Woah, where'd this beam come from?
So, you can't hardly spit in the Christian blogosphere without finding someone who has an opinion on the election of +Jefferts Schori to the office of Presiding Bishop.
Unless you go over to the Mormon blogs, which I sometimes do. Because I have a fascination with late 19th century religious movements. It keeps me out of trouble and off of drugs, okay?
And something I keep seeing in the comments and blog posts of liberal/progressive/whatever they're calling themselves this week (I got listed somewhere as a progressive, which made me giggle a lot) is referring to conservative's/fundamentalist's 'ingrained prejudices' that are 'a result of their upbringing'.
To paraphrase my great-grandfather (a wise and holy man): "Oh puh-leaze. Like a liberal's poop don't stink."
Seriously, though, everyone take a few minutes right here and have a look-see at their own prejudices. Quickest way is to take whatever side you aren't (so if you're a snarkwor you take nom-nom, and if you're a nom-nom, you take snarkwor) and write it on the top of a piece of paper.
Now, you have thirty seconds to write down everything that comes to mind when you think of that other side.
Ready,
Set,
GO!
Done?
Okay, now what are you going to do about your own prejudices? 'Cause, I can tell you from experience, it's a lot easier to change your own prejudices than it is to change someone else's.
Random keystrokes are © Mary Sue @ 2:01 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Well, I think a lot of it really is in the upbringing. My parents were Ollie North Republicans, and my mom in particular had the hots for Dan Quayle. I believed all the tripe that the Tanakh and the Mishnah were literally the Word of God, the poor were lazy, the gays were evil (even as I was struggling with my own gay identity), and as a bonus, that Orthodox Jews just didn't mix with Christians. (Because, really, wasn't that the first schism?)
It took me years to open up from the closed-minded, suspicious mindset that I was raised in from birth through twelfth grade. Goldwater Republicans, via media Episcopalians, people who aren't sure about controversial issues, all of that I can deal with. Try to understand the other side? I lived the other side, and no way am I going back to that.
For a while I considered myself perfectly moderate, perfectly balanced, libertarianish, apatheist... precisely balanced on a pinhead. But man, the caterwauling from the political and theological hard right has sent me running to the progressive side because they're still as crazy insane as they were when I was one myself 20 years ago.
I feel your pain. If you average all of my thoughts together, technically I'm a moderate, but I'm pretty passionate about a few things that are definitely leaning one way or the other. For example I consider myself Pro-Life (a very "conservative" trait), but on another issue, I'm still a rabid environmentalist (a very "liberal" attitude).
On the one hand, it irritates me that there is so much abortion in the word that it has to be legislated before people have less abortions. It also irritates me that people are so irresponsible about their sexual lives that they would not consider the consequences of the act before partaking in it, conceiving a child in situations where they would consider abortion to be a viable option. This is very "conservative" of me. On the other hand, it infuriates me that people could conceivably think that Global Warming is a "theory" that may or may not be happening. (bangs head against a wall) Give me some organic orange juice and a holistic nut bar to knaw on while I sit here and am reminded of my "liberalism".
It's even worse because I think of myself now as very conservative religiously, but the main thing that has changed about me since becoming Catholic is the fact that I cling tightly to my "liberal" leanings. I can see the conservative side to things sometimes, but other times I think of the word "conservative" and honestly shudder a little. Not me, I say! Not me, the Birkenstock wearing recycling tree hugging hippy girl! Of course, this hippy girl is now going to one of the most conservative churches possible (The "old school" Tridentine Latin Catholic mass). It seems like such a contradiction all he way around.
It should be acceptable to be a religious conservative, and a political liberal. I have a problem when I hear religious leaders say "you cannot in good conscience vote for a candidate who is not pro-life". Yes, but I also in good conscience cannot vote for a candidate who will vote to destroy the environment, or who will promise no new taxes when they mean they will have no new taxes on the wealthy but refuse to raise minimum wage. I cannot vote, in good conscience, for a candidate who will send our boys into a war which I feel is unjust, and having them slaughtered for reasons I feel are not worthy. Why can't being pro-life also be a part of a Liberal candidate's platform? (sigh)
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