In which we stretch an analogy a little ...

[blamebrampton]

I was talking with a lovely young person earlier today about her idea for an hp_religion fest. Despite the fact that I am a godless heathen, I find religion endlessly fascinating and think that it works very well as a lens through which to view the Potterverse (obviously, since the author was consciously constructing a Christian allegory in parts).

Thinking about this, I had an epiphany of sorts, which relates strongly to the current brouhaha* on mpreg among my fandom friends.

My atheism does not affect the religiosity of some of my friends. Their beliefs do not affect my atheism. I would consider it the height of rudeness to tell them they cannot believe in their sundry gods, and they, after a cursory effort to convert me in a few cases, do not tell me that I must believe in one of their religions.

Some of them do believe that I am going to hell. Some of them believe that I am missing some basic truth of the universe. I believe that they believe in something a bit basically odd. Every now and then I have one of those conversations that goes: 'But how can you believe there's nothing?' 'How can you believe in something that is obviously an anthropological artefact?' 'No seriously, nothing? How?!'

However, in both cases, it doesn't matter. My lack of belief, my friends' beliefs, they are things that are important to US, not things that we need each other to adopt. The things that unite us, that bind us, are far deeper and more important.

Similarly, I think that there are lots of things in fandom that we take very very personally, but they are important to us as individuals, and when we try to make the personal public, it's just a recipe for disaster.

One of my friends loves mpreg because it soothes her soul, one of them loves it because it allows her to investigate whole new ideas in stories. I think it's fairly daft because I think stories about babies and pregnancy are essentially daft, just as I don't like avocado and am the least romantic person in the world. It doesn't matter! I leave more avocado for pushdragon ! My mpreg atheism does not weaken anyone's mpreg faith! It's exactly the same as the way that gay marriage doesn't weaken straight marriages.

Anyway, heathen_archive , come back! Maggie and Liz, chins up! And everyone else, like what you like, even if it's not me ;-)


* It's certainly more than a kerfuffle, but not yet a schism, and too personal to some to be considered wank.

Comments

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

AIEEE! TWINS! Why is the one on the left whispering evil instructions to the one on the right? Crawl, pawn twin, crawl!

Also, what's afk? (I am old, and prefer friend explanations to Google)

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Young is always adorable!

I like that version of heaven, and once lived on a commune that was a bit like that. It was spooky and I kept waiting for people to stop being kind and reasonable. Soy milk was about as cruel as anyone got. And folk singing. But the harp playing was actually quite good.

I have my fingers crossed that heathen is having a few personal days and will then be right back. Otherwise I will be begging along with you. XXX, BB

[noeon.livejournal.com]

I cannot imagine not discussing politics or religion. The mpreg bit is not so much an issue IRL, at least not in the circles I roll in.

Oooooh. Museums AND friends? What could be better! But having to cull? No fun. What museums are you planning to besiege?

Cultural sacrilege. You know, I wonder if we could create a new heresy designation for Mpreg, a la Ophites or Albigensians. Hmmm.... The Virigravidians?

[coffeejunkii.livejournal.com]

they are twins from one of my numerous h/d mpreg fics :D. of course they are conspiring--they're harry and draco's kids, after all!

oh, afk = away from keyboard.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

According to pingrid, I am powered by Italian hot chocolate ;-)

I want a replacement kit for my knees and right foot, though!

[noeon.livejournal.com]

Away From Keyboard

[dysonrules.livejournal.com]

Yeah, religion doesn't bother me, either. I've tried on a few different ones, but when they start to annoy me, I discard them. I am currently religionless.

Most people think Christmas is the most stressful time with the buying and shopping and cooking, but for me it was always Thanksgiving and the fact that people would be invading my SANCTUM (i.e. MY KITCHEN) and just thinking about it would send me running for the alcohol. I equate it to someone opening up one of my fics and saying, "Let's change this to this and cross out this scene here and we'll add a Mary Sue here..."

I might have kitchen issues.

[adores-draco.livejournal.com]

You must visit Musée d'Orsay in Paris and tell me everything! :) I love that place but haven't been there for years.

Natural History Museum and National Gallery are among my favourite places in London.

[adores-draco.livejournal.com]

Soy milk IS cruel and folk singing is plain evil! :D

[adores-draco.livejournal.com]

That IS a brilliant icon! :)

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Hey, sweetie, how was NZ? Just about to dive into Little Red Courgette! *G*

[coffeejunkii.livejournal.com]

feel free to use it if you credit me!

