We headed south to LA on August 3 to attend my sister, Duyen's graduation from Pepperdine University, and the wedding of one of our childhood friends, Andy, the next day.
My first question is, what is with it with LA traffic??? I come from Silicon Valley, I'm used to congestion and road rage. But what is it about LA that costs you two hours of your life commuting in any one direction, regardless of distance??
Enough of that rant. This post should be about how happy I am for my sister and my friend. :-)
So, we attended my sister's graduation from Pepperdine University at 10 am on August 4. It was a great ceremony, full of the expected pomp and circumstance. My sister is an amazing person, and she was graduating with a Master of Science in Organization Development.
The school had invited a guy named Foster Friese (pronounced "Freeze") to address the graduating class. Before your mind starts racing to ice cream, I should note that this Foster Friese has nothing to do with Foster Freeze. He actually runs a multi-billion dollar investment fund. He starts out with some fun jokes, about education, life and marriage. So far so good. Then he starts in about his intolerance of tolerance. At that point, my ears perked up.
Tolerance is good right? Not according to Foster Friese. He says tolerance is a tool of the "secular Taliban." When he describes tolerance as a crutch for the immoral, the audience gasped. Granted, this is a Christian University, but aren't Christians supposed to be among the most accepting by principle?
Foster Friese continues his speech by arguing that Rosa Parks, by her intolerance, changed the course of American history by refusing to sit at the rear of the bus. This, he argues, is an example of why intolerance is a good thing. WTF? I would argue that, had tolerance and acceptance been the norm in the 50's and before (and later for that matter), there would've been no Montgomery Bus Boycott, no segregation, no racism. But that apparently wasn't the point for Foster. His point was that intolerance was good, tolerance was bad. And he (and presumably, Xtians and their Xtian God) was the one to determine what was right and what was wrong to tolerate. He proceeded to say that we should be intolerant of gays who demand greater rights than the "rest of us." He added, though I'm not sure why, as it seems to counter his argument, that it is in fact the gays' intolerance of rules, such as that of the Boy Scouts, that prove they seek special treatment. I've not known one gay person in my life who wanted special treatment, unless by special treatment, you mean the right to marry the person you love most in the world. I could not believe I was listening to this bullshit in the 21st century.
The issues of gay rights and gay marriage to me are no-brainers. Why should gays be treated differently than the rest of us? I have a suggestion for people who oppose gay marriage: don't do it, and leave the rest of us alone. It would be especially nice too if you didn't try to solicit sex from an undercover police officer in an airport bathroom in the meantime. That's just hypocritical AND dumb.
Foster Friese has the right to his own opinion, and Pepperdine has the right to invite whomever they choose at their commencement address. I'm just unhappy that this type of rhetoric is acceptable to a Xtian University and I can't help but feel cheated of a really inspirational speaker at the commencement address. Instead of mobilizing the graduating class to act for the betterment of humanity, the speaker sang the virtues of hate. I left the graduation that day convinced that money and success are no substitute for brains.
Ok, enough of that. My sister worked her tail off to graduate! Congratulations, sis, we are so proud of you!
My own private message to my sister: Sis, before your MBA, you were always the smartest person I know, both in IQ and EQ. Now you're also the poorest. ;-) I love you so much. You're an inspiration to me.
Following the commencement ceremony, we headed off to our friend's Andy's wedding.
This weekend was a great opportunity for my sister and brother and I to hang out, and revisit with some old family friends we grew up with when we lived in Southern California. I got to see my best friend from Kindergarten! Not to mention, the numerous friends of our parents whose last memories of us came from the 1980's. We all had a great time.
There wasn't a detail overlooked at the wedding and reception, and Andy and her new husband were wonderful and gracious the entire evening.
Cheers to a wonderful couple!
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