C
chevalier
Guest
Even though a couple of days has passed since the last reply and it is already lent now, I would like respectfully to suggest that perhaps one could include a word or two on what the limits of the special day circumstance are. While it won’t be gluttony to eat a lot, or drunkenness to get tipsy during a carnival celebration, as, after all, we’re supposed to have fun, enjoy food and drink and dance and wine, there are some things that I believe the special day circumstance doesn’t include.
In a different forum, I’ve been participating in a debate which started exactly on the day of Mardi Gras (or the day before, I don’t remember) and touches specifically on the flashing and other abuse that tourists bring to New Orleans under the guise of a local tradition. There has been a protestant (calvinist) poster, claiming that the Catholic Church has had no problem with such things as flashing or French-kissing strangers for beads, and that it was included in the leeway scope for carnival, practically on par with the reverse-fast of eating and drinking. It’s been a long debate with scripture quotes, theologists and Canon Law flying around like grenades, but not much of a sensible result. I’m not one of those people who believe that nudity is wrong of its own and nudists go to hell or that french-kissing is a mortal sin. But something is obviously wrong when beads come into question and when the nudity is hardly “functional”. I could be convinced about Rio samba dancers who aren’t even wearing bikinis, but I won’t be convinced about raw flashing, especially if it’s done in exchange for something material, tangible, like beads. I don’t have a problem with someone French-kissing his girlfriend or boyfriend, but something is visibly wrong when it comes to strangers, let alone several successive strangers on one day, let alone if it’s done for beads. I don’t want to judge people who do that, but for me, that custom is prostitution lite and the fact that so many people don’t see anything wrong about it (up to the point of a crucifix hanging down a flasher’s bared chest) is alarming. People will notice and speak against the most ostensible excesses, but the whole custom is benefitting from an illusion of normalcy. Eh, there are girls who will flash when asked by a stranger because of the pressure to comply with established customs and rules, leading even up to the impression that it would be wrong to refuse.
So, just in case, I believe children and teenagers should be warned against giving in to the need to fit in, against the popular illusion of the thing being harmless or the idea that the carnival might justify such things. Just a word, just in case. Some advance guidance in time so that guiding back to the right path wouldn’t be needed in the future. Not every child has enough clearness of mind and strength of will to resist the power of the “custom” and its allure along with all the disguise and illusion. Life won’t end for a girl who flashes or kisses a stranger, but it’s not something I would be glad to hear about my daughter doing, if I had one.
In a different forum, I’ve been participating in a debate which started exactly on the day of Mardi Gras (or the day before, I don’t remember) and touches specifically on the flashing and other abuse that tourists bring to New Orleans under the guise of a local tradition. There has been a protestant (calvinist) poster, claiming that the Catholic Church has had no problem with such things as flashing or French-kissing strangers for beads, and that it was included in the leeway scope for carnival, practically on par with the reverse-fast of eating and drinking. It’s been a long debate with scripture quotes, theologists and Canon Law flying around like grenades, but not much of a sensible result. I’m not one of those people who believe that nudity is wrong of its own and nudists go to hell or that french-kissing is a mortal sin. But something is obviously wrong when beads come into question and when the nudity is hardly “functional”. I could be convinced about Rio samba dancers who aren’t even wearing bikinis, but I won’t be convinced about raw flashing, especially if it’s done in exchange for something material, tangible, like beads. I don’t have a problem with someone French-kissing his girlfriend or boyfriend, but something is visibly wrong when it comes to strangers, let alone several successive strangers on one day, let alone if it’s done for beads. I don’t want to judge people who do that, but for me, that custom is prostitution lite and the fact that so many people don’t see anything wrong about it (up to the point of a crucifix hanging down a flasher’s bared chest) is alarming. People will notice and speak against the most ostensible excesses, but the whole custom is benefitting from an illusion of normalcy. Eh, there are girls who will flash when asked by a stranger because of the pressure to comply with established customs and rules, leading even up to the impression that it would be wrong to refuse.
So, just in case, I believe children and teenagers should be warned against giving in to the need to fit in, against the popular illusion of the thing being harmless or the idea that the carnival might justify such things. Just a word, just in case. Some advance guidance in time so that guiding back to the right path wouldn’t be needed in the future. Not every child has enough clearness of mind and strength of will to resist the power of the “custom” and its allure along with all the disguise and illusion. Life won’t end for a girl who flashes or kisses a stranger, but it’s not something I would be glad to hear about my daughter doing, if I had one.