More on Sockpuppetgate---feel free to pass on by.

[cesario]

You guys know how I feel about Christianity, right?

Well, actually, some of you may not, since I haven't been posting much about real life recently. So for those of you new to this journal, here's

Comments

[cesario]

Newfoundland. One of my favorite words in the language.

[calapine]

I feel a bit of an idiot not even considering this, but yes, tis an important point. Especially because I do find that when the topic of religion comes up, that Christians are often stereotyped thanks to the extreme right in America, and when things like this happen, it only exacerbates that problem.

I've found, anyway, in fandom, that I have to add disclaimers, that, yes, I'm Protestant, but I'm also pro-choice, pro-gay marriage and am not going to try and convince you to accept Jesus as your personal saviour.

[cesario]

I have been known, from time to time, to express opinions such as "religion corrupts the cerebral cortext" but....only to a select audience. And I don't really believe it. :-)

[maexle]

Thank you for not believing it. I actually am a "Christian" - only I've become reluctant in using the word "Christian" in the internet because for me "Christian" means someone who believes in God and in the power of love, but certainly not someone who is intolerant, ignorant and spiteful. As a Christian (and even a preacher's daughter and someone who once studied Church music) I don't think homosexuality a sin. As a Christian I believe in evolution (and even see it as an important part of my belief), as a Christian I don't have a problem with premarital sex (how could I? My parents married in December 1956 and had my brother in August 1957. And yes, my father was already a preacher then and my brother certainly wasn't a premature birth). I can live with slash, though it's not my cup of tea (not for moral reasons, but simply because I'm more interested in het), I write smut myself (I even published two "erotic" novels - and yes, my father knew about. I don't think he read them word for word, but he trusts me that I've written them "

[cesario]

:-D here's more Lord Peter for you.

[glossing]

Thank you. One of the things that's been bothering the most about this whole saga is Msscribe's deep fixation on such awful, stereotyped bogeymen.

[cesario]

for some reason fandom is just not that attuned to classist behavior. which...is interesting.

[glossing]

But that's because we're ALL middle-class! It's un-American to say we're not!
/bitchy

Classism makes people *supremely* uncomfortable. Not as much as race, but it seems to be really, really close.

[cesario]

It's so funny, you know. I was never remotely tempted to be anything than absolutely honest about my background, because to imply I came from wealthier, easier circumstances than I do lessens my own achievements. In that, I feel, I really have absorbed the American ethos that supposedly values pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps. But my very insistence on owning my working class roots implies a lot about the class system in America.

[tangleofthorns]

No, I think you've definitely hit on something here. It's sad how easily people buy into the stereotype, and I think that's why nobody's talking about it now. Personally, I have never actually run into a single real life Christian who ever flamed any porn authors--I wonder if anyone can point to a genuine example.

[cesario]

I know of a few Christians in fandom who make a point of avoiding smut or slash, but I've never known them to be judgmental or smug about it---if anything, they're a bit apologetic. which makes the lie being spread here all the more insidious.

[angua9]

You're right. That's what makes it particularly unfair. The Christians in fandom that I know are so conscientiously tolerant and judgmental, and this is what they get in return?

I'm about as far as it is possible to get from a Christian-apologist, but that just burns.

[angua9]

NONjudgmental, I mean, of course.

[cesario]

I like George MacDonald a lot :-) And alas, I am afraid that contentiousness is not something a thinking fan can ever leave behind entirely.