Religious Lunatics

This is too ridiculous to pass over. It seems that the crazies–led by the Rev. Fred Phelps–from Topeka’s (that’s Kansas) Westboro Baptist Church are at it again. That’s right, the same people who protested Colorado State University’s official response to some fraternity and sorority’s float in a 1998 homecoming parade by parading around with signs that say “God hates Fags” and “When a fag dies, God laughs.” Anyway, the float gained “notoriety” because it displayed some not so subtle references to the brutal murder of Mathew Shepard, who had recently been beaten, tied to a fence and left to die in Laramie, WY. Shepard’s body, when discovered by law enforcement, resembled a scarecrow, an image subsequently picked up by the press. The oh so sensitive CSU fraternity/sorority members decorated their float with a scarecrow and a number of different homophobic epithets. Not too subtle. CSU rightly suspended all students involved and dissolved their Greek organizations immediately. From ABC news:

A fundamentalist church whose members demonstrate at the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq and believe God hates gays will protest the Academy Awards and the funeral of Heath Ledger, because the actor played a gay cowboy in the 2005 film “Brokeback Mountain.”

Cultural Intertia, Spirals of Rage

A good friend of mine has been a working artist for many years and is now in the process of applying to MFA programs. Of course, such applications involve a portfolio of one’s work and the usual personal statements. Today, he sent me this question posed by the U of Berkeley (most egregious aspects are in bold):

In an essay, discuss how your personal background informs your decision to pursue a graduate degree. Please include any educational, familial, cultural, economic, or social experiences, challenges, or opportunities relevant to your academic journey; how you might contribute to social or cultural diversity within your chosen field; and/or how you might serve educationally underrepresented segments of society with your degree.

You may place a maximum of 8000 characters in the text box below.

Good grief! For some reason this question has sent me into a spiral of rage!