Pissing for Jesus…or maybe Bagadjimbiri, Tirawa, or no one at all
Posted on July 8, 2007 - Filed Under Adult swim
I’ve gone to church enough times throughout my life to have had my fair share of ‘holy’ experiences. Holy or not, the one I had this morning definitely qualifies as the strangest yet. We arrived on time (SURPRISE!!!); as we were waiting for the service to begin, a woman handed me a yellow (this will become important in a second) slip of paper. The title of the note had something to do with being ‘green’ toward gophers. Just in case you don’t know what being green is, it basically boils down to acting in such a way as to not harm nature. This is one of the hallmarks of Unitarian Universalism, a factor distinguishing it from almost every other major form of organized religion (possible exceptions include paganism, Wicca, and Buddhism); the rest of them, Christianity most importantly, seem to forget they claim to worship the Earth’s creator but treat that creation as though it were meaningless. Anyway, as I read the note, it turned out to be addressed only to men. It seems BUUF is having a bit of a problem with the little critters and they had come up with a possible solution for which they needed the help of men in the congregation. They were requesting each man urinate into a cup (provided in the bathrooms), take the cup outside, and empty it around a gopher hole. Apparently, someone heard that if a male (human or gopher) ’scents’ around another’s hole, the original occupant of that hole will not return. What a truly bizarre thing to happen in church! But I’ll tell you what: I can’t stand it when people don’t act on their beliefs because doing so will rattle someone’s sensibilities. BUUF impressed me this morning.
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6 Responses to “Pissing for Jesus…or maybe Bagadjimbiri, Tirawa, or no one at all”
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Erin,
That cabage patch kid with the blue shirt in the middle of that shelf looks familar. Was that yours?
Yes - I think I painted it when I was 8 years old - my mother would remember - Did we do it together?
Interesting service your church had… I need to comment on something you said though… “the rest of them, Christianity most importantly, seem to forget they claim to worship the Earth’s creator but treat that creation as though it were meaningless…” Coming from personal experience, I’ll have to respectfully disagree with you. I joined a youth group as a young krunk and consistently attended meetings/youth events and whatnot, along with going to church (it was a non-denominational Christian church) until I joined the military. We go now from time to time, but not like “good Christians should.” Anyways, back to the point… one of the best things our youth group would do was volunteer monthly for “town cleanup.” We’d police the highways, parks, etc. for litter/garbage and whatnot. Our youth minister was very adamant about sending that message… “the earth is God’s creation and we should, indeed, do our part as Christian’s to keep it clean and respect it.” So it was instilled in me years ago, as a Christian, I should never treat the creation as meaningless. I’m going to call you soon to grill you on BUUF. Stay krunk.
Jake–
First, I want to thank you very much for your comment. I don’t know how much blog reading you do but your comment is one of the only in the history of raisingus that actually fits the model of blog commenting is supposed to be. What I mean by that is that blogs are, on their best days, forums for discussion, to include the sharing of personal experiences like your’s. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate comments which don’t fit this model; I am very grateful for ANY comments offered. It’s just I really am interested in what others think about what’s written and when they don’t comment, I have no way of knowing that. (If you’re not Jake and find yourself pissed off at what I just said, please don’t be. The last thing I want is for anyone to stop commenting.)
Secondly, obviously my statements regarding Christianity are made with the aggregate in mind. It has been my observation, indeed my experience, that peoples’ concern for ‘God’s creation’ is far from commensurate with their supposed faith in that same God. People love to have their religion cafeteria style–abide the teachings they are comfortable with and ignore the ones which cramp their style. This also enters into the realm of the political. Social conservatives, i.e. mostly religious people, align themselves with the Republican party because they feel their morality is most closely represented there. They are romanced by people like GWB who talk a good religious game. What they don’t figure into the equation is that Republicans also heavily favor big business, i.e. they make things easy for the aggressively profit-motivated people of the world. This very often translates into legislation protecting companies from those who like to regulate their actions. This means, in MANY cases that companies needn’t worry about ‘respecting God’s creation.’ The simple truth is doing so costs them money. To put it bluntly, those in our government who pay lip service to the religious people in this country place money above their religious values. And those religious voters–they put things like opposition of homosexual people ahead of protecting the first thing their God created. I have believed for a long time that if you really deconstruct the political ideologies of the Republicans, no real Christian would ever vote for one; Jesus was certainly a Democrat, perhaps even a socialist.
