ArtieShaw

@ArtieShaw@fedia.io

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ArtieShaw,

It looks like a Chick Tract, and these panels would be part of a larger work. They're dumb, but completely serious. Popular with fundies, and if you're not careful you might find one on your desk at work. (I have, lol).

There is definitely an anti-Catholic sentiment in some of them, so that's probably what the frame in the first clip is getting at.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chick_tract

ArtieShaw,

This was extremely well said. My in-laws adhere to one of these high control (fundie) sects, so I have an enlightening and disquieting inside look at it.

One of my nephews dreamed of becoming a marine biologist from an early age. And even as he got older he never wavered. We privately wondered what was going to happen when he got old enough to realize that he would need to attend a school that taught actual math and science for that to become a reality.

He's currently studying to become a nurse at a Christian College. He's safe from forbidden ideas, but he'll blend well into the alternate parallel economy favored by the people at his church. In addition to social isolation from non-believers, they prefer to do business with companies run by people from their own or an affiliated church.

The parallel economy still unnerves me for some reason. Learning about Christian Health Insurance was an eye-opener.

ArtieShaw,

I will reply not with my own view, but of the person who is most likely the author if this tract: Jack Chick. "Catholics are not Christians."

Absurd, you say? Of course, and I agree that it's absurd.

In the US there are two broad categories of people who would disagree.

  1. Old school bigots, many of whom came from immigrant families and wanted to align with the ruling class in America: WASPs. These were generally families who came from northwestern Europe and Scandinavia. (This describes the oldest members of my own family, who are still scandalized that my uncle married a woman from an Italian family in the 1960s).
  2. Fundamentalist Protestants. There are a thousand different flavors, so it's hard to give them a single name. They agree that the bible is the literal word of God and that Catholicism is fundamentally flawed - as is any religion that stresses the need to "do unto others" in any significant fashion. "The only way to heaven is through me," said Jesus. In other words, if you're a serial killer but you truly believe in Jesus Christ and have pledged your soul to him - well, Jesus must have a good reason for all that serial killing you did. (This describes my in-laws, so yes - my entire family is fucked up).

The serial killing thing is a bit of an exaggeration, but honestly - these people are almost shockingly mean to each other.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chick_tract

ArtieShaw,

a very literal interpretation

This is literally what Christian fundamentalists believe. If any aspect of the bible is not the literal truth, it all falls apart in their eyes. They are very absolutist.

And it's not just Genesis.

"But translations..."
Hahaha no. It varies by sect but it usually falls under either "our religious founder was guided by God to the true translation" or "The King James version was a work of revelation and it undid all the false translations introduced by the Romans and Greeks."

"But it contradicts itself on key points."
No it doesn't.

"Hey, maybe Lazarus was just in a coma"
Get behind me, Satan.

There is no argument that hasn't been heard and rejected. Disagreement is an attack.

ArtieShaw,

If you watch enough old scifi and adventure movies, you'll learn to welcome the "so that's where Lucas took that idea from" feeling as an old friend. He lifted a lot.

ArtieShaw,

You're right, of course. But I think it's equally plausible that the original writer didn't really grasp the difference and mixed some things up.

ArtieShaw,

The link above wouldn't work for me, so I googled it. Apparently, there are guided Italian language tours.

ArtieShaw,

Did you read even the first paragraph of that article?

ArtieShaw,

Many many years ago we watched an ancient movie in a theater. (It may have been Haxan). In any case, it ended on a dark, poignant and brutal note. There was silence until the word "slut" appeared and the entire theater erupted into laughter. Definitely an unintended mood lightener for the anglo audience.

ArtieShaw,

Ex-astronomer nerd here. I would, unless light pollution is also a problem in the countryside. I saw the aurora twice when I was a teen. It was a long time ago, but definitely memorable.

Here in Ohio it's hard to find any place with dark skies. Even farmers have high output lights attached to every barn and outbuilding. It comes off as a bit paranoid on their part, but maybe there are roving gangs of werewolves that I'm not aware of.

If you do find a dark place, give your eyes 20 minutes to dark-adapt. Don't look at any terrestrial light directly and you'll find that the available light will be enough to get around. If you do need a flashlight (sorry - torch) you can cover it with a red film to avoid ruining your night vision. It does make a difference when star gazing.

ArtieShaw,

Exactly. That kitty encompasses and rules over aaaalllll that couch. Surfaces and interior volume (as soon as he discovers it). No room for anybody else. Just ask him.

ArtieShaw,

Ah, made for the celebration of the feast of Oh Hell No.

