One wild, weird weekend

(This was an alternative column I wrote that was never published.)

My life keeps getting more surreal by the day.

The weekend of March 13-14 makes a perfect example. My oldest son, Wesley, lives near Orlando, Fla., and that Saturday he got married again. He and Dena were supposed to have a big wedding last April, but as the pandemic began closing everything down, they hurried up and essentially eloped a month early on St. Patrick’s Day. My wife got to fly in to be there, but the rest of us watched on Facebook Live.

Wes and Dena didn’t have a honeymoon and they were basically denied the big wedding they had planned. So they waited a year and redid their vows with a full-blown ceremony and reception. That was the purpose of our visit that weekend. Most of the family arrived in Florida the Wednesday before. I flew in Friday night, arriving just after midnight. We had three families staying at a beach rental in Cape Canaveral, which is close to the wedding venue. That morning as Wesley and his brothers left to get ready, the rest of us took a stroll on the beach. At that same time, my daughter in Colorado was texting photos of the two feet of snow in her yard.

When the rest of us got to the venue, everything began to unravel. On our way there, we got a panic call from Wes saying they had no topper for the cake. We assured him we would take care of it, although we didn’t know how. When the bartender arrived, there was no booze. Each thought the other was providing it. Fortunately, she had time to run out and get some. When Dena’s mother arrived, she brough the wrong box and Dena was left without the jewelry she had picked out. Other glitches arose but each was overcome.

When the cake arrived, it was a sight to behold. Three-fourths of it was a traditional, lacy layer cake. One fourth of it was done in a steampunk style. It had all kinds of gears, pipes and knobs sticking out of it. Hidden in a tiny alcove was a gnome, which was supposed to be part of the original cake topper before Dena smartly vetoed it.

Because Wes and Dena like steampunk, the boutonnieres were metal roses. The leftover roses made the perfect cake topper and it all looked like it was planned. It was the most memorable wedding cake I’ve ever seen.

The wedding ceremony was outdoors (next to a cow pen) and was conducted by Lt. Col. Brandon Moore, who is Wesley’s uncle and an Army chaplain. I was able to stream the service live on Facebook for the rest of the family who couldn’t be there to see. After the service we retreated inside the barn for the reception. I swelled with pride to see how well Wesley’s teenage brothers handled the toast. They seem so grown-up now.

The rest of the evening was very enjoyable with plenty of food, dancing and socializing.

Now this is the point where things started to get strange. That night was daylight savings, so we all had to remember to set our clocks ahead an hour. That normally wouldn’t be a big deal, but we all got up at 5:30 a.m. and strolled out to the beach to watch as SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket into space and its booster safely returned for an upright landing on a drone barge at sea. It was an incredible sight to see. That was the third launch I have seen and the first at night.

The launch, however, was just the beginning of our space adventure. A group of us went to Kennedy Space Center for the day. My wife, Sandy, her sister, Susan Moore, and four of our kids all went. We’re all big space geeks. Sandy and Susan’s parents worked at Johnson Space Center for a while during the Apollo program.

The highlight of the visit was seeing Space Shuttle Atlantis. It is beautifully displayed at an angle and can be viewed from three levels. An unexpected bonus was seeing a display of some of the wreckage from space shuttles Challenger and Columbia. I did not know that was there and it was breathtaking. The first launch I’ve ever seen was Columbia in 1995. The launch held the record for the most delays, so Atlantis was already on the adjacent pad. I saw Atlantis again about 10 or 11 years ago as it flew overhead on the airplane on a return to JSC. Finally seeing it up close was mesmerizing. We also enjoyed seeing the Mercury Sigma 7 and Gemini 9A capsules and other artifacts.

The next morning, I had a 6 a.m. flight home on Frontier (the rest of the family was staying longer). We hit a 20-minute detour on our way to the airport and I got their 50 minutes before the flight. I arrived to huge lines at the check-in counter. Ten minutes after arriving, an agent told me the flight closed five minutes earlier. I missed my flight and Frontier was quite rude about it to me and another passenger in the same predicament.

