http://www.stuffchristianculturelikes.com/2008/08/3-coldplay.html
Ah, Coldplay. Despite their winning a crazy amount of awards, they're the band it's fun to hate on. According to Facebook, 48 of my Facebook friends are fans of Coldplay, and a decent number of them can be considered Christian Culture types.
Now, I know a lot of people do like Coldplay. I'll even admit to listening to them every once in a while. But why do so many evangelicals/CC-ers like them?
Quite frankly, they're safe. Chris Martin himself once called them "limestone rock": they're rock but they're not offensive. There's nothing there that would normally piss off a CC-er unless they have some opposition to rock music. The only controversy I can recall about them are allegations of plagiarism from Joe Satriani, who I doubt most Christian Culture types have even heard of (which is a shame for them). My cousins who are textbook examples of Christian Culture guys LOVE Coldplay, for instance, and it's something I could play on family get-togethers with the CC side of the family and my immediate family's more liberal wing.
Plus, the music is pretty catchy and, unless you're a serious hater, not horrible. Which is way more than I can say about Christian contemporary music. If you're not aware of Christian contemporary music, take a pop song that didn't quite make a major singer's album, scrub it clean of sexual references, liberally insert references to Jesus, God, and various religious imagery, and have it performed by a singer who is decent but not quite the caliber of many mainstream performers. Comparatively, Coldplay is fracking genius.
I have a strong feeling that if my class ever does have a 5 year reunion, there's going to be some Coldplay playing.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
SSCL #1 & #2
http://www.stuffchristianculturelikes.com/2008/08/1-day-timers.html
The topic for this post is...Day-Timers. And how prevalent they are among Evangelicals.
...Frack. I actually don't know much about this. I mean, I know people who own Day-Timers, but I've never been able to see how they relate to evangelical culture.
Let's try another post.
http://www.stuffchristianculturelikes.com/2008/08/2-sending-emails-that-are-supposedly.html
Okay, here we go. Granted, since my family is not really into Christian Culture (my mom is Roman Catholic and my dad is quasi-Baptist), they don't get these that frequently. And while a number of my high school classmates have been busy producing kids, most of my undergrad and law school classmates, who I keep in better contact with, have not. But, every so often, Mom and Dad will get a holiday card from a Christian Culture relative with a cutesy message supposedly written by their young kid. Or one of my high school classmates with a young child will post something written by them on their Facebook.
I know it's supposed to be cute, but really it's kind of ridiculous. Three year old Johnny doesn't have the sophisticated vocabulary to say how much he enjoys learning about the Lord now that he's in Sunday School. He probably doesn't even understand why he's even there. It's quite dumb, yet people immersed in evangelical culture think it's the most adorable thing ever.
If I have kids later on down the road and send out stuff like this, please shoot me.
The topic for this post is...Day-Timers. And how prevalent they are among Evangelicals.
...Frack. I actually don't know much about this. I mean, I know people who own Day-Timers, but I've never been able to see how they relate to evangelical culture.
Let's try another post.
http://www.stuffchristianculturelikes.com/2008/08/2-sending-emails-that-are-supposedly.html
Okay, here we go. Granted, since my family is not really into Christian Culture (my mom is Roman Catholic and my dad is quasi-Baptist), they don't get these that frequently. And while a number of my high school classmates have been busy producing kids, most of my undergrad and law school classmates, who I keep in better contact with, have not. But, every so often, Mom and Dad will get a holiday card from a Christian Culture relative with a cutesy message supposedly written by their young kid. Or one of my high school classmates with a young child will post something written by them on their Facebook.
I know it's supposed to be cute, but really it's kind of ridiculous. Three year old Johnny doesn't have the sophisticated vocabulary to say how much he enjoys learning about the Lord now that he's in Sunday School. He probably doesn't even understand why he's even there. It's quite dumb, yet people immersed in evangelical culture think it's the most adorable thing ever.
If I have kids later on down the road and send out stuff like this, please shoot me.
Stuff Christian Culture Likes
I love Stuff Christian Culture Likes. I really do. I live in the state of Ohio (as to where I'm not saying) and it seems like the stuff talked about on that blog is taken exactly from my life here. It's crazy.
If you're not familiar with SCCL, it's a blog maintained by Stephanie Drury that discusses aspects of American Christian Evangelical culture (termed "Christian Culture") in the style of Stuff White People Like. To quote the blog, "Christian culture is funny because it doesn't have much (if anything) to do with Christ himself." I would even go out to say that much of Christian Culture is antithetical to the teachings of Jesus Christ, but that's a whole 'nother story.
Anywho, since I love the blog a lot AND need to start posting more on here, I've decided to provide my commentary for some of the posts on SCCL. I may not be a Christian Culture person (though I am Christian), but I've seen a lot of this stuff in my daily life since I was twelve.
