Yesterday I went to Franklin Tennessee to experience the Dickens Fair. The weather was cold and wet and the citizens who dress as varying Dickens characters were there but clearly it was rough but still charming as everything that town seems to do. That said when you are rich and white and live in a better "county"; everything is county related here in Tennessee and in turn that is how you identify places, Franklin is in Williamson County the apparently RICHEST county in the ENTIRE United States. Funny how they can't pay for schools but priorities people we got Dickens to do.
The endless booths had more Christian references to the items they were selling and I took a pass as again I believe religion belongs where Gays were in the 50's, in the closet. I managed to find a few things I liked and some new gloves to warm my cold hands and off I went to head to get food for the big storm that was expected and it passed over the area without leaving any further damage then wet roads. But in this area drivers need little encouragement to drive even more badly than they do every day. The car insurance rates must be huge here and hence I rent, drive largely arterial roads and rarely during rush hour. This place seems to never run out of ways to vent their rage if not with guns but with bigger armaments - SUV's.
I am no religious but I do practice the idea of positive energy or that of the Goddesses - white magic. I threw down my Tarot cards and found that my perspective was about moving on past the negativity that has dominated my stay here. I have actually talked to kids in the schools this week and had good exchanges that just enabled me to feel better about the work. I know it is temporary but with only two weeks left and soon I go on medical "leave" I need to make this work to retain my faith in humans. Humanism the most challenging of beliefs.
Today I read the story below about the Nuns who at least lived up to my expectations of the Catholic Church, low ones. Nuns have been largely ignored during the recent controversies and that is simply oversight and neglect which Nuns have no less a role in the Church and its hideous history. A quick reminder that they ran Orphanages that were less than noble. They ran abusive orphanages that were clearly modeled after their male counterparts and which they too were aware if not participating in equally horrific acts even by their silence. The work camps which rivaled any during WWII. Much of it tied to the houses of shame they ran for unwed mothers who were sinners and had to repent for being knocked up out of wedlock. These it also enabled the Church to run a defacto adoption agency taking children from their mothers without consent. And when they knew too much they were likely murdered as the documentary on Netflix, The Keepers, discusses.
I recall the Nuns of my youth at St. Johns and when I think of brutal and bitches I can easily sum up recollections of those women who seemed to be like the people I meet here in Nashville, enraged and frustrated. Gee lack of sex, lack of individualism, no economic independence and co-workers who make Harvey Weinstein seem kindly, makes sense really. So much for faith in Mankind. Try faith in Humans and take men out of the word.
As I sit here I am watching the discussion about the rise in hate crimes and Anti-Semitism and despite my lack of faith I respect that they choose to continue to practice a faith that for centuries has been a source of wars, hate and retribution. And no that Synagogue in Pittsburgh was not the first house of worship that faced a gunman. There was Charleston, Antioch, Sutherland Springs. Those are just some of the many. So is it a rise in Anti Semitism or the rise of guns, hate and the ability to find a place that enables a fast kill shot? You know like the bar in Thousand Oaks, the bar in Florida, the concert in Las Vegas. That is not so much a singular hate message of hate but a really loud yell that we have a gun problem.
When Will and Grace during an episode does a bit where Jack argues with a bunch of people about which minority is the most maligned and marginalized in society it is played for laughs. It ends with the old women closing the door on the white male stating he was the most attacked and Jack thinking it was a ghost. So there you go we have a lot of groups who feel the same. And that rage can only be suppressed for so long.
Regardless of one's faith, religion seems to lead to all kinds of bullshit and really has no place in modern society. It serves no one. And this story of the thieving Nuns will make a great Lifetime movie.
Nuns Stole $500k And Spent It On Gambling And Vacations
Brendan Cole
Newsweek December 9 2018
Two nuns in California allegedly stole more than $500,000 from the school they had been at for years, which they spent in casinos and on vacations.
Bank records show Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Lang had been embezzling funds from St. James Catholic School in Torrence for at least a decade, the Press-Telegram reported.
But officials from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles told parents and alumni of the school that auditors have not been able to trace all of the money trail.
Kreuper had retired as the school's principal earlier this year and she dealt with the school fees, which she allegedly withheld and deposited into an account only she and Chang knew about, the paper said.
While investigators found the two gave some of the stolen money back to the school, the rest was used for their "personal gain." Kreuper has admitted she took the money and expressed remorse.
Monsignor Micheal Meyers, the pastor at St. James Catholic Church sent a letter to pupils’ parents stating that Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, the nuns’ order, is cooperating with the parish and the Archdiocese to find out how much money was taken.
“Our community is concerned and saddened by this situation and regret any injury to our long relationship with the families of the school,” the Order said in a statement.
“The Sisters of St. Joseph both desire and intend to make complete restitution to St. James School,” the Daily Breeze reported.
Police have been informed but the Archdiocese does not intend to pursue criminal proceedings against the sisters.
“At our school, we have initiated additional procedures and oversight policies for financial management and reporting responsibilities,” Meyers wrote.
Archdiocese lawyer Marge Graf said the nuns’ order agreed to pay the school full restitution and impose “severe sanctions” on Kreuper and Chang.
Graf said: “We do know that they had a pattern of going on trips, we do know they had a pattern of going to casinos, and the reality is, they used the account as their personal account.”
There have been calls among some parents for the pair to be charged while others said they should be forgiven.
Jack Alexander of Redondo Beach said that the pair would often go traveling and gambling, claiming they had been given the money by a rich relative.
“These nuns took a vow of poverty and said, ‘Oh no, we’ve got a rich uncle'. The rich uncle was the parents of the St. James students,” he said.
