Good Friday: Pizza vs. Jesus
Posted on April 9, 2004 at 11:48 am | No Comments
It’s a beautiful spring Friday here in Boston. The sun is shining, work is relatively quiet, Fenway Park will be filling up shortly, and the weekend is looking so good. Figured we needed something sorta special for lunch today, so I drove from Copley across the river to pick up some Pinocchio’s in Harvard Square. Best pizza around. Square, Sicilian-style perfection.
I’m placing the order for it this morning and my workmates overhear me.
“One 15-piece sicilian, half cheese, half pepperoni. 11:30 pick up. Thank ya.” (click)
One of my co-workers appears in my cube…
Whoa, hold on there. Did you just ask for pepperoni?.
“Um, yeah… isn’t that what we got last time? Half and half?”
Well, um, it’s Good Friday. No meat for us.
The look on my heathen face shows my surprise. “Seriously?”.
Now, of course I’m vaguely familiar with the ‘no food on certain days’ thing, but I’ve rarely thought about it, and certainly never made a faith-based faux-pas like this one. I didn’t even realize these co-workers were all that religious. I mean, it’s not like the subject comes up much at work.
While I was raised Roman Catholic (a label that now sounds fairly alien to me), I’ve followed my own disjointed, disillusioned, then curious, then semi-spiritual path since I was confirmed in my early teens. I’m not what you’d call a “fan” of organized religion in any form, although I’ve got many friends who follow their own religious stylee. Thing is, they don’t preach it to me, don’t shove it in my face, and I respect them for that. It makes me value their beliefs and their individuality even more. I’m of the mind that faith is a deeply personal practice, and those who shout the loudest are usually those sporting the biggest crutches. Too often those who blindly follow are those who shun serious self-reflection, who find it easier to live by a set of pre-existing precepts than to calibrate their own moral compass.
If forced to define my religious beliefs (or lack thereof), I wouldn’t go so far as atheist (“One who disbelieves or denies the existence of God or gods.”). I’ve seen too much weirdness, too much coincidence, too much sporadic magic in my life to believe there’s not something going on behind the scenes. I can’t be so presumptuous as to know there’s no one out there, or in there, or wherever there is. So I’d have to go with agnostic, a phrase that it seems my co-workers equate with athiesm, but it’s a far different animal. Most of you know this, but for those who don’t… “Agnostic, n., 1. a) One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God. b) One who is skeptical about the existence of God but does not profess true atheism.” That would be me. I’m a firm believer in the “everything happens for a reason” philosophy, but I don’t know who or what is running the show. When it comes to a higher power, all I know is that I simply don’t know. I can live my life by the golden rule, and still keep clear of arbitrary, rigid, sometimes discriminatory, and occasionally insane guidelines from some dusty book.
So there I am this morning, the agnostic amongst my anti-pepperoni peeps. They take their ‘meat-free-friday’ pledge seriously, didn’t even want those slices anywhere near their plain cheese pieces. So I called back Pinocchio’s and changed the order… only three pepperoni slices please. The guy on the phone says “Oh, Good Friday, right?”. Exactly.
As I bit into my first piece, contented grin on my face, co-workers around me, I couldn’t resist one last heretical ha-ha. “Take that, Jesus!”, I exclaimed, looking upwards. If I’m going to hell, I’m already well on my way. One piece of pepperoni pizza isn’t going to make the difference. But it sure tasted good.
For my Christian friends and family, have a good Easter weekend. For my Jewish pals and in-laws, I hope you had a wonderful, peaceful seder earlier this week.
Oh, and if someone wouldn’t mind, can you refresh my memory on the whole “no meat on Good Friday” thing? What’s the story behind that, again? Why exactly can’t those Fenway faithfull have their franks? Save me some google time. (update: thanks for the responses… it almost makes sense.)
The Feds vs. Live Music
Posted on April 9, 2004 at 7:54 am | No Comments
From ProtectLiveMusic.org …
Members of Congress think the American people won�t stand up for their rights. On April 24th we�re going to prove them wrong.
Congress is considering legislation that would hold bands, DJs, bartenders, promoters, venue owners, radio stations and others liable if a patron uses drugs at a nightclub or concert. If enacted, music lovers could soon be unable to see their favorite band, DJ or other entertainment live. The economic impact on the music industry could be devastating.
The Ecstasy Awareness Act (H.R. 2962) would throw anyone in jail who �profits monetarily from a rave or similar electronic dance event knowing or having reason to know� if some of the event-goers use drugs. Similarly, Section 305 of the CLEAN-UP Act (H.R. 834) makes it a federal crime – punishable by up to nine years in prison – to promote “any rave, dance, music, or other entertainment event, that takes place under circumstances where the promoter knows or reasonably ought to know that a controlled substance will be used or distributed.”
This makes no sense. Since the government can�t even keep drugs out of our federal prisons, everyone has reason to know drugs may be used at their event. Every music concert attracts some people who may use or sell drugs. These provisions make criminals out of every concert promoter, nightclub owner, and stadium or arena owner.
The language of the Ecstasy Awareness Act is so broad that bartenders, musicians, and anyone else that in any way profited from an electronic music event could be fined or jailed. Section 305 of the CLEAN-UP Act is so broad that every musical style could be affected, including rock, Hip-Hop, country, and electronic music. Indeed, any property owner (including hotel owners, cruise ship owners, and casino owners) could be hurt under the CLEAN-UP Act, since it is reasonable to assume that any entertainment event that draws a large crowd (especially young people) will draw people who will try to use or sell drugs. (It should be noted that Section 305 of the CLEAN-UP Act is the only section of the bill that is problematic. Other than that section, the CLEAN-UP Act is largely a good bill that provides resources to train law-enforcement officers how to dismantle illegal methamphetamine laboratories without hurting the environment).
Disturbingly, it does not matter under either the Ecstasy Awareness Act or the CLEAN-UP Act if event promoters and property owners take steps to deter drug offenses. They can be prosecuted even if they have good security and a strict zero-tolerance policy. Nor does it matter if the vast majority of people attending the event are law-abiding citizens that do not use drugs. These bills criminalize entire events and everyone involved in such events, raising very serious free speech and due process issues. Racist or homophobic prosecutors could also use the laws to target Hip Hop and R&B concerts and gay and lesbian nightclubs.
People should not be punished for the crimes of others, nor should the government be frightening law-abiding businesses away from holding legal events like rock, country, or Hip Hop concerts. The Drug Policy Alliance and its coalition of partners will continue to work to protect the music industry, prevent the further criminalization of dance and music events, and mobilize opposition to these dangerous laws.
For more detailed information on this legislation, click here. Then head on over here to see a few different ways you can help take action.
How many months until the election, again? Can you hear the clock ticking, Bush & Co.?