Vincent Truman's Blog, page 11

Friends Like These: Chat With a Christian

 OK, just to get it out of the way.  With a title like that and me being an atheist, you probably can foresee the punch line of this piece.  However, this case is unusual for these reasons.  (1) The Christian and I are not strangers, we are real-life acquaintances, for years.  (2)  While we are diametrically opposed on the Spiritual Scale, we have enough passion in common – women's rights, especially – that our friendship has been built on a solid respect of those things we both deem important and a mutual respect for those things we may disagree with.

 

Until last night.

 

It began when, on Facebook, I posted a video of Christopher Hitchens, the Vanity Fair editor and author, criticizing some of the tenets of Christianity.   This is a common enough thing – people post videos and links all the time about things they like and support.  Indeed, The Christian is known for posting from a 'God Wants You To Know' application.  That's all well and good.  …or is it?  On came the comments.  It is important to stress that I have not edited any of the language chosen by The Christian or me in the exchange below.

 

The Christian: "This man is a raging narcissist. I think he doesn't like the concept of God because he thinks HE is God. I agree evolution is not a theory, it is a working model and I am a devout Christian. If I want to read about theology, I read the Bible or Church teachings if I want to read about science I read a science book or website. He reduces religious people and theology to essentialist terms ( of his own making) and doesn't account for the extreme variance in theologies across faiths and denominations. YAWN."

 

Vincent Truman: "Predictably enough, I don't see the narcissism so much as an objective discounting of certain theological ideas (admittedly, not theories, as they cannot be tested). I find no missteps in his presentation, which dotes, we may both agree, on a rejection of faith and/or wish fulfillment."

 

The Christian: "Well, I agree he rejects faith but I don't agree with him that faith is wish fulfillment. I repeat: He is a self-involved YAWN."

 

Vincent Truman: "Now, be fair, Missy. I don't piss in your pool with your daily 'god wants you to know' app, so don't feel obliged to denigrate my corner of the philosophical market."

 

The Christian: "You regularly denigrate my Christian viewpoints through your posts, that is fine you are entitled to your opinions and you have to realize on some level you do open yourself up criticism it by posting it on Facebook. I am being fair, I frankly do not mind you commenting on my faith-based posts. I don't like Christopher Hitchens and stand by all my prior comments. He is a man after all, not a deity."

 

Vincent Truman: OK, then I'll consider myself invited to slap down your posts on your own page. I thought we were being mutual respectful, but I can suspend that, too.

 

The Christian: "This is a laughable waste of time. Time to prune my friend list."

 

At which time I was immediatley deleted from her friends' list. 

 

Another commercial for 'love thy neighbor – unless you don't wanna' theology.

 

 

 

Unbelievable: My Favorite Things About Being an Atheist

I generally don't write about being an atheist, in the same way I don't write about being left-handed.  Both are fairly engrained in who I am, so writing about them seems a little indulgent.

 

However, I wanted to at least address the former (the latter will have to wait for another time), as the secular voice in the world is still clearing its throat and could use any sliver of encouragement I could give to it (and those who are searching for it).

 

One of my final concerns – after well over a decade of dealing with other concerns – about adopting the 'atheist' title was: what was I going to be left with?  After I officially dismiss religion, spirituality, theology and all other god-isms, what's in it for me?  The word on the street is, after all, that atheists believe in nothing, have no basis for good and evil and are generally untrustworthy.  Ultimately, though, any living, breathing adult is aware that things are rarely what they seem.  Columbus discovered America and everyone was happy?  No.  Pat Tillman was killed by the enemies of America?  No.  The Vatican would have had nothing to do with the Nazi Party?  Oh, yes they did.

 

The most beautiful benefit I have found in my atheism is that, aside from finding I still believe in things, have a good basis in right/wrong and am trustworthy, is that my philosophy makes it impossible to acquire and adopt eternal superiority.  Specifically, there is no person, alive or dead, who I would conclude will suffer for eternity because of their behavior on Earth, while my eternity is self-evidently assured to be posh and full of rainbows, wine and no weight gain.  Further, there is no entity I can draw on to reach the same conclusion. 

 

With atheism, I am backed into the corner of being a peer.  I cannot be more and I cannot be less. 

 

Jews, Christians or Muslims will neither triumph over me nor will they suffer because of my philosophy – and I like that.  I cannot be dismissive of the concerns of gays, women or minorities (even if, at my straight-white-male core, I may wish to, upon occasion) without an artificial philosophy – and I like that, too.  Atheism makes intolerance of human beings very difficult, yet makes empathy an effortless experience.

 

One of the reasons I did cling to Christianity once upon a time was that I simply wanted to be on the winning team.  I wanted all bad people in hell and my family and I in heaven.  The bloodlust to be a "winner" while others are deemed "losers" is a VERY male trait, often sold wholesale to women.  And it is very difficult to shake.  However, shaking it did open the door for me to make the leap of no faith whatsoever.  And what could I conclude?  Not having the ability to "win" or "lose" is a distinctly humbling honor that can be enjoyed thoroughly. 

 

I try my best.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Releases for 2011

This is my silly meme in which I take friends' pictures on facebook, couple them with their status updates and produce hit CDs.

