omfg, Extreme Rant
There's a guy I work with. He's, basically, a nice guy. But, he's also a dick.
The thing is, he, like so many in this area of the world, claims to be yet another individual who is "open-minded" and "liberal" and "tolerant" etc, just as long as you aren't one of those "condemning, unintelligent, hating Christians." Because, I mean, if you're Christian, then, to these people, you're obviously a gun-wielding, maniacal, non-thinking sheep.
It blows my mind.
I mean, it absolutely blows. my. mind. They talk about tolerance?? Really??
To them, it's like, 'Oh, you're Buddist? Sweet! Peace and love. Nice." "Oh, you're Hindu? What a lovely culture. Such a rich history." "Wiccan? Awesome." "Aethist? Right on." "Ohhh...Christian.....I would spit in your face if I could, but since that would be non-PC, I will instead begin a tirade about how imperfect you and your beliefs are." Please. Okay, that might be slight exaggeration, but that's how I feel.
Really, dude?
First off, let me be clear--I am not, unlike this guy (which I will validate with his example from just a few moments ago, in a bit) going to stereotype, say, all Californians in general, as being this way. I'm not. Because I don't want to be intolerant, ignorant or stereotypical. To say that every Californian, regardless of belief, thinks that every person who claims to be of the Christian faith, thinks this, would be wrong. They don't. The idea is ludicrous and mean. It's just as ludicrous to think that every so-called Christian fits the above, negative description. That goes for anyone.
But I will say, that since I've moved here, I do find that several people do, in fact, think this way. Not all people, just several. At least, from what I've witnessed, hence this rant. It's amazing, really. They are the exact thing they "preach" against. But I'm going to stop now because that's a rant for a different time, and I don't have the energy or inclination to go into it. Whatever. There are extremes to everything, be it about belief systems, politics, or polar bears, someone is going to be a particularly agitating dick.
So, to the original reason for this entry.
This guy I work with comes in. He's one of those types that likes to let others know that he watches the news and welcomes a spirited debate (that, oh by the way, you will always be wrong in.) He is born and bred Bay Area. (That itself is not a bad thing, for the most part I love the Bay Area. He just preens on about it as if this fact makes him somehow better than the rest of the country.) He knows I am from Oklahoma and we talk about it sometimes. He just finished a book about Native Americans and we occasionally chat about Native American history, etc., and he is fascinated by just how interesting the cultures, esp. the Cherokee (since that's the tribe the book was about) are.
He also throws in barbs about Oklahoma and it's citizens, that I don't even think he's conscious of, but I ignore it. Today, he comes in ready to shout to his non-existent Heavens, that Oklahoma is Wrong. (I capitalized that for emphasis. :D)
Apparently, there was an incident recently, in which an Oklahoma pharmacist was robbed in a very questionable part of south Oklahoma City, and the pharmcist shot one of the robbers and chased off the other. I'm sure some of you have heard about this. I hadn't, because I have been a bad citizen and haven't been keeping up with the news as of late. :( Well, Mr. X, we'll call him, wanted to make sure I knew of this, as it was news from my home state.
So, a bit of back story on this robbery, the pharmacist and two female employees, were held at gun point by these two young attackers. The pharmacist retaliated by drawing his own weapon and shooting one of the attackers in the head. It glanced off his skull, not killing him, but it did knock him unconscious. The other robber fled the building, and the pharmacist chased after him, but the kid got away.
When the pharmacist returned, the kid he'd first shot was still lying on the ground, and the pharmacist went behind he counter, grabbed another firearm, then proceeded to shoot the unconscious attacker five times in the stomach--thus killing him.
Okay. I won't sugar coat this. That is jacked up. Not only that, it's a bit effed up, and very extreme. Yes, people do things they may not actually be aware of when adrenaline hits, and the need for survival overpowers logic sometimes, but, um, five times? Anyway, this isn't what I'm debating. Separate issue.
Mr. X then smiles smugly at my reaction and says, "Man...people in Oklahoma...they must all be stupid. I bet they have the lowest IQ of any other state."
