Attack on AFARM is Off Base

David B. Lat's insipid ranting about the Association for the Absence of Rabid Moralism ("The Absence of Rational Minds," Feb 10, 1994) is off-base and a blatant example of the Harvard right-wing's lack of a sense of humor.

Lat claims that AFARM "responds to the legitimate concerns of AALARM, the Association Against Learning in the Absence of Religion and Morality, not with open and smart discussion but with lame posters and infantile humor." The fruits of AALARM'S "legitimate concerns" include putting their (anti-pink triangle) blue square symbol at the base of the Widener steps the night before National Holocaust Remembrance Day. This was done so that it would be in full view when the names of those who died in the concentration camps were read. Protesting the memorial for gays who died in the and Holocaust is not open and smart discussion, it is abhorrent and to use Lat's own word, "infantile."

The AALARM posters that appeared during BGLAD (Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Awareness Days) and National Holocaust Remembrance Day last April were pretty "lame." One poster featured the blue square and the slogan, "DON'T BGLAD, BE AALARMED!" (almost as witty as "Old MacDonald has AFARM"!) Another had unattributed statistics about the acceptance of homosexuality, and the slogan "DON'T ENCOURAGE OR RECRUIT HOMOSEXUALS!" If I thought recruitment would increase my chance of getting a date, I'd be on the street corner right now passing out flyers.

The main difference between AALARM and AFARM is that AALARM takes itself much more seriously, Robert K.A. Wasinger '94, an outspoken member of AALARM, has been known to give quotes like his comment on Kenan Professor of Government Harvey C. Mansfield's ramarks about the shamelessness of homosexuality ("Coalition Reacts to Mansfield," Oct. 22, 1993): "Homosexuality is a vile and detestable lifestyle and I think that it is completely disgusting that two people could do that freely to each other."

Six days later Wasinger was quoted as saying "I'm generally fairly at peace with myself and with the world in general...[because of my lessening anxiety about the] militant fringes of society...the homosexual movement or the radical feminists, or as they could be called, feminazis" ("It's Only a Dream," in Fifteen Minutes, Oct. 28, 1993). Are we supposed after reading Wasinger's comments and witnessing AALARM's actions? I find that extremely difficult.

Lat goes on to take issue with the fact that AFARM has received funding from the Office for the Arts and the Undergraduate Council. Whether or not AFARM is highly politicized is irrelevant; both the Perspective and the Salient, two political publications, received Council funding as fledgling organizations. Also, Lat's question, "Should a group whose idea of 'art' is a really bad play script about gay rights receive money from the Office for the Arts?" is strange. I assume he is referring to AFARM's piece in HQ, "Sugar Daddy Memoirs From the Association for the Absence of Rabid Moralism " (HQ, Dec., 1993). While it is sophisticated and difficult, I would hardly say it is "really bad." But it is meaningless whether or not I think it's good and Lat thinks it's bad. If artwork affects someone, and the play script obviously has, then it is an effective piece of artwork.

Finally, there is an overwhelming lack of humor regarding this whole matter, Sure, AFARM's posters and its members' comments are pretty silly. However, to think that AFARM's actions aren't somewhat amusing shows a complete lack of a sense of humor. I think that is quite obvious in the way Lat scrutinizes AFARM. He thinks naming their official positions after character in the Marquis de Sad's 120 Days of Sodom is "highly offensive." But is Lat any better after his pirates an obscure quote from the movie "Ferris, Bueller's Day Off," changing it to become his choice for AFARM's new motto: "We fight morality with lost of pluck, 'cause we're some students who like to..." To utilize and propagate the stereotype of the sex-obsessed perverted homosexual is offensive, not to mention somewhat ridiculous. It's pretty much a known fact that most students like to...and to think that either AFARM members, gay students or liberals are in the minority of people who like to...is much funnier than anything Lat said in his whole article.

I won't be the first person to say that AFARM isn't the greatest or most successful organization to take root at Harvard. However, they do serve an incredibly important purpose. In an environment where liberals and conservatives write a never-ending stream of serious and solemn articles and letters about homosexuality, feminism or whatever, a whimsical group with strong political views is definitely needed. I think that the political climate at Harvard would be much more stressful without AFARM.

We need humor and whimsy, and if it gets funded, just remember: so did the Harvard-Radcliffe Ping Pong Club. Theodore K. Gideonse '96   Editor, HQ Magazine