don's report archive

by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.

Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

Ted Haggard, Mark Foley and now Republican Senator Larry "Family Values" Craig -- all caught red-handed, so to speak, in the act of theocracy - I mean hypocrisy. These three and countless other self-righteous Republicans, priests, ministers and other faith-based zealots often find themselves tried in the court of public opinion and found guilty for sundry misdemeanors relating to sexual conduct, when in fact their worst offense is preaching one thing while engaging in the other. Or, preaching against something (homosexuality, in other words) while engaging in it. As screenwriter, playwright, and lyricist, Sherman Yellen remarked ("Fear and Self Loathing in Idaho," Huffington Post, August 30, 2007), "You need a canary and a miner's lamp to gaze into that noxious heart of darkness and stay alive." Or, if you really want to see a hypocrite lanced, read Nina Burleigh, another blogger on the same website, who offered this interpretation of the bizarre comeuppance of yet another holier-than-thou Right Wing Republican: "Prick any conservative and the kink oozes out."

I deplore most Republicans for their intolerance and for bringing this country as near to ruin as it has come in my lifetime. The years since my arrival in 1938 have seen some pretty serious threats, such as Nazis, the Soviet Union and McCarthyism, for samplers. But nearly seven years of Bush and a Republican House and Senate (until the last election) have pulled the US down financially, militarily, ethically, morally and socially to the point wherein our democracy is more fragile, our rights less secure and our future less promising than it has ever been in my time.

Just the same, I have to wonder why we (society) get so worked up over weird behavior. Is it because there is something sexual about the offense, as in this case? (Personally, it's hard to understand what could ever be pleasurable about the kind of activity described in the arrest report in the case of Senator Craig.) It does not appear to me that the senator inflicted serious harm on anyone, in fact, the whole episode looks suspiciously like a waste of police resources. Is Minnesota so crime free that it can afford to station cops in bathroom stalls at airports to catch gay people rubbing their shoes together, holding hands or whatever else they might manage in and around one or two toilet bowls?

OK, I know most of us, myself included, don't want to be harassed or otherwise pestered by weird come-ons and overtures for sex or whatever in public restrooms or anywhere else, but is this a crime worthy of the punishments in this case, including job loss, public humiliation and banishment - for starters? Whatever happened to proportionality?

What am I missing here?

Here's my point of view: I think a lot of folks could make a modest advance in their current levels of well being by lightening up a bit. I suggest consciously choosing not to freak out quite so much by behaviors of which they do not approve that do not cause grievous or even minor pervasive annoyance to others.

I also suggest that Republican politicians in Congress moderate or, better yet, eliminate their signature intolerance and holier than thou proclamations and policy positions. Better to recognize that their "family values" agenda gives too little attention to common decencies and far too much to religious-inspired prejudices and condemnations.

Well, that's my take on this incident. What's yours?

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the MENTAL DOMAIN under the skill area of mental health. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

 Send e-mail to Don Ardell