He then goes on to say, "And then you heard about the other incident in Oklahoma right?" I winced and said no. He then tells me about the guy who walked into a Lutheran church and shoots an abortion clinic physician, killing him. In the middle of church.
Again, that is horrifying.
I tell him that I can't justify murder at all, especially fatally killing that kid when he was unconscious and unarmed at the time, but I did tell him that there had been a string of pharmacy attacks recently because people were trying to steal narcotics, (which he clearly wasn't aware of, and had he checked he would have seen that the location of this pharmacy was in a very dodgy, unsafe area in the first place) which might help explain why this guy was especially frightened of the attackers.
Mr. X, feeling clearly justified, again begins to tell me, a native Oklahoman, how very stupid and backwards we all are. I mean, he hints, I'm an exception of course, but wow, what a bunch of terrible, awful people we are.
At this point, my blood pressure is through the roof, and he saunters off, laughing like he's clever, shaking his head. Meanwhile, I'm googling these stories before he gets ten feet away.
Upon finding the info for the murder of the abortion doctor, I find that Mr. X was wrong. This actually happened in Kansas. By a disturbed Kansan man.
:\
*sigh*
Not only was his information wrong, but in his eagerness to prove how "backwards and stupid" Oklahomans are, he took another violent crime and set it in Oklahoma to mistakenly prove a point.
Yes, there are a lot of uneducated jerks out there. And, fyi, they are not all localized in Oklahoma. But there are a lot of educated jerks out there too.
Which one is worse?
I forgive you, Mr. X. You are only human, and as such, are imperfect and fallible. We all want to feel important and smart. But there's a line. The douche-line (c)2009. And I'm pretty sure you crossed it.
Update: I informed Mr. X that the second heinous crime he told me about happened in Kansas. He seemed only minimally nonplussed. His remark was, "Yeah. Well there's a lot of psychos in Topeka too." I said it was in Wichita. He shrugged.
Please tell me you see the ridiculousness of this?
/soapbox
The thing is, he, like so many in this area of the world, claims to be yet another individual who is "open-minded" and "liberal" and "tolerant" etc, just as long as you aren't one of those "condemning, unintelligent, hating Christians." Because, I mean, if you're Christian, then, to these people, you're obviously a gun-wielding, maniacal, non-thinking sheep.
It blows my mind.
I mean, it absolutely blows. my. mind. They talk about tolerance?? Really??
To them, it's like, 'Oh, you're Buddist? Sweet! Peace and love. Nice." "Oh, you're Hindu? What a lovely culture. Such a rich history." "Wiccan? Awesome." "Aethist? Right on." "Ohhh...Christian.....I would spit in your face if I could, but since that would be non-PC, I will instead begin a tirade about how imperfect you and your beliefs are." Please. Okay, that might be slight exaggeration, but that's how I feel.
Really, dude?
First off, let me be clear--I am not, unlike this guy (which I will validate with his example from just a few moments ago, in a bit) going to stereotype, say, all Californians in general, as being this way. I'm not. Because I don't want to be intolerant, ignorant or stereotypical. To say that every Californian, regardless of belief, thinks that every person who claims to be of the Christian faith, thinks this, would be wrong. They don't. The idea is ludicrous and mean. It's just as ludicrous to think that every so-called Christian fits the above, negative description. That goes for anyone.
But I will say, that since I've moved here, I do find that several people do, in fact, think this way. Not all people, just several. At least, from what I've witnessed, hence this rant. It's amazing, really. They are the exact thing they "preach" against. But I'm going to stop now because that's a rant for a different time, and I don't have the energy or inclination to go into it. Whatever. There are extremes to everything, be it about belief systems, politics, or polar bears, someone is going to be a particularly agitating dick.
So, to the original reason for this entry.
