Because the xkcd blag (it's not a blog) posted a link to some analysis of naming trends, I noticed that one of the names I mentioned in a previous post, Maximus, is actually very popular and trendy at the moment. Take note, fellow Orthodox.
Even more surprising is that Aidan (and variants) is extremely trendy at the moment. The constellation of similar names is easily in the top 10 and, if you broaden your definition of similar names, easily becomes the most popular name for boys. Life is good, I suppose, if you always wanted to give your child a very traditional Anglo-Saxon saint's name.
Dominic and other variants are also quite popular right now.
Unfortunately, Hilda, Hildegard, and other similar names are not terribly popular at the moment.
Saturday, February 01, 2014
dear orthodox on the internet: what is your damn problem
I read a post from somebody saying, essentially, "Hi, I'm interested in Orthodoxy, I'm from a skeptical secular background or something, some things are hard, of course, etc." And the responses were, essentially, HUMBLE YOURSELF. YOU MUST BECOME ORTHODOX ON ORTHODOXY'S OWN TERMS.
That's not what they said, but, essentially, that was the message that got across. It doesn't help, of course, that if you're looking for information on the internet, nutterdox are far more prominent than they are in reality, but that's something else.
Part of it is certainly the culture of "replying to stuff" that we pick up: to reply to something, you must be critical, and so you find something wrong in what they said and say what was wrong with it, and that is how you reply. That's not healthy at all, or at least not pastoral, and definitely not encouraging. Even if you really think, "Everything you just said is awesome except this one little bit...", all that gets communicated is, "You're wrong about this here!" I mean, if everybody who expresses interest and concern about becoming an Orthodox Christian on the internets essentially gets lawyered into realizing that they're not good yet at this "being Orthodox" thing, who would be left? If you really read this thing, technically, we're not allowed to go to the bathroom.
The proper response is, of course, to slaughter the fatted calf. Who is so great a God as our God? Sure, don't gloss over anything or paint an unduly rosy picture, but there is, at the very least, room for another bad Orthodox in the back here.
That's not what they said, but, essentially, that was the message that got across. It doesn't help, of course, that if you're looking for information on the internet, nutterdox are far more prominent than they are in reality, but that's something else.
Part of it is certainly the culture of "replying to stuff" that we pick up: to reply to something, you must be critical, and so you find something wrong in what they said and say what was wrong with it, and that is how you reply. That's not healthy at all, or at least not pastoral, and definitely not encouraging. Even if you really think, "Everything you just said is awesome except this one little bit...", all that gets communicated is, "You're wrong about this here!" I mean, if everybody who expresses interest and concern about becoming an Orthodox Christian on the internets essentially gets lawyered into realizing that they're not good yet at this "being Orthodox" thing, who would be left? If you really read this thing, technically, we're not allowed to go to the bathroom.
The proper response is, of course, to slaughter the fatted calf. Who is so great a God as our God? Sure, don't gloss over anything or paint an unduly rosy picture, but there is, at the very least, room for another bad Orthodox in the back here.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Was Ronald Reagan the worst president, morally, of the modern era?
Perhaps. On the one hand, he didn't like murdering babies, but, on the other, he really enjoyed racist policies and stuck it to the poor. Nixon's foibles, at least, were purely personal.
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Is the Iowa GOP racist?
Yes.
I'm not saying this on the basis of racist posts on the Iowa GOP facebook page that they have deleted, but rather the posts that they have not deleted and have not commented on. eg, https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152122084787159&set=a.335425257158.150470.82076817158&type=1&relevant_count=1 What the hell? As much as I would like to pretend that being a GOP supporter in IA is not a matter of supporting racists, they are making it very hard to do. I mean, they had one big thing they deleted, but this shit is still around. The Iowa GOP is really making a mess of things here.
I'm not saying this on the basis of racist posts on the Iowa GOP facebook page that they have deleted, but rather the posts that they have not deleted and have not commented on. eg, https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152122084787159&set=a.335425257158.150470.82076817158&type=1&relevant_count=1 What the hell? As much as I would like to pretend that being a GOP supporter in IA is not a matter of supporting racists, they are making it very hard to do. I mean, they had one big thing they deleted, but this shit is still around. The Iowa GOP is really making a mess of things here.
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