Reply from the Express

My post from a few days ago, "Express Train to the Pit", made a few claims about the Express and what I felt was their poor judgment concerning an article in the July 28th edition.

Out of fairness to the Express I will post their response to my email:

"Thank you for taking time to write to us. As the editor, I take your concern very seriously and agree with you that the language used in that piece was entirely inappropriate. As a free publication with wide distribution, it is our practice to avoid offensive language unless it is in a quote that is essential to a news story (and even then, we err on the side of caution). The offensive usage in the Women of Faith piece never should have made it past our editors.I apologize and assure you we will do better in the future.Dan CaccavaroEditorExpress "

Ok. (me again) I am thankful the editor took the time to respond to my email. However, I still don't get the sense that he understands fully the situation. He says he's the editor and yet fails to take responsibility himself for the printing of the article. Who is accountable, if not the editor? I know he can't read every single thing that is published, but he should be the one to take the lumps instead of those enigmatic "editors" who must make up the "we" and "our" ghost committee he keeps referring to. Oh those cursed cursers! It's all their fault!
Besides, the reply seems to say that the term they used was offensive only because of its status as a "dirty word". Which makes me think they don't understand that my offense was more with their making light of my Savior, than with semantics. What will they do in order to "do better in the future" (could you be a little more vague, please), say "gosh darn" instead?

What do you think? Am I just looking for a fight, or do you agree that this response was a little "hedgy"?

Women of Faith

I've just returned from the MCI Center and the Women of Faith Conference. It was an amazing event. The place was filled to the rafters with fellow sisters in Christ and loads of uproarious laughter. And, since this event celebrates the depth of the woman's heart and her identitiy in Christ, yes, there were tears too.
For any of you who have never heard Nichole Nordeman or Natalie Grant sing.... I highly recommend you do. They are amazingly talented musicians and Nichole's lyrics are inspired genious. She makes ugly struggles beautiful. Natalie took "It is Well With My Soul" and pulled it through our guts till the incomprehensible peace described in that hymn was absorbed into our blood.
I didn't even know the conference was in D.C. this weekend until I read the Express article I mentioned in my last post. ( So, there is another good thing to come out of a bad article. What the enemy meant for evil, God used for good.) Not having reserved tickets, I wasn't even sure there would be a place for me when I showed up this morning.
I hopped the metro and headed to Chinatown, confident that the day was going to be an adventure, no matter the outcome.
I arrived at about 10:20. A little late, but, not too bad (for me on a Saturday). I went to the ticket office and asked if I could still purchase tickets. They said yes, I paid my money, and walked into the packed house of laughing women listening to Sheila Walsh talking about support hose and other foundation garments. I showed my ticket to the attendant and she pointed to the arena floor. My seat was four rows from the stage!
I found my place and settled in. The woman sitting next to me was kind and conversant. Made me feel comfortable immediately. (You know how it is when you walk in late and feel like you missed the first part of the joke) So, I was very thankful. Anyway, Sheila did a great job and I was laughing along with everyone else in no time.
There was a short break before Nichole Nordeman took the stage. My new neighbor returned with two boxed lunches and asked if I wanted one. She had a second ticket and had already paid for two. I was thrilled. What a blessing. I was not looking forward to breaking for lunch and fighting the crowds, only to pay too much money for something I was going to have to wolf down and not enjoy. This was perfect.
The whole experience reminded me of what it will be like when we finally get to meet the Lord, face-to-face. He will draw us close to His throne and give us a favored seat at His feet. He will feed us and take care of our every need. No matter how late we arrive, we are always welcome. It will be a feast and a celebration. There will be singing and praising. And, one thing that will make Heaven even better...
There will be men there too!

"Express" Train to the Pit

For those of you not familiar with the D.C. metro area, we have something here called the "Express". It's a tabloid style publication of The Washington Post (the largest daily newspaper in the nation's capital, with a circulation of roughly 786,000) . Every weekday, hawkers are paid to hand out this free paper at all the metrorail stations, college campuses, and other busy urban areas.
The Express claims to be real news. (see www.washingtonpost.com/express )
This morning (July 28, 2005) I decided to scan the Express on my way to work. I have a short metro trip, only a few minutes each way. I happened across a short article on the upcoming Women of Faith Conference happening this weekend at the MCI center. I thought it was great that they were promoting such an event. Even the title looked promising, "Good and Good for You". I thought, "Hey, maybe this town isn't that hostile after all."
I began to read the article and was stopped cold upon the reading of one sentence, the contents of which I can't even repeat in it's entirety due to the blasphemous nature of it. But, I will quote as much of it as I can as a reference for the rest of this post: Glenn Dixon writes: "...as the harried housewives wimper, 'How in the hell can I maintain my Christian walk with that ___(deleted expletive, initials gd)______ 'Veggitales' tape on 15 times a day?'".
I was astonished!
I couldn't believe that an editor would actually let something like that pass as acceptable. I couldn't believe that any writer, no matter his own religious beliefs, would think that it would be ok to use the Lord's name in such an outright disrespectful manner, especially in an article aimed at the very audience that cherishes His precious name above all.
The tone of the article was cynical, it was glib, it was bitter, in short-- it was Washington D.C.
My computer barely even had time to warm up before I had my letter to the editor typed and emailed.

At lunch, I decided to do a little checking on this Glenn Dixon character and discovered that the attitudes I had sensed in my reading were very much intended by the author.

More to come later on this interesting turn of events.....

Welcome to DC, here's your blog

It seems everyone here in D.C. has an opinion of how things should be run and how horribly afoul everything has gone because no one would listen to their ideas. Well, I decided to go ahead and set up my forum before the holiday rush and begin my rantings in earnest.

I'm sure it's only a matter of time before I become institutionalized and am no longer able to discern between good sense and useless complaining.

Who knows, perhaps, some wise guy will visit this blog and tell me exactly what I'm doing wrong and then run away with no offers of help to fix the problem.

By the looks of my cynicism, it would appear that I've already been here too long.

Anyone with pointers on how to avoid the bureaucratic rut I seem to have fallen into are welcome to chime in.