Couldn’t agree more. I say that being a normie who has no desire to pick on anyone who is different. Please, be as different as you like. Just don’t try to make your difference a moral imperative. Out of many we become one when we ACCEPT each other’s differences and pull together for the common good. 👍
Did you know that when Philadelphia came out, many honest gay activists hated the movie? They knew it was a lie, and presented a Disneyfied view of gay life. But ultimately the liars won, because, as one retrospective put it, “most in the GLBT community came to believe that visibility was more important than realism.”
Well, we’ve had a whole lot of visibility for decades now. Looks like, as it always does, reality is making a comeback.
I mostly agree with the ideas lying under the snark here, and I say this as an active participating communicant in the Episcopal Church. But, with respect, because I'm a big fan of your work generally, I do think more and more that there is an inherent tension between following Christ and the caustic, contemptuous irony that has become the lingua franca of right-of-center influencers.
I take your point and appreciate your raising it. My own attitude is that a little snark when earned can be healthy--if salted through a larger body of work that is generally sincere and winsome. If it becomes one's primary tone or native language, it feels spiteful and off-putting, as you suggest.
So I try (very imperfectly, no doubt) to make sure the cumulative effect of my posts is to convey my genuine goodwill, even in disagreement--with a little slash and dash thrown in. I even think there's a measure of caustic irony to be found sprinkled among the red words in the Gospels, where appropriate. But your word of caution is noted, with thanks.
Thank you for your generous reply to my ill-considered dashed off comment.
While I am obviously on the conservative end of the spectrum found within my church, I don't think it's hopelessly lost in apostasy and many people have an impression of what it is like that is far outside my personal experience. I am still very pro women's ordination and while I have severe, but respectful, disagreements with Bishop Budde, I am sensitive to attacks on her calling and the validity of her orders. Seeing the word "priestess" used derisively and bishop put in scare quotes by so many people this week has me on edge, which leads me to perhaps posting unwisely as it does for so many.
Anyway, I think the general thrust of her sermon is correct. Policies should be implemented in a way that is merciful to those affected by them. But it was lacking a focus on Christ, much like the eye-rolling syncretism of the prayer service itself.
To be fair though, the Bible is full of God (and Jesus in particular) using humor, irony, and aggressive language to correct human errors. While certainly done with an ultimate loving intent, I doubt anyone felt loved while being called a den of vipers or white washed tombs.
I spent 3 years at an Episcopal seminary where the more orthodox of thought were belittled and told when we “grew up and matured spiritually “ we would adopt the revisionist view of scripture they propagated. What I found most interesting in her GMA interview was the fact that Jesus was never mentioned once. A.W. Tozer once said (and I paraphrase), “If the Holy Spirit left your church would anyone notice?” There’s a reason why the Episcopal church has been in steady decline for decades. I can get the same “religion “ working for the Peace Corps. (No offense to the Peace Corps).
I spent the days of my youth advocating for gay rights, when that meant “overturning anti-sodomy laws” and “ getting police not to raid gay bars.” It was the 1990s in the south, and this was the best possible way to rebel against my parents, who were (and are) lovely Christians with moderate politics who mostly didn’t want me to get arrested and screw up my college applications.
Being an “ally” in those days was delightfully transgressive notwithstanding that I was mostly hanging out with nice partnered Methodist lesbians who just wanted to drive their Subarus to the Black Mountain Festival while blasting “Closer to Fine.”
Once someone threw a bottle at us while we were marching in the Pride Parade. It was absolutely thrilling. Now my corporate employer sends around countless emails trying to ensure appropriate senior leader representation on our company float, and most of my reaction to Pride is irritation that the traffic is so bad. There is nary a buttcheek nor a leather daddy in sight. This is, I suppose, progress, and in the way of most Progressive progress, it’s made everything awfully self-righteous and not very fun.
This comment is glorious right down to the lesbian Methodists. My husband and I were married by a lesbian Methodist 20 years ago… and he wooed by pretending to love the Indigo Girls. Totally get this vibe.
I’ve come a long way in both politics and philosophy since those days, but sometimes I just want to put on “Three Hits” and remember road-tripping up to Athens in my parents’ minivan. They were good days.
Couldn’t agree more. I say that being a normie who has no desire to pick on anyone who is different. Please, be as different as you like. Just don’t try to make your difference a moral imperative. Out of many we become one when we ACCEPT each other’s differences and pull together for the common good. 👍
Quite!
Preach it.
