Christian Right Challenges Las Vegas School
The Rutherford Institute, a Christian civil rights group based in Virginia, has filed a lawsuit on behalf of Brittany McComb, the Las Vegas area high school valedictorian whose microphone was cut off during her graduation speech in June after she departed from the approved text by amplifying on the theme of her religious faith.
I have put in a call to John Whitehead, the president of the Rutherford Institute and expect to talk to him about the case later this morning. I will have the Q&A on the Buffet as soon as I do.
But first I need to tell you that it will be a pleasure to reconnect with Mr. Whitehead (a man who calls Jerry Falwell by his first name and was an important cog in Senator Clinton's theory of the vast right wing conspiracy). You see, I used to work for Whitehead at the Rutherford Institute.
Surprised? Actually, it surprises me, as I have never been a Christian and these days the right that is usually on my mind is the turn I take to reach a nearby highway. But when I left graduate school with nothing but some academic publications and music reviews for Rolling Stone under my belt it was John Whitehead who gave me my start as full time magazine staffer.
I'll keep the back story simple. The woman I was living with got a fellowship at the University of Virginia and I moved to Charlottesville, Va., in the '90s with her. My dream was to be a full-time writer. It did not go well for me.
The savings were gone and the moment of truth arrived. I needed to find a story to pitch or get work in a restaurant. Then it happened. Paula Jones sued President Bill Clinton and headlines around the country were made when Rutherford Institute lawyers took up her cause. I am not a political writer, but....
I walked over to their office building one afternoon since the Rutherford Institute was only two blocks from my apartment. Instead of discussing doing a story on them, I left with a job offer to work for Gadfly magazine.
You see, in addition to his strong religious passions, Mr. Whitehead is a pop culture connoisseur. To give one example: he is the most dedicated Beatles fan on earth. (He is the sort of fan who finds merits even in Ringo's solo albums, each and every one).
OK, a lot of people like the Beatles, but Mr. Whitehead's artistic tastes are not at all the clichéd ones you would stereotypically attribute to a leader of the Christian Right. There are no Amy Grant discs in his collection. Whitehead has a deep knowledge and respect for the painter Francis Bacon (Whitehead wrote a cover story on Bacon for Gadfly) and grasps the satiric depth of Frank Zappa's early discs. I suspect I am one of the few people at the Rutherford Institute who knew what Mr. Whitehead was talking about the day he wandered arond the office singing Zappa's "Who Are the Brain Police?" over and over and over. Mr. Whitehead and I clicked instantly.
(Of course, other folks at the Rutherford Institute didn't quite get me. One day, one well-meaning employee, fascinated by my Jewish heritage, asked if my family spoke Yiddish or Hebrew at home. Oy vey.)
Anyway, when I met him, Whitehead had just started Gadfly, a magazine which he saw as an independent and smart look at popular culture. And, even before I came on board, an issue was scheduled to come out with the Sex Pistols on the cover. Gadfly did not have anything like a Christian perspective, and Mr. Whitehead promised me the Rutherford world view would have no impact on Gadfly and it didn't. He just wanted good writers and smart topics and deep thought.
From Gore Vidal to Lou Reed to David Cronenberg, Gadfly covered who and what the staff wanted to write about. My time at Gadfly was among the most rewarding of my career in terms of the freedoms I was given as a writer. I learned a lot there. Ultimately, we attracted some wonderfully loyal readers, and I am still wickedly proud about contributing to what we produced. We were given an Alternative Press Award for best cultural coverage by the Utne Reader (perhaps the last magazine on earth that would knowingly honor the Rutherford Institute.).
But Gadfly was definitely not a commercial success. I don't think we even had a rate card, we were so naive about advertising. Our existence was due to Mr. Whitehead's dedication. Sadly, Gadfly could not continue forever without funding and it switched to Web-only publication shortly after I moved to Vegas in 1999 before ceasing to exist altogether.
(Photo: Richard Ellis / AP)
I have a feeling this lawsuit is Dead on Arrival.
Posted by: crazymonk | July 14, 2006 at 01:16 PM