Post by athenac on Aug 19, 2009 2:08:50 GMT -5
I'm 32, and I have lived in California my whole life. I was born and raised in Oakland and Marin County. I have never been married, and I have no kids. I was raised by a single mom as a "red-letter" Christian, but my grandma is a religious Lutheran, and I went to a very liberal Episcopalian school growing up.
Since graduating from high school, I have lived in Sacramento, LA, Eureka/Arcata/Humboldt, Yosemite/Oakhurst/Fresno, Santa Barbara, and Redding. If you're keeping track at home, I've lived in a blue-collar, liberal, urban area with a large black population; an affluent white, suburban, liberal area; a "purple" area with a lot of different races and people (but no high culture); Los Angeles (haha); a very liberal but somewhat poor rural area known for a large hippie population; a rural area with a heavy white supremacist and fundamentalist population; an affluent, liberal, semi-urban area with a lot of Hispanic people; and another area known for white supremacy and fundamentalism.
I am currently an unemployed biologist with a frankly somewhat pagan outlook on life. I am a staunch democrat and proud Obama supporter. Most of my friends are of similar beliefs and views. I also have several gay friends who I love dearly, and who I wouldn't change for the world.
I suppose that the thing that draws me to a study of fundamentalism is the idea that we're all Americans, living in the same country, but our perceptions of our places in this country and this earth are all very different. I find it endlessly fascinating that such disparate groups as the Amish, the FLDS, the pentacostals, and the Quiverfull movement are sharing the same country as my more liberal and/or agnostic friends. One of the things that stuns me is how many Americans believe that the Bible is literally true, and the world is only 6,000 years old. I am definitely a believer in an old earth, I'll say that much.
Which isn't to say that people of faith are out of place in America. Sometimes I feel like I'm the stranger in a conceptualization of reality that most people around me share, but I'm apart from. Most of the conservative Christians I have known have been very nice people, but it's a disagreement about a worldview, which is something you can only agree to disagree about.
Which brings me to the feminist view of the QF movement. Again, it's a real matter of perception. I've only seen a few examples of overt sexism around (some of which have been FLOORING), but we're all living in a different space as far as gender relations go, too. Maybe there has been more sexism directed towards me than I've been aware of, I don't know. I do know that sexism and homophobia should never be tolerated.
I know that there are people here of different backgrounds and viewpoints. I am very interested in other perspectives, and I am hoping to learn a lot about a world I don't directly experience. If you will allow me to inject (more) politics into it, I personally suspect that the political battles of the future will continue to be waged along lines of faith, and the only hope for our country is to find common ground where we may, but also for the more liberal-minded (or conservative-minded!) to stand our ground about the things we cannot ever agree on, but that matter nonetheless.
Since graduating from high school, I have lived in Sacramento, LA, Eureka/Arcata/Humboldt, Yosemite/Oakhurst/Fresno, Santa Barbara, and Redding. If you're keeping track at home, I've lived in a blue-collar, liberal, urban area with a large black population; an affluent white, suburban, liberal area; a "purple" area with a lot of different races and people (but no high culture); Los Angeles (haha); a very liberal but somewhat poor rural area known for a large hippie population; a rural area with a heavy white supremacist and fundamentalist population; an affluent, liberal, semi-urban area with a lot of Hispanic people; and another area known for white supremacy and fundamentalism.
I am currently an unemployed biologist with a frankly somewhat pagan outlook on life. I am a staunch democrat and proud Obama supporter. Most of my friends are of similar beliefs and views. I also have several gay friends who I love dearly, and who I wouldn't change for the world.
I suppose that the thing that draws me to a study of fundamentalism is the idea that we're all Americans, living in the same country, but our perceptions of our places in this country and this earth are all very different. I find it endlessly fascinating that such disparate groups as the Amish, the FLDS, the pentacostals, and the Quiverfull movement are sharing the same country as my more liberal and/or agnostic friends. One of the things that stuns me is how many Americans believe that the Bible is literally true, and the world is only 6,000 years old. I am definitely a believer in an old earth, I'll say that much.
Which isn't to say that people of faith are out of place in America. Sometimes I feel like I'm the stranger in a conceptualization of reality that most people around me share, but I'm apart from. Most of the conservative Christians I have known have been very nice people, but it's a disagreement about a worldview, which is something you can only agree to disagree about.
Which brings me to the feminist view of the QF movement. Again, it's a real matter of perception. I've only seen a few examples of overt sexism around (some of which have been FLOORING), but we're all living in a different space as far as gender relations go, too. Maybe there has been more sexism directed towards me than I've been aware of, I don't know. I do know that sexism and homophobia should never be tolerated.
I know that there are people here of different backgrounds and viewpoints. I am very interested in other perspectives, and I am hoping to learn a lot about a world I don't directly experience. If you will allow me to inject (more) politics into it, I personally suspect that the political battles of the future will continue to be waged along lines of faith, and the only hope for our country is to find common ground where we may, but also for the more liberal-minded (or conservative-minded!) to stand our ground about the things we cannot ever agree on, but that matter nonetheless.
