(no subject)

[theweaselking]

Brad Hicks compares second-hand religion to second-hand smoke, and asks a question that applies more to Americans than anyone else but is still interesting: How many times a day are you exposed to other people's second-hand religion?

Comments

[rimrunner.livejournal.com]

Brad Hicks rocks. Even when I disagree with him he makes me think.

His argument is interesting to me because I work for a Christian institution in one of the least religious areas of the country. I can't exactly complain about faculty meetings that open with prayer, because I knew when I signed the contract what I was getting into.

What's ironic about it, however, is how much my daily work life here is the same as my daily work life anywhere else, up to and including the church across the street that tolls the hours (this is handy since my clock stopped working).

One thing he didn't touch on (though he's probably addressed it elsewhere) is that the virulent anti-Christian sentiment among many Pagans is probably because most of us are converts, some of us from extremely conservative strains (me, I'm sort of ex-Catholic—not much of a stretch, really). Newer Pagans have often jumped in without really considering that HELLO, THIS IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT RELIGION, and they find themselves working very, very hard to differentiate themselves from where they came from.

In considering his question, what I find myself wondering is, given where I work and who I work with, is my number significantly higher than average?

Probably not.