"I'd like to thank my Lord and Savior, JC"

[Morbid]

Does this grate on anyone else the way it grates on me?

To add to this conversation, living in the Bible belt, on probably every corner of my fairly small town there's signs that say "We Need Jesus", "Look to Jesus", "#JESUSSAVES", "Are you washed in the blood?".  These are actual examples, not just me being silly.  Personally I just roll my eyes a lot.  It's so...blind, I suppose, that whoever it is who puts these things out don't realize that there's other religions out there besides the Jesus-lovin', Bible-thumpin', Southern Baptists that have the majority control over this area...

[Altair]

I guess why I object to the expression that such expressions of gratitude to a deity are shoving religion down someone else's throat is I see the same kind of expressions used about homosexuals.  If I want to hold my partner's hand in public there are plenty of people that say I'm shoving homosexuality down their throats.

But I'm not.  I just happen to be expressing affection for my partner in public because I love him.  I don't see how it's so different just because that person might happen to be a deity.

Lots of food for thought in everyone's responses--thank you!--but this from EW jumped out at me (and I think someone else made the same gay-public-display-of-affection comparison earlier? I've been reading the thread over several days, so I don't recall exactly).

In part, I agree. It would be inconsistent to look askance at one (Christian public display of piety) and embrace the other (gay public display of affection)...

...but on the other hand, context matters. And when I break down those two competing phrases, there are some important distinctions:

1) All classes of public displays don't have to be treated equally; public displays of nudity don't have to be treated the same way as public displays of sports team loyalty. As long as displays within a class are treated the same (looking askance at "I praise you, Apollo, for my win!" just as much as one frowns on "Thank you, Jesus!"), I'm on solid ground.

2) In most of the U.S. today, displays within a class *aren't* treated equally. The very same people who say we queers are shoving our sexual orientation down their throats with PDAs have no problem when the exact same behavior is on display from a man and a woman. Many of the people who are unbothered or nod approvingly at "I'd like to thank my personal savior, Jesus Christ" would birth a fucking cow if someone celebrated their win with "Allahu akbar!" So there can be a certain degree of enforcing the "normative," dominant view in these Christian piety displays, and when I imagine so much as a whiff of that, I find it irksome.

Perhaps the better comparison, rather than equating an award-winner's "Thank you, Jesus" with two gay guys holding hands, is to equate it with a straight couple who very prominently start making out in a gay bar. Objectively, there's nothing wrong with a straight couple making out, but it's inappropriate for the venue and reeks of asserting the privilege of the dominant group.

That's my gut reaction to "I'd like to thank my savior, Jesus Christ"--it's inappropriate for the venue and reeks of asserting the privilege of the dominant group. Obviously I'm in the minority here on this.

[Owl]

Lots of food for thought in everyone's responses--thank you!--but this from EW jumped out at me (and I think someone else made the same gay-public-display-of-affection comparison earlier? I've been reading the thread over several days, so I don't recall exactly).

In part, I agree. It would be inconsistent to look askance at one (Christian public display of piety) and embrace the other (gay public display of affection)...

...but on the other hand, context matters. And when I break down those two competing phrases, there are some important distinctions:

1) All classes of public displays don't have to be treated equally; public displays of nudity don't have to be treated the same way as public displays of sports team loyalty. As long as displays within a class are treated the same (looking askance at "I praise you, Apollo, for my win!" just as much as one frowns on "Thank you, Jesus!"), I'm on solid ground.

2) In most of the U.S. today, displays within a class *aren't* treated equally. The very same people who say we queers are shoving our sexual orientation down their throats with PDAs have no problem when the exact same behavior is on display from a man and a woman. Many of the people who are unbothered or nod approvingly at "I'd like to thank my personal savior, Jesus Christ" would birth a fucking cow if someone celebrated their win with "Allahu akbar!" So there can be a certain degree of enforcing the "normative," dominant view in these Christian piety displays, and when I imagine so much as a whiff of that, I find it irksome.

Perhaps the better comparison, rather than equating an award-winner's "Thank you, Jesus" with two gay guys holding hands, is to equate it with a straight couple who very prominently start making out in a gay bar. Objectively, there's nothing wrong with a straight couple making out, but it's inappropriate for the venue and reeks of asserting the privilege of the dominant group.

That's my gut reaction to "I'd like to thank my savior, Jesus Christ"--it's inappropriate for the venue and reeks of asserting the privilege of the dominant group. Obviously I'm in the minority here on this.

What he said.


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