CCSG Chapter 8: Dating

A while ago, I started a project revolving around a book titled the "Christian Culture Survival Guide", which was actually written from a Christian. For some reason, or another, I never finished it off. So, after several months, I decided to finally finish this project, and to redo a certain topic that deserves much more attention from me (instead of just a cheesy music video)- Christian dating.

So, if you're interested, again, read about this series of posts here, The Christian Culture Survival Guide.

Seven Types of Guys (for Girls to choose from) in a Christian Culture:

You know, I'm actually not particularly familiar with this list- I guess the author believes he's so knowledgeable in the field of Christian dating that he actually knows the types of Christian fellows that exist that nice Christian gals to take.. or something like that. Well, in order to not discriminate between information, here you go (just in case there is a nice Christian lady reading):

1. The Jesus Jock:
So, this guy isn't really an athlete- unless you call becoming increasingly annoying is a sport. He's the sort of guy involved in various church activities, campus groups, says "praise Jesus", blah blah blah... A tosser, generally. For Christians, he's the perfect man. Maybe he'll attend a seminary someday, become a preacher, and then fuck his life over. Unless you think becoming a preacher is a good thing.

2. The Unattractive Nice Guy:
Pretty self explanatory, really. This guy has probably read the bible, and whilst not the top theologian in the world, has a general grounding in biblical knowledge. But, like the title says, he's unattractive.

3. The "Do you think...?" Guy:
Basically, people don't know whether this type of person is gay or "bi-curious" (the author's word). Hence, "do you think". Either way, if he's not into women, what makes him qualified to be in a list for Christian women? Oh yeah, because Christians think they can "cure" homosexuality. Just ask Ted Haggard. .

4. The Big Brother:
Knowledgeable, normal, and well mannered. He doesn't belong on this list, either, because according to the author, this person has had a steady girlfriend since the age of seventeen, and is looking to marry after graduating college. (Spoiler: This guy will become a youth pastor).

5. The "Bad Christian" Boy:
Pandering to the notion that women are attracted to rebels, this Christian is a long time Church goer, but gets kicked out of private school for his vanities (drugs). He's a construction worker (for some reason), making ten bucks an hour.

6. The My So Called Life Music Guy:
Blah blah blah, he has shoulder length hair, tries to act quasi-intelligent, and claims to like "Mozart and Nirvana."

7. The Extreme Guy:
Extreme because he goes to bible retreats, and skateboards. How exhilarating.

So, that list isn't so great. But, do not fret, because the author has provided a list of Christian women us Christian guys would like to date. There is only one problem... I'm not a Christian.

1. The Jesus Cheerleader:
Pretty much fits the stereotype of a regular cheerleader, but she's a Christian. Pretty much, all of the girls in this video. She marries the "big brother" type of guy, apparently.

2. The Tomboy:
Again, just a regular tomboy mold who happens to be Christian.

3. The Early Bloomer:
Yep, this Christian girl has "the goods", and has kissed all the guys in youth group. At least, I heard that in a rumor going around bible study. She marries a jerk, and becomes re-re-born in her twenties.

4. Miss Codependent:
Sheltered upbringing, chases after the popular guy, and actively seeks attention.
Creepy, really. Mostly because of the sheltered upbringing.

5. The Home School Girl:
Yep, she's home schooled. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but she receives a strictly Christian education. That doesn't stop her from being involved in various clubs. She starts dating when she's twenty two, for some reason.

6. The Sweet Innocent One:
Nice, says hello, likes the bible, is boring. All these Christian women are beginning to look like vanilla.

7. "All about ME" Girl:
Center of attention, it's all about her. My rehashing of these descriptions is getting lazier and lazier.

8. The Premature Mother:
A mother without kids. End of story.

You know, I used to attend a service that had strict rules on dating. I always thought this was restrictive, and that a Church shouldn't care about the dating life of it's congregants- however, since God apparently cares about everything, it became a big deal.