As Easy As Falling Off a Blog

 

 

Occasionally, it occurs to me that I should probably promote this blog.  I don't know how.  Now, it is worth pointing out that I don't know how for two very specific reasons: (1) since a lot of these blogs are not particularly "showy" or written as entertainment pieces, promoting the blog would be like inviting people to come sit in my kitchen while I'm rinsing silverware; and (2) I really don't know how.

 

I took a brief (read: two minute) tour of the Networked Blogs discussion boards on Facebook in an effort (read: half-assed) to promote my writing.  I found a series of discussion threads, filled to the brim with promoting bloggers and their pitches.  Some made me laugh.  So I thought I'd share:

 

Pitch: Please LIKE our page we will LIKE you back immediately!

Assessment: This author, who will remain nameless (though, if pressed, his name is Ted Ings), thinks of himself in the plural in order to make himself sound like a gang.  Plus, he doesn't really want to find anything interesting to read, he simply wants people to click on LIKE or something and he'll do the same.  Sort of like standing on the street and agreeing to shake someone's hand, but only if they shake yours, too.

 

Pitch: hey great blog ! take a look at mine !

Assessment: My theory is that this fellow was merely hopping various blogs, pasting his pitch and his URL all willy-nilly, and finally wound up in a discussion thread, where the pasted text didn't quite make sense.  I also suspect the fellow noticed that his pasted text didn't quite make sense… but that he thought, 'whatever' and left it there.

 

Pitch: ..i love writing poems.. ..follow my blog if u like it… ..thanks…

Assessment: This fellow seems to go the extra mile.  Not only do you get a smiley face for following his blog, but you get a winky.  The majority of blog promotional bits I read have a smiley.  Or a winky.  But a smiley AND a winky?  Crazy.  It nearly makes one overlook the weird use of periods, the textspeak "u" and the goofy way the whole thing reads.  Nearly.

 

Pitch: {THE NEW BK} (NYC) REALITY! {REALMUSICREVOLUTION} COMING BEFORE SPRING!  CHECK OUT THE SNIPPETS AND THE "PATH TO GREATNESS" MIXTAPE HIT SINGLE "IM A CHAMP" FOLLOW AND I WILL DEFINITELY SHOW LUV BACK,, *YA GODGUIDED R&B G*

Assessment: Someone picked up the tattered remnants of other peoples' ideas and tried to glue them together into a whole new idea.  This grammatical Frankenstein should be left to die on the table.

 

Pitch: Follow the above blog and like my FB page - leave me a message on FB (with the name you have followed me and the links you want me to follow) - I will follow back within 24 hrs (working days)   PS: This blog might be helpful to you as well - it got technical guides

Assessment: "It got technical guides."  I love that – even more than the mind puzzle of "24 hrs (working days)." 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As for promoting my own blog, I completely forgot about it.

 

 

 

On Artistry

In college, I was once asked by one of my drama teachers how I would define 'theater.'  I replied, 'A sanctuary for people who can't do anything else.'  Although my teacher did not appear to be pleased with my answer, I have found this spontaneous theory to be pretty accurate.  Sure, actors, writers, tech folks and directors can do other things – if one is involved in theater, one must learn to do other things, unless one has a starvation fetish – but the real theater people breathe, eat and sleep the stuff.

 

And these people, I would say, have some damage to start with. 

 

But who doesn't?

 

The best folks in the performing world blend being an artist and being art itself.  The best way I can describe this is when you watch a performer and completely forget that they are performing.  I've been lucky enough to see this a number of times over the last few years – notably, Angela Jo Strohm in the 2009 movie "Gless" by Herbivore Productions; Caitlin Emmons in my 2008 play, "The Tearful Assassin".  I know I am nowhere near being that kind of artist, which is why I tend to gravitate towards writing over acting.

 

A performing artist, in my view, is like a jazz standard: recognizable but always morphing, guided by instinct and circumstance, always seeking that connection with the other players.  When I see that happen, I get what my wife calls the "L.O.L." – not "laugh out loud" but "look of love."  People on top of their game… I love them.

 

If the best folks in the performing world blend being an artist and being art itself, the worst do neither.  Like most professions, theater is choked with people who use their "craft" to propagate whatever damage they're not facing.  These folks are "Problem Children", and I've yet to work on a show in which there hasn't been at least one (this includes 2008's "The Woman in Black", in which I surprised myself by being the Problem Child – I reversed course immediately after that).  My wife has suggested that I create an anonymous website listing and describing Problem Children but, though it would probably prove beneficial to producers, who must cast characters without knowing actors' characters, such "power" could easily fall into the wrong hands.

 

One such Problem Child said to me, "I do theater because it makes me feel good": that, make no mistake, brothers and sisters, is a direct threat.  You know nothing good is going to come after such a self-centered declaration.  Moments later, she made good on the threat by blaming her co-stars and the production team for why she was disengaged from the production.  After making the point that she was supportive of her cast mates (I heard the "but" in that line before she continued), she promptly quit the production.   

 

The benefit of working with Problem Children is, of course, that once you identify someone as one, they don't bother you.  If you can handle an 8-year-old brat, you can handle a Problem Child.  And, as much as one wants to yell right back at them, it is best not to.  In the best-case scenario, they might learn something – and who wants an intelligent Problem Child out there?