Let George do it!
The above headline does not refer to Cardinal George, President George Bush (either one), George Lucas or even Boy George. The reference is to an outdated slang phrase that meant someone else should be responsible for accomplishing a particular task.
Come to think about it, the slang may not be so outdated after all.
The other day a reader sent me a thick envelope stuffed with pages from an “alternative” newspaper published here in Chicago. The reader—and since it wasn’t signed and I couldn’t tell by the handwritten note whether it was a him or a her—was clearly offended by some material in the paper.
Not that I blame him. Or her.
Along with a few caustic remarks about the church, the newspaper was advocating that young teen-age girls practice promiscuity, homosexuality and other titillating activities not usually addressed in public.
“Mr. Sheridan,” read his (or her) note, “can you please do something to stop this filthy (publication) from being sent to our Chicago public libraries? This immoral publication is counterproductive to our kids being raised properly. Doesn’t the library board know what is going on?”
The unnamed reader has a point. It’s clear there are many things more public now—not necessarily new, just more public—than in previous generations. You could make the point that people once knew when to be discreet. Apparently, that point is long past.
Some publications were under wraps and under the counter. They were there because society insisted.
That day, too, is long gone.
There’s an unfortunate attitude that exists these days that if you’re bothered by seeing something, well, don’t look. That solves the immediate problem but may create a much more longer lasting, societal, one.
Does the library board care? Probably not, and anonymous letters are unlikely to change that. And while I, with a long career in secular journalism, won’t argue freedom of expression, free speech and freedom of the press, I would support some decent manners in public.
What does all this have to do with George, no matter which one?
The church just celebrated Pentecost, the memorialization of the Holy Spirit’s descent upon the disciples after the resurrection of Jesus.
You remember: It was at Pentecost that the Spirit emboldened the women and men hiding in that upper room. Emboldened them so that they burst forth from that room and spread faith throughout the world.
People once enforced genteel behavior on the rowdier elements of society by standing up and making their voices heard. By making a stink. A recent letter to the editor in a local daily newspaper recently took Father Andrew Greeley to task for offering his take on making the world a better place. The letter-writer suggested that maybe Greeley “should get back to what he was ordained to do.”
Funny thing is, that’s what Greeley was doing. And maybe what we all should be doing.
Because, sometimes, we’re all named George. That’s part of what we believe happens at baptism; faith isn’t only for the inside of a church; it’s for changing society. It’s up to us all.
While I would never criticize our anonymous reader for wishing to make things better, there’s little likelihood that a single unsigned letter to the editor of the local Catholic newspaper will have much impact. But a public campaign, a concerted complaint to stores and libraries offering the publication might. Go on, ruffle a few feathers for God.
That’s still the truth and the heart of Pentecost. We are still those disciples. We are still those people being encouraged and challenged to burst through doors, to become evangelizers of the Gospel, to proclaim the Kingdom of God, to share the love of God and to invite Jesus back into the world.
—Tom Sheridan
Editor and General Manager
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Tom Sheridan
Editor and General Manager
