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LAS14

(13,783 posts)
Wed Feb 17, 2016, 06:22 PM Feb 2016

A personal memory of Hillary

I was advised to cross post this. In most forums I've been in, cross posting was frowned on. It this is illegal, I hope this is the one that is hidden instead of the one in General Discussion: Primaries

***************
Hello All!
I’m writing to friends and family and other contacts to share one side of the story about one of our presidential candidates, which may not be familiar to many, at least in the terms that I know them. A hundred years ago, I worked closely with a bright young Methodist student at Wellesley College, where I was serving as a teacher and Chaplain, one Hillary Rodham. She was then, and, I believe, still is a person of deep moral passion, notwithstanding press caricatures of her that have appeared in recent years with predictable regularity.
Hillary came to Wellesley as an enthusiastic “Goldwater Girl.” Hers was a dedicated voice of the Midwestern Right. Then she took the (at that time) required sophomore Bible course, and it changed her life. She was especially fond of Amos, texts such as 5:24, “Let justice roll down like waters.” And she did not just talk the talk.
One example. As president of the student government, she and a group of young women like her (I was a kind of back-row advisor to all this), wanted to address the mostly lily-white complexion of the student body. At that time there were, as I recall, 12 African-Americans in a student body of some 2000. The College’s administration wanted nothing to do with all this. Hillary took the lead with her group to raise money independently to pay for those African-American students to make recruiting trips to predominantly black high schools across the country. Not only had those schools never been visited by Wellesley College recruiters before, they were unknown to the Admissions Office. That project turned out to be a minor success. But my point here is not minor successes, but Hillary’s impressive moral passion and her eagerness to act on that passion.
I have kept close tabs on her personal and political trajectories ever since. Notwithstanding her being the object of sometimes vicious attacks (tell me that sexism is not alive and well in this country) and notwithstanding mistakes of her own along the way, I believe that the faith that she discovered in Amos and the moral passion she exemplified at Wellesley College have not left her. If anything, given the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, that faith and that moral passion have deepened and become the driving force of all she does. I believe that she has added the wisdom of spiritual depth, too, which sometimes comes with maturity. Did you notice that when asked, during one of the New Hampshire debates, about spiritual influences on her life she spoke at length and with some conviction about how much she has learned from that great Catholic spiritual teacher of our time, Henri Nouwen?
I, of course, am not an unbiased witness. I affirm what I once saw, and I affirm what I now see. I have walked the streets of New Hampshire in her behalf and I support her current campaign financially.
I write only with this hope, that, as you continue to reflect about the current campaign, you will take into account her moral passion and her spiritual depth. She is much more than her popular detractors, even on the liberal side, make her out to be. I also believe that she has even more to offer. Her much vaunted “experience” is not something to shake a stick at, for example, not to speak of a certain wisdom she brings with her as a knowledgeable student of history. But those are themes for another day.
Thank you for reading!

This was written by the husband of LAS14, who was the Wellesley chaplain that Hillary mentioned in her graduation speech. She was the first student to give such a speech. It was the 60's and times they were a changin'.

17 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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SunSeeker

(51,675 posts)
8. Definitely keep cross-posting!
Wed Feb 17, 2016, 08:29 PM
Feb 2016

A lot of Hillary supporters don't even go into GDP because it is so toxic over there. You should definitely cross-post anything you put in GDP about Hillary into the Hillary Group as well so we can all see it.

Hekate

(90,787 posts)
9. Glad you made it here!
Thu Feb 18, 2016, 03:28 AM
Feb 2016

Sometimes cross posting is advised because GDP is really strange right now, as you will find as you go along.

And cross posting in general is okay unless you are spamming, as there are a ton of subgroups, but a lot of us only hang out in the top 3 or 4.

Anyway, hope to see you around!

LAS14

(13,783 posts)
11. Kick it in Genera Discussion: primaries?
Thu Feb 18, 2016, 09:05 AM
Feb 2016

In that case, perhaps you and some others could kick it in "General Discussion: Primaries" so that people still deciding (if any such people lurk in this site ) could see it? Similar title, but not exact.

Cha

(297,598 posts)
15. Thank you..
Thu Feb 18, 2016, 09:47 AM
Feb 2016

Sorry, to complain but it would be nice if the OP here were made into paragraphs like you have in GDP.

LAS14

(13,783 posts)
16. Hmmm... not totally understanding "kick."
Thu Feb 18, 2016, 11:10 AM
Feb 2016

I see you replied to the "Memory" post in GDP at 8:45 today. (Thanks!!) It shows up at the 8:45 slot in GDP, but not in Greatest Threads, where it had appeared, thanks to 5 recomendations. Is there any way to get it kicked up in that thread? Maybe 25 recommendations would do it?

Cha

(297,598 posts)
17. The K just means we post on it and then it goes to the top.. keeping it active.
Thu Feb 18, 2016, 11:14 AM
Feb 2016

Giving it a kick.

Tanuki

(14,920 posts)
13. Thank you for sharing this! Welcome.
Thu Feb 18, 2016, 09:15 AM
Feb 2016

I am glad your wife has made the point about Hillary's involvement in efforts to integrate the student body and faculty at Wellesley while she was a student there, and her longstanding commitment to social justice.

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