ArtieShaw,

Nice! That's very similar to something I want to do with my tablet and reader.

The two hobbies I picked up over the past year are leather working and 3D printing. Funnily enough, I was about two weeks into printing before I realized.... "hey - I can combine these."

ArtieShaw,

I think any organization that gets kids outdoors, teaches them social skills, builds self-esteem, and promotes community involvement is one worth praising.

I was in Girl Scouts for years. And although as an adult I can criticize plenty of GS policies, the things you list were always the priority of the scouting experience.

My much younger brother was in Boy Scouts and comparatively, they were weird. It had this whole religious and quasi-military aspect that was off-putting. There were uniform inspections and drills at the monthly family events. And there were mandatory church/temple activities that were required to advance to the next stage. Although technically you could attend a church or event of your choosing - in practice we were the only Protestant family in our community so they just chucked him in with the Catholics. That was mixture of confusing and educational.

My experience gave me community service, camaraderie, and a deep dive on cookie selling strategies. I can still tie a mean bowline. My brother got some weird indoctrination and one fun memory of winning the pinewood derby. They didn't even do that much camping.

ArtieShaw,

Huh. I wonder if you're younger than my brother (he was born 1979). He definitely had to do some weird things to get out of Webelos.

ArtieShaw,

One thing I learned about meringue is that the slightest bit of fat will turn it into frosting.

Even a mixing bowl/whip that has been sitting in an open kitchen may have accumulated enough aerosolized cooking oil to effect the outcome. I've never failed after washing the utensils and then being scrupulous about broken yolks.

ArtieShaw,

Chicago

ArtieShaw,

These are Chicago stations.

Big three networks in the lowest digits. Then 9 is WGN and 11 is PBS. The UHF wasteland is a mix of local (including 32, which was local before it became FOX). 50 and 66 were english language local, but Spanish stations kind of mixed things up in the '90s.

ArtieShaw,

In the US they were definitely out of fashion in the '80s and '90s. They were fashion statement that said "I'm a gross hippie" or worse, a BeeGee.

I was a teen at the time and the consensus among teen girls was that a beard was the ultimate dealbreaker of a physical attribute. Makes sense, really, because most guys our age couldn't grow a nice one if they wanted to. (And also - hippies are gross). I always respectfully disagreed, and would point to our classmate, Murad. He had pretty well grown facial hair by junior year and he looked fiiiinne.

The exception that proved the rule? Luckily (for Murad) my classmates generally agreed, but refused to back down from their opinion in general.

That attitude persisted, with the occasional appearance of a goatee or soul patch in the late '90s, both of which proved to be a gateway drug that led to the appearance of proper beards. I think a lot of guys would have liked to have beards, but realized that they were driving away potential partners. But they were pretty normal by 2010.

I'll drop this line from wikipedia, which should illustrate just how boringly mainstream beards have become in the US.

Since 2015 a growing number of male political figures have worn beards in office, including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, and Senators Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton.

Damn hippies.

ArtieShaw,

I saw that in a theater, with a guest appearance and Q&A with Crispin Glover afterwards. That was an evening.

ArtieShaw,

It was like he was just poured into that vest.

ArtieShaw,

I know a guy who is a literature snob and is probably the last person I would have expected to really get into Raymond Chandler novels. Anyway, he was raving about those books so I read a few. It turns out that Chandler was a phenomenally weird wordsmith. Inventive, funny, and unexpected. If you're looking at midcentury American writers, Chandler is hugely underrated. Maybe in a few centuries he'll get his due.

Sure, it's detective pulp. But it's detective pulp that's been given a strong hallucinogen and whacked over the head a few times before waking up in the desert.

ArtieShaw,

Well thanks for reminding me that Captain Proton existed. /s

I disliked all of the mid-century nostalgia episodes. Not that I dislike mid-century nostalgia, but I thought they were poorly done.

ArtieShaw,

That's an interesting but grim point. Ebola, for example, is both very deadly and very infectious, but that combination means that outbreaks tend to burn out before spreading widely. One of the early things that scared me about COVID in late 2019 was the rumors of "asymptomatic spreading" that were coming out of China.

That wasn't the only "oh shit" thing about COVID and the way things were handled early on, but it was a bad one.

ArtieShaw,

I am against earthquakes on principle.

Oddly enough, I just read something today about newly emerging earthquake detection tech. It involved small variations in movement tracked by GPS transmitters, and would give 2 hours (+/-?) before the quake hit. I like the idea of that.

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