ATHOL DICKSON

Culture

Tolerance For (Almost) Everyone

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The Big Bag Theory
The show is very funny. The actress, not so much.

Although I’m not a fan of network television, I do enjoy “The Big Bang Theory.” It’s a consistently funny show, which reminds me of such all time greats as “Cheers”, “Seinfeld”, and “Malcolm In the Middle”.

So I was interested when I saw an article entitled “Mayim Bialik: Hollywood is not friendly to people of faith.” Mayim Bialik plays Amy, the geeky girlfriend of Sheldon, played by Jim Parsons, star of The Big Bang Theory. (That’s Bialik in the upper right of the photo.)

In the article Bialik says, “I think in general it’s never going to be trendy to be observant or religious in Hollywood circles.” She also discusses being attacked with anti-Semitic comments on her blog simply because she said “I’ve gone to Israel” to visit a friend.

Christians have long believed the entertainment industry discriminates against us because of our beliefs, but this was the first time I’d heard of a Jew with the same complaint. Wanting to learn more, I went over to Bialik’s blog. Imagine my surprise to discover a post there, in which Bialik bashes a store merely for playing Christian music.

In the post Bialik announces she was “dumbfounded” to realize the music in the background was (gasp!) “singing about Jesus Christ.” When Bialik confronted the manager, who apparently did not share her concern, she “was shocked. I couldn’t stop my mouth from saying the words, ‘I don’t want to shop here,’ and I stumbled out the door.”

This, in a blog which also includes a post about the LGBTQ community which is presented with the hope that it “will inspire respectful conversation” and “build bridges to community and understanding for us all.” Community and understanding for all except Christians, apparently.

In addition to her acting career, Mayim Bialik is a neuroscientist, who wrote a dissertation called “Hypothalamic regulation in relation to maladaptive, obsessive-compulsive, affiliative, and satiety behaviors in Prader-Willi syndrome” (PhD Diss., UCLA, 2007). So Dr. Bialik is not an ignorant woman, or a woman unfamiliar with logic or deductive reasoning. This makes it all the more puzzling that she would complain on the one hand about antisemitism and a generally anti-religious atmosphere in Hollywood, while simultaneously complaining about a store simply because it plays Christian music.

This makes it all the more puzzling that she would complain on the one hand about antisemitism and a generally anti-religious atmosphere in Hollywood, while simultaneously complaining about a store simply because it plays Christian music.

As a Jew and an intelligent person, how can Mayim Bialik not understand that intolerance breeds intolerance? How can she expect the store owners to be silent about their faith, while simultaneously complaining about the Hollywood elite in who want her to keep her Judaism to herself? Does she really expect her fans to sympathize with bashing a store for playing Christian music, and also respect her Judaism? The hypocrisy is breathtaking. Yet this kind of doublethink is popping up everywhere, it seems.

I just left this comment on Bialik’s post:

“I get a little creeped out in home decor shops that sell statues of Buddha or Hindu gods, and I do notice when a Jewish restaurateur or shop owner puts a mezuzah on their door jamb. But so what? If you truly want a pluralistic society, you have to get comfortable with people being who they truly are. Otherwise, you’re just giving lip service to ideas like tolerance and diversity, when what you really want is a world where everyone is just like you.”

It’s too bad I had to write those words to an intelligent woman who is a member of one of history’s most persecuted minorities. Honestly, sometimes it seems like the world has gone insane.

Submarine Fun

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H. L. Hunley
Detail from 1864 painting of H. L. Hunley by Conrad Wise Chapman

Ever since I saw 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as a boy, I’ve been fascinated by boats in general, and submarines in particular. I spent a lot of rainy days during my grade school years drawing designs for my father to build in the garage. It seemed obvious the contraptions could be cobbled together easily from empty oil drums, if only Dad would cooperate. Alas, he had other plans.

One design that seized my imagination early on was real.

The H. L. Hunley was a people powered submarine used by the Confederate forces in the War of Northern Aggression to sink the Union sailing ship Housatonic which was part of the blockade of Charleston harbor. The Hunley also sank that night, for the third and final time. It’s a fascinating story filled with courage, romance, and a Dickson (although he spelled his name incorrectly) which you can see here.

The H.L. Hunley has been found and raised. It now rests in a giant water tank at a museum in Charleston. I visited the museum a couple of years ago, and highly recommend the experience. This morning they sent an announcement about their 12th annual oyster roast, which I am posting below for those in the Charleston area area who may be interested in oysters, BBQ, scientists, history and…submarines!

H. L. Hundley Oyster Roast!

Should Everybody Vote?

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dirty-jobs-101316
Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe

Some guy named Mike Rowe, who I just learned is a TV star or something*, was recently asked by a fan named Jeremy to “encourage [his] huge following to go out and vote in this election.” All the coolest Hollywood stars are doing it, so apparently it’s a good idea, right?

Mr. Rowe’s answer is remarkable, both for its common sense and for its courage, because in an industry which specializes in spreading propaganda, few have the courage to speak common sense like this:

I’m afraid I can’t encourage millions of people whom I’ve never met to just run out and cast a ballot, simply because they have the right to vote. That would be like encouraging everyone to buy an AR-15, simply because they have the right to bear arms. I would need to know a few things about them before offering that kind of encouragement.

Mr. Rowe’s reply just gets better from there, so head over to his Facebook page to read the whole thing. And by the way, if you want to read the book he recommends at the end, you can get it here.

* I wasn’t sure who Mike Rowe is because I stopped watching cable and network television about many years ago. It was clogging too many arteries in my brain.

Whose Fault Is This?

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Americans On Election Day
Americans On Election Day

It’s hard to believe one of our political parties has actually nominated a Presidential candidate who objectifies and denigrates millions of Americans, who lives above the law like a potentate in a banana republic, who clearly has no moral or ethical standards whatsoever except “if it’s good for me it’s good”, who will tell any lie necessary to win, and whose only reason for being a Presidential nominee is the corruption of their own political party. It’s even harder to believe that I just described both of our choices for President in 2016. Yet here we are.

This is such a sorry state of affairs, it’s natural to ask how we got here, and who’s to blame. But maybe that’s the wrong question. Maybe we should be asking questions more like these:

Who turned “reality” TV into a runaway hit? Who made “stars” out of people like Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton? Who looked the other way when a President turned the Oval Office into a bordello? Who continued to reelect career politicians simply because they promised free stuff? Who rewarded the news media with higher ratings when they replaced journalism with partisan propaganda? Who stood by silently while the nation’s universities banished free speech in favor of brain washing? Who filled the comment sections of websites with vicious attacks on total strangers simply because they disagree?

We did.

We did all of that, and much worse besides. So we’re the ones responsible for choices like Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton . They are a perfect reflection of who we have become as a people. And until we begin to live like civilized human beings who value and demand old fashioned things like civility, logic, honor, modesty, integrity, and ethics, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are just what we deserve.