Bling Bling in the ATL

So I was raised UU. Unitarian Universalist. UU is ideally the religion you convert to when you are sick of your own religion... but my family has been UU, I think, for a generation or two. My grandparents were socialist on my paternal side, so it makes sense. My grandparents on my maternal side were Christians of some sort - I'm not even sure which denomination, some weird missionary sort that dies out in the West, surviving only in far flung colonies. I've been a few times in Samoa. Most sit on mats on the floor, people wear white (especially on white sunday, whatever that is) and all the hymns are set to sailor tunes like 'found a peanut, found a peanut...'

The UU church I went to on Sunday was beautiful - looked like a Mies or Frank Lloyd Wright design, all pale wood and symmetry and walls of light. The chapel was arranged in a circle of raised seats, with the pulpit at the base, and everyone looking down. Nice. I was really happy at first.. the familiar smell, the familiar hymn book, lighting the chalice.. all those stupid rituals I squirmed through as a kid before they sent me off to Sunday school where I could learn about dreamcatchers and sex ed and cocaine addiction and make menorahs and write letters to the Ayatollah Khomini.

My little reverie was updated when the minister opened his mouth and started talking about 'Following your bliss.' It was some sort of admonition about balancing the need to earn a living and achieve a certain social status, and to do what makes you happy. It was entirely wrong minded as far as I'm concerned. The minister focused on following your hearts desire, and talked almost exclusively about the individual, about making decisions by turning inward, as if anyone has trouble doing that nowadays. The ultimate goal in life: to be happy. As if that were ever enough, as if you could find happiness by simply setting your compass and beelining for it. Goddamn hippies.

Then they sang some songs, one of which was 'We are the church the welcomes everyone, everyone, everyone.' Ugh. We are the church founded on identity politics. We are the church that fixes ethical dilemmas by walking away. We are the church of no community, no history, no struggles greater than ennui. If only they'd sung it to the tune of 'found a peanut,' I might have gotten something out of the whole experience.

The UU church is great as an example of civil society. But its a shitty religion if you ask me.

In other news...

I think I'm on the verge of being in a real relationship for the first time in a year, and I've forgotten how much that can suck at times. Maybe I'll escape at the last moment, we'll see.
Cruised the blogosphere today, following the next blog link for an hour. Weird, weird, weird what people write. Weird what I write too. Other than that.. works OK. Cats are OK. Weather is OK. My car is stuck in the lot, I have no cash so I have to wait till the toll collector goes home to take it. Life goes on.