"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?" (2 Cor. 6:14, KJV).

This generally applies to dating outside of the faith. Or, having friends outside of the faith. Either way, it was strictly followed. Aside from this, many people made pacts to date Jesus. This is actually briefly talked about in the book, but I always found this sentiment strange. Does God know you're dating his son? Is Jesus allowed to date? I don't think it counts, and if you date Jesus, you pretty much have an imaginary boyfriend.

To move on, the rest of the chapter pretty much can be summed up with:

Christians think sex is a taboo subject,  you should consider investing in chastity belts until you meet your future spouse, and some more lists that I don't care enough to sum up (trust me, it's better off that I didn't).

With that said, that pretty much sums up chapter 8 of the Christian Culture Survival Guide.  Next will be the talk about Christian entertainment and bookstores.

It's the winter solstice, have yourself a scary one!

Yes indeed, it's that time of year again, the time when the Earth is tilted in such a way to ensure a short day -- and also mark the beginning of Winter up here in the Northern Hemisphere.

From National Geographic:

The solstices occur twice a year (around December 21 and June 21), because Earth is tilted by an average of 23.5 degrees as it orbits the sun—the same phenomenon that drives the seasons.

During the warmer half of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, the North Pole is tilted toward the sun. The northern winter solstice occurs when the "top" half of Earth is tilted away from the sun at its most extreme angle of the year.

Being the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice is essentially the year's darkest day, but it's not the coldest.

Because the oceans are slow to heat and cool, in December they still retain some warmth from summer, delaying the coldest of winter days for another month and a half. Similarly, summer doesn't hit its heat peak until August, a month or two after the summer solstice.

That's neat, but did you know that many people out there also decide to replace most traditional holidays during this time of year to celebrate the winter solstice? And with good reason, since celebrating the winter solstice has been a tradition for a while.

From the same article:

Germanic peoples of Northern Europe honored the winter solstice with Yule festivals—the origin of the still-standing tradition of the long-burning Yule log.

The Roman feast of Saturnalia, honoring the God Saturn, was a weeklong December feast that included the observance of the winter solstice. Romans also celebrated the lengthening of days following the solstice by paying homage to Mithra—an ancient Persian god of light.

Many modern pagans attempt to observe the winter solstice in the traditional manner of the ancients.

"There is a resurgent interest in more traditional religious groups that is often driven by ecological motives," said Harry Yeide, a professor of religion at George Washington University. "These people do celebrate the solstice itself."

Pagans aren't alone in commemorating the winter solstice in modern times.

In a number of U.S. cities a Watertown, Massachusetts-based production called The Christmas Revels honors the winter solstice with an annually changing menu of traditional music and dance from around the world.

"Nearly every northern culture has some sort of individual way of celebrating that shortest day," said Revels artistic director Patrick Swanson. "It's a lot of fun for us to dig up the traditional dance and music and even the plays [honoring] that time of the year."

No doubt, there is some correlation between the winter solstice, and the December 25th holiday, Christmas. I for one, as I have already mentioned, don't care which one people choose to celebrate. I also am not amused at whether or not Christmas is just a ripoff of the celebration of the winter solstice; however, I am interested in the Lovecraft ripoff of the song "Joy to the World".

Enjoying the holiday season?

Is it wrong for me to enjoy the holiday season for what it is- just another holiday season? I mean, do I necessarily have to recognize one particular holiday as being superior to the rest, regardless if that is the one I celebrate myself? The reason I bring this up is because their is a group of people in this world that believe that their particular holiday deserves special recognition, and I don't see why it should. You know what I'm talking about...

I'm talking about Hanukkah! No wait, that's not right. Then it has to be Kwanzaa. No, that's not right either. Well, it has to be... Tiger Woods birthday, on December 30th. No? You're right, the only people who care about that day is Tiger Woods, and his wife.

Then is it:

World AIDS Day?