This guy I work with comes in. He's one of those types that likes to let others know that he watches the news and welcomes a spirited debate (that, oh by the way, you will always be wrong in.) He is born and bred Bay Area. (That itself is not a bad thing, for the most part I love the Bay Area. He just preens on about it as if this fact makes him somehow better than the rest of the country.) He knows I am from Oklahoma and we talk about it sometimes. He just finished a book about Native Americans and we occasionally chat about Native American history, etc., and he is fascinated by just how interesting the cultures, esp. the Cherokee (since that's the tribe the book was about) are.
He also throws in barbs about Oklahoma and it's citizens, that I don't even think he's conscious of, but I ignore it. Today, he comes in ready to shout to his non-existent Heavens, that Oklahoma is Wrong. (I capitalized that for emphasis. :D)
Apparently, there was an incident recently, in which an Oklahoma pharmacist was robbed in a very questionable part of south Oklahoma City, and the pharmcist shot one of the robbers and chased off the other. I'm sure some of you have heard about this. I hadn't, because I have been a bad citizen and haven't been keeping up with the news as of late. :( Well, Mr. X, we'll call him, wanted to make sure I knew of this, as it was news from my home state.
So, a bit of back story on this robbery, the pharmacist and two female employees, were held at gun point by these two young attackers. The pharmacist retaliated by drawing his own weapon and shooting one of the attackers in the head. It glanced off his skull, not killing him, but it did knock him unconscious. The other robber fled the building, and the pharmacist chased after him, but the kid got away.
When the pharmacist returned, the kid he'd first shot was still lying on the ground, and the pharmacist went behind he counter, grabbed another firearm, then proceeded to shoot the unconscious attacker five times in the stomach--thus killing him.
Okay. I won't sugar coat this. That is jacked up. Not only that, it's a bit effed up, and very extreme. Yes, people do things they may not actually be aware of when adrenaline hits, and the need for survival overpowers logic sometimes, but, um, five times? Anyway, this isn't what I'm debating. Separate issue.
Mr. X then smiles smugly at my reaction and says, "Man...people in Oklahoma...they must all be stupid. I bet they have the lowest IQ of any other state."
He then goes on to say, "And then you heard about the other incident in Oklahoma right?" I winced and said no. He then tells me about the guy who walked into a Lutheran church and shoots an abortion clinic physician, killing him. In the middle of church.
Again, that is horrifying.
I tell him that I can't justify murder at all, especially fatally killing that kid when he was unconscious and unarmed at the time, but I did tell him that there had been a string of pharmacy attacks recently because people were trying to steal narcotics, (which he clearly wasn't aware of, and had he checked he would have seen that the location of this pharmacy was in a very dodgy, unsafe area in the first place) which might help explain why this guy was especially frightened of the attackers.
Mr. X, feeling clearly justified, again begins to tell me, a native Oklahoman, how very stupid and backwards we all are. I mean, he hints, I'm an exception of course, but wow, what a bunch of terrible, awful people we are.
At this point, my blood pressure is through the roof, and he saunters off, laughing like he's clever, shaking his head. Meanwhile, I'm googling these stories before he gets ten feet away.
Upon finding the info for the murder of the abortion doctor, I find that Mr. X was wrong. This actually happened in Kansas. By a disturbed Kansan man.
:\
*sigh*
Not only was his information wrong, but in his eagerness to prove how "backwards and stupid" Oklahomans are, he took another violent crime and set it in Oklahoma to mistakenly prove a point.
Yes, there are a lot of uneducated jerks out there. And, fyi, they are not all localized in Oklahoma. But there are a lot of educated jerks out there too.
Which one is worse?
I forgive you, Mr. X. You are only human, and as such, are imperfect and fallible. We all want to feel important and smart. But there's a line. The douche-line (c)2009. And I'm pretty sure you crossed it.
Update: I informed Mr. X that the second heinous crime he told me about happened in Kansas. He seemed only minimally nonplussed. His remark was, "Yeah. Well there's a lot of psychos in Topeka too." I said it was in Wichita. He shrugged.
Please tell me you see the ridiculousness of this?
/soapbox