November 29, 2006

Polish Kid: “My Half-Year of Hell With Christian Fundamentalists”

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There are a million things that are funny about this. It’s almost like someone made it up; if they did, we’re playing the willing suckers here at Mother Jones.

The facts are simple. (1) A Polish student named Michael came to America for a study abroad term. (2) He was placed with an evangelical family in North Carolina. (3) Hilarity ensued.

Here are the highlights:

– The first thing the family told Michael when he landed at the airport was “Child, our Lord sent you half-way around the world to bring you to us.” Michael immediately wanted to get back on the plane to Poland.

– Every Monday, the family gathered around the kitchen table to talk about sex. The parents had not had sex in 17 years.

– The family told Michael that he had the devil in his heart. The family told Michael that his mother had the devil in her heart.

– Michael realized part of the way through his stay that the family had only agreed to house him because he could help them set up an evangelical church in Poland. A bit opportunistic, no?

How is this not a sitcom already? To Mike, we’re not all like that, we promise. Perhaps you should swing by the Bay Area next time and sample some of our “San Francisco Values.” And to Wonkette, who found this on Der Spiegel, keep fighting the good fight, folks.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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