“I love Jesus Christ!…so FUCK YOU!“
These ridiculously ironic words were just screamed, no SCREAMED at me by a young man just before he floored the gas and cut me off, causing me to slam on the brakes to avoid a crash.
What caused this hostile act of aggression?
More below.
The answer is my Mom-mobile with the Who Would Jesus Bomb? bumper sticker on the back.
Here in the South, you cannot travel more than 100 yards in any direction without running into a church. There are mainline Protestant churches, and a very few Catholic ones, but the vast majority are Southern Baptist and non-denominational evangelical churches. There is one synagogue that I know of within the city limits of Raleigh, and no mosques (that I am aware of.)
The social lives of most Southerners revolve around church. Sunday morning services, Wednesday bible studies, small group meetings at local coffee shops almost everywhere you look, pig-pickings (self-explanatory pretty much) church carnivals, garage sales, car washes, plant sales. Everything is sponsored by a church.
As a northern transplant who grew up decidedly Catholic and then decidedly lapsed, this is the single most significant change I have had to get used to in my three years in the South. And, make no mistake, it is South with a capital S.
Catholics are kind of the ugly step sister here. We’re just barely tolerated as “not the right kind of Christian” because the biggest employer here, IBM, employs many northerners who need a place to attend Sunday Mass. We wouldn’t want to offend IBM, but it’s okay if we regularly slander the catholics it attracts to the area.
The area which encompasses Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill is called The Triangle….or The Research Triangle. Here there are many computer and pharmaceutical companies and with these high tech jobs come a lot of northerners. This makes The Triangle lean blue these days, though the rest of the state is overwhelmingly Republican and very conservative.
I almost wept today to read in the Raleigh News and Observer this column by longtime Southerner Dennis Rogers. In it he laments how the Southern Baptists have evolved over the past 10 years from “rebellious and contentious free thinkers” to what he calls Bobble-Head Baptists, going along as the ultra-relgious leaders wage war against homosexuals and women.
He ends with a word of praise for the United Church of Christ which just a few days ago voted to recognize same-sex marriages.
This, coming from a thank-you-ma’am, grits-eating, flag waving lifelong Southerner is a thing of beauty and a signal of hope for all of us that times might indeed be a-changing.
Have you seen the movie Saved!? It’s a hoot. Given your circumstances, if you’ve not seen it, you should rent it immediately. At one point one of the fundy characters is accused of not knowing anything about love, whereupon she promptly chucks her Bible at the accusing party and shouts, “I am filled with Christ’s love!”
Thank you for posting! I did see that movie and loved it.
and obviously need to!
Oh my gosh. What a funny, but tragic, story. I’ve been thinking about that article in Harper’s from a couple of months ago, how the kinds of Xtians you’re talking about have embraced a warrior Christ who is not in the Four Gospels at all.
Militant Christianity, Militant Judaism, Militant Islam. God help us all.
Fishing Joke:
Why must you always take at least two (2) Baptist fishing with you?
If you only take one, he’ll drink all your beer.
If you take two, one is afraid the other will tell on the other, so ALL the beer is yours ; ) (of course you will be damned to hell for all eternity, but only in their church ; )
Funny! I’ve noticed since I’m down here that all of the different denominations have jokes about the others….but they don’t find the ones about themselves funny at all.
I can understand that.
How many people when they stubb their toe, laugh at themselves? ; )
Not to go off thread here but please go to froggy bottom cafe and let us know how the coming hurricane is affecting you…
To Laura, this is a great diary and see my tag line….the date I gave to time’s changing…
I’m at the lounge…where the hell are you…LOL
Diane, what is the significance of June 12? Did I miss something?
I am not sure what happened that day, it was maybe the Conyers hearing and the DSM’s, but on that day I felt that things were changing which I had been saying for awhile and did diaries on the subject. In any case I wanted to mark that day and so added it to my sig. line, that’s how strong I felt about it.
Hey put in a link to the DK diary I want to see what they said over there…
Here’s the link
Sorry for the delay, I was in dreamland!
