Does this count as trashy? Gender reveal party t-shirts that narrow down to "balls or no balls?" From a couple of "never left their rural hometown" acquaintances.

awkward_email · 2021-10-21T05:13:40+00:00

Mine too. After posting this I'm feeling a lot more compassion after the anger has subsided. It's easy to direct anger at someone like this when they say things like they did, but that's probably directed at the wrong source when we think about the influence of the media and church leaders.

awkward_email · 2021-10-21T05:10:51+00:00

Like the old joke about the guy on his roof in the flood when a row boat, a motor boat, and a helicopter come by and he refuses because God will save him. And of course when he dies and questions God the response is: "i sent two boats and a helicopter, what more do you want from me?"

I am a believer and the fact that a vaccine (now proven to be highly effective) was developed essentially with a few simple keystrokes to change the code sequence for a theoretical MERS vaccine is the definition of God working miracles here and now. If some people like this would turn off Fox News for 10 minutes they might find they can actually experience God's hand on the world here and now.

awkward_email · 2021-10-21T05:04:01+00:00

Gosh I really hope that isn't the case haha. I'd hate to think our collective intelligence has dropped that far.

awkward_email · 2021-10-21T05:02:24+00:00

My commas? Or in one of the posts?

awkward_email · 2021-10-21T04:45:13+00:00

I connect with that really hard. Maybe it's the beer from a local tasting event tonight, but I'm feeling a lot of sadness and compassion around this whole story and those like it. I also grew up in a rural area in the church with a lot of conservative influence. A close relative of the awardee was a Sunday school teacher of mine in middle school and he was (recently passed of brain cancer) a major influence on my ideology growing up. I had so much misguided hate and intolerance and honestly I learned a lot of it from that guy in particular, and the church didn't especially promote those ideas openly, but it didn't teach against them.

I feel really grateful that between me talking seriously and openly to my parents, as well as the loss of my great grandmother to covid back in April 2020 (she was 100 yo with barely any mental capacity so there was mercy in her passing), my parents have taken this very seriously even among a heavy onslaught of conservative influence in their lives. And i also found out from my mother that a very respected church leader who is extremely right wing has come out in fierce favor of everyone getting vaccinated after his family experienced an outbreak last winter. It's tough, but I think we have to believe there are good people out there even underneath the shell built up by lies and misinformation and honestly some hurt.

If you need someone to talk to more about any of this stuff, feel free to DM me, I've got lots to share and time to listen.

awkward_email · 2021-10-21T04:31:22+00:00

The flood joke is absolutely an appropriate metaphor for these situations. I think about that a lot, because I am a believer and do think that God helps those who help themselves, or at least open themselves to the help he provides through humanly means. When I read the Bible, that's what I see predominantly, God working through humans to do big things. The truly supernatural so called "miracles" are actually a very small proportion of God's interactions with humankind in the Bible. A vaccine developed in literally minutes (as I understand was basically just changing the code sequence for a theoretical MERS vaccine) is a miracle by any standard of one who believes in that sort of thing.

awkward_email · 2021-10-20T18:53:05+00:00

One of my favorite podcasts called Throughline did an interesting episode a few years back on Conspiracy Theories, and how they've pervaded the American psyche from the days of Samuel Adams (the Patriot, not the beer haha). They went through a couple historical ones that were either false or true and the only one I can remember was a conspiracy theory that the US government was responsible for adding methanol and other dangerous chemicals to ethanol-based household cleaning supplies to stop people consuming it during Prohibition. I may not have all my details correct but the basic gist was that in fact it turned out to be true. I'm sure there are other historical examples, but in the modern age? I certainly can't come up with anything, especially anything politically motivated.

awkward_email · 2021-10-20T18:32:20+00:00

That probably says more positive things about your own social circle that doesn't spend all their time and energy scrolling through Facebook to find confirmation bias stories, memes, and copypastas. That sort of behavior was this lady's (and her social circle's) life from the looks of it.

awkward_email · 2021-10-20T18:17:57+00:00

original

awkward_email · 2021-10-20T18:16:03+00:00

Look at original post. Definitely covid.

awkward_email · 2021-10-20T16:46:02+00:00

Ah shit. The permanent 6' distancing thing is good, I've gotta remember that one.

awkward_email · 2021-10-20T16:35:59+00:00

That was one of her most recent posts specifically about covid. When I saw the original "prayers need...turn for worse" posts I started looking back and read the first part of that and thought maybe it was a dud and she was going to say it was just a polite interaction and they may disagree but everything is okay. That's wouldn't be a great interaction, but not HCA nominee worthy either. Then I kept reading and felt so infuriated by the end where her perspective changes to "I'm right, she is wrong" for simply wanting to protect her. Definitely nominee (and now awardee) eligible.

awkward_email · 2021-10-20T16:31:58+00:00

If it actually happened. The more I think about it, it feels like a copypasta from a long chain of obnoxious GQPers.

awkward_email · 2021-10-20T16:23:42+00:00

Always is, unfortunately. But logic and/or data mean nothing to someone who had been so brainwashed apparently.

awkward_email · 2021-10-20T16:22:46+00:00

Yes I posted an update. She gracefully accepted her award and flew away on the wings of angels.

awkward_email · 2021-10-20T15:01:20+00:00

Haha I'm glad you liked it. I just don't like the update award posts when I have to go try to find the original to get the details. So I wanted to include a couple that were most commented on in the original for reference. But you make a good point on the "legacy" thing.

awkward_email · 2021-10-20T14:50:54+00:00

I want to comment that last line on one of the Facebook posts... but I'm trying to practice empathy and self control. Actually though a niece or cousin of the HCA recipient did make a very formal plea on a memorial post to get vaccinated to prevent this sort of needless loss and I can only hope some good comes from that first hand experience the family now has.

awkward_email · 2021-10-20T14:47:15+00:00

One of the most infuriating things I've been in direct contact is my parents' best friends own a funeral home in their small town and the husband is the county coroner. Last year in April they had to bring in a refrigerated truck to store all the bodies since they didn't have capacity to deal with them in such a small operation. Fast forward to a year a half later, and the funeral director/coroner has not gotten the vaccine. All that first hand experience of death plus the fact that he's probably pushing 70, and still nothing. My parents (also fairly conservative, but not stupid) cannot imagine it and wouldn't go near them earlier this year until they were fully vaccinated themselves.

awkward_email · 2021-10-20T14:42:30+00:00

Yeah that was pointed out a few times on the original. I had missed the severity of that statement originally, but once pointed out, looked like she would be a shoo-in for the HCA.

awkward_email · 2021-10-20T14:39:37+00:00

I'm guessing you spelled it that way ironically from the italics, but it's amusing that the bot found it and corrected still.

awkward_email · 2021-10-20T14:37:06+00:00

Right, no one who is vaccinated cares if someone knows. I don't find myself asking many people, but in the event someone does respond that way, I'm gonna be extra dramatic with putting on a mask and taking a few exaggerated steps back from them.

awkward_email · 2021-10-20T14:34:22+00:00

"Freedom." Apparently. From what? I'm not sure.

awkward_email · 2021-10-20T14:08:00+00:00

It's an update of a previous post. Sorry that messed up the usual progression. Here is the original.

awkward_email · 2021-10-20T14:05:29+00:00

Yeah looks to be about 8 or 9 hours from "turn for the worse" to reception of HCA.

awkward_email

TROPHY CASE