Sharp Words

May 13, 2016 09:10

In my world, “Christian” is another word for “bigot ( Read more... )

god, ljidol, team avocado, non-fiction

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Comments 23

gratefuladdict May 14 2016, 05:20:24 UTC
Beautiful. This was fucking beautiful.

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whipchick May 14 2016, 13:36:33 UTC
Thank you - it was tougher than I thought to write it.

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meridian_rose May 14 2016, 11:16:40 UTC
I'd like to clarify something.
In my world, “Christian” is another word for “bigot.” and you show us the bigotry that makes that real for you, though you know not all Christians behave like it. I feel the same about "family values", the phrase makes me defensive because it's come to mean "narrow patriarchal religiously informed sexist definitions of right/normal"

In my world, “Conservative” is another name for “self-centered moralistic prig.” and you shows us why and good for you paying and I hope he felt humiliated at a woman not needing him too.

Then we have
In my world, “atheist” is another name for “smart, but kind of an asshole.” “Agnostic” means “can’t be bothered.” “Pagan” means “I never grew out of it.” and I can't figure out if this too you agree with, or if you've switched to what society is saying. Because I hear the "pagan means you're not grown up/I grew away from pagansim into atheism the One True Way" and as an eclectic pagan, fuck that noise. I chose a a spirituality that let me be who I am, that doesn't condemn my ( ... )

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whipchick May 14 2016, 13:41:53 UTC
When I wrote this, I knew that if I was going to bash groups, I needed to bash them all equally :) So it's good that you feel personally attacked on this one, because I also attack Christians, Conservatives, atheists, agnostics, and myself ("cultural appropriator"). Just as it's easy to dismiss Christians as "right-wing bigots," pagans also hear demeaning comments about their faith, atheists have a rep for being assholes, etc. I made an effort to not only repeat the stereotypes I find myself thinking, but to include those likely to be applicable to my readers, rather than just preaching to the choir, so to speak.

So thanks for the vote, and I'm tremendously complimented that this riled you a bit, and I really appreciate you sharing your personal faith in response!

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orockthro May 14 2016, 12:43:14 UTC
There are a loooot of really great lines in this one. But I think this one is my favorite. " I know everything will resolve in dust, that we are all temporary..."
The first two sections, Christians and Mark the NRA man, were fantastic and funny and pointed, and the second half a good reminder.
This was very, very good. :)

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whipchick May 14 2016, 13:42:16 UTC
Thanks very much - and thanks for the excellent feedback!

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murielle May 15 2016, 06:56:33 UTC
I admit, I bristled as I read the first words. But I have loved so much of your work here I kept reading. I have made no secret about my faith, though I have not shared how some things I have read in Idol have cut me to the core. Why would I? Except I just did, to you, after reading your entry. Why? Because you tried to be fair, and I respect that. In fact I am grateful for it. You express an understanding that prejudice, bigotry hurts no matter who is the recipient, and that there is no justice in pre-judging anyone.

A very powerful piece. Thank you for your compassion--I think you are a very good Buddhist.

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whipchick May 16 2016, 16:07:40 UTC
Thank you very much, I'm really honored to hear your thoughts. It's such a weird dichotomy, to see ourselves as others see us, and to get lumped (in bad ways) into the tribe we're proud to belong to.

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ext_3620796 May 15 2016, 12:35:25 UTC
A powerful entry. I admit, I read through it all twice and thought, "Yeah, that sounds about right." And maybe I should have been riled up to be tangentially called out for my smug, sharp, self-satisfied life, but ultimately I "can't be bothered." ;-) (Which isn't exactly true. If anything, I'm envious of that lightning bolt clarity. But it sounded good?). Fantastic work, as always.

(Also: enjoyed your other entry, just not going to comment directly on it while it's still public. Hooray for paranoia!)

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whipchick May 16 2016, 16:08:31 UTC
Thank you very much! Yeah, I tried to be an equal-opportunity offender :)

Are you still in the place where they're building the big new stadium?

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