I came, I saw, I ranted.

More fun with comments!

The one troll is still attempting to insult me. And maybe it’s just me, but man, they just don’t make trolls like they used to. Have our standards slipped even there? Does anyone still think that “It’s soooooooooo ugly!!!! I hate t so you should take it off elfwood!!!!!!!!!!!!” (sic) is particularly cutting? I feel like giving lessons on How To Insult An Artist So They Actually Care. (Rule #1: The efficacy of the insult is in direct inverse proportion to the number of exclamation points expended.)

Things like this make me want to go leave scathing comments on my own art just so that the job gets done RIGHT.

And then there was this, left on my lesbian angel painting, which generally garners enough commentary on both sides of the debate to choke a whole army of Episcopalian wombats. And unlike the troll, this one bugged me a bit.

+————————————— –
| At Sat Nov 1 21:56:09 2003
| (name deleted to protect the well-meaning)
| Referring to: ursula/angelesbians.jpg
| “Dadgum! Look at all the contraversy over this picture! If
| your goal as an artist is to stir people up…I think you’ve
| done it! I am a christian personally and don’t agree with
| gay love…I think that if you wanted to find out truly for
| yourself you ought to read the bible and see what you think
| about it afterwards. God bless and I pray that a new
| understanding enters your heart.”

See, it’s not that they object to the gay angel thing. Plenty of people object to that, and leave a comment to that effect on this piece, and that’s fine by me, because everyone has a right to their opinion. And if someone else who shall remain nameless but has the initials U.V. thinks they’re small-minded homophobic bigots WASTING MY PRECIOUS OXYGEN, DAMNIT because of it, that person has a right to that opinion, too, although she generally doesn’t say so, because screaming at people that they’re small-minded jerks doesn’t do the cause of tolerance any good at all. (Which is unfortunate, since there’s so much satisfaction to be derived from it. Oh, well…)

But more than all the endless arguments about what exactly the Old Testament says about homosexuality–and which I couldn’t care less about, personally–the blithe assumption that I naturally haven’t read the Bible and conciously chosen to reject it as nonapplicable bugs me. I know they meant well, but I find I don’t much care. My tolerance of sanctimoniousness is low this morning, and I’ve let too many variations on this particular theme go by.

So let me say this one, for the record, for all time, to get it off my chest.

I have read the Bible. Cover to cover. (Fine, I skipped the Psalms and the who-begat parts, I confess.) Twice. (Church was boring, it was the only reading material available. I can practically recite chunks of Revelations.)

And I’m not a Christian. And never will be again. You want to be a Christian, that’s fine and good and lovely and I’m not going to question that you can intelligently choose to do so, and all I ask in return is that one not automatically assume that I must be ignorant to have chosen differently. I am not. I am beautifully well informed about Christianity. I came, I saw, I weighed the alternatives, and I decided. It is very, very possible to know a great deal about Christianity, and still want absolutely nothing to do with it, beyond having a coupla friends who may feel differently but are polite enough not to badger you about it.

Thank you. I feel better now.

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