I don’t like being called anything but “Father” … except for those times when I don’t care. After all, I worked hard for that title.
Oooops… er… um… no… um… no, wait. It has to do with that ontological character and all that.
Remember when the Senator from California made the comment during a hearing that she wanted to be called “Senator” because she had worked so hard for that title? As I watched that clip on the news I knew I would be hearing it again at sometime during the campaign.
I just thought that was fun.
Titles are important, even in a society in which decorum is going by the board.
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Some of my student friends sent me this over the weekend. It is a scream. How can she possibly get elected again? I especially liked the Boy Scout bit. I am glad there are still some people out there with a sense of humor.
Best line: It’s time to call her “ma’am” again.
Loved it, Father!
By the way … I’ve done MY bit to ensure she’s called “ma’am” again … I sent my mail-in vote already.
–Guy Power
(err… that’s “Mister” Power. I worked hard for my master of public administration title.)
I was brought up in the South and taught to say, “Yes, ma’am,” and, “No, ma’am,” to women.
It is just the polite thing to do.
My dictionary:
MA’AM : short for madam: used as a title of respect, esp for female royalty.
That’s her idea of an insult? I guess she hates being reminded she is (or is supposed to be)
a female person.
Love that video when I first saw it.
eh. To me, a man is always “sir” and a woman is always “ma’am” no matter their title (well, at least in responding)
That’s Ed Ames (Mingo – Daniel Boone) as the Chief.
Barbara “Call me Senator” Boxer’s one and only “claim to fame” (infamy) has been her pro abortion record and rhetoric. Her jab and right cross is to call out the usually pro-life candidate as “too extreme for California” and rely on the fact that California is securely a pro abort state, especially for the Senate, where this scare tactic is perennially in play in regards to Supreme Court appointments – with Roe v. Wade always on the line, at least in the minds of pro-aborts. “Women’s rights” advocates, leftists and libertines (California is full of these) are indeed “one issue” voters in this regard and that is why she literally gets away with (literally) murder.
Thank you, ‘Father Z.’! I thorougly enjoyed the ad over my very 1st order of Mystic Monk! From your link of course.
It is swell, indeed. (The coffee and the ad.) I was expecting it might be too strong, but I am very pleasantly surprised at the flavor. Midnight Vigils, mmm, tasty. (The coffee and the ad.) [HUZZAH!]
I won’t go into how insufferable Sen. Boxer is – the others above have pretty much covered it.
Should she lose perhaps she could legally change her first name to Senator. There is, after all, precedent (even if it’s only fictional precedent):
“How do you tell your mother there’s something funny about your old relatives… And Uncle Senator K. Thorvaldson — who else has a great-uncle named Senator? How do you explain to people that he was named that because his mother liked the sound of it?”
– Garrison Keillor, Lake Wobegon Days (1985)
Absolutely hilarious–and absolutely what we need at the end of a ridiculously long and mud-slung campaign season. Thanks for the laugh, Father!
COMBOX BUG REPORT
Has anyone else noticed that the combox input editor supresses a space between the punctuation at the end of a sentence and the beginning of the next one? For example, just now I typed two spaces between the “?” and the “For,” but upon posting the text editor removes one space. Does not English grammer require two spaces between sentences? [I have never seen that.]
ALSO:
Reporting that the new mobile mode is not as friendly as the previous one for my Palm Treo.
I love that one of the main characters is Clint Howard, Ron’s brother, who is decidedly on the other side of the political spectrum.
Before the combox comments become embarrassing, it should be obvious (I hope) that after the gavel crushed Boxer’s finger that this is a parody. This is not to defend one of the most viciously pro-abortion senators, but to avoid getting this blog held up as passing around parody as truth. Let’s just close this commentary. Please? [No, I don’t think so. The ad was funny in itself and, aside from being also political, it does tend to deflate a bit those of us who move in the world of special titles. Besides, anyone who couldn’t tell that this was not a real scene actually filmed in a Senate committee hearing is a dimwit.]
Fr. Thompson:
I don’t think anyone here is unaware that this is a parody, but it’s a real event that is being mocked. Sen. Boxer’s patronizing, disrespectful remarks can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0CprVYsG0k
frjim4321:
Two spaces between sentences is not required in English grammar, but was simply a convention during the days of manual typewriters. Typewriter keys were all the same size, thus each letter took up the same amount of space regardless of size, as in today’s “monospaced” fonts. Two spaces were used to make the space between sentences larger than the space between words. Today, computers automatically “kern” letters so i takes up less space than O, making that extra space unnecessary. [/off-topic pedantry]
I’m curious as to what you find appropriate from non-Catholics as a form of address. For instance, as a non-believer I am not likely to see you as a ‘spiritual father’ but I do have tremendous respect for your education and for the role of ministry as a profession and life choice. I know some Christian sects take quite literally the instruction to “call no man father.” So, what’s the second best way to address you and the other priests I encounter here? I have been saying “Rev. X” but if there’s something preferential I will adjust.
Thank you for sharing that. What a scream!
OFF TOPIC!
Happy birthday, Father. [Thanks!]
My how the tone of the comments has changed since Fr. Augustine Thompson injected the fact that this was a parody. May I also remind you that Aquinas teaches that distinctions are important. So you call a Senator-Senator, and POSTCATHOLIC you call a Priest-Father, whether you consider him your spiritual father or not.
She should have worked hard to serve the people. Titles count only from that perspective.
I believe I saw Jack Scalia, too.
The thing is, though, that Sen. Boxer’s comment was asinine in a totally non-partisan way.
C.
PostCatholic: You call a priest Father whether or not you are Catholic. Just as I (a Catholic) call the Episcopal ministers I know who go by that title “Father,” though I don’t accept that they are priests, and I call the popular black minister in my neighborhood “Bishop,” though I don’t accept that he is a bishop, and I would call the Dalai Lama by whatever title the Dalai Lama goes by, though I don’t think he is the reincarnation of the leader of a Tibetan religion. But I suppose if one has a religious reason for not calling ANYONE Father, including his/her own father, then you can get by with “Reverend” or just plain “sir.” A priest, of all people, should respect someone else’s religious compunctions. But if you just refuse to call him “Father” out of pique, then he (and everyone else) will understand that, too.
Is it your birthday today, Father Z? Happy, happy birthday and many years more. If yesterday, I apologize for the late greeting. Here is a choice for your greeting-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0drnmHQRvFk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jddHAVnw358&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh1PNmQvt2Y&feature=related
The first one, not highlighted in your blog, is the best…
Shouldn’t that be “senatrix” madame?
Ha-that was funny!
I hope ‘madam senatrix’ [good one, Michealus] gets bounced out of office next Tuesday, as well as all of the other bums that are on the Hill!
Oh, and Happy Birthday to you, Father Z! Ad Multos Annos!
Gail F,
No pique. Perhaps I should have take the question to the Quaeritur box. Thanks for your answer. By the way, the Dalai Lama is addressed in English as “His Holiness”.
“Reverend” is perfectly fine, for Catholics or non-Catholics. Sheesh, people. A lot of American non-Catholics tend to like the more family-sounding stuff, but those who don’t are perfectly within their rights. And nobody is going to be insulted if you stick to “sir” and “ma’am”, except for twits like the honorable senator from California. Who apparently worked very hard to be called an “old man”. :)
The Senator next to Boxer (“Sen. Crawford”) is director Ron Howard’s brother.
Happy Birthday, Father. I will say an extra prayer or two for you tonight. God bless.