Signs and Wonders: Doris Lessing's true legacy

Less of Lessing. Nobel Prize–winning author Doris Lessing died this week, and she’s been praised for her writing, but it, in fact, produced a bitter fruit in both her own life and in the culture. She is one of the godmothers of feminism, and is a hero to homosexual activists, as well. The homosexual publication The Advocate recently called her the “patron saint of outsider writing.” Born in Iran to British parents, Lessing got sucked into communism in the 1930s, had two short marriages, and abandoned two young children in order to pursue her writing and lifestyle. She called abandoning her children a “very brave thing. There is nothing more boring for an intelligent woman than to spend endless amounts of time with small children. I would have ended up an alcoholic or a frustrated intellectual like my mother.” Or, perhaps, a much more selfless and generous person.

Cy Young writer. Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw won his second National League Cy Young Award in three years this week. Kershaw is a writer, too, though of a much different kind than Doris Lessing. Kershaw co-wrote with his wife Ellen their first book Arise: Live Out Your Faith and Dreams on Whatever Field You Find Yourself in 2012. The Kershaws are also involved with the Christian ministry Mercy Street, for which he holds an annual baseball clinic. Recently, the Kershaws built an orphanage in Zambia, Africa.

Apathy to the airwaves. I hear a lot of complaining about all the raunchy stuff on television, but few people are taking their complaints to those who can do something about it. During the first quarter of 2013, only about 600 people registered complaints with the Federal Communications Commission. And, in case you’ve forgotten, more than 300 million people live in the United States. The bottom line is that we are getting the television (and radio) we deserve. That said, if you want to change this trend, it’s easy to lodge a complaint. Just go to FCC website and follow the steps for the type of complaint you want to register.

Don’t blame global warming. With the typhoon in the Philippines and the tornadoes that hit the Midwest this week, we’ve been hearing again how unusual such storms are. Well, not so fast. Typhoon Haiyan was not the strongest storm ever, despite breathless media reports. Typhoon Tip, in 1979, registered the lowest atmospheric pressure ever recorded. As for the tornadoes, Colorado Springs, Colo., meteorologist Matt Meister said severe weather in November is not unusual. In fact, he added that the number of severe tornadoes is actually going down, as these charts indicate.