BTW, here's the site link if anyone's interested: http://www.stuffchristianculturelikes.com/
If you're not familiar with SCCL, it's a blog maintained by Stephanie Drury that discusses aspects of American Christian Evangelical culture (termed "Christian Culture") in the style of Stuff White People Like. To quote the blog, "Christian culture is funny because it doesn't have much (if anything) to do with Christ himself." I would even go out to say that much of Christian Culture is antithetical to the teachings of Jesus Christ, but that's a whole 'nother story.
Anywho, since I love the blog a lot AND need to start posting more on here, I've decided to provide my commentary for some of the posts on SCCL. I may not be a Christian Culture person (though I am Christian), but I've seen a lot of this stuff in my daily life since I was twelve.
BTW, here's the site link if anyone's interested: http://www.stuffchristianculturelikes.com/
Friday, July 1, 2011
Hey, Look, I Didn't Post for like a Month.
Yeah, long time no see. I've been hard at work at applying for Law Review during the month of June so I didn't think about blogging. But I'm done and hoping I made it on as an editor. *crosses fingers*
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Weiner's....Wiener.
Once again, we have another sex scandal among our senior government officials. And it couldn't have happened to a more aptly name Representative.
Anthony Weiner (no, seriously), a Democrat from New York was caught sending sexts and various pictures of himself, including his actual wiener, to various young women. Of course, it's made local news, people are calling for him to resign, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is calling for an ethics investigation, blah, blah, blah.
I don't sound particularly thrilled and that's because I'm not. The fact is, we get a lot of sex scandals in American politics. Wikipedia has a lengthy incomplete page of just federal political sex scandals alone. And a lot of these aren't particularly, well, scandalous. Basically, it's a lot of extramarital affairs. You may see something particularly bad like sexual harrassment, coming onto an underage page, etc., but really nothing particularly spicy. Hey, the woman who lived behind us when I was in high school had an extramarital affair which was found out when she got pregnant with the other man's child.
But, whenever a political figure gets caught with his (or her) pants down, we jump all over it. I can think of two reasons myself for why this is. First, political figures are, well, figures. They have a higher degree of fame and public knowledge than the regular person. Therefore, when they cheat on their spouses, the pool of people that would potentially find out is far greater than normal. If it's a particularly well known figure that does this, like President Bill Clinton, the entire country and a good chunk of the world knows too.
The second reason is basically irony. In the United States, we have a heck of a lot of politicians running on "family values" platforms. And by family values, I don't mean "making things better for American families" necessarily. When a lot of politicians talk about family values, they really refer to a Hollywoodized, bowdlerized view of the perfect American family, where Daddy is the breadwinner and Mommy stays home. Where couples marry early and stay married til Death Do Us Part. Where children are presumably respectful, well-mannered, and innocent. It's a curious amalgamation of 50s sitcoms, Evangelical Christian to even fundamentalist values, and hyper-conservatism. In this viewpoint, there is no room for reproductive choice, the often-necessity of a dual-income family, gay rights, women's rights, government programs to help the poor, and really anything that is not included in this ideal.
Granted, Anthony Weiner was not a "family values" politician. But many politicians that are involved with sex scandals are, including many politicians that condemned former President Clinton for his extramarital affair. So, it's ironic that these politicians, who go on about morality, family values, blah blah blah, are the ones who are exposed for decidedly NOT practicing what they preach. To the point that you wonder if there is a causation here.
To sum it up: Rep. Weiner showed his wiener. It's definitively not the first time this has happened to a US politician and it sure as hell won't be the last.
Anthony Weiner (no, seriously), a Democrat from New York was caught sending sexts and various pictures of himself, including his actual wiener, to various young women. Of course, it's made local news, people are calling for him to resign, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is calling for an ethics investigation, blah, blah, blah.
I don't sound particularly thrilled and that's because I'm not. The fact is, we get a lot of sex scandals in American politics. Wikipedia has a lengthy incomplete page of just federal political sex scandals alone. And a lot of these aren't particularly, well, scandalous. Basically, it's a lot of extramarital affairs. You may see something particularly bad like sexual harrassment, coming onto an underage page, etc., but really nothing particularly spicy. Hey, the woman who lived behind us when I was in high school had an extramarital affair which was found out when she got pregnant with the other man's child.
But, whenever a political figure gets caught with his (or her) pants down, we jump all over it. I can think of two reasons myself for why this is. First, political figures are, well, figures. They have a higher degree of fame and public knowledge than the regular person. Therefore, when they cheat on their spouses, the pool of people that would potentially find out is far greater than normal. If it's a particularly well known figure that does this, like President Bill Clinton, the entire country and a good chunk of the world knows too.
The second reason is basically irony. In the United States, we have a heck of a lot of politicians running on "family values" platforms. And by family values, I don't mean "making things better for American families" necessarily. When a lot of politicians talk about family values, they really refer to a Hollywoodized, bowdlerized view of the perfect American family, where Daddy is the breadwinner and Mommy stays home. Where couples marry early and stay married til Death Do Us Part. Where children are presumably respectful, well-mannered, and innocent. It's a curious amalgamation of 50s sitcoms, Evangelical Christian to even fundamentalist values, and hyper-conservatism. In this viewpoint, there is no room for reproductive choice, the often-necessity of a dual-income family, gay rights, women's rights, government programs to help the poor, and really anything that is not included in this ideal.
