“Revolution” soft pedals
Katie Walsh was spot on with her critique of The Jesus Revolution! [“They Know Not What They Do,” Feb. 23]. I was on the Orange County coast 50 years ago and very involved in the movement.
I saw the film on February 24 and credited it to being beautifully shot with a great backdrop of the Newport Beach coastline, the actors are great and portray both the positives and some of the movement’s internal conflicts.
The movie doesn’t go far enough. There is no mention of Chuck Smith condemning gays and lesbians. I well remember a Sunday morning sermon in which he declared, “They’re called gays because they – are gays!” That was long before the acronym “LGBTQ” was coined.
The film fails to mention that Smith accepted Hal Lindsey’s book, The Late Great Planet Earth, and preached that Henry Kissinger’s last name was consistent with the Mark of the Beast and that a possible Antichrist was “born to behold.”
The film makes no mention of Smith preaching about the imminent rapture of Christians and the return of Jesus from Nazareth to planet Earth. And so passionate that he ordered the message “Jesus is coming soon…” on the outside wall of his new shrine. A few years later, the post was deleted because it never happened.
Sure, the Jesus Revolution helped thousands of hippies get off drugs. But only by becoming addicted to another drug – Jesus as preached by Smith and his disciples. And this drug did not work for everyone.
False beliefs and beliefs can be deceptive and sometimes dangerous.
David William Salvaggio
Rotland
Dive deep into drag
Thanks to Christopher Knight for the brilliantly written commentary on drag [“Don’t Be a Drag, Just Be a Queen,” Feb. 23]. It was great to read how drag deliberately messes up the definitions of sexism of what a desirable woman and real man look like. And how toil can be a courageous act of self-esteem for young and old alike.
My mom and dad took me to a drag show in San Francisco in the 1960s when I was an impressionable teenager. The jokes were mostly over my head, but feeling the exuberant exuberance of who you are was a pick-me-up at a time when being a girl was less considered and most of the options offered to young girls were a button were. -down housewife, nurse, teacher or mother.
I love how clothes celebrate and criticize femininity at the same time.
Suvan Geer
Santa Ana
Where have all the people gone?
Mary McNamara’s column on the exodus of half a million Californians to other states [“Despite Exodus, State’s Still in a Jam,” Feb. 20] was an eye opener.
As a Maryland transplant recipient many years ago, I was particularly struck by her astute comment that “the lack of anything resembling a decent crab cake” is one of the many reasons cited. I’ve been looking for one in SoCal for 55 years with no luck, so I feel her pain.
I hope she will reward her readers if she ever gets one.
Paul Updegrove
Sherman Oak
Not so easy to ignore
I was disappointed that Mary McNamara, whose columns I normally enjoy, decided to use her platform to take a stand against JK Rowling and Rowling’s defense of women-only spaces. [“It’s Time to Just Ignore J.K. Rowling,” Feb. 21].
Rather than empathizing with women who have been physically abused by men (as Rowling was by her ex-husband) or raped, McNamara’s scathing column empathized only with trans women who still have male genitalia and only want to use female spaces.
McNamara writes, “Rowling’s own trauma is horrendous and undeniable. However, this does not give her any particular insight into the transgender community.”
Which means McNamara Rowling doesn’t claim to have any insight into the transgender community. She claims that from her own experience she has an insight into the community of women who have experienced abuse by men (or “people with penises”) or who fear being victims of sexual assault by men.
Rowling defends these women, but not McNamara.
It is not transphobic to say that women are still victims of sexual violence and abuse by men and that they deserve a safe place only for women. It can be unfortunate that some trans women, who would never hurt a woman, use special bathrooms, spas or other spaces for women to protect this large community of women.
Advocating to protect women from triggers or potential abuse is not transphobic and does not say that all trans women are abusers, just as it does not say that all men are abusers.
Joanna parents
Los Angeles
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Do I agree with Rowling? Don’t know. But the only arguments I’ve seen on this subject don’t really get to the point; they only accuse her of transphobia.
Accusing Rowling of being transphobic no doubt feels right, but it doesn’t address her argument in any way.
