So this is another "Grinds My Gears" style post, I'll try to keep it brief, and leave out the whining. Here's what gets my goat: Preachy snow statues. This year, there were two such statues, and it bugged me that anyone would be that in-your-face about religion.
My beef is not with the religion itself, i respect it's right to exist. Nor do I have a problem with free speech, anyone who reads this blog will realize that I'm a big advocate of free speech. It is often said that free speech is not respected when you shout fire in a crowded theatre, but it is also not acceptable to yell 'fuck you' in a crowded room. This issue is not safety, nor is it really quality of life. Its a question of prudence, manners if you will.
It is true, that technically your right of free speech allows you to draw obscene pictures in chalk outside the post office. But you don't do it, because it accomplishes no good and does only harm. Basically, you don't do it because you're not an asshole.
So lets move on to religious statues. What's up with that? Most of the churches along college ave opted to do statues, and guess what? They were religious. That i get, what else would they do? What i don't understand is putting a religious statue on a public bit of land publicly putting a religious slogan publicly in front of that public bit of statue. To borrow a phrase from Mr. Webster: "What...the...hell?"*
Why do this sort of thing? I don't go around posting my beliefs in public. If they are publicly displayed (such as this blog) it is an optional read and has minimal in-your-face effect. The statue captions could have been so much more benign if prefaced with: 'We believe'. Instead, there's a only a blatant sentence, as if anyone who does not agree soon will after reading enough religious statements. This is extremely narrow minded and blatantly offensive. This would be akin to me making a statue of a finch with the caption 'God does not exist'. Of course i would not do such a thing, and if i did, i would be assaulted on all fronts. Take a look at the photos and just think about the juxtaposition that would be created if i committed an equal and opposite act. Ask yourself, what's up with that?
*See Webster's dictionary, edited for context.
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2 comments:
I agree with you.
What about if the statues were on church property? I would be okay with that, but slogans of such nature should not be on school property.
If they were on church or even private property, i would totally get it. I don't think that religious statues or slogans should be banned from campus, but i also think that religious people (all of them) should refrain from being dicks about their religion.
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