Friday, July 27, 2012

Off Road: The Board In Your Eye And The Stick Up Your Ass

There's a lot of tension in the RA fandom these days but this is nothing new and it won't stop anytime soon.  Nothing is new under the sun, ever.  This post is directed at a specific subset of the fandom, a subset that I identify myself with:  the Christians.  The rest of you can stop reading now and skip right to the vid or read along or whatever but understand I'm not calling anyone else out.

Okay, guys, here's the deal:  I have rarely seen a group of people act in less a Christ-like manner than those attached to this fandom and I'm sick of it.  Quit embarrassing my God by starting petty nonsense and then hiding behind scripture.  Not everyone in this fandom is a Christian; quite a few are atheists, Wiccans, Buddhists, etc.  They do not subscribe to Christianity so trying to hold them accountable to Christian morality is not just ridiculous it's completely uncharitable.  You know what charity is, right?  You know, faith, hope and charity, the greatest of the virtues?  Start acting like it.  I'm not saying don't express your opinion.  I am saying that if you want to speak the truth you speak it in love.  I'm also saying that if you're going to talk it you better walk it.  Before you help your sister with the speck in her eye, you make sure there's no board in your own.  And while you're at it, take the stick out of your ass.

17 comments:

  1. It's a shame that things have become a bit tense in the fandom. It makes me glad I withdrew when I did! It sounds like things are starting to get a bit ridiculous now - time for a gated RA fan community, perhaps? with secular non denominational values, of course ;)

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    1. Skully, I miss ya lady! I don't know that it's really any more tense than it ever was, but the dustups are coming a lot closer together. They're going to keep coming faster the closer we get to December.

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    2. Here's hoping that December rolls over the problem.

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    3. I'm thinking not so much rolling over as I am stampede. Like this.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDAmPIq29ro

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    4. I'm so far out of the loop I had to stop and think what was happening in December.... Christmas? Ohhh The Hobbit!

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    5. Dude, you don't have your pilgrimage scheduled? Infidel! ;)

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    6. As the child of an Irish Catholic I suppose I should head straight to confession. I repent! I repent!

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    7. LOL! BTW, have you seen this?

      http://news.yahoo.com/russias-pussy-riot-trial-cathedral-protest-083039224.html

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  2. If I were still a Christian, I would have said AMEN SISTER! But since I'm not, I won't. ;)

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  3. Even though you addressed Christians I feel the advice to express statements with love wouldn't hurt anyone and would go a long way in the community.

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  4. As a Christian myself, I completely agree with you. There are a few in our fandom who call themselves Christians and then their actions make me hang my head in shame.

    Snicker's Mom makes a good point, people from all of the various faiths (or lack of faith) should be expressing themselves with love or at least respect. Just because we don't agree doesn't mean we can't be civil. I wish people could get that through their heads.

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  5. It's a shame to see people of any faith being cruel to others either in the name of religion or by association with it.

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    1. It's totally frustrating to me to watch some of the stuff that's gone on not just in the last few weeks but in the years that I've been in the fandom, beginning with the notion that someone who's new to the fandom is raising a concern that the rest of us haven't discussed ad nauseum before.

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  6. Well said Jazzy,

    And may I add that I wish everyone wouldn't get their nighty's in a knot over a few--barely a handful--folks who haven't learned how to be polite or how to engage in "civil" discourse. These paltry few don't even make up enough people for a bridge game four square--let alone a 9 person baseball team. They are just noisy children seeking attention by behaving badly. Their intent is to shock and dismay, not edify nor seek cohesion. Let their negativity sink like a stone as they find their lowest common denominator--themselves. The other 99.9999999 percent of us are just peachy!

    Thanks and Cheers! Grati ;->

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  7. A note to international readers:

    I've had a couple of emails questioning why I used the folkie hymn "Kumbaya" up there and I wanted to explain. In the US "Kumbaya" was adopted in the late 60s and used throughout the 70s and 80s (and probably still now though I haven't been at a sleepaway camp in years) as a campfire song. The campfire is where you're supposed to put away all the frustrations and quarrels of the day and come together in peace. At some point it became a sarcastic reference to setting aside petty arguments, as in, "Can we just hold hands and sing 'Kumbaya' and get over it already?" The funniest use I've ever seen in pop culture was on a soap opera when the warring relatives of a deceased character were made to hold hands and sing it before the reading of his will. Hope that clears up any confusion. :)

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Thanks for commenting!