Monday, August 31, 2009

Five Things Meme

I've thought of a meme that might get me in trouble. Of course, if it's a meme and enough people do it, I won't be in trouble alone, which has always been my favourite kind of trouble to be in.

Five Things that Really Annoy You about Other Christians

in no particular order:

1 - Signing their emails, especially their professional emails, "for His kingdom" or "in His mercy" or with some other inappropriately personal piety;

2 - being possessed of a total inability to talk about anything but "the issues" (ie: abortion, the badness of Obama, the corruption of the bishops yadda yadda yadda) while you are trying to have a fun time at the pub. GET. A. LIFE. Please;

3 - (mostly women) equating being badly/frumpily dressed with holiness and personal piety;

4 - shrieking like a vampire caught in a sunroom when you praise some Officially Inappropriate film or TV show; (actually, I have to admit that I don't always hate this, and sometimes say that I like Boston Legal or Fight Club on purpose and then sit back and watch the fun, but I'm Notoriously Mean and a Bad Catholic, so it's probably just me.)

5 - using "I'll pray for you" as a tool of emotional blackmail;


...add your own.

11 comments:

Sand Mama said...

Catholic home-birthers and 'elimination communication' moms do it for me. You have to look it up to believe it.
Really anyone who takes a do-it-yourself approach to mothering to a crank level and acts as if raising kids as our prehistoric forebears did is the only way to go...

Anonymous said...

The only Christian that bothers me is the hypocrite who struggles with all the same difficulties the rest of us do in the spiritual life, and rather than face them humbly, takes a cynical approach that denigrates the rest of us for actually trying. And I AM praying for you, and if you feel emotionally blackmailed--good, it means that God's grace hasn't totally abandoned you.

In Christ through Mary,
Giancarlo Ciccia

Hilary Jane Margaret White said...

Must suck to be you Giancarlo, to be surrounded by such people.

I'll pray for you.

Sand Mama said...

Hey Hillary, fun bunch your readers...

Felix said...

I find these folk difficult:

a. people who expect you to believe unbelievable pietistic stories

b. people who tell you that evolution, scripture scholarship etc is pure moonshine, and who can't/won't discuss it

c. people who are never tempted to anything low and whose spiritual life is a never-ending walk in the sunshine.

(Wot about liberals? Well, I cross the street and avoid them, lest I explode in wrath and indignation.)

Antonio said...

Surely number 2 is what most of the trads of Santa Trinita dei Pellegrini in Rome must spend doing after hearing mass and going of to the restaurant?

Or am I happily mistaken?

Anonymous said...

Watch out, or I’ll start praying for the lot of you.

Anonymous said...

Re #3:
I suppose it is possible for women to give in to the vice of vanity while also practicing the virtue of modesty?

And practically speaking, I have never yet managed to look smart on a budget. Some women have the knack for it, but most do not. I do believe we should restore the practice of hat’n’glove wearing.

Nobody pays this amount of attention to men’s clothing.

Hilary Jane Margaret White said...

Antonio,

There are a small number of people who may say nasty things about or to me or about my friends with impunity.

You are not one of them.

margaret said...

(1)The trend for home-birthing and home-schooling as if its somehow inherently Christian instead of just a trend.
(2)The anti-feminists who feel men can do no wrong, call themselves 'ladies' and post photos on their blogs of themselves wearing skirts and aprons. Gee, fancy that, you can walk to the library in a skirt and Mrs Herbert Pettigrew has taken a photo of her daughter actually doing it.
(3)Signing emails, blog posts, etc, “The Worst of Sinners.” Anyone who believed that would living in a cave, eating lichen and praying 20 hours a day.
(4) Joining a new church and then trying their darndest to make it just like the one they left.
(5) Saying “all that really matters is your heart is right” when other people are making an effort to fast or pray more or feed the hungry, visit the sick or whatever because anyone who does anything is only doing it to be beastly to someone else who can't be bothered but wants kudos anyway.

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