Granted, Anthony Weiner was not a "family values" politician. But many politicians that are involved with sex scandals are, including many politicians that condemned former President Clinton for his extramarital affair. So, it's ironic that these politicians, who go on about morality, family values, blah blah blah, are the ones who are exposed for decidedly NOT practicing what they preach. To the point that you wonder if there is a causation here.
To sum it up: Rep. Weiner showed his wiener. It's definitively not the first time this has happened to a US politician and it sure as hell won't be the last.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
This is Special
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/klu-klux-klan-protests-westboro-baptist-church-video/2011/05/31/AGgoiPFH_blog.html
You know you're bad when even the freaking Ku Klux Klan protests against you!
Nice job there, Westboro Baptist. Nice job.
You know you're bad when even the freaking Ku Klux Klan protests against you!
Nice job there, Westboro Baptist. Nice job.
Why Would a Teen Need Birth Control? Well....
Kendall Jenner on Birth Control?
So, today started out really shitty for me and I was pretty emo all morning as one of my best friends can testify to. When I'm really emo, I sometimes read trashy gossip columns as a way to get my mind off of what is bothering me. Today I read, among other things, that fifteen year old Kendall Jenner of the media-whoring, reality show star Kardashian-Jenner family is on birth control. Of course, a lot of Middle America seems to be outraged, OUTRAGED I tell you, that a teenager would be on birth control.
Kendall's family says it's for medical reasons...and I'm inclined to agree. There are quite a few uses for birth control pills that are not preventing pregnancy. For example, Kendall, like many teens and women (including myself) might have very, very bad cramps. Cramps that are too severe to be treated with Tylenol/Midol/Motrin/your OTC painkiller of choice. Because these cramps are controlled by hormones, birth control pills help keep them under control. Kendall might also have extremely variable periods (more so than the typical teenage girl), bad acne, or other problems that can be easily treated by the hormones in birth control pills. All of these explanations are very common uses of the birth control pill, but are often forgotten in our rush to jump to the most scandalous conclusion.
But, what if she is sexually active and that is why she is using birth control? My response is....thank God someone in this country is being responsible! We have reality shows that focus solely on teenage mothers that are in no way responsible enough to raise their children. We have abstinence-only education programs that are woefully deficient in facts and does nothing to really prevent teen sex, only the use of protections when they do engage in sex. And don't get me started on the attempt by certain politicians to defund Title X family planning and low-income family health services. Or Bristol Palin, who promotes abstinence-only sex education despite quite obviously not following her own advice.
Not that I think Kendall necessarily should be having sex at 15, but the fact is that teenagers in this country have sex. They've pretty much always have sex, the main difference now being that we don't try to hide it...as much. Although I don't personally agree with the idea of a 15 year old having sex, if Kendall is, at least she's trying to be careful. That's more than I can say for a lot of teens in this country.
So, today started out really shitty for me and I was pretty emo all morning as one of my best friends can testify to. When I'm really emo, I sometimes read trashy gossip columns as a way to get my mind off of what is bothering me. Today I read, among other things, that fifteen year old Kendall Jenner of the media-whoring, reality show star Kardashian-Jenner family is on birth control. Of course, a lot of Middle America seems to be outraged, OUTRAGED I tell you, that a teenager would be on birth control.
Kendall's family says it's for medical reasons...and I'm inclined to agree. There are quite a few uses for birth control pills that are not preventing pregnancy. For example, Kendall, like many teens and women (including myself) might have very, very bad cramps. Cramps that are too severe to be treated with Tylenol/Midol/Motrin/your OTC painkiller of choice. Because these cramps are controlled by hormones, birth control pills help keep them under control. Kendall might also have extremely variable periods (more so than the typical teenage girl), bad acne, or other problems that can be easily treated by the hormones in birth control pills. All of these explanations are very common uses of the birth control pill, but are often forgotten in our rush to jump to the most scandalous conclusion.
But, what if she is sexually active and that is why she is using birth control? My response is....thank God someone in this country is being responsible! We have reality shows that focus solely on teenage mothers that are in no way responsible enough to raise their children. We have abstinence-only education programs that are woefully deficient in facts and does nothing to really prevent teen sex, only the use of protections when they do engage in sex. And don't get me started on the attempt by certain politicians to defund Title X family planning and low-income family health services. Or Bristol Palin, who promotes abstinence-only sex education despite quite obviously not following her own advice.
Not that I think Kendall necessarily should be having sex at 15, but the fact is that teenagers in this country have sex. They've pretty much always have sex, the main difference now being that we don't try to hide it...as much. Although I don't personally agree with the idea of a 15 year old having sex, if Kendall is, at least she's trying to be careful. That's more than I can say for a lot of teens in this country.
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