by Nancy Linenkugel
Contributor
In April a Wall Street Journal front-page article focused on the Civil War sesquicentennial, currently in year three of a four-year duration. The article lamented the overall lack of interest across the country in matters involving the Civil War, evidenced by how audiences and merchandise purchasers were lagging way below expectations.
The article “For Civil War Buffs, 150-Year Anniversary Has Been Disappointing So Far” related that a public poll taken during the summer of 2013 by Public Policy Polling attempted to gauge how folks in the State of Georgia regarded Union General William Sherman. Even for his destruction of Atlanta and March to the Sea in 1864 that was so devastating, the poll found that “. . . most people don’t care: 56 percent had no opinion of Sherman at all, and only 28 percent disliked him. In comparison, 63percent disliked reality TV star Honey Boo Boo.”
Alana Thompson, aka Honey Boo Boo, is only 9 years old and lives in rural Georgia. How can anyone dislike this little girl? Dislike the show, perhaps; dislike the child beauty pageant world, possibly; and even dislike her parents for allowing the show to be done about her. Dislike all the ways that there is seeming exploitation going on. But don’t dislike the child.
When I was 9 I depended on my parents for everything. I was a good student at a Catholic elementary school in Toledo Ohio. I was a Girl Scout. I took music lessons. I learned how to baby-sit by taking care of younger siblings. I helped around the house. Paternal and maternal grandparents were involved persons in the family and helped me in so many ways. But I wasn’t making decisions for myself. I didn’t participate in child beauty pageants and wasn’t on TV every week to become famous, poised and confident. And I was never exploited.
The Civil War happened 150 years ago. There was incredible devastation between the north and the south that fills shelves of history books – but it doesn’t fill our daily consciousness. General Sherman is no comparison to Honey Boo Boo. No one alive today ever met Sherman, but we can see this little girl coming into our homes weekly if we invite her via a certain TV channel or online.
“For if he does not love the brother before his eyes, how can he love the one beyond his sight?” (1 Jn 4: 20, from The New Testament in Modern English by J. B. Phillips, 1962).
We don’t see General Sherman who is beyond our sight. We don’t see God who is beyond our sight. We do see Honey Boo Boo who is with us in the world. Isn’t she worth liking?
[Nancy Linenkugel is a Sylvania Franciscan sister and chair of the department of Health Services Administration at Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio.]