First, I am a huge fan of Lewis Carroll. And I get mad when people accuse him of being a pedophile. Why do they do this? Because he liked to hang out with his friend's children. He would have tea parties with them and tell them stories (that is where the books of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass were born). And he was also a photographer of children. And yes, some of those photos look odd to us. But often Charles L. Dodgson (Lewis Carroll's real name) was asked by parents to photograph their children. Children in their time were seen as wholly innocent -- any photographs of them, even if they wore little clothing, was to showcase their innocence from God. Here is a quote of how Dodgson viewed children. He wrote in a letter to a friend named Gaynor, "For I think a child's first attitude to the world is a simple love for all things. And he will have learned that the best work a man can do is when he works for love's sake only, with no thought of fame or gain or earthly reward. No deed of ours, I suppose, on this side of the grave, is really unselfish. Yet if one can put forth all one's powers in a task where nothing of reward is hoped for but a little child's whispered thanks...one seems to come somewhere near to this."
Alexander Woollcott, who knew Dodgson personally describes him as "a puttering, fussy, fastidious, didactic bachelor, who was almost painfully humourless in his relations with the grownup world around him." He also writes that Dodgson "was the kind of man who gravely stipulated that no illustrations for a book of his be drawn on Sunday."
Woollcott also says that Dodgson never liked to "see together' Rev. Charles L. Dodgson (himself) and "the immortal Lewis Carroll."
He was not a pedophile. He was an awkward man who was able to talk to children but not to grownups. I totally understand that. There are often times I am way too much personality, too loud, too much impulsiveness for grownups, but kids love it. I love being with my grandson. We have so much fun together being crazy. That isn't exactly like Dodgson, but I know how it is to prefer sometimes to be with children rather than adults.
My second person to bring up is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ -- I read a writer say in an interview, "Of course Jesus and Mary Magdalene had sex."
NO THEY DIDN'T! This is the problem. We are so sex obsessed in our culture we think all cultures past were the same way. Jesus stuck to the law -- he would never have had sex outside marriage. He wasn't married to Mary Magdalene -- if that was in the plan when he was hanging on the cross, he would have addressed his wife! His mission wasn't to have children and a wife. His mission was to save souls. And another thing -- we have no idea what Mary Magdalene was like. She is always portrayed as a beautiful, young woman. Scripture never says she was a beautiful, young woman. She is only said to have had several demons cast out of her. She could have been in her 40s, even 50s. She could have been odl and ugly. Having lived with demon possession she very likely was not beautiful. Scripture does not say she was a prostitute. She was healed from demon possession and wholly devoted to Jesus Christ after that.
When is our society going to quit sexualizing everything? Life isn't meant to be focused on sex. Sex is an activity reserved for marriage -- that is it. If it is done outside marriage, you are outside of God's will. It is a sin.
Now for my last beef -- William Shakespeare. My son and I call him our friend Will. We have read most of his plays except for all the history ones. We have read a lot of the history ones, but most of them are filled with wars and usurping of titles and they are not as much fun to read as the comedies and the tragedies. We have also read his sonnets -- where the discussion lies. People say these sonnets prove he had an affair. Many say these also say he was a homosexual.
Okay, so no one knows for sure, but society quickly jumps on the homosexual affair bent because it legitimizes so much of our own depravity. By saying this is the way a master of old was it says we are okay doing the things we are doing. Why not give the man the benefit of the doubt? He was a playwright. Of course he had to live in London to make a living. His wife didn't want to live in London (probably because of the children and also plague was rampant many years there). He came home when he could. He cared for his family financially and was there when they needed him. The sonnets appear to be written to a young man.
My take on them (giving Will the benefit of the doubt because he was a devoted family man and he was also way too busy to get caught up in affairs -- he was very respectable and was conscious of keeping the Shakespeare name respectable because the career he chose was not at the time seen as respectable) was that he had a man-crush on one of the young actors he was teaching/mentoring while directing him in his plays. He had an group of actors under him that he wrote his plays for. They would be acted in The Globe. They put on plays weekly so his life was writing the plays. Then giving them to the actors to memorize and practice and then put on. They kept a series of plays on hand to perform when the need arose. The young boys (before their voices changed) played female parts. Women weren't allowed on the stage then. These sonnets could have been written after his son Hamnet died. Possibly the young actor he grew quite emotionally attached to. Maybe this actor reminded him of his son. And in his grief he invested a lot of himself in the young man. Then the young man no longer needed this old guy helping him so he moved on. Will didn't becauuse his feelings for the boy were wrapped up in the grief he carried for his son Hamnet.
Think on it. I am not saying this is the truth, but it could be. He was possibly very lonely for his family while in London.
Why again do we sexualize the lives of people who have long been dead? They were required to attend church. They heard the scriptures. William Shakespeare incorporated much scripture in his writings. He lived a disciplined life.
Okay, so if you have read this long, thanks! Only God knows why I got on this rant today. Give people the benefit of the doubt. The men I spoke about were all devoted to Christ (well, Christ Jesus is Jesus and devoted to the Father -- you know -- the Triune God).