Pearl Harbor Day?

National Pumpkin Pie Day?

Emily Dickinson's Birthday?

Walt Disney's Birthday?

Isaac Newton's Birthday (according to the Julian Calendar)?

What day is so damn important then? Oh yeah, Christmas!

Now, I'm not a hater of Christmas, in fact, I celebrate Christmas (more out of tradition than any religious practice, for obvious reasons). I just don't think that Christmas should be the only holiday recognized this month, and I'm sure this is a tired sentiment in the secular community.

There are people out there who don't agree.

Yes, there are people who also claim there is a war on Christmas. You know what I really have to say about that? Forget it, I don't have much energy to argue over a holiday.

I'll celebrate what I feel like celebrating, and acknowledge what I feel like acknowledging. I don't care much for saying Merry Christmas. So, whoever the hell has the time to compile this list of stores saying and not saying "merry Christmas", or to create buttons saying "please wish me a merry Christmas" should try doing something productive instead.

Happy December, no matter what you do or don't do.

A not so daily quote.

Just some new segment I'd like to start up, nothing big or fancy. The quotes I use for the "not so daily quotes" may not be "of the day", but rather, something I've recently read/re-read.

A bit longer than just a year ago, this article came out on Science Daily, titled "Sun Goes Longer Than Normal Without Producing Sunspots."

A thread had started around this topic over at the Rapture Ready forums, and here's a nice quote from a forum member-

Its funny how scientists think they KNOW everything, and they KNOW there is no God, and they KNOW the big bang theory is real, and they KNOW this and that, but they don't KNOW a simple thing about a planet that is part of our solar system and so important to this world.

How little and insignificant we are.

There are no sunspots because the Lord has simply calmed the sun for now.

dumb scientists.

Now, I don't know whether this person was referring to the Sun as a planet, but this reminds me of one of the traits that seems to frequently occupy the thought processes of believers. Now, I don't want to characterize all theists by claiming they all do this, but this particular Christian seems to be satisfied with ignoring facts about what we do know, and replacing any search for knowledge or real truth with "god is responsible".

Some of my favorite eponyms

For those of you who do not know, an eponym (as defined by the Merriam-Webster's online dictionary) is "one for whom or which something is or is believed to be named." Let me give you an example- a newton is a good idea that seems to have appeared out of nowhere. It's obviously derived from the famous Sir Isaac Newton, and in this case specifically refers to the story of Newton being sat down beneath an apple tree, and then being bonked on the head with an apple, and thinking hard enough about that incident to then formulate his theory on gravity (and consequently, he invents calculus). Now, I'm not going to vouch for the credibility of the previous sentence, and quite honestly am a bit skeptical of the story myself, but that is not the issue here. In fact, there is no issue, I am merely trying to show an example of an eponym. I trust you now understand.

Recently on one of my favorite blogs, Schott's Vocab, there was a competition between the readers trying to see who can formulate the best eponymous word. Being a fan of words, I decided to give the comments section a look over, and perhaps share some of the eponymous words I found amusing here.
So, my readers, here you are-

Number 1. dawkins: SI unit of disbelief = inverse of graham

Number 2. to sun (tzu) sue: keep your friends close but your attorneys closer

Number 3. Kanye’d: Get embarrassed by someone in a formal public setting. Usually by someone who’s drunk.

Number 4. T.Hanks Giving: this is the special occasion you give someone Sleepless In Seattle, BIG, Philidelphia, The Money Pit, Dragnet, Turner and Hooch, Forrest Gump, et al……

Number 5. A Clintonian Truth: Technically accurate but deliberately misleading. “I did not have sex with that woman” and others.

After reading through ten pages of the comments sections, I've been inspired to create an eponymous word of my own.

To Ray Comfort- To continuously babble on about scientific topics you're ignorant about, only to continue mouthing off the same tripe after being proved incorrect time and time again.

What, too wordy? Not wordy enough?

Oh well...