FP Interview: O.C. from Disenchanted Forest

FP: Who is Ol' Cranky and why does she live in a Disenchanted Forest?

OC: Ol Cranky is a disenfranchised American currently employed in the much hated Pharmaceutical Industry. She lives in the Disenchanted Forest which is the natural habitat of the tart-tongued harpy

FP: When and why did you start your Blog?

OC: I started this iteration of The Disenchanted Forest last Winter as a way to vent after the election. The original Disenchanted Forest was a second generation web-page (it started out as Cranky's Corner) circa 1995 while under the influence of the extremely talented Maggy Donea.

FP: Did you say in a post that you had converted to Judaism? What drew you to that tradition?

OC: I'm actually not a convert, I was born that way. I think I probably said that I chose to be Jewish at one point (those who convert are frequently referred to as Jews by choice, so the confusion is understandable). My mother wasn't observant and had little interest in the spiritual aspects of our religion, so I was raised without religion being an integral part of my life. I became agnostic during adolescence, though I continued to describe myself as Jewish and keep major holidays. Since most of my friends were Catholic, I explored other religions but I think a part of me always knew where I'd end up if/when I settled on a belief in G-d. I think the appeal of Judaism for me is the fact that it's a living religion, the general openness to questioning and challenging beliefs and the general common sense and logic approach of the religion.

FP: What would you like Christians to keep in mind about your faith?

OC: Chanukah is not the Jewish Christmas and is actually a very minor holiday in Judaism (it irks me to no end when people insist I am wrong on this one).

FP: What are your favorite links relating to Judaism?

OC: My Jewish Learning and www.aish.com are probably my favorites.

FP: Who are your favorite thinkers and writers in the areas of theology and politics?

OC: I tend to refer to Hillel and Maimonedes a bit. I've like much of the commentary I've read by Rabbi Neal Joseph Loevinger on My Jewish Learning. I don't really have a favorite political writer or pundit.

FP: Many people feel frustrated by both the perception of religious people and the
Bush Administration--what can they do to change things?

OC: Count me as one of those disenfranchised by "religious" people and the Bush Administration. I see Bush as a great divider due to what‚s been done for political expedience in the name of G-d, religion and Scripture; the relationship between the Bush Administration/Republican party and the „religious right‰ has created such a heated environment in which religion has been used as a weapon.

There are basically 2 camps, those of us who want the ability to maintain a religiously neutral environment in public (government and public schools) and those who think the imposition of their religion in those some public forums is appropriate. You have a large group of Christians (both observant and secular) in the middle that vacillate between objecting to the political hijacking of their religion and confusion as to why anyone would object to what they consider benign references to religion and feel as though their beliefs are being attacked. What they don‚t understand is that what they perceive as an attack is actually a defensive action.

The only way to bridge the gap is for open dialogue between the moderates in order to create an environment of mutual respect. Those of us who want public schools and governments to remain secular really don‚t want our children (or ourselves) to be subjected to attempts at conversion and we want the Evangelicals to respect this. This puts a lot of pressure on those in the Evangelical movements as a key part of their religious convictions entail witnessing to non-Christians to offer us a means to our salvation. It‚s a bit of a quandary, but one we have to work through lest we all lose out. Everyone who really wants some healing needs to do their share to seek out information about and initiate dialogue with those across the aisle. For my own part, I've intentionally sought out blogs of various Christian writers to things in perspective, find out what the ECs really think and, more importantly, to learn (though, in all honesty, I still do my share of thumbing my nose at the collective "them").

Unfortunately, the moderate/progressive Evangelicals have the bulk of the burden to reach out to the left & make their voices heard. It's the only way to get those outside their community to understand that they have similar concerns with our country (and their religion) being co-opted for political purposes, otherwise the rest of us will continue to believe that those who profess to speak on behalf of Christianity do so with the tacit condonation of Evangelical/Fundamentalist Christianity as a whole.

FP: Are there one or two posts you are most proud of?

OC: Pro-Responsibility: Responsible People Making Responsible Decisions

FP: I also remember reading a poem on your Blog--did you write it?

OC: I went through a poetry period in the early 90s when I was still working at the hospital (spending a lot of time in the units). I was also doing some escorting at some local women’s clinics and found myself explaining the reasons I terminated a pregnancy to some of the protesters; “Still” came about from those discussions.