So 2 ladies made fun of me on the train today. Grown women. Church going women. I know this because they talked about God a lot and loudly. In theory I am old enough for it not to bother me that they thought my hair or my book or my jacket or my attitude was worthy of a wholely uncovered set of giggles accessorized with eye rolling and a "covert" conversation about what they were laughing about. (For the straphangers in the audience, they were seated next to each other on the train and I was standing directly in front of them with my feet in between theirs. I could see and her them and they knew it.)
But anyway, that's not what I'm talking about. Once they moved on from how hilarious I am they talked about other stuff. Apparently Muttina has the opportunity to move into Jeffisina's apartment sometime in the nearish future. Muttina is not jumping at this chance and Jeffisina is hurt and confused. So Muttina explained that she had other hopes for where she will live but that "if God doesn't work it out" for her then she'll take the place.
Weird things get you thinking. That phrase stuck in my head. "If God doesn't work it out" Frankly, if they hadn't made fun of me I probably would have just turned up my iPod and not even heard this part of the conversation but God worked it out for me that I did. So I got to thinking. And I notice that in our current climate of renewed fervor for organized religion people use phrases like that a lot. "Give it up to God" "God worked it out for me" "God's will" "If God sees fit for me to ____" I wonder, is this new, dare I say, dependence on organized religion another way for people to let go of taking responsibility for their actions?
That's one of my pet peeves, people who don't take responsibility for their actions. I'm not perfect but that's something I try to work on, to take responsibility when I've done something stupid or bad or just plain wrong. I find a complete refusal to take responsibility borders on a common trait in the teenagers I meet lately and it makes me crazy. But it also makes me think, how do we teach kids to take responsibility for what they've done?
Though I'm not big into the whole organized religion thing myself I was thinking it was helping to teach some kids some decent lessons. That it's a useful routine and construct to keep someone grounded and responsible to a community. Then I got my feelings hurt on the subway and I looked at these religious women in another way and I wonder. Is religion teaching people to just let go of everything - free will responsibility, decision-making altogether? That sucks!
What do you think?
Monday, May 01, 2006
Have some balls!
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"I wonder, is this new, dare I say, dependence on organized religion another way for people to let go of taking responsibility for their actions?"
ReplyDelete**First of all, I'm not sure the dependence on organized religion is very new. It's just been in vogue since the country took a dive to the right in the last few years.
"But it also makes me think, how do we teach kids to take responsibility for what they've done?"
***One word for you, Kizz - MODELING. The only way kids are going to learn to take personal responsibility is if they see US taking personal responsibility. It makes me sick to the point of hysteria to see people pulling the "do as I say, not as I do" shit on their kids. Why should their chidren not cheat or behave rudely or litter if they see their parents (and other "responsible" adults) acting in such ways?! I am very often appalled at the way "grown ups" behave, and it's sometimes all I can do to not reprimand them in public. It's a button for me, and one that gets pushed FAR too often.
Well, it's reassuring to know that someone other than me is getting laughed at by women on the subway.
ReplyDeleteI've never been big on the organized stuff, though Mrs. Vanx is a fairly hardline Catholic. We decided the kids "need something," so we we put them into the system. They realize, however, that I am kind of an alternative, which is good (I am also requiring them to read up on the history of Spain).