So, my husband and I are staying at a gorgeous hotel in Hilton Head, SC this holiday weekend. It's raining, so we're catching up on email and Facebook. A non-LDS "friend" of mine from grad school made what I'm sure she thinks is a profound status update.

She wrote (paraphrasing here) "I loved Whitney Houston's voice as much as the next person. But I wonder how much better the world would be if people spent more time learning about Jesus Christ's life and death than they did celebrities."

A couple of things occurred to me. First off, I realized how my friend was missing a step. She forgot to discuss action. A person can learn everything there is to know about Jesus, but if they don't translate that knowledge into positive action, it will do no good... If they're into Jesus, anyway.

Secondly, it occurred to me my friend must not have exposed herself to many types of people. Not everyone is Christian, after all. But people who aren't into Christ can still be fine people with excellent morals. I felt kind of sad for my friend
for being so limited and apparently assuming that only people who are Christians are good. I'm sure she doesn't mean to be offensive, but that's how her comment came across.

Anyway, this friend is a social worker. I met her when I was getting my MSW. I shouldn't be surprised by her comments, I guess. I always thought she was really nice... But that pious comment was very off putting.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/19/2012 04:20PM by knotheadusc.

Jeezus is not the solution, people are the solution. People are different, and a cookie cutter theocracy where everyone thinks alike will never happen. It's ironic how most people who think jeezus is the solution, and should be our focus tend to ignore a lot of the suffering going on around them. They think the sky daddy will take care of everything, but everyone needs to do what he says according to their definition. They ignore the real causes, and effects, and blame people for their own suffering, because they are not following religion. They spend their time in a lot of activities that have nothing to do with improving the human condition or making the lives of others (or their own) better: church, singing hymns, meetings, getting ready for church, FHE & scripture study indoctrination, temple attendance, etc. I would say the morgbots are wasting their time.

Statements like hers devalues people for who they are. I'm not a Whitney Houston fan, but she was talented, and her music touched a lot of people. How did she not make the world a better place?

Morgbots think the only good examples that exist in the world are LD$ or xstian, and they try to claim anything they think is good as somehow inspired by gawd.

I think it's scary she's a social worker, because the solution to people's problems are complex, and need real world solutions. It is not as simple as "add more jeezus".



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/19/2012 05:11PM by atheist&happy:-).

knotheadusc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Anyway, this friend is a social worker. I met her
> when I was getting my MSW. I shouldn't be
> surprised by her comments, I guess.

Being a SW her statement actually does surprise me. I hope she can separate her personal beliefs when she is counselling clients.

I thought WH's voice was amazing. She was really talented and gave the world some great singing.

However, looking at all the attention she has gotten the past several days tells a lot about our values as a culture.

Do you hear every detail about the death and funerals of people who, say, created a drug that saved thousands of lives? Do you see this kind of attention given to someone who was a brilliant teacher or someone who donated their lives and money to helping the poor? No.

We overpay athletes and celebrities, IMO. We overvalue their contributions compared to the things that seem (to me, at least) far more important. Looking at the taste of people based on the pap on TV, we shouldn't be surprised when diva talk seems more important than, say, overpopulation or a civil war in a distant country.

So, that said, I guess I can understand the friend's comments in the original post. That person sees the world through her religion and thinks Jesus should be getting more attention than some singer. To me giving that much attention to Jesus would be as shallow as praising celebrities and athletes. Jesus already gets tons of attention by consuming the lives of people. All types offer contributions to our culture, of course, but the way people prioritize the attention and resources says a lot about the values.

"That person sees the world through her religion and thinks Jesus should be getting more attention than some singer. To me giving that much attention to Jesus would be as shallow as praising celebrities and athletes. Jesus already gets tons of attention by consuming the lives of people."


2012 years from now I doubt Whit will be getting much if any attention. So I think ole Jesus is doing pretty well.

All that attention and no CNN!

We have nothing written directly by Jesus. We don't have recordings of his voice or photographs. Are the paintings of Jesus a real likeness? Who knows. The bible was written hundreds of years after Jesus. If what Jesus said and did was really important, why didn't Jesus make a written record of it?

Not hundreds of years. Within a hundred years is more accurate. Some of it written around 40 years after his death.

I agree that we overvalue celebrities. And my friend is still somewhat young. She's spent her whole life in rural SC. So it makes sense that she might see the world through a narrow lens. I do wonder how she treats any non-Christian clients she might have... But I'm guessing in her little town, there's not much diversity. I hope she one day has the chance broaden her world view.

Good point knotheadusc considering your friend has spent her life in rural Bible Belt she probably has all Christian clients.

I think she works as a school social worker. But she is in the same town where she grew up. Her entire family is there. I doubt she's even traveled much beyond her state.

It is disturbing to me that a person can get a master's degree and be so limited in her world view. I think she meant well, but it still saddens me... And if I were to point out this apparently limited view to her, I have a feeling it would blow her mind.

Just goes to show that educated folks aren't always that smart.

...about how people should care more about __________________ than a dead celebrity. Everyone has something that's important to them. A lot of them resent that others don't share their priorities. WH's death was just a passing blip on my Care-O-Meter. But if someone else wants to go into deep mourning over it, go ahead.

This helps me to celebrate Ms. Houston's life:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jeUINzHK9o

Who dat?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/19/2012 07:45PM by Taddlywog.

Something your friend would do well to consider, if she wants to be a follower of Christ.

If you listen to the funeral tribute, and interviews, you'll soon find out that W. Houston was a believer in the Bible, Jesus Christ and God and her faith was very strong. Sounds like she fought her demons like everyone else.