To make a long story short (believe me, I’d love to rant about Frontier because this isn’t the first bad experience I’ve had with them), I ended up with a ticket on Southwest that got me home only two hours later than planned.

I got to work and was thoroughly exhausted. I was running on about four hours of sleep and suffering from both the daylight savings time change and jet lag. I managed to get through the day on adrenaline, lots of coffee, and my head spinning with treasured memories of space shuttles, rocket launches and a wedding that went off without a hitch (they were already married, so no hitch). The best part of it all was experiencing everything (minus the flight mishap) with my family. We’ve got a weekend to remember for a long time to come.

‘Roe v. Wade’ movie confronts controversy

When I first received an email inviting me to screen a new movie coming out called “Roe v. Wade,” I was incredibly hesitant to oblige.

One look at the cast of aging A-listers from Hollywood told me this might be another liberal, pro-choice propaganda piece that glorifies abortion. I’m staunchly pro-life and the thought of a two-hour indoctrination was not appealing. I’m also open minded enough to know that the best way to beat an opponent is to fully understand his perspective. So I hit reply on the email and a short while later was watching the video on my computer.

I was eight years old in 1973 when the U.S. Supreme Court made the controversial landmark ruling that legalized abortion in this country, so I was unfamiliar with the people involved and the backstory. After watching the docudrama “Roe v. Wade,” I consider myself much better educated.

“Roe v. Wade” is an independent film that began streaming online last Friday. Because the subject is so incredibly polarizing it will undoubtedly earn a reputation as a propaganda piece, something Nick Loeb, the co-writer, co-director, and co-star is well aware of. In a recent phone interview with me, Loeb said early reviews have been at the extremes. Reviewers either raved about it or dissed it.

“Nobody’s in the middle, I’ll tell you,” he said.

Loeb and co-writer/co-director Cathy Allyn set out to tell a factual, historical story and to not push an agenda for either side. He said they spent a year conducting research, reading books, articles, and court transcripts. He also researched the people involved in the case.

“I went in to tell a story, not a conspiracy story, I didn’t know (the details),” he said.

Anticipating blowback from people on both sides of the issue, the movie’s website, www.roevwademovie.com, contains a fact check section. It’s sure to get a lot of visits as more people watch the movie. As the movie unfolds, it’s unclear which direction it is heading. There are competing narratives from both the pro-life and pro-choice camps. Loeb portrays Dr. Bernard Nathanson, a prolific abortionist in the 1960s who champions the pro-choice/women’s rights cause. A lot of the movie is his narrative and several times the scene freezes to allow for voiceover narration.

About a third of the way through it becomes clear that the tone of the movie is pro-life, with Nathanson and abortion rights activist Lawrence Lader (Jamie Kennedy) conspiring the plant fake pro-choice propaganda in the media and perpetuating the lucrative abortion gravy train under the guise of helping women.

“I didn’t want to vilify the pro-choice side,” Loeb told me. “They were not evil, bad people. They thought they were doing the best thing for women.”

Norma McCorvey (Summer Joy Campbell), who was identified in the court case as Jane Roe, has only cameo appearances in the film, which Loeb said was on purpose.

“She wasn’t involved in Roe v. Wade at all,” he said.

He said the real McCorvey didn’t find out about the case until it came out in the news.

“People want Norma’s story … but this is bigger than Norma,” Loeb said. “She was just a cog in the wheel.”

In her big scene, she meets with a couple of pro-choice attorneys while seeking to get an abortion but is told they don’t know how or where she can legally get one. Ultimately McCorvey had her baby and gave it up for adoption. By keeping McCorvey unwillingly pregnant they were able to use her as an example for their case to end abortion laws, first in Texas and then nationally. The case was tried in Dallas County where the lawyers sued District Attorney Henry Wade (James Dumont) on McCorvey’s behalf. Working on the pro-life side are National Right to Life Committee co-founder Dr. Mildred Jefferson (Stacey Dash) and attorney Robert Byrn (Joey Lawrence), and others.