I’ve learned a bunch of things from master storyteller Joel bin Izzy, but one of the most important was a lesson his father, who was not at all successful by the world’s standards, told him. Paraphrased, it was something like, “Anyone can laugh at something that’s funny, but it takes a special kind of person to laugh at something that isn’t funny.” I go back to this on those days when I think that if I don’t laugh, I’m gonna cry or scream or yell incoherently.
How many Episcopalians does it take to change a light bulb?
Three; one to change the bulb, the other two to talk about how Rector Bob did it better…
One from the Prairie Home Companion joke show a couple of years ago:
Jews don’t recognize Jesus as the Messiah.
Protestants don’t recognize the Pope.
Baptists don’t recognize each other at the liquor store.
and that’s a fact ; ) (I’ve seen this happen here, in the DEEP south ) LMAO
Wow, that is funny. I’m a terrible joke teller; one of those people who forgets the punchline halfway through…but I’m going to remember this one.
The more I think about it, the more I conclude that what really alarms me about people like Mr. “I love Jesus Christ” is the way they seem to feed off their rage. What they really love, I think, is their anger and hatred, just as what they really worship is their own sense of righteousness. There have been moments over the past five years when I’ve been scared by the depths of my anger at Bush & Co — when I’ve been afraid of turning into one of those people. I am a flawed, flawed person. A key difference, though, is that I would dearly love to be rid of mine, so long as it didn’t mean losing my integrity: the day these criminals are kicked out of the White House, I will lay down with joy the burden of fear and hostility I’ve been carrying. The haters, I suspect, could have all their dreams come true tomorrow and would still be looking for something with which to nurture theirs.
You couldn’t pay me to spend an hour inside the head — or the heart — of one of these folks; what an ugly, narrow, curdled place it must be.
excellent, absolutely excellent.
ps. they would not know themselves, if they saw their reflection in the mirror ; )
Everything that Infedel said and more! Brilliant! Jen, just perfect!
“…an ugly, narrow, curdled place…
As the others have said, a perfect description-can I borrow it?
Y’all are going to turn my head!
CabinGirl, you may use it with my blessings.
I, too, have been frightened at the depths of my anger toward Bush and even Bush voters. I used to be able to adopt a “let’s agree to disagree” attitude, but I find myself taking it personally this time.
Luckily, I was able to keep my cool with this young man (mainly because I had my son in the car) and I just smiled and gave him the peace sign. With two fingers though it was mightly tempting to leave one of them down.
Laura, what a well written and right on the money diary! Big Hugs and many kudos to you. A really great job of it!
Thanks, Shirl. I tell myself I am a writer, you know. 🙂
Meh.
I want to say how much I appreciate all the thoughtful comments and the level of respect and affection that all of you have shown towards this diary and to each other.
I crossposted this to the other place, and it made the reco list and got many good…but many nasty and rude comments as well. I think it’s the last time I will do this.
I hope you guys will have me…because I’m not going away!
Good morning Second Nature,
I got in pretty late last night and saw this diary cross posted at kos. First let me say that this diary is excellant in that it points out many of the hypocritical and dangerous attributes of todays christian right, but instead of saying more on it, I’ll just say that Jennifers fantastic and insightful comment above is pretty much what I think about it.
Its a shame your diary over there (thats where I was reading it) got highjacked the way it did. The one poster who basically blamed you for what happened (what did you expect, they said) pretty much highjacked the beginning of it. Their behavior once again points out the glaring differences between there and here, and how fortunate we are that we can talk about all subjects here and maintain a respectful and civil tone with one another. I’d say we’re a highly evolved community, although I’ll admit that the reptile in my brain needs to be carefully watched ;O)
P.S. Sure do hope you’re not going away :O)
Thanks, Super. We are indeed a highly-evolved community.
I grew up in a suburb of Memphis Tennessee. I promptly got FAR away when college loomed… I didn’t want to stay and go to the U of: Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia…etc. I applied to U of Richmond, William and Mary and a few others, but hung my hopes on U of Colorado… and thank the lord, that’s where I landed.
