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On the ongoing list of "things that make me go 'bwuh?'"...
When there is a knocking at our door at 9:30 in the morning on a Sunday, and they turn out to be very nice-looking, well-dressed young men, I am not exactly thrilled. Not (entirely) because my hair is a wreck and I look like I just rolled out of bed... no, it's because my first instinct on seeing well-dressed unknown folks at the door is "shit, how do I get rid of the proselytizers?"
No offense to religious folks of whatever denomination, but when I'm not awake, I am not in the mood to have a religious discussion. If I want to convert, I promise you that I can find numerous people to discuss my options with, on my own. There is no need to make a house-call. Thnxbye.
Just as I was contemplating creeping back down the stairs before they noticed me, I thought "wait... they're wearing khakis and colored shirts, and no ties, so they're not Mormon missionaries... and the Jehovah's witnesses always send coed groups. WTF?" Good thing, since it turned out they were friends of the sublet-guy's. Poor J got woken from a dead sleep (by me), and came out to a hearty "Hey, get some nice clothes on, we're going to church."
Me: Gee, nice of you to decide that for him! Weeeeeeird. *Scurries back downstairs, rubbing messed up hair*
When there is a knocking at our door at 9:30 in the morning on a Sunday, and they turn out to be very nice-looking, well-dressed young men, I am not exactly thrilled. Not (entirely) because my hair is a wreck and I look like I just rolled out of bed... no, it's because my first instinct on seeing well-dressed unknown folks at the door is "shit, how do I get rid of the proselytizers?"
No offense to religious folks of whatever denomination, but when I'm not awake, I am not in the mood to have a religious discussion. If I want to convert, I promise you that I can find numerous people to discuss my options with, on my own. There is no need to make a house-call. Thnxbye.
Just as I was contemplating creeping back down the stairs before they noticed me, I thought "wait... they're wearing khakis and colored shirts, and no ties, so they're not Mormon missionaries... and the Jehovah's witnesses always send coed groups. WTF?" Good thing, since it turned out they were friends of the sublet-guy's. Poor J got woken from a dead sleep (by me), and came out to a hearty "Hey, get some nice clothes on, we're going to church."
Me: Gee, nice of you to decide that for him! Weeeeeeird. *Scurries back downstairs, rubbing messed up hair*
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Date: 2006-08-06 04:54 pm (UTC)could make an excusehave some time to get ready?no subject
Date: 2006-08-06 05:25 pm (UTC)Nice icon, btw!
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Date: 2006-08-06 07:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-06 05:24 pm (UTC)When I was born, my parents decided that they'd take me to a different religious meeting every week (once I was old enough to understand, of course), so I could choose a religion for myself. They never could motivate themselves to do it. Now we just hang around the house on weekends, making fun of Mormon undergarments and the religious right. I ended up finding my religion in the movie "Dogma."
(This is the most religious icon I have.)
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Date: 2006-08-06 05:31 pm (UTC)My mom took me to Sunday school for a while when I was tiny... I'm told that I caused some trouble by asking where the dinosaurs fit into the story. I really liked dinosaurs when I was little. And finding one's religion in Dogma is a perfectly good way to find religion! I love that movie. ♥
The undergarments... I grew up with a bunch of Mormon girls, two of my aunts are Mormon, etc. But I honestly did not believe the undewear until I went on a reading spree about the Mormon church, once I'd gotten to college. I always thought my friends were having me on, you know? Yank the outsider's chain a little. But no. Sacred underwear. *Shakes head*
(Delenn will have to stand in for mine. She's religious....)
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Date: 2006-08-06 06:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-06 06:09 pm (UTC)Basically, they're like long-johns. I've only seen women's (on my aunt), and they seem to be basically high-collar, long-sleeved, white... they cover frigging everything. As a kid, I just figured my aunt had nutso-conservative taste in pyjamas. Lo and behold, that's the underwear.
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Date: 2006-08-06 06:19 pm (UTC)and, yeah, thin long johns.
