Wednesday, January 21 2009: Love Jebus
This is a strange phenomenon, I think. On Facebook, unsurprisingly, I'm coming back into contact with many people from High School. I am struck by the number of people who are now blatantly Christian (quoting hymns or bible verses in their profile, listing Jesus or church in their interests, etc.). In high school I remember them as being mean and spiteful or promiscuous or drug users and now they're friendly church goers watching "American Idol" while herding their brood of 2.5 children.
They have all probably changed to some degree since high school. I imagine most teenagers are experimental, brooding, and maladjusted to some extent and it makes sense that a 30-something adult would have gotten some of his shit together by now. However, I think this is really strange not because of how these changes reflect on them, but because of what I think these (apparent) changes say about me [please let's bring this back around to me - this is *my* blog after all].
Even if they were attending church regularly in high school (and many of them probably were), they were still "bad" because they weren't attending the right kind of church according to me. Maybe they had a curious attitude towards sex and were trying things out in an investigative and responsible manner, they were still "bad" because they weren't denying their sexual urges in accordance with what my small group of church friends considered proper.
I think now I am also more sensitive to picking up on casual theism than I may have been in the past. Previously, the bar to enter my fold was very high and if you weren't in you were most definitely out. Now, if you are a Christmas and Easter Christian who thinks they should maybe take their kids to church more, I figure you are starting to trend toward "loon". So, this raises two questions in my mind. What the hell is wrong with me that I can't seem to find a middle way that will allow me to clump together with most of the people around me? Why in the hell would anyone who only knew me when I was in high school when I was a self-righteous asshole be interested in following up with me now?
They have all probably changed to some degree since high school. I imagine most teenagers are experimental, brooding, and maladjusted to some extent and it makes sense that a 30-something adult would have gotten some of his shit together by now. However, I think this is really strange not because of how these changes reflect on them, but because of what I think these (apparent) changes say about me [please let's bring this back around to me - this is *my* blog after all].
Even if they were attending church regularly in high school (and many of them probably were), they were still "bad" because they weren't attending the right kind of church according to me. Maybe they had a curious attitude towards sex and were trying things out in an investigative and responsible manner, they were still "bad" because they weren't denying their sexual urges in accordance with what my small group of church friends considered proper.
I think now I am also more sensitive to picking up on casual theism than I may have been in the past. Previously, the bar to enter my fold was very high and if you weren't in you were most definitely out. Now, if you are a Christmas and Easter Christian who thinks they should maybe take their kids to church more, I figure you are starting to trend toward "loon". So, this raises two questions in my mind. What the hell is wrong with me that I can't seem to find a middle way that will allow me to clump together with most of the people around me? Why in the hell would anyone who only knew me when I was in high school when I was a self-righteous asshole be interested in following up with me now?
Bob SAGET!!! wrote:
I don't know if adding someone on FB means that you necessarily want to follow-up with them. I mean, to some extent, yes. But some people on my list are only there for the casual "hey, I wonder what they're up to nowadays."
I think I have more respect for the all-out theists than the casuals. I mean, even when I was a theist myself, the casuals don't get much respect.
~bob (bog saget)