Word: patronism
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...talking to one of my students the other day, and she said, ‘You know, knowing what I know now about Patrick, I think that he wouldn’t approve,’” McKenna said. Saint Patrick has been considered the patron saint of Ireland since as early as the 7th century. Born to a Roman family in Britain around 400 A.D., he was kidnapped, sold into slavery, and forced to herd sheep in Northwest Ireland at age 16, according to legend. He then experienced angelic visitations that empowered him to escape slavery...
...herself after college by becoming a stripper. Markey had a cloud of puckish hair and dark-painted eyes, and she explained that the strip club had asked her to pick a stripper name. What she chose, she explained, was Bridget, her sister’s confirmation name and the patron saint of childbirth. At first this seemed a little sacrilegious. But then Markey started to sing. She was topless, in gold panties and leather boots, arching her body around the golden pole. It was incredibly sexy, but it was more than that. She was singing about Bridget, the saint...
...would be your mate for life doesn't say much for romance. (Some maids were taught that if they awoke and saw a blackbird, they would marry a clergyman; a bluebird meant a poor man; a robin meant a sailor.) Over the years, Valentine became the patron saint of engaged couples and happy marriages, but also of beekeepers and, of course, greeting-card manufacturers. Love comes with a sting, and at a price...
...then Clinton came back and, far less artfully, said that King's visions were great, but it took an experienced politician like Lyndon Johnson to get them enacted. At the very least, Clinton had equated the sometimes crass master of the legislative backroom with one of America's patron saints. (The real problem is that Clinton seemed to put LBJ on a pedestal higher than King's.) That was probably not her intention, but neither was this her best example in the deeds-not-words crusade she was on. In any case, at that point, things began to unravel...
...Bhutto’s honor, even though the distasteful practice is virtually non-existent in this country, and advocating for its abolition in South Asia was but a tiny portion of Bhutto’s career and message. It’s wrong to make Benazir Bhutto into a patron saint for every cause and to ignore the more uncomfortable lessons of her life. These are dark times ahead for Pakistan, but the memory of Bhutto would be best served by honesty...