Saturday, May 27, 2006

San Diego's Cross To Bear

I was sitting in Jarra's again last night drinking an Auggie Doggie, (yes that is my own drink. It is a salty dog with pineapple vodka) and this hippy chick was sitting at the bar. I thought she was pretty cute and so I started up a conversation. Turns out she grew up in San Diego like I did and she also lived in La Jolla. When I asked her where exactly, she told me on the road that runs between UCSD and Soledad. Cool...
"Did you hear about the Soledad cross?" I asked her.
Then she broke out yelling "Thank God that stupid thing is being taken down....blah, blah, blah,...rah, rah, rah."
At that time all I said was "Heathen."
After I called her a Heathen she went on to say how most people want the cross removed and that it takes away from tax dollars and how some Fuck Face Republican mayor is trying to fuck over San Diegans by bringing in the Federal Govt. I of course am paraphraising. There is no way I caught everything, but I did catch "tax dollars." For those who haven't seen the Soledad Cross, here it is.
Anyway, back to what she said. Tax Dollars? I never heard such an argument pertaining to the cross. Never. I always thought it was some sort of secularist issue. But I was good. I didn't say a word until she said "What do you think?" and so I told her.
I explained how the lawsuit to remove the cross has been pursued for at least 15 years by one guy, an athiest, who has spent thousands of dollars on this thing. He finally got the ACLU on his side and one judge. At least that is what I understand to be true. I also understand that over 70% of the San Diegans want the cross to remain standing and that Jewish residents have come forward to show support. I ended with "the Cross is Korean War memorial." She didn't like my argument and went on to explain that the cross wasn't always a memorial and that the Jewish community doesn't support the cross. How does she know that Jews don't support the Cross, because her mom lives near some.
Lastly, she stated that the Soledad cross a is place where people have committed suicide and that parts of Cross are falling off and hitting people. Typical lefty argument. We parted ways on a positive note, thank God, I finished my Auggie Doggie and proceeded to order another one.
When I woke up this morning, I thought about that conversation. I wondered to myself "How does she feel about the Bamiyan Buddhas being blown up by the Taliban?" I have a feeling she would have wanted the Buddhas to remain standing.

3 comments:

Arvin Leroux said...

I remember when the sculptures, the largest representations of the Buddah, were blasted out of the mountainside. The ironic thing is that it's very un-Buddhist to get angry or sad over the Taliban's iconoclasm.

Unknown said...

Iconoclasm, I like that word. Wasn't too sure what it meant so I looked it up. Before I was just saying that the despicable act was caused by 'the Taliban's Assholeism' but now I am able to use the proper word.

Arvin Leroux said...

Some people just fail to have respect for others' religions. I mean, in this fast-food culture, what's the difference between Bob's Big Boy and Buddah?