Yes yours. Okay, maybe not yours. But definitely that guy who came here before you. Okay maybe not his either…but someone’s. Many someones.
It’s been a long time since my last post. A very long time, indeed. I’ve been relatively silent for a few reasons: 1.) annoyance 2.) preoccupation with other things 3.) lack of anything truly interesting to say.
Let’s take annoyance. No, actually, let’s put annoyance last. Let’s start with preoccupation with other things. It’s quick. Basically, I’m preparing applications for graduate school and can’t think about anything else (and don’t want to). Quick—see?
Then there’s a lack of anything truly interesting to say. I think this blog post is obvious proof of that. Because of the preoccupation thing, and the studying for the GRE thing, and the working thing, I have been more or less uninspired. Yawn, right?
Okay, now to the annoyance issue. Number one reason, really, why I haven’t posted in a while: I have become increasingly annoyed with other Christian blogs. There are exceptions, obviously. My blogroll has a few, and I would like to give a quick shout-out to brgulker’s blog, which is fantastic (and which I have been reading regularly, though not commenting on). But the other Christian blogs have been bugging me. That and certain very vocal members of the Republican party—just bugging me (with a very emphatic “ugg”). I won’t name names. It’s futile, really; I don’t think that the people who are bugging me will read this post anyway. And, even if they do, they certainly won’t give it any merit or any thought and will come with just some pre-constructed sound bites to drop in the comment box and leave, never having experienced a damn new thing ever—EVER—in their lives, all the while telling everybody else what they should and should not be experiencing. UGG!
It makes me depressed, the kind of ridiculum I read on a daily—okay, hourly—basis on comment boards and blogs and news articles. (A quick aside: why on earth does CNN feel the need to let readers comment on everything? And, for that matter, why do I insist on reading those reader comments, even though they mostly bug the HELL out of me?) The kind of ridiculum, if you’ll afford me the phrase, that I’m talking about is the ridiculum that involves off-topic and, usually, hateful remarks about government, religion, politics, people who have 8 babies at once, etc., etc., etc. It’s annoying when people comment without thinking—even more annoying, and dangerous, when they comment without thinking and are very quick to hate.
I would like to tell myself that that catastrophic combination is just Web 2.0 hyperbole, but the recent political murders of an abortionist and a security guard makes me fear that it’s not. At least I can hope that the amount of people who will act on hate speech, ridiculous speech and ignorant speech in “real life” is much less than the amount of people who spout this bullshit on the web. There. Sorry for the rant, but come on. I am certainly not the only person annoyed (and saddened and frightened) by the tone many Christian blogs (and political blogs, as well as just plain old news articles) and their comment boards have taken.
My next post, which is related to this one in theme, I guess, will be about the very prevalent and widely accepted anti-Muslim rhetoric that’s being touted lately, especially in the wake of President Obama’s speech in Cairo. Hopefully I can calm down by then, but my disgust level is telling me otherwise.
I would like to tell myself that that catastrophic combination is just Web 2.0 hyperbole, but the recent political murders of an abortionist and a security guard makes me fear that it’s not. At least I can hope that the amount of people who will act on hate speech, ridiculous speech and ignorant speech in “real life” is much less than the amount of people who spout this bullshit on the web. There. Sorry for the rant, but come on. I am certainly not the only person annoyed (and saddened and frightened) by the tone many Christian blogs (and political blogs, as well as just plain old news articles) and their comment boards have taken.
Annoyed is a good way to sum up my own feelings atm as well.
I’m annoyed with atheists I know for taking their anger with the pro-life movement out on me and other Christians who want nothing to do with their hate speech and hateful actions. I’m annoyed with the pro-life folks who think that Dr. Tiller’s murder was somehow justified. I’m annoyed with the inconsistency that argues against killing fetuses and argues for killing those abort fetuses — what the heck is pro-life if it doesn’t apply universally, anyway? I’m annoyed with the rhetoric of the right that keeps calling our president a socialist when he’s just trying to help get us out of the worst economic crisis in my lifetime — especially because I would like to have a job come next year when my term of service is up as an AmeriCorps member.
/end rant.
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Thanks for the shout out! I’m working on a post about the topic, “Can an atheist be a Christian?” I’ll probably finish it tomorrow… I’d love to hear what you think.
Good luck with grad school apps!
sometimes reading what other people say can be a bit annoying, esp. when its a load of BS or just things you simply don’t agree with. the worst thing for me is when people draw conclusions based of off flawed evidence. so i feel your frustration.
love your blog and i look forward to reading more of your posts!
[...] this post was promised by my last. The last post, if you’d like to read it, talks about my frustration with the hateful language flooding Web 2.0, especially on comment boards. This post was supposed to be about anti-Muslim language (and it [...]