THE FEAR OF DESECRATION AND THE RADICAL THOUGHT PROCESS

Well, as you can tell from the title, nothing's happening in the woods. The combination of getting in the shul and the weather being so unseasonably warm, has put the whole idea of hunting out of my head. Instead, Pigpen "King of the Jews" Rothman and I have spent the week ripping and tearing in the shul. It feels good to finally be able to start this project. It took two days of brush and briar clearing just to get to the door. I bought a new pair of work boots, a new weed wacker and chainsaw, tackling the overgrowth by myself. Once I gained access to the building I got Pigpen on board for the demo. Take any farmer out of the fields and put a crow bar in his or her hands and point them at a something to be destroyed and you'll see a happy person. Instant gratification. Fuck the weather.
   Not only is Pigpen a helluva good worker, he's also fluent in Hebrew. When my 90 year old real estate agent Ruby Katz shows up needing a daily prayer book, laborer/scholar Pigpen pulls off from the ripping and tearing and finds him the book, amongst the filth and plaster of the sanctuary. Even though I attended seminary, I really don't know much, Christian wise. I know even less of the Jewish traditions. This doesn't seem to stop me when it comes to putting my own spin on services in either "house of worship". So when i got wind that some of my Semitic brethren were concerned over my possible desecration of the shul I was rather surprised.
   By all accounts the last service of The Congregation of The People in Glen Wild was in 1996. It looks as if they locked the door and never looked back. To say the place is a mess doesn't even come close to properly describing the "desecration" of this structure. Large chunks of plaster have been working their way loose from the lath and exploding like dirt bombs for years. Piles of moldy yarmulkes, books, banners and ephemera are scattered throughout. To worry about me putting my own spin on services after the neglect visited upon this place by "The People" is ludicrous. The filthy, shredded curtain separating the last three pews for the women folk of the congregation, stand as testament to tradition. One final insult is a big load of shit deposited in the dry women's toilet. Now for the radical thought process.
   Obviously women do not fair equally in many religious traditions. The Catholics don't allow women priests. The Moslems put women in birkas and that's just the beginning of their iron hand. The Jews make them sit in the back of the room, behind a curtain. In fact the male centric approach is found in almost all belief systems save Wiccan and Goddess worship tribal societies. Well, here's a thought: instead of naming this The Shul of the Little Green Man, why not break the mold and start off on the high heeled foot? I think it was the discovery of the turds in the Lady's room. Yes, I'm a man. But trapped inside me is the soul (and fashion sense) of a 16 year old girl. I love women. I find them at least my equals, if not my betters. We'll never be able to right all the wrongs. But we can do our bit to change things. To this end I propose we call this new project THE SHUL OF THE BIG RED WOMAN. Lets see where it leads us. That's my kind of desecration.