Lastly, I think it’s awesome you had someone in your religious life who placed such priority on the Earth.
I know this has been long; if you’ve read this far, I appreciate your attention. At least you know I have not changed much, i.e. I can still talk your ear off.
Have you used the WNCW thing yet? We are certainly eating vicariously through you guys.
Jason,
In response… it’s my pleasure to post on your blog. I’d like to comment on 99% of your stories, but after spending all day in my cubicle prison at work, finding the energy (and time) to write meaningful responses is tough. But I’ll always read what you put out b/c it’s always something unique/interesting and I learn a new word from time to time (ex. aggregate???).
A (Christian) friend of mine told me a couple years ago that if Jesus was around right now, he’d be a Democrat. I thought he was ridiculous initially until he explained and I actually gave it some thought. If we were to get into a political conversation, you’d blow me out of the water. I’m guilty of being a sheep, politically speaking, and not doing my homework with our politicians/policy makers. Without doing research, it’s the easy way out to jump on the Republican side a lot of times b/c they do, indeed, appease to the military and Christians. I tend to lean to the right not b/c of religious reasons, but b/c of the emphasis they put on “personal responsibility.” I know I’m opening up a whole new can of worms here but we’ll have to find time to chat in person about this. Like I said earlier, I need to do my homework before I take a firm stance to the right or left.
But as far as Jesus is concerned, I don’t know if he’d be a Republican, Democrat, or a Socialist. I do think it’s potentially misleading (and dirty) that politicians use religion to gain votes. Thanks for responding in such detail. I’ll have to read it a few times to wrap my brain around everything you said, but I find myself agreeing with it all.
We will be using the WNCW card for the first time this weekend. Hopefully at Ed’s, but Amy isn’t the biggest fan. Have you guys found your favorite eateries/pubs/etc. out there yet that you can really relate to?
I used to have a thing on here that enabled readers to double click on any word and a definition of that word would appear…gotta get that back.
Believe it or not, I hear what you’re saying about being a sheep. Life is busy and it’s hard enough to care for your own ‘house’, let alone be concerned about world affairs. It’s very much one of those ’something’s got to give’ scenarios; it’s also a problem of not being able to do all that you might want to and, therefore, having to prioritize. And there’s the rub: Most Americans don’t/can’t make national and world affairs a priority. Those who choose to do so inevitably lose time they could be giving to something else. I, since becoming a dad and moving here, have realized this whole prioritization thing in my own life. I watch very little TV any more because, compared to everything else, I just don’t have the time. My next challenge will be overcoming the inefficient way I use the time I do have. Anyway, this is way off topic.
You know, the reality is, Jesus would probably not come down on either side because he would know that there are other things which are much more important. The problem is, we can’t just go around ignoring the world and allowing it to go it’s merry way; we must involve ourselves or risk having our interests trampled and then not being able to complain about it.
Food out here is a joke. Mtn Home is a rinky-dink little town which literally has three decent (not even good) places to eat–a pizza joint, a bar, and a Chinese place. To really enjoy oneself, you have to go to Boise. We don’t do this too terribly often, so we really haven’t found ‘our’ place yet. Maybe soon…
You mention talking in person. You have no idea how much Erin and I would like to come visit our beloved A’ville. I fanatisize sometimes about coming back for MerleFest in the spring, Bele Chere in the summer (if you like blues-rock, you really ought to consider going to see Kenny Wayne Shepperd and if the kids are into music, you might want to take them to Billy Jonas, if he’s playing his kids set), and hiking any time of the year. Sadly, with Erin working at home being mama, our wealth does not come in dollar form. Hopefully, you’ll be there for another 4 or 5 years when Maggie is old enough to hitch hike across country with us.
AH, I did it again…I really to set a limit on how long my comments can be. How was Cherokee, BTW?