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

All on the list. Amusingly, a lot of the d'Orsay collection is currently in Canberra, Australia, but I will be going down to see it when I return.

[thisgirl-is.livejournal.com]

You should get an artist to make you a slapping spoon icon. Or possibly Mod-Goddess-Brammers with your attributes of slapping spoon and ban hammer.

I am bored with work and feeling silly. Sorry.

[thisgirl-is.livejournal.com]

I am now envisioning one of your cats showing up pregnant, and you trying to hunt down the father/s with a half-beehive and a rifle, demanding a wedding.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

GORGEOUS! Though I have jetlag from a country with a two-hour time difference. HOW? (Actually, that has happened several times, whereas the Europe/Oz or US/Oz diff doesn't seem to hurt as much)

Er, I have no plausible excuses for that fic. At least there are a few good gags ;-)

[faynia.livejournal.com]

This is disturbing at a deep, base level for me.



I think it involves further depletion of the ozone by using a whole can of hairspray. Just a thought.

[calanthe-fics.livejournal.com]

*cough*

I just wrote a fic on religion and not one person left a comment screaming at the way I bashed organised religion!

I thought Heathen created two separate identities? A personal one and an art one? Have both gone?

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Oh, man, Brammers, but I am smiling like a fool and laughing my arse off at this. Especially Draco's 412 page report on lettuce hearting. I bow to your comic genius.

Eeep! Take a nice long nap, dear. In fact, take one for me, too.

[oldenuf2nb.livejournal.com]

I thought of you this morning. Sarah Palin's comic book drops today, and the idiots are out in droves all over Michigan to shake he tiny little hand. All white and middle class, of course. I cringe at the name she gives this country world wide. Time to move to Tahiti, clearly.

I saw what was going on, and other than a small comment at one friends post, refrained. This is a no win argument. I don't understand the vehemence, but I know that it's there. I do think, however, (putting on my thinky thoughts hat and holding my finger in the air, a la McGonnagall) that there does appear to be a bit of 'looking down the nose' on not only the genre, but the people who enjoy mpreg, as if it were a lesser genre, if you will. And I think the unfortunate part of that is that a good bit of it is, in fact, poorly written. For me, (and to be utterly honest here, when I first heard of mpreg, I had a great big ole WTF reaction) I only wrote it to begin with because I wanted to see if I could do it. I now have a not so secret love of the well written boys with babies, but I certainly understand why others don't. I guess what I don't get is why it can't be just another case of; yep, not for me!

My thought, and this is the cynic in me, (You see darling Brammers, you are not the only one)is that it's the trendy thing to list as a squick. Go through any fest list, and read down. Eight out of ten entries with list mpreg as a squick. And I can't help but wonder if they really don't like it, or it's a case of 'well, everyone else says they hate it'. But then, I'm old, and have watched many a generation of younger n'me have a pack mentality in terms of likes and dislikes.

And in regards to religion; Ah, the last great ticking time bomb. I recently had a fascinating conversation with a woman who does people's charts based on the Mayan calendar. Yes, the Mayan calendar of 2012 fame, a theory that made her giggle by the way. Anyway, according to her, I have reached the end of my personal calendar this year. At 52, you start over. Well, that would be nice, if those spare parts you mentioned were included. At any rate, I find myself questioning the existence not of God, but of rational thought in regards to God. So, I'm either a heretic, or going straight to hell, choose your poison.

This is fandom.

[wemyss.livejournal.com]

Offer cookies, and someone will start a wank over your not having called them biscuits.

Cyborg, British, it's all much of a muchness.

[wemyss.livejournal.com]

What matters is that one retains an upper lip of Empire-building stiffness.

Emotion is for the, ah, unfortunately foreign. As you know.

Re: This is fandom.

[raitala.livejournal.com]

Ah, but this a clearly a cookie. The big ones are cookies, a sub-genre within the greater biscuit family and, I think, more essentially comforting than a bourbon.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Hey, I'm in Michigan and am so not shaking Palin's hand :P lol

Reason never defeats wank.

[wemyss.livejournal.com]

Tea and chocolate digestives, however, may do.

Mind, given the juxtaposition of the Very Large Biscuitish Thing and Broad S in yr icon, the damned thing looks as if Stuart B has just bowled it at one.

(Actually, biscuit wars are mild, as you will know, against the savage disputes over what pudding is called as, on class bases. Sometimes, one simply despairs.)