Purgatory will be a near eternity of "Chick-flicks."

As you can see, I took a few days off from the blogosphere this weekend. Let's get back into action with something that's a little bit religious and a little bit pop culture.

I am fairly convinced that my stay in Purgatory will be rather short as such things are measured in eternity.
Catechism of the Catholic Church para. 1473 notes:

The forgiveness of sin and restoration of communion with God entail the remission of the eternal punishment of sin, but temporal punishment of sin remains. While patiently bearing sufferings and trials of all kinds and, when the day comes, serenely facing death, the Christian must strive to accept this temporal punishment of sin as a grace. He should strive by works of mercy and charity, as well as by prayer and the various practices of penance, to put off completely the "old man" and to put on the "new man."

Me, as the father of three daughters, I'm serving my penance here on Earth. A case in point is the two hours I invested recently in The Lizzie McGuire Movie with my daughters. For those who aren't knowledgeable of the intricacies of the Disney Channel ouvre, the TV show chronicles the trials and tribulations that the show's namesake faces in negotiating the Darwinian struggle for survival which is Jr. High School Lizzie is an obviously attractive, personable blonde who, for reasons which are entirely unclear, is depicted as a social outcast, perhaps to reassure the self image of the 98% of adolescent girls who are social outcasts, that they are as attractive, fashion conscious and misunderstood as Lizzie. The movie starts with Lizzie's graduation from Jr. High school, which she fouls up in such an epic manner as to be worthy of CNN coverage. Lizzie then goes on a class trip to Rome, where she meets up with the fabulous Paulo, a seventeen year old pop singer who sweeps Lizzie off her feet with his attentions.

In all, as the father of pre-adolescent girls, and therefore as a man who is now coaching the other side, I have to say that the movie promotes positive social values. Paulo turns out to be a creep who gets his come-uppance, thereby teaching the eternal truth, which I want to brand on my oldest daughter's soul before puberty, that men are manipulative and can not be trusted. Again, I say as a father of daughters, the only plot device that could have made me happier was having Paulo and Lizzie struck blind by an avenging angel after they shared an innocent kiss. Further, Lizzie does share a kiss with Gordo - a plot development that I did not approve of - who is kind of a nerdy loyal friend of Lizzie's. So, perhaps the implicit message is that girls should look for friendship with the nerds, which is probably a good father-of-daughter's default position since, and again I speak as a father of daughters, nerds can be easily intimidated. In sum, there were good positive messages in the move all around.

Anti-male cracks notwithstanding, Instapundit had a link to a good post on the socially acceptable practice of male-bashing. With very little reflection it should be easy to establish that male-bashing is a real phenomenon and that the message it communicates about male violence and irresponsibility has real effects. I know as a man who fought for the custody of a two and a three year old daughters how the planted assumptions in those stereotypes can have pernicious consequences. I also know that many men have given up their custody rights for a host of reasons, which may stem from some belief in their own incapacity to act as parents. The article's suggestion that male-bashing be fought at the grassroots is one that I second.