The thought crosses my mind that, despite my ethnic Jewish background, and your Muslim background, we both swear with reference to Jesus (or Christ) makes us part of overall US culture. (As in "jesus fucking christ!," which is among many such expressions I use, though you may not.)
This makes neither of us, I think, a Christian, nor the US a "Christian country," but it does express some of the degree of which we and most others have absorbed the majority culture.
I don't know if that's a Christian, so much as American, expression. When speaking Farsi, I say things like "yah Ali," "Allah o Akbar," and suchlike, just because that's the language. Or is that your point: that the American expression is the Christian expression?
On the flip side, grateful as I am to learn how hellish my life is, I'd hate to mention more ordinary details of life-as-I've-usually-known-it, or that of many I others I know.
Frankly, I find it a tough topic, and I rarely address it. There's a great deal of disparity in the wealth, privilege, and lives, of many bloggers, let alone the lives of those in the rest of the world, extending out, and I have no good idea of how to discuss this; suggesting we all move to the coast of the tusnammi is, I expect, not the solution. But there's more to discuss, and yet I have no clear idea how to. Folks live at different levels of income and privilege and whatnot: what should we all do?
I'm pretty damn unclear, myself, though these days I worry little about being called either a libertarian or a communist. But I'm probably a lot more socialistic than not.
The thought crosses my mind that, despite my ethnic Jewish background, and your Muslim background, we both swear with reference to Jesus (or Christ) makes us part of overall US culture. (As in "jesus fucking christ!," which is among many such expressions I use, though you may not.)
This makes neither of us, I think, a Christian, nor the US a "Christian country," but it does express some of the degree of which we and most others have absorbed the majority culture.
Posted by Gary Farber | Link to this comment | 01-19-05 7:38 PM
I don't know if that's a Christian, so much as American, expression. When speaking Farsi, I say things like "yah Ali," "Allah o Akbar," and suchlike, just because that's the language. Or is that your point: that the American expression is the Christian expression?
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 01-19-05 7:43 PM
On the flip side, grateful as I am to learn how hellish my life is, I'd hate to mention more ordinary details of life-as-I've-usually-known-it, or that of many I others I know.
Frankly, I find it a tough topic, and I rarely address it. There's a great deal of disparity in the wealth, privilege, and lives, of many bloggers, let alone the lives of those in the rest of the world, extending out, and I have no good idea of how to discuss this; suggesting we all move to the coast of the tusnammi is, I expect, not the solution. But there's more to discuss, and yet I have no clear idea how to. Folks live at different levels of income and privilege and whatnot: what should we all do?
I'm pretty damn unclear, myself, though these days I worry little about being called either a libertarian or a communist. But I'm probably a lot more socialistic than not.
Posted by Gary Farber | Link to this comment | 01-19-05 7:52 PM