The third element in the film are the Supreme Court justices, featuring the all-star cast of Jon Voight as Warren Berger, Robert Davi as William Brennan Jr., Steve Guttenberg as Lewis Powell Jr., John Schneider at Byron White, and Corbin Bernsen as Harry Blackmun. Most of the scenes involving the justices depict behind-the-scenes grandstanding and revelations that family members of two of the justices work for abortion provider Planned Parenthood.

The 7-2 court ruling is made about three-fourths of the way through the film, leaving the latter part to tell the story of Nathanson’s conversion, followed by actual footage of the real-life people involved in the case – primarily Nathanson and McCorvey – explaining why they switched sides.

The movie was independently made on a low budget of under $8 million, which can excuse some of the low production values, but not the lumbering storyline and some of the stilted acting. The big names on the high court give the movie marquee appeal and its best performances. It does have a solid look and feel of the early 1970s, which Loeb said he was proud of given the low budget.

Loeb said the film exposes the “lies and manipulation” of the pro-choice movement leading up to the court case. He is sure to be called out for the same in return by pro-choicers, which is what makes the fact check section of the website so important. To be sure there are historical inaccuracies and exaggeration of events, but Loeb insists story is true. In making this film Loeb has set himself up at the conservative antithesis of ultra-liberal documentarian Michael Moore (“Bowling for Columbine,” “Fahrenheit 9/11”).

Although the movie was long and the drama understated, it was worth the time, if for no other reason than to become familiar with the case that shaped my personal political beliefs and ultimately changed the course of history for this nation and the world.

Be respectful of others this Easter

Easter Sunday is upon us and with it comes many challenges masked behind the pandemic.

Last year Easter was celebrated under a nationwide shutdown. Churches were closed, services moved online, and many Easter egg hunts and other such activities were canceled.

This year things are going to be a little awkward for some. A year into the COVID-19 pandemic and everything is changing. Vaccines are reaching higher percentages of the population and many churches are opening up, albeit to limited capacities in some places and full capacity in others. Some have chosen to remain online for now.

Even though the state has lifted the mask mandate and is allowing businesses to open at full capacity, it has been left to local and individual discretion whether or not masks and social distancing are required. This is where things can get a little tricky.

Each congregation has its own set of requirements for attendance at Easter services. Each church and other organizations holding Easter egg hunts, cantatas, and other celebrations and activities likewise have their own rules. Many in this area, but not all, still require face coverings, social distancing, and frequent hand washing.

Since Easter services are traditionally among the most well attended, many churches will be struggling to accommodate larger than normal crowds while at the same time following health and safety guidelines. This is where you can help.

Please keep in mind that no matter what side of the mask issue you fall on that it is important to be mindful and respectful of all people, especially those you disagree with. It’s bad enough that mask (or lack of mask) shaming takes place on social media. Don’t let it happen in our houses of worship. If your church requires a mask, wear it. If a mask isn’t required, don’t get on someone’s case because they chose to wear one.

The same goes for seating. If a pew is blocked off to allow for social distancing, don’t violate the rules and sit there. Be respectful and take an open seat.

If you do not agree with your church’s rules, Easter Sunday is probably not the time to be voicing your opinion, especially to a pastor who is already stressed enough. Save it for another time, privately.

It’s kind of ironic that people need to be reminded to use the Golden Rule in church, but to be sure it is necessary. Jesus taught in the Bible to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It’s a sad state of affairs if that can’t be accomplished inside his church, let alone anywhere else in public.

It also serves as a gentle reminder that this simple act of civility will help all of us as we transition out of the pandemic and back into normal routines. Not every person, business, or church is in the same boat. We all have unique circumstances and concerns to accommodate and it behooves every one of us to be respectful of that. So let’s bear with one another and together we will get through this pandemic and onto a life fully lived. – J.S.

(This is an editorial that ran in the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post on March 31, 2021.)