Barry Carlton
El Cajon
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We live in a terribly male-dominated society. Women are raped and abused by men every second, minute, hour, day and lifetime. Yet we demand that women accept our dominators and abusers in our dressing rooms with their genitals completely exposed.
Perhaps this point could be argued if women were completely equal to men and valued and loved, but that is not the reality. So until women are equal and valued, male genitals are not allowed in women’s locker rooms.
Kathryn Kosmeya-Dodge
Santa Monica
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Thanks to McNamara for saying what she said about JK Rowling. It just had to be said.
Mary Mulligan
Manhattan beach
Difference with ‘Dilbert’
I was happy to see that the LA Times, along with many other newspapers across the country, has retired the “Dilbert” animated feature just as I have enjoyed it for the past few years [“Comics Change,” Feb. 27].
I am amazed that Scott Adams would so recklessly damage his career by blatantly expressing racist and vicious views. This has nothing to do with “political correctness” or “wokeism”. It’s about decency and good manners, which he would have learned from his parents.
Doug Weisskopf
Burbank
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In the name of vigilance, why did you make the decision to cancel the “Dilbert” cartoon? This is by far the best of your comics.
I can only assume that the striker boss must be behind it.
Wally would be proud of you.
Chris Bisgaard
Eagle, Idaho
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Anyone who has followed “Dilbert” for many years will admit that the film has evolved from a pithy comment about corporate workplaces to a thinly veiled right-wing attack on any corporate effort to increase diversity, inclusion or environmental awareness.
Worse yet, it’s just not funny anymore.
It probably should have been abandoned a long time ago, but now that Adams has revealed his true nature as a racist, it had to be abandoned.
And for Elon Musk and other Adams defenders, this has absolutely nothing to do with free speech. The right to free speech applies to governments, not to what newspapers print (or what distributors choose to distribute).
Racism is unacceptable and should be banned from the public if possible.
David Weber
Hollywood
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Thanks for removing his comic. While very funny and true, Scott Adams is clearly a racist.
The Times needs its own cartoonist: bring back Michael Ramirez! He is perceptive and would appeal to readers with a different perspective.
The late great Paul Conrad did just that when the Times was conservative. And he wasn’t!
Mary Dickinson
Alta Loma
Alternative bookstores
Melissa Gomez’s story [“‘Queen of Pasadena’ Inspires a Dream Move,” Feb. 19] says the Nikki High bookstore wasn’t the first in Los Angeles to be owned by a woman of color, but you don’t go back until 2019 to list possible candidates for who could be the first.
I believe my wife, Julie Swayze, was the first. In 2006, she opened Metropolis Books on Main Street, in the heart of DTLA. Scott Timberg covered our opening and Nita Lelyveld covered our closing on the front page of the Los Angeles Times on Sunday, September 18, 2011.
Steve Bowie
pasadena
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Kudos to Nikki High and Octavia’s Bookshelf, a much needed addition to the Altadena/Pasadena Black and Latino communities.
It is also important to commend Rita Dyson, owner of the Altadena/Pasadena Black and Latino Multicultural Bookstore, which opened in 1989. [“Altadena Store Offers Books on Minorities,” Dec. 27] and closed in 1993 [“A Common Cause: Rita Dyson Is Struggling to Save Her Most Uncommon Bookstore,” Sept. 13] to financial challenges; a flood that destroyed the bookstore and forced it to move; and local squabbles over ethnic identity and labels that continue to this day [“My Black Ancestors Were Erased From My Family’s Memory,” Feb. 13; “I Don’t Call Myself Latinx, but the Conservative War Against it Is Ludicrous,” Feb. 15].
My family, my alumni, and my colleagues and neighbors in Altadena and Pasadena have fond memories of Rita’s warm welcome at the door, lively exhibitions, and wonderful books from Children’s Book Press, Tannie Lute, Latin American Publishers, Africana Studies, and other books that described . the diversity of experiences of non-white people.
My young children and students loved seeing themselves reflected in the children’s books Rita carried in her store. To this day they are avid readers and I appreciate their commitment and courage in opening their bookstore, a first in our Pasadena/Altadena communities.
And for Nikki High, this community is the place for you.
Suzette Vidal
Altadena
Source: LA Times