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Date: 2006-08-07 04:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-06 06:51 pm (UTC)I also heartily disagree with missionizing. Generally, I quite dislike religions who believe that "everyone else" is going to hell because they believe the "wrong" things. If that were true across the board, we'd all be in someone else's hell, no matter what we believed. In middle school I had this friend who was a sweet girl, but honestly believed that she wouldn't see me in heaven because I don't think Jesus was Teh Savi0r. I'm sure she told me because she cared about my immortal soul, but it still kinda hurt to be told in every conversation: "No offense, but my religion believes that you [a Jew] and [another friend, an atheist] and other people like you are going to h-e-double-hockey-sticks."
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Date: 2006-08-06 07:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-07 09:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-07 03:58 am (UTC)I've always rather felt that anyone who can't even say the name of the horrible final destination they expect I'll end up in probably has more issues than a bit of passive aggression. ;)
And yeah, I had some friends like that, too. Some of my Mormon and Christian friends were/are really good about it, but others... This one girl I was fairly friendly with once told me, "I know when it's all over that you'll realize I was right." I laughed, because I thought she was joking - what the heck kind of person says that in all honesty?
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Date: 2006-08-07 09:53 pm (UTC)I think he wants to go to college but just doesn't have the motivation. He has a billion ideas and doesn't follow through on any of them. Talking to him usually just isn't fun for that reason.
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Date: 2006-08-07 10:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-06 11:01 pm (UTC)When we first moved to Connecticut (I was about five), my parents wanted me to make friends before I started school. One of the town librarians suggested a Presbyterian day camp, promising it "wasn't very religious." I came home and told my parents I was very upset because I knew they were going to hell because they didn't go to church, and asked if Jesus would be angry if I swore in my head. (Don't know what I thought a swear word was at the age of five, but the point remains the same.) I didn't complete the camp, although I did win a Bible for memorizing the Biblical stories better than all the other kids.
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Date: 2006-08-07 04:04 am (UTC)I came home and told my parents I was very upset because I knew they were going to hell because they didn't go to church.
See, that's the thing that scares me the most about religions that take the "my way or the highway" kind of route (ie, most of them). They practice this sick sort of emotional blackmail, using kids against their parents, parents against their kids, friends against friends... it's disgusting to me. Just a really twisted, backhanded, horrible way of playing the game. If people come to a religion of their own free will and decision, that's one thing. But blackmailing them into it, and scaring innocent people into thinking that their loved ones will go to hell if they don't convince them to convert... that seems just plain wrong to me.
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Date: 2006-08-07 03:45 pm (UTC)Yeah, I'm pale, too - actually, my eyebrows and eyelashes are very light blonde, so if I don't wear eyebrow pencil and mascara, my face looks completely washed out. It is not hot.
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Date: 2006-08-07 10:37 pm (UTC)I have such strong prejudices against Christianity, and though I tell myself it's just the "bad Christians" I don't like, I can't say that I don't make judgements on someone based on their religion.
I know exactly what you mean. Religious studies are a major hobby for me, but I have to admit that because of the fact that Christianity is what gets stuffed down one's throat as an American, I can tolerate almost any other religion much more easily than I can that one. Specifically Protestantism, oddly - Catholicism was pretty uncommon where I grew up, so I have none of those biases against Catholics, and have always said that if I had to convert to Christianity, I'd choose to be a Catholic.
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Date: 2006-08-09 12:52 am (UTC)I think that's a big part of my bias against Christianity - the rampant hypocracy. That's probably in other relgions, too, but it's like you say - being in America, the religion we hear about over and over (and over and over) is Christianity. Catholicism was pretty common where I grew up (lots of Italians in CT), as was Protestantism (think, the Pilgrims), so I never differentiated much when it came to disliking the religion as a whole. The weird thing is, most of my friends are Christian (mostly not very devout or right-wing about it), and I have no problem with them... Classic prejudice, I guess: "Well, Sally's okay, but I'm sure the rest of them are awful." If only creeps in the media (and in history) would stop going around and giving the rest of Christianity a bad name.
