Because I'm a fan of weird juxtapositions...

[forsyth]

"There's an absurd, Douglas-Adams-ish quality to seeing pastors engage in this kind of crisis-mongering bullshit. The pastors preach, as the song says, that "Jesus is the answer for the world today," but they seem unsure as to what the question was. (What is 7 times 6? Jesus.) If Americans need Jesus because "the violence is increasing," would a decrease in violence mean that Jesus was no longer necessary?" from Slacktivist

The whole post is worth reading, because it talks about things "everybody knows" that aren't true, especially things like "society is becoming more violent' when there's actually, y'know, less violence.

I should really just make up a list of blogs and post it and so then I'd quit posting excerpts all the time. Maybe.

Okay, I probably would.

Tags: Links, Language

Comments

[kalifla.livejournal.com]

*Before reading* See, it's the people like that who are claiming to be Christian without being Christ-like that are giving us a bad name. As far as the things everybody knows about, I'm not sure what's actually true and what isn't. All I know is what I've seen firsthand and been told secondhand. Not sure there's more violence, but there's definitely more cruelty in society. Kids start out learning to be unkind to other kids because that's how basic heirarchies develop. By the time they hit puberty, they're having their own kids, and by example are teaching them to be just as unkind. Some of them learn and try to make up for it, but are simply too young and too buried in the hell they created to help prepare their own progeny. Lather, rinse, repeat. It's what's taught me not to trust people to be civil.

Don't even get me started on the Christian issue just now. :)

*will read this Slacktivist person later*

[kalifla.livejournal.com]

*After reading*

THIS is good stuff. And completely true. And...what more people need to pay attention to. I don't really think society is necessarily getting more violent, but I do think it's getting dumber. Dumber and lazier.
He's absolutely right about drama being wanted more than truth and just the laziness of American mindsets. (Again, I can't speak for the rest of the countries, but I've been paying someattention to mine.)

"I also happen to believe that "Jesus is the answer," but I don't believe that this precludes me from asking actual, reality-based questions about whether in fact, various kinds of violence are increasing or decreasing. "

Repeating a mantra like that over and over without thinking of practical applications is pointless religious ritual, mindlessly ineffectual, and moreover, an insult to Christian faith. What my preacher teaches over and over again is that knowing the Word of God is completely useless if you never work to understand it and apply it. I really should look up the exact passage in there, but I know it's in there more than once. Something about "words without action are hollow" and God just sort of rolls his eyes at them.

My mom needs to read this. :)

[forsythferret.livejournal.com]

Slacktivist is a good writer, and a wise fellow. I may not agree with the how he gets there, but usually like the place he gets to. And he's just really insightful and interesting. I encourage everybody to read his blog.