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Wearing her heart on her forehead
By adamg on Thu, 02/22/2007 - 12:32am
Charles Bandes wonders if the woman with the heart drawn on her forehead on the Red Line last night is in love or just lost a bet.
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Comments
"Heart" Wednesday?
Maybe it's her response to Ash Wednesday? I saw a lotta Pope believers walkin' around with smudgy foreheads yesterday.
Oh wait...just followed the link posted in Charley's comments. I guess I was right....
http://moneypenny.livejournal.com/496363.html
Just another attention slut
Just another attention slut who thinks she's being clever; that's all.
this would have been a good idea for a flash mob
maybe next year?
Wouldn't Catholics find that offensive?
Imagine a Yom Kippur flash mob ...
Mocking religions is always fun
Yeah, great, let's go belittle people's faith. Totally fun, dude! Let's put funny dots on our heads and cool turbans! SO FUN!
I am a fallen Catholic and would never consider mocking this or ANYONE'S religion.
http://catholicism.about.com/cs/lent/a/ashes03.htm
Ashes are an ancient symbol meaning repentance. Catholics repent for our sins. Having ashes reminds us that we need to apologize to God for sinning. Many Catholics attend Sacrament of Reconciliation during the season of Lent.
Another reason for the ashes is to remind us that one day we are going to die. Our physical bodies will turn to dust, however, our souls will return to God. The ashes are a physical reminder that what how we live our life matters. We will not be on Earth forever, but our souls never die.
Having ashes on Ash Wednesday shows we have a deeper understanding of God and the season of Lent.
So...
If she's not Catholic (or of a faith that observes Ash Wednesday per se), then she doesn't need to wear ashes.
Why can't she wear a heart as a reminder of God's love without it having to be a mockery? What if she did this on one of the other 364 days of the year, would it be OK then?
I absolutely agree that how we live our life matters. If doing something unusual to get a reaction out of jaded city folk is how she chooses to live her life, more power to her.
Also, see my previous comment concerning how impressed I am with people leaving anonymous comments.
Why do it on a Holy Day?
Please explain to me how she wasn't mocking the ashes? If she was indeed trying to show the world her appreciation of God's love and sacrifices that is one thing... but I did not get that was the point. She wanted a reaction. I am all for free speech but I know people who follow Catholicism very closely and I do not want to see them mocked.
The ashes the priests puts on your forehead come after prayer. The ashes come from palms from Palm Sunday of the prior year (which were blessed at that time). Some churches also burn paper that people have written sins upon. Its a solemn event. Wearing the ashes is a way to say to the world I have sinned but I am working with the Church to pray and better myself.
I did not call her an attention slut. (I was the second Anon). I haven't logged in before and this is my second time responding so I have never set up an account. I don't have a blog so its just me putting a name out there. (sorry for leaving you unimpressed.)
Being mocked and seeing those I love mocked tends to make people jaded.
Perhaps we have to agree to
Perhaps we have to agree to disagree as to her intent, or perhaps it's a matter of semantics...to me, the word "mock" carries a connotation of assumed superiority, which I didn't see here. I didn't figure she was making fun of Catholics; I figured she was doing a sociological experiment. The two are neither mutually inclusive nor mutually exclusive. Her LJ post didn't read "HA HA STUPID ASHY CATHOLICS LET ME SHOW HOW STUPID YOU LOOK"; it was more an "I wonder what would happen if..."
For the record, I'm not Catholic, but I do have some appreciation for the traditions and rituals. That said, if I'd seen her, I'm not sure I would have associated the heart with Ash Wednesday...I have been known to tell people they have a smudge on their forehead, although having been embarrassed that way, I'm a little more aware now.
I do appreciate that your previous post actually had content, unlike the first anons or the anon in her blog. I do have a blog or two, but I don't link to them here, so I'm no more...uh...nonymous...than most other people, but if nothing else, it's easier to follow a conversation if you have consistent names attached to people.
*rereads previous sentence* I enjoy run-on sentences.
It isn't her holy day
I never saw anybody with ashes on their heads until I moved to Massachusetts. There were Catholics around and some went to mass, but they wiped it off before school and work because the larger culture of the Pacific Northwest deemed such displays as pretentiously offensive.
Kind of like the WWJD thing.
WWOJD?
What Would Orthodox Jews Do?
Are beards "pretentiously offensive" to you? Should they cover up their beard and 'pretend' that they are using electricity on Saturdays. That is just as silly as what you are saying.
The whole purpose of wearing the ashes on your forehead is to show the world that you are observing a religious event. The wearer is supposed to be above thinking it is "pretentiously offensive". Wiping it off your forehead defeats the purpose of getting them. (A real slacker knows you go to 7pm mass and head straight home).
Are you serious with "pretentiously offensive"????
Pretentiously offensive?
Are you serious? I'm as areligious as can be, but how is wearing the ashes all day "pretentiously offensive"? Are yarlmukes pretentiously offensive? What about wearing a cross or a Star of David? What about a hijab? A turban?
All your souls
... are belong to us
My favorite part
Is that everyone who's criticizing her is posting anonymously, both in her LJ and right here in UHland.
Way to stand up for your beliefs, folks. I'm sure the Pope would be very proud.
Alright Mollynotloggedin:
If she really wanted to speak truth to power or whatever, she might have worn hijab with a miniskirt (fishnets optional) on Eid. Otherwise, well, I just see it as weak-minded and over-coddled "iconoclasticism."
How's that?
I think "iconoclast" is a
I think "iconoclast" is a strong word for this individual. I don't see that she was trying to single-handedly overthrow Catholicism or anything like that.
I think your analogy to Muslim traditional dress is flawed here; women wear hijab all the time. It's not a once-a-year tradition.
Are you Catholic? Why do you find this so offensive?
BTW, Mollynotloggedin (unverified)
Who The Hell Are You?
(Way to defend YOUR beliefs.)
I'm sure that whatever "Higher Power" you believed in would be Very Proud, Indeed.
I'm Molly, a bohemian type
I'm Molly, a bohemian type currently trapped in the government sector. You're an infinitive verb who likes to capitalize random words. Pleasedtameetcha.
Eris generally seems to approve of my involvement in these discussions, although She also likes to hide my socks, so I think it all balances out. You could always ask Her directly, but that often leads to interesting times, in the Chinese sense.