Sunday in Outer Blogness: Can’t We Get Along? Edition!
I whole-heartedly support the advice not to burn too many bridges on your way out of the LDS church. But, on the other side of the coin, it’s hard when believers take your disaffection too personally … to the point of debating whether it’s offensive to order coffee in an airport with a believer. Innocent, delicious coffee!
OK, so is Glenn Beck Christian, or what? (Turns out that — contrary to his claims — he’s not even a rodeo clown! And his numbers may be subject to the usual bias.) He’s apparently been preaching some suspiciously Mormon things. Naturally, this drags up the question of whether Mormons are Christians (or some dangerous group) — it’s amazing what you can say with some subtle word games.
It’s not even clear which Mormons are Mormons. And even the exmos are having schismatic fights this week! Note that Christians are also having troubles separating the real Christians from the “mutants“. (As a counterpoint, the gospel (music)-heavy, doctrine-light approach is getting positive reviews.) At least the right-wing militia leaders are getting along. In a sense. Not everybody appreciates their chain emails though.
A familiar recent debate is starting to turn ugly. But (fortunately? unfortunately?) it turns out that you don’t need to be religious to be a dangerous gun-wielding loony. Perhaps it can go either way.
Are there any positive solutions out there? Aren’t there places where conflict is decreasing? Well, there’s responding with humor. There’s helping those in need regardless of religion. You could also try talking to God. Directly, on the phone. (Actually, scratch that last one.) Also, I’d normally suggest trying to speak to people in their language, but Klingon…?
If God didn’t want us to drink coffee, why did he make it so delicious?
I’ll be, a Klingon Book of Mormon translation. Thanks for the other pointers too.
I order beer when at a meal with my TBM family members. I also order beer with the members of my family who are not TBMs, too, so treat all of them the same.
@Leah
The same reason he made sex so much fun. To tempt you with pleasure. Because for some sadistic reason, pleasure is sinful.
@Leah – Um, coffee SMELLS delicious, but the taste is awful. Granted, people have different tastes, but yuck.
@adamf
There’s really great coffee and really shitty coffee, and everything in between. Most people drink coffee that’s really not very good. Unless you buy good, evenly roasted whole beans and grind them yourself before each brewing (which is really easy to do), any coffee you drink at home is going to be far inferior to that you get in a good caf that really knows the proper ways to roast, grind, and brew. Personally I almost always go for espresso, whether as a shot, as an Americano, or in a cappuccino or latte. When done correctly it’s almost creamy, with a richer, fuller, less acidic or bitter taste than traditional American drip coffee.
Now I want coffee.
Thanks for linking to me. Like all bloggers, I am always looking for attention.
When are you going to guest post here, Chris H.?
If you are interest, email me. I would love to. However, we have a rocky past…so I am not sure if you are being sarcastic.
No worries, I’ll shoot you an email, Chris H. By the way, just between me and you, it’s been no fun turning down Ralph Hancock and the half-dozen bloggernacle permas who’ve come to us recently requesting to be guest posters (on an anonymous basis, of course). But like you say, we can talk about all that by email. Cheers.
Chris — Your last couple of posts over at FPR have been great!
Hey, thanks.
I’m with adamf here. I’ve had so-called “good coffee” from a cafe, and it’s still gross. I can see why people usually load it up with sugar and cream. But at that point, it’s no different than other kinds of junk food. No thanks.