Defending Trashing Religious Books (Part 2)

Yesterday I posted a blog to answer some of the criticisms and complaints both in my inbox and on one of my Facebook threads. Sorting through those books mentally was more fatiguing than I imagined it would be, and with my inability to be succinct, I cut it short. (If you want to find the original thread on Facebook, it's here.)

Again, just so we're clear, I don't mind the criticism. If I'm going to post a strong opinion, I have to be willing to back it up. As far as I'm concerned, criticism is nothing more than a door to discussion, evaluation and if need be, change. That's why constructive criticism is a good thing.

Okay, here are a few more:

1. Were you hurt when you were young? Why do you seem so angry all the time?

Yes. I was hurt when I was young. I'm human. As for "being angry all the time,"I can assure you that I don't walk around growling all day. (Okay, sometimes I growl at myself, but I work in a school, this is normal.) I'm actually quite genial. If we spoke in person, I would be kind and interested.

That said, I am angry about the state of the world. We'll never fix it, humans are broken, but that doesn't mean we don't keep trying like hell to get it done. Shit, the whole point of living a #Kindlife is to point out the things that need to be changed and do what we can to change them. That means keeping my eyes open. It also means I'm obligated to wade through a lot of human shit -- be it behaviour or systemic or whatever else -- and when I post about it, I'm not going to sound nice. Am I supposed to be all cool and happy when I find out that Wal-Mart's factory farms use gestation cages, about the cruelest possible fucking way to raise pigs? It's a life of torture. And you want fucking rainbows?! Hell, yes, I'm pissed! And I'm furious that certain people don't give a shit about the lives (both human and animal) around them. Given that I can't punch everyone of them in the face or take a baseball bat to their knees, all I can do is post the information, inform others, and stew. Hence, I will occasionally seem angry.

Thankfully, I have the most amazing wife/teammate in the world, I love to laugh, and rum. Oh, and NBA2K.


2. How could a writer criticize a best-sellers list, when you should know how much work it takes to get there?

I never go after young writers, especially those who write fiction. I won't do it unless the books are destructive with their stereotypes or misogyny or whatever, books like 50 Shades of Crap and Twilight. Most of the books on the "Christian" bestselling list, however,  do not represent "writers." Instead, they represent a bunch of finely tailored junk peddlers selling snake-oil and calling it Christianity. They've all made a tonne of money off people who aren't educated enough to know better. It's disgusting.




3. You use profanity, and yet you claim to be a Christian?

Hell, yes. Honestly, I don't trust people who think swearing is analogous to faith. It always speaks to fear and "being nice," neither of which appeal to me. I think we should enjoy the breadth and depth of the English language, but I don't appreciate people dropping f-bombs like they're playing high school football. And I do have friends who never swear and are completely awesome, but they don't care if someone swears around them. Do you see the difference?

Also, Shakespeare, the greatest writer of the English language ever (yes, better than Joyce) added some ten thousand words to English, a number of which were curse words and insults.

My Shakespearean mug of cursing. Hilarious! (And geeky. Yeah, I got that.)

There are more (believe it or not), but I have to stop for today. Time to work on the novel. 

-Steve