Essay 1479

Playing around with a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• USA TODAY reported on the small but growing market for religious board games and toys. From Kosherland — a Jewish spin on Candy Land — to Biblical action figures, there seems to be a niche demand for more wholesome entertainment. But don’t expect to find the Mel Gibson “Passion of the Christ-opoly” or Michael Richards “Kramer Kwanzaa Kit” in toy stores soon.

• The gay wedding industry is another market increasing in popularity nationwide. Despite legislation banning same-sex marriage, couples are going all out to celebrate their unions. “For the longest time, there was so much shame and privacy around it that people didn’t really give themselves permission to have ceremonies like this,” said an Arlington-based wedding consultant. “(Now) the market is growing as the headlines remain out there.” Somebody in Hollywood ought to produce a gay spin-off of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.”

• An anti-bias campaign in Virginia is stirring controversy and fear. The work is intended to provoke thinking about anti-Muslim feelings, featuring posters and bus cards with messages in Arabic script. The actual translations are ordinary phrases and children’s rhymes accompanied by statements like, “Misunderstanding can make anything scary” and “What did you think it said?” Concerned and confused citizens have complained and even called the police to investigate. “It’s so great that we’re getting feedback, even if it is negative, because it shows that people are looking, they’re thinking,” said the executive director of A More Perfect Union, a project of the Virginia Interfaith Center. “And it really proves the point that this script right here conjures up certain ideas in our heads that we have to work with.” Somebody get Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr.’s opinion on this pronto.