I have learned so much in the past few days that I don't know where to start.
One of my jobs is to do PR for The College Conservative. That means getting TCC's logo flung far and wide across this odd venue we call the Internet.
With the controversy surrounding Sandra Fluke, I saw an opening to stand up for my school, for Jesuit values, and for Georgetown women (who I know for a fact are the exact opposite of the terrible, deplorable things a certain pundit had called us days earlier). I figured that a handful of people would read my piece. It is easy to use words that may be a step too far when you think that only a few people will read them.
Eight hours after the article was posted, it was on a nationally-recognized columnist's blog. Four hours after that, I was out for a run in my neighborhood when my phone started buzzing with messages from a friend on the West coast. The same pundit who had so disappointed me days before was reading my article on the air, to an audience of tens of millions of people. From there, my article got posted on several different blogs. People started contacting me from all over the country and the world, saying some of the kindest things and some of the most hateful things I have ever heard. I threw a snowball and watched an avalanche happen.
My article was about religious freedom. That, to me, is the only issue here - not any pundit, not anyone's sex life. Just the basic freedom that we all share, to stand by our values- whether those are Jesuit values or not. I never called Sandra any pejorative term beginning with S - in fact, I said she does not speak for them. Not once did I reference, let alone name, the controversial pundit that so many have since claimed that I support. (I assure you that I was as horrified by his comments about GU women as you were.)
I am proud to be a part of the important debate that Georgetown's President DeGioia praised so highly in his message to students and faculty. I am proud of the values I sought to defend in the article. I never imagined that my opinion would influence so many people, and I strive to live my life in a way that presents my faith, my country, my gender, and my school in the best way possible.
I am a 59 year old woman that wants to THANK YOU for your words. The comments you made about your school and Sandra Fluke were a pleasure to read. Seems like you truly "get it" what the libs are attempting to do.
ReplyDeleteI read today that she isn't a "co-ed" but is a 30 yr old activist. Not sure if that is true or not. Just wanted to commend you on your words.
Your parents must be very proud of you :-)
Katherine
Hi Angela,
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow Hoya who has occasionally gone too far in her characterization of politicians/activists I don't agree with, I can appreciate that you got caught up in the moment and maybe didn't expect the attention you received - though truly, you were a victim of doing your PR job too well! It's easy to go over-board when you're passionate about an issue. I can only imagine the learning and growing experience this has been.
Now that you have the spotlight, however, why not use it for a follow up piece? I could understand feeling offended by Sandra's lack of attention to the religious freedom aspect of the debate. I think conservatives and liberals alike would be open to reading something that highlights the very real counterarguments from a vantage point of religion and morality, all while responding to Sandra's actual testimony and the very real obstacles women at Georgetown face when seeking BC prescriptions for justified medical reasons. Without a well-reasoned, eloquent response to Sandra's cause, the conservative viewpoint won't go very far in the public eye.
You're a talented writer. You can't take back words that were already written, but you can bring respect and validity to your viewpoint by clarifying where that passion, heat-of-the-moment opinion piece came from in a non-accusatory, intelligent manner. I hope you will.
I am happy that Georgetown is filled with people passionate about politics, at all ends of the spectrum. It's one of the reasons I loved my time there, and I'm sure the same goes for you.
Hoya Saxa,
Alicia
P.S. If you truly are embarrassed by people associating with you with Rush Limbaugh, I would also make that clear to him and your followers. Judging from Twitter conversations, it seems you were, on the contrary, excited by the attention he brought TCC?
If it's really just about religious freedom, remember that their employees also have the freedom to NOT use birth control. And they have the freedom to not hire people who don't align themselves with their beliefs.
ReplyDeleteAnd as a conservative, wouldn't you be be VERY interested in the amount of money the government will save by not spending funds on WIC and other welfare programs because of all the babies poor women WON'T be having thanks to accessible birth control?
The only thing the "libs" are attempting to do is fix all the wholes conservatives let other people fall into.
Maybe you did not directly call her an "s-word," but you repeatedly refer to her testimony as "talk[ing] about her sex life." As far as your comment that she doesn't speak for those S-words?
ReplyDelete"Sandra doesn’t even speak for all skanks! She only speaks for the skanks who don’t want to take responsibility for their choices."
I also don't see where in your original post you lay out a reasonable argument on how this falls within religious freedom. Instead, you mock Sandra Fluke, LIE about her testimony, and use derogatory language.
I agree with Alicia. Use this attention for a follow-up piece. I suggest both an apology to Sandra Fluke and maybe using some actual facts this time to present your argument.
Let me help you out on this whole religious-freedom thing. If a hospital run by Jehovah's Witnesses were refusing to let its (non-JW) employees' blood transfusions be covered by insurance, we wouldn't be having this conversation. So you're either incredibly disingenuous or not very bright.
ReplyDeleteFor one thing, Angela, Sandra did not once mention her sex life in her testimony. Let me repeat that, she did not mention her sex life. It seems that you wrote an entire column without actually listening to or reading a transcript of Sandra's testimony.
ReplyDeleteSecond, does it embarrass you at all, as it does me, a student at a Catholic school, the daughter of parents who attended Catholic school, that the Catholic Church has been quicker to respond to having to pay birth control pills, and with more righteous outrage, than it did to little boys and girls being raped and molested by the thousands? Does that strike you as hypocritical at all Angela? Just a little bit? Because it strikes me as hypocritical, sick, and disgusting, to belong to an establishment that cares more about preventing women from having birth control that it does preventing child rape by men of the cloth.
Third, Angela, I noticed you called Sandra a hypocrite while simultaneously working for Newt Gingrich (who believes President Obama is waging war on the Catholic Church).
Dearest Angela, did it occur to you that a man who has cheated on two wives and married two mistresses might be quite the hypocrite to be claiming now, that he stands up for family values?
Also Angela, please ask Newt what brand birth control Callista Stepford Botox Wife Gingrich used to prevent from being impregnated with Newt's illegitimate love child while they were carrying on their illicit affair, devout Catholics that they are.
You, Angela, have proven yourself to be intellectually deficient, and morally blind.
You are a liar and not a very good one.
ReplyDelete"Sandra doesn’t even speak for all skanks! She only speaks for the skanks who don’t want to take responsibility for their choices." - Angela Morabito
Source: http://thecollegeconservative.com/2012/03/02/sandra-fluke-does-not-speak-for-me/
Congratulations, this episode is going to be the first thing that comes up when someone googles your name for the rest of your life.
Maybe you didn't mean it this way, but what you said came across as nasty, petty, smug,libelous--and just plain ugly.I get very tired of people like you,who call themselves Christian and then turn around and act in the most un-Christian manner. Is this what Jesus would've done, Angela? Really? Think about it.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Gale and I pity you, Angela. I don't think you'll have a very happy life, with all the things you have been brainwashed into believing and hating. I hope you'll have a revelation soon and become an actual caring, spiritual person, who fights with people because you love them and only want good for them, and not because you think they might be sinning. You do yourself no favors by submerging yourself in immodest contempt for other people. It does not matter how many people congratulate you. It matters how many people you've hurt, including and especially yourself.
ReplyDelete