John Constantine wrote: <snip> Anyone who has attended parochial school
in the fifties and sixties knows from experience that life was not so
cutesy back then. I remember . . . <end snip>
John, it sounds like you're saying that anyone who attended parochial
school at that time had the same experience you had. Most assuredly, many
people did (enough to make "Nunsense" a hit play). And many suffered
abuse. And that was wrong.
But just as assuredly, many (myself included) did not. The stereotype
of the brutal nun just doesn't fit, and it's as unjust as the tape
incident in the story.
The story of Sister Helen that Tad passed along to us is a bit maudlin
for my taste. But there's a valuable lesson in it, the power of
reinforcing the self-esteem of other individuals. In the jargon of our
day, it's a win-win. Attack it with categorical characterizations.
Patronize the author because she might be elderly. It still doesn't
invalidate the message.
Just my little gesture in defense of good nuns and a good story.
Mark Peal
mpeal@mms.org
"We're all chunks in the same chowder."
--"Mark L. Peal" <mpeal@mms.org>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>