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Still In Shock

I guess I am still in shock about Tyler Clementi.  Or I am In shock that two fellow college students would violate another person’s privacy so much.  Two roommates at Rutgers evidently filmed his sexual encounter, bragged about it on Twitter and webcast it.  Social Networking gone mad.

In this weekend of the movie premier of  The Social Network about the founding of Facebook the emerging facts of the Tyler Clementi case scream out for our society to have a renewed discussion about acceptable boundaries in the face of the internet and a real discussion about tolerance, acceptance and human sexuality.  There is lots of condemnation but little honest talk about the need to educate our young people.

Two years ago I attempted to teach the so-called teenage sexuality curriculum of our denomination.  It is designed to make our teens think and evaluate and use good judgement. But there wasn’t a single lesson around gay or lesbian issues! And this in a movement that is loving, accepting and advocating for gay folks.   And there was hardly any frank talk about sex.
I had to of course create those lessons on my own.  How will our kids be equipped to go to college and be proud of themselves?  How will our kids be able to use good judgment if we don’t teach them? Openly? Honestly?

My grief for Tyler and those that are driven by so much pain and shame about who they are that they want to kill themselves is so deep.  But we must do something about this deep lack in our education systems and particularly within those religious communities that claim they are open, loving and accepting.

There will be a vigil Tuesday, Oct 5

in West Hollywood Park at 7 pm to support the LGBTQ Teen community in the face of this rash of teen suicides.
The rally will be meeting on the Robertson Blvd. side of the Park (Near the Abbey). You are invited to bring a candle and a friend to show collective commitment to end bullying, bias and hate and to mourn the deaths.

4 thoughts on “Still In Shock”

  1. I pray that Tyler’s soul rest in peace and that this will be a wake up call to all those “holier than thou celebs” in our midst that “know” what’s best for everyone else around them. Unfortunately, there don’t seem to be any wake up calls anymore. We just keep plunging ahead not thinking, not caring and always simply justifying our own actions. And so long as we’re hoping, let’s hope the “people” that did this….have a long long long time to sit in a cell and think about the practical joke they pulled.
    RIP

  2. Pingback: The Holy One Created Tyler; Why Couldn’t His Roommates See His Holiness? | RACBlog

  3. Pingback: The Holy One Created Tyler; Why Couldn’t His Roommates See His Holiness? | RJ Blog

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