I'm not dead yet. - by fett
june gloom on 6/2/2013 at 22:55
I don't remember ToolFan. Looking him up now!
Inline Image:
http://i.imgur.com/iK5z1e4.jpgWow. I hate it when I want to punch someone for saying stuff I agree with because he's such a colossal motherfucker in how he says it.
aguywhoplaysthief on 9/2/2013 at 10:49
Quote Posted by fett
Well, you have to realize our families are southerners. They don't eat sushi. They don't listen to rock music. They don't trust Catholics. And they certainly don't eat food that comes from a place where people wear "towels on their heads." Despite the fact that my father-in-law can eat three times his body weight in rice, shrimp, crab, cream cheese, and avocado, when you put it all together it's "raw fish," and he don't eat raw fish."
Okay.
Besides my heart, the other MAJOR reason we had to get the hell out of there is because we wanted our kids to grow up in a place where people are just people, all food is food, and diverse culture is progress. Oh yeah, and progress is good - not bad. The first friends we made here were an ex-Mormon family who voted Obama (ya' know - the colored fella?) and run the local free-thinkers organization. The second is a lesbian couple (married 20 years) with two kids, one of them with scoliosis. We didn't do that on purpose, but that would have been very difficult to do surrounded by family who makes snarky remarks about Mexicans, inter-racial marriage, and "the gays" at every turn.
In other words, eating Indian food is, to them, just the tip of the giant, liberal, gay loving, baby aborting, dope smoking, alcoholic, porn watching, negro voting iceberg that represents our life since we made the abrupt exit from Christianity.
And if you think it's insane that eating Indian food can invoke that train of thought, you've never been to Arkansas, U.S.A. Also the Indian food in the south is shit.
Hey fett - I haven't checked the forums in many years. Last time I remember you were making elaborate posts about biblical history...I guess time really does fly!
Anyways, I can appreciate your decision. Growing up in the South I met quite a few people from more reasonable places in the US who moved to the South in some sort of search for a more wholesome environment for their kids, when in reality people are people. I remember thinking that they must be crazy - pretty much all the perceived positive values of southern culture have all died off with the greatest generation (and even those had a rather serious darkside).
CCCToad on 9/2/2013 at 16:18
Quote Posted by aguywhoplaysthief
Hey fett - I haven't checked the forums in many years. Last time I remember you were making elaborate posts about biblical history...I guess time really does fly!
Anyways, I can appreciate your decision. Growing up in the South I met quite a few people from more reasonable places in the US who moved to the South in some sort of search for a more wholesome environment for their kids, when in reality people are people. I remember thinking that they must be crazy - pretty much all the perceived positive values of southern culture have all died off with the greatest generation (and even those had a rather serious darkside).
I think that's a fairly accurate assessment, although over generalized. Much of Southern Culture now revolves around the kind of thumping that most atheists cite as their reason for being atheist. It's also similar to Japan in that it's not a culture governed by moral values so much as one governed by the threat of being shamed. They tout high-falootin christian values during the day while taking part in every hedonistic activity imaginable once the sun sets. In other words, they legalistic mentality of modern protestants breeds a culture of hypocrisy.
However, I will say that it is a bit unfair to over generalize the "South". My experience was that the "deep south" (Georgia, Alabama, etc) is an extremely regressive and xenophobic culture. Once you get up into the Appalachian areas or the Carolinas people are a lot more down to earth and good natured.
fett on 9/2/2013 at 16:48
It gets better the further North you get, for sure. But yes, there's a gaping disconnect between theology and daily life. Anyone who disagrees with the theology is considered a direct and imminent threat, and it is therefore acceptable to marginalize, villainize, and ridicule them using any means necessary. Jon Stewart summed it up perfectly - they consider any disagreement an attack on their religion, and they've confused not getting their way with persecution. There's a strong sentiment that rather than being meek and mild, it's time to Fight Back against the onslaught of humanism and liberalism. Pointing out that this is not a Biblical approach wins you a scornful rant about how this country was founded on the Bible, blah blah. My view is that Christians shouldn't be so afraid of socialism since Jesus was a socialist and the early church (which they spend an inordinate amount of time trying to Get Back To) was socialist. They really believe the Bible calls for a Democratic, Christian Theocracy. This is why the influence of people like Pat Robertson for 20 years is so dangerous - he single-handedly instilled Kingdom Theology (American Christian Theocracy) in the minds of nearly every Christian, either directly or indirectly, throughout the 80's and 90's and we're now seeing the fruit of that. It terrified me even when I was in the Church because it so diametrically opposed to Biblical teaching and so corrosive to a true Democratic experiment. It stems from a really terrible misunderstanding of the differences between Biblical mandates for the nation of Israel vs. the "new" Israel (the Gentile Church). I did the best I could to smother this shit but the numbers of ignorant are too overwhelming. So I said fuck it and moved to Massachusetts where it's perfectly acceptable to punch someone in the mouth if they use the word faggot or nigger in casual conversation. It's awesome.
