November 6, 2000 ~ Dragon Eggs

I had a wonderful weekend. We relaxed. Morgan celebrated his birthday. I learned of the existence of tofu ice cream that tastes even better than the real thing (woohoo!!). We played with an adorable kitten that Morgan's Mom got from the Humane Society. We had a delicious vegan fajita dinner at his Dad's house. I read a lot in Les Miserables. I hatched a beautiful dragon's egg!

The Renaissance Festival was great fun. I love looking at those elaborate period costumes. I even thought about trying on a bodice. They are so very pretty and elegant! They cost far too much though, make it impossible to breath, and I would never have occasion to wear one. The booths were exciting, and they actually had enough vegan food at the stands for us to get a decent lunch!

The highlight of the day, however, was the dragon egg booth. It had a huge pile of un-cut geodes, and customers were allowed to pick one out and crack it open right there. I got entirely too excited about it, and Morgan just grinned and watched me with a contented expression as I inspected several of them carefully, weighing them in my hands and checking the shapes, while letting out surprised little exclamations of excitement. I finally settled on one geode and brought it up to the cutter. With the help of the attendant, I pumped the vice a few times and CRACK! my geode was FREE!!! He opened it and it was beautiful. The crystals inside are a light, smoky purple color, covering the entire interior surface. It is now sitting on our bookshelf and looking gorgeous. I swear, that was the most entertaining thing I have done in months. I loved picking the geode and then waiting for the mystery and surprise inside to be revealed.

Anyway, I am now VERY behind in class work, so I will leave you with a response to a post in The Well.

The post that annoyed me:

"I'd rather side with James Carville. We're right and they're wrong. We, here at Warren Wilson, are right that love is better than hate, that preserving our natural environment is more important than picking up hootchie mamas in our SUVs, that it is a woman's right to choose what happens to her body, that the role of our community is to build up the individuals within it and that once we commit to having an individual within our community we will support that person to the limits of the resources of this community and perhaps beyond. The reason we should not have a young republicans club on campus is that young republicans are wrong. We should not have an ROTC on campus. That's wrong. We should not vote for Ralph Nader because that increases the chances of George Bush being elected and that's wrong. This is the product. We want to change the world. We want to make a difference. This is what that difference looks like. It is good."

My response (all that follows):

I suppose we should abolish the First Amendment, too, then, because it's WRONG.

"The reason we should not have a young republicans club on campus is that young republicans are wrong."

Yes, to YOU.

"We should not have an ROTC on campus. That's wrong."

Again, to YOU.

"We should not vote for Ralph Nader because that increases the chances of George Bush being elected and that's wrong."

To YOU, Sir.

And many Wilsonites will agree with you on those very broad and general statements. But some will not. I suppose you would trumpet your message of "WHAT'S RIGHT" to them, trample their little movements right as they start them, because they're WRONG, correct? Because Wilson, as a huge institutional body, stands up for what is RIGHT and will not allow within its bounds that which is WRONG! MIGHT equals RIGHT, right?

Sorry, but according to ME, THAT is WRONG. Evil, even. To deny the right to hold an unpopular opinion, the right to meet with others who hold that same unpopular opinion, the right to exercise freedom of speech, these are grave and serious injustices.

If you are concerned about the moral value of these various interest groups, the way to deal with your concerns is not to forbid those opinions, to fight against their right to be spoken. It is, instead, to speak to people holding those opinions in a personal manner, explaining the logic of your own, all while having the UTMOST respect for the other person's RIGHT to hold that opinion. And if they will not be convinced, well, that is their right too.

So... if the vote to abolish the First Amendment comes up any time soon, how will you vote? It is the same thing. Allow "wrong" groups on campus, or shut them down? Uphold the First Amendment, or destroy it?

Sincerely,
~Melissa Ray

PS~ I'm sorry you feel so threatened by my choice to vote Nader tomorrow. You're welcome to try your hardest to talk me out of it, but you have no right to forbid me to vote my conscience.

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