still with us, observing and helping us in her own inimitable way.

Thank you, St. Liz, for everything you've done for us. Please look after us. Amen. 

*She saved the life of actor Montgomery Clift: after a car crash, she saw that he was choking on something, reached into his mouth and pulled out the back teeth that were lodged in his throat. She then covered his head and yelled to the attendant paparazzi that if they didn't leave, she would personally see that they would never work in Hollywood again.

Going Berserk Over the Ten Commandments

 This is what the Lord of  hosts has to say: 'I will punish what Amalek did to Israel when he barred his way as he was coming up from Egypt.  Go, now, attack Amalek, and deal with him and all that he has under the ban.  Do not spare him, but kill men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and asses.'   (1 Samuel 15:2-3 NAB)

“I’d like to see the Ten Commandments posted in public buildings and school rooms,” Dial said. “If it keeps one person from going berserk or killing folks then it’s worth the effort.”

Alabama State Sen. Gerald Dial is seeking the amendment in order to stop people “from going berserk or killing folks,” which presumably occurs due to the absence of the Ten Commandments from public institutions. According to Dial, “Whether you’re Baptist or Christian or Muslim or anything else the Ten Commandments are rules we ought to live by” and “if we did we’d have a much better world.”


Hmmm...Dial better watch out for angry Baptists since he doesn't seem to think they're Christian! And Judaism rates an "anything else." Clearly this guy is a bad extemporaneous orator. I sure wish we had a commandment, "Thous Shalt Not Give Bad Speeches." Just think how many politicians we wouldn't cote for!

To The New Puritans: Religious Freedom's Tough, Isn't It?

At Least, for the "Christian Only" Crowd! 

Did the landing of the Mayflower signal the first country to have true religious freedom? Were the Pilgrims establishing a society based on the freedom to worship (or not to worship) as one sees fit?

Of course not. Puritans were simply fleeing Anglican rule. If there would have been a Puritan-tolerant country that was more civilized while offering free land, you can bet your last dollar that they would have settled in it instead of North America. The Puritan arrival was simply the result of intolerance fleeing intolerance. How long did they put up with Native American religions? Long enough to survive through the first winters on the benevolence of the Indians. It's a wonder the Indians were compassionate at all - the smell of hypocrisy can be quite a strong deterrent, even to people as empathetic as the Massachusett tribe). But eventually, the Puritan Ethic reared its head and the heathens were sorry that the Mayflower ever made it across the pond:

The first Native American translation [of the Bible], completed in 1663, was made into the language of the Massachusett tribe, which the Puritan colonists then promptly wiped out.

                                                          - Ken Davis, Don't Know Much About The Bible.

Back across the Atlantic, after Puritans gained prominence the most prominent Puritan, Oliver Cromwell, had this motto emblazoned on his heraldry:

Pax Quaeritur Bello
Peace is sought by War

Anyway, let's fast forward and concentrate on today's New Puritans.

By the way, who are today's New Puritans? Well, they're the ones who scream "Anti-Christian!" the loudest while softly whispering "Christian Only." The New Puritans are the ones who want tolerance for themselves, but insist on intolerance for other religions. The New Puritans are seeking their fortunes in the New World of Africa while being kept busy keeping their fortunes (and what dignity they have left) intact in America. And throughout all of their attempts at defense and expansion, a transcendent theme is becoming more evident: Christian Supremacy. Rick Warren slyly presented snippets of Christian Supremacy to Muslim-Americans last July 4th. Men like Rod Parsley and Pat Robertson have openly declared the preeminence of Christianity over every other religion, declaring them to be evil. And with his warped sense of history, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council shows just how much of a Supremacist he really is:

"While it is true that the United States of America was founded on the sacred principle of religious freedom for all, that liberty was never intended to exalt other religions to the level that Christianity holds in our country's heritage. Our Founders expected that Christianity--and no other religion--would receive support from the government as long as that support did not violate peoples' consciences and their right to worship. They would have found utterly incredible the idea that all religions, including paganism, be treated with equal deference."

Yeah. And some animals are more equal than others.

Christian Supremacy has been simmering for many years under the guise of "freedom of religion," simply because there were no formidable religions other than Christianity. Protestants could be content with bashing Catholicism, Catholics could revel in labeling Mormonism a cult and the most adverse enemy of all, Judaism, was never really a threat. What Christian Supremacists didn't expect was that the notion of religious freedom would somehow work against their notion that eventually everyone would become Christian. Blinded by the arrogance involved with the "One True Religion," they've been broadsided by America's determination not to show deference to any one religion. 

 

In other words, the New Puritans have at last noticed the Indians: True Religious Freedom.