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Date: 2006-08-06 05:42 pm (UTC)I totally had Jehovah's Witnesses yesterday. An older lady and this 6 year-old ADORABLE little boy. I wanted to snatch him up and go "AWAY! away from this cult, darling child!" Of course, Lutheran's not much better, but hey, at least we get potlucks anytime we get together (and we don't make 6 year old boys go door to door)...
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Date: 2006-08-06 06:02 pm (UTC)Oh dear. Yes, they always have a small child with them, it seems. Which is really kind of clever and vicious at the same time, as of course only a real nasty person would be rude in front of an adorable small child. Or an old lady, for that matter.
As a rule, I try to have no complaints about any religion that make an active effort to convert, or to actively fight for moral reforms that I disagree strongly with. That means that the door-to-door religions, by their nature, get a little bit on my shit list. I'm polite, but I try to get rid of them as quickly as possible. And yeah, kids raised in that kind of thing kind of freaks me out. It shouldn't, I suppose, but it does.
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Date: 2006-08-06 07:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-07 04:07 am (UTC)Totally throws them off their planned script, and in the time it takes them to restart on a new track, I can usually find a polite but efficient way to get them out of my path. :D
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Date: 2006-08-07 05:12 am (UTC)Notice I said usually, though. :P
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Date: 2006-08-07 10:42 pm (UTC)I guess if it's as high-population as I think it is, they pretty much figure whoever's going to be converted already has been. Besides, you probably don't get a lot of missionaries over there. We don't get a lot out here, either, but considering SLC is kind of Mormon Central, they probably don't waste their resources on conversions in-city.
It's always 'usually' with religious groups. :P As in 'usually' my stepmom and dad don't make an effort at converting me, either... and yet, they bring it up still. The last time they brought it up actively, I was tipsy - I laughed at them, flat out. You'd think that'd give them the hint....
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Date: 2006-08-07 11:57 pm (UTC)It was weird, needless to say, and that was about the last of me and Mormon activities.
Are your stepmom and dad Mormon, then? Or just some other pushy Christian religion?
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Date: 2006-08-08 06:04 am (UTC)I'm a horrible person. But ohmigod, I couldn't take anymore of the "and then the love of the lord came upon me!!!" crap.
No - my aunts on that side are both Mormon, but my stepmom is just a regular old... some kind of Protestant. I don't keep track. And my dad (staunch atheist all my life) converted when he started dating her. Which was... lemme think... five years ago. Just - boom. One day, normal dad. Next day, I ask what he's doing on Sunday and he says "well, going to church," as though that's what he's always done. Needless to say, it was a tricky transition. Especially when I was Most Definitely Not Warned that there was going to be praying over the whole family (him, my stepmom, my stepbrothers and myself) at the wedding.
They're not exactly pushy, I should be more fair - they're just not aware that I'm not comfortable with things like prayer before meals, being prayed over, etc. I'm not sure how that's a surprise, given the way my dad raised me, but he seems to have some kind of weird mental block where he doesn't realize what an abrupt 180 the change seemed like to everyone but him. I've tried talking to him about it, but he claims it was a natural transition, had nothing to do with my stepmom, and I have a hard time swallowing that one.
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Date: 2006-08-08 06:08 am (UTC)And my father-in-law (is that right? I think so. Father of my husband?) always asks my husband to say the prayer, and he's like "WTF? Really? Are you sure? ME?!?"
GIRLS CAMP! And those stupid workbooks they gave you, and you had to have shit signed off by the leaders and UGH, why did I go?!?
Sorry. Still a little traumatized, obviously, especially when I've had a gin and tonic or two. :P
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Date: 2006-08-07 12:46 am (UTC)http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/wri/190219562.html
heh!
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Date: 2006-08-07 04:05 am (UTC)