Inappropriate Conversations

45: Macho Weaknesses

Almost everything wrong with masculinity today can be described by the fear of being "found out."  Sexual aggression is often a front for homophobia. Bullying is often an attempt to use a seeming boldness and bluntness to cover for the fear of weakness.  This blunt-force macho nonsense does not reveal men at their best; it reveals our very worst. Different Drummer: John Eldredge

44: Sacred Friendship

Friendship is not limited or dictated by gender.  Factors far more important than sexual organs should determine whether two people consider themselves to be in a platonic partnership.  Decades of experiences have shown me that keeping inter-sexual friendships sacred provides a much deeper connection than any of the "with benefits" or "more than a friend" concepts that we frankly ought to reject. Different Drummer: Carl G. Jung

43: The Content of Their Character

Perhaps we have too much of a black-and-white perspective on what Martin Luther King, Jr. was saying when he urged us to elevate "content of character" above "color of skin" in his 1963 speech.  No doubt, he was talking about racial injustice, but our insensitivity is much broader than that.  It isn't any better to judge people based on other select things we disagree with or disapprove of -- like sexual behavior or political affiliation.  We must look deeper than that to find the content of someone's character. Different Drummer: Sidney Poitier

42: The Morning After for classic made-for-TV movies

Films made for television between 1967-1976: Run a Crooked Mile, The Longest Hundred Miles, Shadow Over Elveron, Probe (Search), The Stranger, City Beneath the Sea, Vanished, Hunter, Duel, Brian's Song, A Cold Night's Death (Chill Factor), Trilogy of Terror, A Short Walk to Daylight, Go Ask Alice, The Man Without a Country, Death Race, Trapped, The Morning After. Different Drummer: Dan Carlin Common Sense & Hardcore History

41: Gone but not forgotten (and yet left behind)

Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?  No, and the same applies to family.  For me, the cryptic lyrics to a song so often sung on New Year's Eve has extra meaning because the day itself recalls loved ones who have gone too soon and left us behind.  Sorry, but it is a struggle for me to look at this time of year without wrestling with regrets. Different Drummer: Tony Pucci Tony Pucci & Songs For Jenny

40: Other High Crimes

The impeachment of Bill Clinton near the end of his presidency was one of the most embarrassing moments in the history of the United States government.  The president virtually declared that he couldn't define the word "is."  More than 200 representatives in Congress demonstrated a weak grasp of the word "other."  Millions of dollars were wasted on an assumption that a majority of American voters didn't know what they were doing when Clinton was elected, not once but twice!  Embarrassing, indeed. Different Drummer: Alexis de Tocqueville

39: Privacy and Intimate Relationships

It's ironic, but some of the same people who believe in confession and accountability reject any notion of a right to privacy.  Without some sense of privacy, though, you cannot have true intimacy. And without intimacy, all relationships suffer - among family members, between friends, and with God. Different Drummer: Drew Pinsky