Monday, September 11, 2006

More suggestions on style.

As was the case with the term "web-log", certain features of current life have annoyed me enough that I feel the need to make some stylistic recommendations.
  1. on the sacrament of initiation: One enters into the Church by baptism, which is immediately followed by chrismation and soon followed by the Eucharist. If one has already been baptized properly, one is only chrismated. But the normative means of entry is baptism, and, therefore, when making general references to entrance into the Church, baptism rather than chrismation should be referred to, even if most of the people in question were probably only chrismated rather than given the full run of things. Example: "A man should wait at least three years after baptism before considering going to seminary," instead of, "A man should wait at least three years after chrismation...". The only danger is that some people will somehow think it doesn't apply to them because they were baptized decades ago and chrismated five minutes ago. Such people are, however, probably dense or stubborn enough that it doesn't matter what you say to them.
  2. on belts: Belts match shoes.
  3. catsup on hot dogs: A sin unless you're like 14 or real condiments are not available. Even worse on a polish, since the requirements for a proper Maxwell Street polish are much less stringent than those for a proper Chicago-style hot dog.
I hope this helps. Please consider following these directives, but they are merely stylistic suggestions directed at nobody in particular. If I am wrong or out of place, please inform the competent authority [ie, me].

2 comments:

Caelius said...

How do you enter "the Church" if you were baptized and chrismated? And if you say that one or the other weren't done properly, I'll stick with my branch, thank ye.

Mr. G. Z. T. said...

well, not gonna lie here, you'd be chrismated except in the unlikely case that there were reasonable doubts about the form of your baptism [ie, that it was trinitarian].

Hey, odd thing: apparently the OCF is going to be meeting in Brent rather than Calvert this year. Fortunately, I officially won't be around, so I won't officially have to worry about dodging Episcopalian women [off the record, however...].