Larry L. Dill's   New Hope Journal   Personal Essays and Public Opinions since 1979           April, 2005
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				Larry of Waynesville: Thinking Globally and Writing Locally In my article, “Tsunamier than Thou,” which appeared in the Mountaineer in February I expressed the belief that an earlier column by Ted Kirby was mean spirited and jingoistic with regard to American versus Islamic Tsunami relief efforts in Southeast Asia. Considering the gravity of the tragedy and the worldwide unanimity of relief efforts I found Mr. Kirby’s column offensive.  I was not surprised by his efforts to defend himself in a subsequent letter to the editor.  But what did surprise me was that rather than denying the charge of “jingoism” he embraced the label as a badge of honor.  “Belligerent patriotism…is something wrong with that?”  he asked.  I felt like I had been wasting my time. When I sat down to evaluate the meaning of the exchanges between us, it was a Friday night just after I’d seen the latest episode of Joan of Arcadia (a TV drama wherein God routinely appears to a teenage girl, Joan, in various human guises).  I felt like Joan had felt near the end of the episode.  She was sitting in the school library contemplating her inability to see any forward progress in her life when who walks by, of course, but God himself inside the body of a burly 280 lb. man with a book of Emily Dickinson’s poetry in his hand.  “It’s not important, Joan, whether or not you see the results of your actions,” God says,  “Emily Dickinson wrote poetry all her life and never published a word.  Yet, here we are over a hundred years later, still drawing inspiration from her.”  I thought about Joan of Arcadia the rest of the evening and I wondered if Ted Kirby was by any chance a gift to me from God? (As in “You wanted to write about demagoguery, didn’t you?  Practice on this guy and I’ll get you Bill O’Reilly.”)  Or was Ted Kirby himself God, talking to me through his columns in the Mountaineer?    Hmmm…uh…No hard feelings, Ted! Ted Kirby's Original Article:  Muslim Response to the Disaster in Asia Worthy of Note Larry L. Dill's Response To Kirby's Article:  Tsunamier Than Thou: A Response Ted Kirby's Letter to the Editor of the Mountaineer Criticizing Tsunamier Than Thou:
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