Did you know that when Philadelphia came out, many honest gay activists hated the movie? They knew it was a lie, and presented a Disneyfied view of gay life. But ultimately the liars won, because, as one retrospective put it, “most in the GLBT community came to believe that visibility was more important than realism.”
Well, we’ve had a whole lot of visibility for decades now. Looks like, as it always does, reality is making a comeback.
(Links to above here:
https://gaty.substack.com/p/saturday-night-at-the-movies-driven
)
I did not know that--very interesting. But it certainly tracks.
What I'm hearing is that a culture can afford to tolerate deviance in precise proportion to the strength of its center.
When the ties that bind are strong, oddballs and even subversives don't pose an existential threat.
But when those ties loosen, or erode altogether, the stress of that fragmentation reduces the system's flexibility.
I mostly agree with the ideas lying under the snark here, and I say this as an active participating communicant in the Episcopal Church. But, with respect, because I'm a big fan of your work generally, I do think more and more that there is an inherent tension between following Christ and the caustic, contemptuous irony that has become the lingua franca of right-of-center influencers.
I take your point and appreciate your raising it. My own attitude is that a little snark when earned can be healthy--if salted through a larger body of work that is generally sincere and winsome. If it becomes one's primary tone or native language, it feels spiteful and off-putting, as you suggest.
So I try (very imperfectly, no doubt) to make sure the cumulative effect of my posts is to convey my genuine goodwill, even in disagreement--with a little slash and dash thrown in. I even think there's a measure of caustic irony to be found sprinkled among the red words in the Gospels, where appropriate. But your word of caution is noted, with thanks.
Thank you for your generous reply to my ill-considered dashed off comment.
While I am obviously on the conservative end of the spectrum found within my church, I don't think it's hopelessly lost in apostasy and many people have an impression of what it is like that is far outside my personal experience. I am still very pro women's ordination and while I have severe, but respectful, disagreements with Bishop Budde, I am sensitive to attacks on her calling and the validity of her orders. Seeing the word "priestess" used derisively and bishop put in scare quotes by so many people this week has me on edge, which leads me to perhaps posting unwisely as it does for so many.
Anyway, I think the general thrust of her sermon is correct. Policies should be implemented in a way that is merciful to those affected by them. But it was lacking a focus on Christ, much like the eye-rolling syncretism of the prayer service itself.
For what it's worth: your interview/podcast convos follow the same track (mostly winsome). 💗
To be fair though, the Bible is full of God (and Jesus in particular) using humor, irony, and aggressive language to correct human errors. While certainly done with an ultimate loving intent, I doubt anyone felt loved while being called a den of vipers or white washed tombs.
I spent 3 years at an Episcopal seminary where the more orthodox of thought were belittled and told when we “grew up and matured spiritually “ we would adopt the revisionist view of scripture they propagated. What I found most interesting in her GMA interview was the fact that Jesus was never mentioned once. A.W. Tozer once said (and I paraphrase), “If the Holy Spirit left your church would anyone notice?” There’s a reason why the Episcopal church has been in steady decline for decades. I can get the same “religion “ working for the Peace Corps. (No offense to the Peace Corps).
I spent the days of my youth advocating for gay rights, when that meant “overturning anti-sodomy laws” and “ getting police not to raid gay bars.” It was the 1990s in the south, and this was the best possible way to rebel against my parents, who were (and are) lovely Christians with moderate politics who mostly didn’t want me to get arrested and screw up my college applications.
Being an “ally” in those days was delightfully transgressive notwithstanding that I was mostly hanging out with nice partnered Methodist lesbians who just wanted to drive their Subarus to the Black Mountain Festival while blasting “Closer to Fine.”
Once someone threw a bottle at us while we were marching in the Pride Parade. It was absolutely thrilling. Now my corporate employer sends around countless emails trying to ensure appropriate senior leader representation on our company float, and most of my reaction to Pride is irritation that the traffic is so bad. There is nary a buttcheek nor a leather daddy in sight. This is, I suppose, progress, and in the way of most Progressive progress, it’s made everything awfully self-righteous and not very fun.
This comment is glorious right down to the lesbian Methodists. My husband and I were married by a lesbian Methodist 20 years ago… and he wooed by pretending to love the Indigo Girls. Totally get this vibe.
I’ve come a long way in both politics and philosophy since those days, but sometimes I just want to put on “Three Hits” and remember road-tripping up to Athens in my parents’ minivan. They were good days.
You and me both…
I feel like you shouldbe writing your own Substack! 💯💗
It’s already fun and you’ve helped:)