If they treat Adele this way…
Don’t think you’ll be spared
I’m going to take a stab in the dark on this one and guess that most of you who subscribe to this Memo don’t make it a normal part of your routine to keep up on the latest discoveries and revelations from the world of archaeology and Egyptology. For those who do, please accept my apologies for the redundancy, but for those who don’t, I think you need to see this:
Yes, this is what you think it is. It’s an ancient piece unearthed in Egypt that contains a listing of various excuses workers were giving for why they couldn’t come to the office that day. I think sometimes we have a way of romanticizing the past to the point that we forget those people were, despite different circumstances and environments, thoroughly human like the rest of us.
And if this doesn’t prove that, nothing will. I mean, I’ve worked with more than a few people in my life that I can totally picture leaving a voicemail with the boss that says in sad tones, “Hey, I’m really sorry but I’m not gonna make it in today. We’re embalming my brother right now and I just don’t think I’m going to feel up to coming.”
The only disappointment I see in this is that the piece is obviously broken off, and you just know the portion missing is the part that recorded the boss’s response: “Took chariot past Frank’s. No sign of funeral or mourners, but did talk to Frank’s brother who looked good for being ‘embalmed.’ Began job search for Frank’s replacement.”
If you’re brave enough, I’d be more than a little interested to see either in the comments below or in an email the most absurd excuse you’ve ever used (real or fake) for missing an obligation. If they’re good enough, I’ll share mine – confession is good for the soul, after all.
On another, and decidedly more serious note, it seems as though recently “canceled” star J.K. Rowling (author of the Harry Potter series) may have some celebrity company soon. For those that are unaware (blissfully), Rowling incurred the wrath of transgender activists when she criticized what their movement was doing to the distinctiveness and grandeur of femininity. Rowling (rightly) recoiled at the presumption that being female was merely a costume one puts on, or a psychological belief that a person adopts or embraces.
Rowling explained her disagreement with transgenderism’s false belief that sex distinctions are discriminatory social constructs:
“If sex isn't real, there's no same-sex attraction. If sex isn't real, the lived reality of women globally is erased…. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives.”
She’s right, of course, but right doesn’t matter in a backwards culture that prefers darkness over light. That’s why I wrote this piece to and about Rowling several months ago.
Well, fast-forward to the recent BRIT Awards show in the UK. In previous years, the event recognized the “Best Male Artist” and “Best Female Artist” of the year. But, in the true spirit of wokeness and gender justice that we live in these days, the BRIT Awards merged the two into a singular “Artist of the Year.” The singer Adele won that inaugural award and took to the stage to offer her appreciation. It seems what she didn’t appreciate was the elimination of her identity as a female vocalist. Skip ahead to the :55 mark of this video and listen to her empathic declaration, as well as the crowd response.
Needless to say, that remark sparked outrage amongst those working so hard to erase female (and male) identity. Transgender activists slammed Adele as a “transphobe” and accused her of harming “confused teenagers.” They slapped the same TERF (“trans-exclusionary” radical feminist) label on her that they have done to Rowling.
When I read all this, my mind went back to last weekend in Minnesota and the youth event I was invited to speak at. I talked to the teens there about identity and specifically brought up the cautionary tale of J.K. Rowling for those who attempt to worship the idols of this world. The spirit of the age is an intolerant, unforgiving faith that moves rapidly and pivots unpredictably.
If you don’t believe me, here is the current president speaking just a few years ago on matters of human sexuality, the culture, and the law:
If you are trying to please the gods of this world, if you are attempting to keep up with the spirit of the age, don’t blink. Man’s faith in himself and his own feelings is in a constant state of evolution, and it will never be stationary or fixed. You will never know whether what you are saying today will be regarded as bigoted hate speech tomorrow. And if you think that the newest thought masters will forgive you for past statements or professions of morality that they now declare repulsive, the graveyard of the cancelled, defrocked, and de-platformed would like a word with you.
There’s another option, of course. One whose definition of morality, whose truth claim, whose expectations and commands are fixed in the solid bedrock of God’s omnipotent character. It, like He, is and will be the same yesterday, today, and forever. What God tells you about right and wrong today is the same thing He will tell you about right and wrong tomorrow. No guessing, no confusion, no worrying, no cancelling, no surprises.
If that’s something you’d like to hear more about, my email is always open: peter@peterheck.com. I’d love to tell you what I know. And honestly, besides the burden of an unforgiving world, what do you have to lose?
ICYMI…
The Olympics are well underway and they are going about like anyone with common sense knew they would go in China. So I made a video about it that you might like:
I also wrote about Whoopi getting suspended and the racially-woke NFL getting sued for…wait for it…racism. I think you might like them:
What Adele said sounded very much like self-love and appreciation, which I thought all this gender-affirming hyperbole was about; acceptance and love of who and what we are. That anyone is so upset seems to imply they don’t have one clue what it is they really want or find acceptable. And J.K.Rowling? Her statement is what I lovingly refer to as a ‘BFO’… a blinding flash of the obvious. Of course denying sex is denying lived experience.
Very good article about transgenderism (or whatever is the current terminology-of-the-day.) However, I believe the words of J.K. Rowling should taken with a big grain of salt. In her Harry Potter series, she wrote of one of the main characters coming out as gay which, in my opinion, was completely unnecessary.