It just always seemed to me that the South is stuck. Don’t get me wrong, I miss yes ma’am’s and sweet tea and come on in and bless your heart and the whole community of it but… there’s something missing, forward progress… like they’re all afraid that if they move forward a little they’ll loose all that wonderful hospitality.
Bless YOUR heart, and keep that sticker!
I never thought about regional differences until I moved down here and saw how deeply they identify with being Southern. I never thought of myself as Northern…I was just a mother, a wife, a sister, a neighbor, a friend. It makes me feel lonely to separate people into little groups like that.
I still consider myself a Southerner… 10 years in Colorado and I think I will be a Southerner my whole life…
And no, there’s not really such a thing as a “Northerner”, but ask any Texan, or Californian for that matter and I think you get the same kind of regional identification.
And the 10 Commandments here in Alabama are a very big deal. Lots of people here are War Crazed though also. The car in front of me had a bumper sticker on one side that read KEEP THE TEN COMMANDMENTS and on the other side it read GULF WAR VETERAN. If I’m not mistaken I’m sure that one of the 10 Commandments is “Thou Shalt Not Kill”. I have no problem with the 10 Commandments. I do have a problem with someone who brags about attending a war on one hand and on the other insists that everybody keep the 10 Commandments. They may want to try keeping them themselves for a little while before they start insisting on everybody else!
The Red-staters would be wise to remember the one about bearing false witness against your neighbor. Too bad it isn’t also grounds for impeachment.
I am glad to know you are superior based on your region of origin and belief system. And gee, yes one story about one redneck proves your self-affirming generalization.
Yes there are redneck jerks who drive badly in the south. And they are violent and dangerous and not at all nice. And in Pennsylvannia – which competes with Georgia for per-capita hate crimes? And in upstate New York? Everyone there is all loving? These places are more liberal than Chapel Hill? No statistic would support that assertion, and that is NOT because IBM moved liberals to NC. Lawrence, KN and Bloomington, IN are liberal. Elmira NY is as backwards as any place in the nation. It was Catholics who was out front in the war on women in the eighties. The Catholic Church in Boston – liberal and feminist?
Those churches at which you snort were the backbone of integration. Look at the riots in Boston and then look at Charlotte, NC in the history of integration. Then tell me about your inherent superiority based on region of origin and system of belief. Because I do not believe in inherent superiority based on region of origin. I believe people and communities are unique.
Quick name the two most segregated cities in the nation — they are Boston and Detroit. Did you choose Atlanta? Have you chosen this ignorance to affirm your empty belief so you do not have to examine your own white privilege and internalized racism? Are you sure? This is most commonly the case among liberals in Boston.
White Southern people – aren’t they stupid and funny? And they are ALL JUST LIKE this redneck.
Ha
Ha
Ha
Excuse me for not laughing.
Thanks for reading and stopping by to comment.
I hope you will not think that I am being “superior” by pointing out that you seem to have missed the whole point of the diary.
I was recounting my experience with religious bigotry as it happened to me in my neighborhood, which just happens to be in the south. I’m sorry that it did not happen in the north, perhaps then you would afford me the small luxury of being allowed to make observations on life in my little corner of the world.
I’m wondering where you got the impression I was defaming Southerners. I recounted a story using facts, not rhetoric. I made observations of what I have learned about the social aspects of religion in the south. Then I referenced a hopeful article written by a southerner.
Point to me where I am being superior.
and was raised a southern Baptist. Though I have long since fallen from grace, I still find great irony in their refined sense of racism and their ability embrace hypocrisy.
As several commenters have pointed out, however, they are by no means unique. America’s entire approach to foreign policy is equally damnable.
My relationship with God is personal to me, so I have long been uncomfortable with organized religion. But I respect others who find comfort in their churches. My feeling is that if it makes you a better person (not just think you’re a better one) than it’s a good thing. Just keep it out of the government and don’t force me to partake.