Sunday, November 19, 2017

"A Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste"

It started as a trickle and soon became a stream and now it is a river.  The current news coverage on sexual harassment has focused our attention on a low profile but very real problem.  This is a good thing!

First, there can be no justification or excuse for sexual harassment, but a little perspective is always helpful.

About 17 years ago, I worked with a woman who was both a good employee and a good person.  After she left the bank for a better job, I quipped that I would miss "her beautiful green eyes."  My boss then chastised me for "inappropriate language in the office."  If complimenting a person whom I had never touched and whom I was unlikely to ever see again was wrong, I did the only logical thing and thereafter avoided all unnecessary contact with women employees.

Vice President Pence does the same - he has no lunches alone with a woman and attends no parties without his wife if alcohol is served.

Extreme Judaism and extreme Islam both separate the genders as much as possible.  While it is difficult to believe that extreme religious beliefs are ever right, maybe they are not entirely wrong.

While sexual harassment is morally wrong, the shunning or marginalization of women is an economic wrong.