Saturday, January 22, 2005

Responding to Philocrites

Peacebang mentioned people at weddings who grate on her by saying they are “spiritual but not religious.”

I’m thinking “spiritual but not religious” is to a minister what “I don’t know much about art but I know what I like" is to an art historian.

Here’s Katy-the-Wise’s take

2 comments:

PeaceBang said...

Ah, thanks, CC. You know (she says, sipping a bourbon and enjoying the end of a rare true Sabbath) when I first posted that sizzler, I really meant it in a tired but affectionate, Dorothy Parker kind of way. In an "I really think you're lovely but I just want to go breathe exhaust fumes for awhile" way, if that makes sense. Again, it's not the sentiment itself that is objectionable, it's the inevitable tone of slightly rebellious confession used by the speaker, as though I'm going to say, "My God, I've never heard of such a thing" and scrape my chair away from them with chilly disapproval. A wonderfully sarcastic UU Christian friend said to me this summer, "I'm religious but not spiritual" and we roared with laughter. It was just so refreshing. "Spiritual but not religious" is being tossed around like the most provocative, edgy self-description ever, and yawn --it's already an incredibly hackneyed phrase. I'm getting to the point where I'd rather hear, "Have you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal lord and savior?" And that's a sad day indeed.

Chalicechick said...

(((Again, it's not the sentiment itself that is objectionable, it's the inevitable tone of slightly rebellious confession used by the speaker, as though I'm going to say, "My God, I've never heard of such a thing" and scrape my chair away from them with chilly disapproval. )))

People tend to deliver "I don't know much about art, but I know what I like" in much the same tone.

Lame.

Very lame.

CC