I got the first call from a friend with the statement I have been dreading:
“I don’t like the name of your blog. I think it will turn people off.”
It was only a matter of time before anyone said anything. Fortunately, my friend made sure to be as nice and tactful as possible. Plus, he’s a mega-smart guy, a fellow blogger, and someone whom I respect greatly.
He was also smart enough to shower me with compliments before he dropped the bomb. I’m a sucker for a compliment: if you tell me that I look thin or that I’m having a good hair day, I’m your slave.
I told him I would take his good counsel into consideration. And I have. A lot.
My conclusion: The name stays.
I have spent my career as an advocate “pushing the envelope” of people’s thinking in order to help get justice for victims and protect kids. Because of who I am and what I stand for, I force people to (sometimes unwillingly) look very, very closely at the abuses of the religious institution in which they have invested their lives, their marriages and their children. What I have to tell them is not pretty, but I have always been honest, always been sincere, and always tried to maintain a somewhat healthy attitude. Because of hundreds of people like me around the world, things are changing – for the better.
Honestly, I don’t think I have ever used the word “puke” in a sentence more than two or three times in my life. But in this case, it works. Hopefully, it will make people think. I already know it makes some people laugh.
And really, that’s why I’m doing this. With anger, we get nowhere. But if we have smiles on our faces, we can change the world (or at least stop crying for a while).
Puke is not pretty. But it can be funny. Just like parenting.
The Pope? Well, I think that we are seeing that “making Joelle puke” is the least of his crimes.
Even the NYT is picking it up (a little late, as Kathy Shaw and I know ….). You can read my response/statement here.
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