Is That Andy?

A week or so ago, I was sitting in an Interpersonal Communication lecture with none other than the late great Frank Benyousky.  There are a great deal of things that I don’t enjoy about Frank, mainly his involvement of politics in the class room.  But that day was different, that day I came into class willing to be open to what Prof. Benyousky had to say.

About ten minutes into the class, he was about to go off on some pro-life tangent, when before he started to bash any pro-choice thoughts, he “politely” said, “Is anyone in here pro-choice?”  With noone raising their hand, he continued his lecture with his biast opinion that pro-life is the best choice.

This made me think.  What are my thoughts on the pro-life / pro-choice argument.  Now, please realize that I am very apathetic towards the whole political genre, politicians, and politics in general.  But that day, in that classroom, I got to thinking about something bigger than political affiliation, whether I was republican or democrat, whether I believed in what Benyousky was saying or not, I got to thinking about how I was most likely typecasted with the same beliefs that the church has held.

Please, don’t misunderstand me at all, I am not getting political at all, and I am not abandoning God or the Christian faith. Just that day in Interpersonal Communication, my thoughts were changed, and if that was Benyousky’s goal, then he achieved it.

I think that by actions with the church, with a specific church, or by the notion of Christianity in general, one gets sorted into a belief system.  For example, the general group of people I associate with know that I am a Christian and that I [usually] attend to church Sunday mornings. The effect of my actions and beliefs probably constue other beliefs that I have which may, or may not be true.

Most people that attend church are pro-life and anti-homosexual marraige.  These are two very big topics that I am typing about, thus are two very big toes that I am stepping on.  But that day in Interpersonal Communication started a chain of thinking that has led me to want to come out to say that I am pro-choice and pro-homosexual marriage.  Am I going to lead some cutting edge campaign to get these things passed into law?  Probably not.  But I think my apathetic-political-self has taken a big step by declaring my thoughts in a semi-buffered political arena.

And now, on a much lighter note, here is a picture of Benyousky and a picture of Richard Attenborough, who plays John Hammond in “Jurassic Park” as well as a slew of other characters, such as Santa from “Miracle on 34th Street.”

Here’s to you, Frank Benyousky, here’s to you.