From Experience - Tumblr Posts
This post reminds me of a general trend I see here on the internet, as well as in a religion I have long since abandoned.
The social pressure for perfection. The pressure to have perfect behavior, the pressure to have perfect ideals, the pressure to be a saint among men, and the requirements for company and forgiveness.
In terms of the church I used to be a part of, you had to repent for every wrong. Seems simple, right? It’s not asking for perfection, because you can be forgiven?
But what about the wrongs you don’t remember? Or the wrongs you don’t actually feel sorry for? Is it still wrong if justified? This is still perfection. That’s still expected of you, and perfection is (in its nature) an impossible ideal to achieve in life.
I want to note that this post almost implies that we should be ready and on alert at all times for the people in Palestine’s sake. That we should be on the lookout and refuse to be content until the injustice is gone—and in turn—we should feel guilt when we don’t.
I’ve found in my personal life that this is not the case. You aren’t guilty, nor stupid, for enjoying the Super Bowl. Having fun while others suffer is not something to be punished for. Hell- there’s ways to help people AND have fun!
We can’t expect this sort of perfection from ourselves, or other people. We can’t expect to give our all until there’s nothing left for a worthy cause.
These things happen. And what happened because of a result of you watching the Super Bowl? A delayed reaction, by maybe a day at most.
When we hold ourselves and others to these unfair standards, we can “slip up”. A moment of anger, or confusion, a “wrong” opinion—these are all things that can land us on the other side of the coin. Suddenly, it’s more difficult to be a “decent” human being or do “the bare minimum” than you thought. (You did not use this wording, and I deeply appreciate that, but I get the feeling that you put a lot of weight on what a good person is supposed to be like.)
I want to end this on a true story I heard from someone else who had left the church I was in. She heard claims that the church was not loving or accepting of people who weren’t them. She believed that to be completely untrue—so untrue that she set out to prove it. She started to wear shirts that would show the skin on her shoulder (tank tops, but some just had a hole right there)—something frowned upon in the church.
What she found was that the reaction was very different. People stopped hanging out with her. People stopped their kids from playing with her kids. It was a totally different social environment.
It’s crazy that something as simple as showing her shoulders got her socially isolated. Which begs the question—how different can you be from the people who expect moral perfection before they decide you’re the enemy?
(I recognize this is not very related to The original post- but I have a lot of thoughts about this. I am very open to responses, but try to be kind and cordial about it. I don’t expect to change anyones mind, but I invite you to try to change mine. I’ve learned that there is value in everything people say to me, and I thank you for your time.)
i feel so insanely guilty right now. here i was being an idiot, watching the super bowl with my dad, and live tweeting about usher’s halftime performance on my private twitter account to all of my mutuals. all while israel was taking advantage of the world’s attention on the super bowl by bombing Rafah. i encourage anyone else that was distracted to not be silent about this and call attention to this. i am writing this as i am thinking so excuse how any of this might sound and feel free to hold me accountable. Free Palestine 🇵🇸
This post reminds me of a general trend I see here on the internet, as well as in a religion I have long since abandoned.
The social pressure for perfection. The pressure to have perfect behavior, the pressure to have perfect ideals, the pressure to be a saint among men, and the requirements for company and forgiveness.
In terms of the church I used to be a part of, you had to repent for every wrong. Seems simple, right? It’s not asking for perfection, because you can be forgiven?
But what about the wrongs you don’t remember? Or the wrongs you don’t actually feel sorry for? Is it still wrong if justified? This is still perfection. That’s still expected of you, and perfection is (in its nature) an impossible ideal to achieve in life.
I want to note that this post almost implies that we should be ready and on alert at all times for the people in Palestine’s sake. That we should be on the lookout and refuse to be content until the injustice is gone—and in turn—we should feel guilt when we don’t.
I’ve found in my personal life that this is not the case. You aren’t guilty, nor stupid, for enjoying the Super Bowl. Having fun while others suffer is not something to be punished for. Hell- there’s ways to help people AND have fun!
We can’t expect this sort of perfection from ourselves, or other people. We can’t expect to give our all until there’s nothing left for a worthy cause.
These things happen. And what happened because of a result of you watching the Super Bowl? A delayed reaction, by maybe a day at most.
When we hold ourselves and others to these unfair standards, we can “slip up”. A moment of anger, or confusion, a “wrong” opinion—these are all things that can land us on the other side of the coin. Suddenly, it’s more difficult to be a “decent” human being or do “the bare minimum” than you thought. (You did not use this wording, and I deeply appreciate that, but I get the feeling that you put a lot of weight on what a good person is supposed to be like.)
I want to end this on a true story I heard from someone else who had left the church I was in. She heard claims that the church was not loving or accepting of people who weren’t them. She believed that to be completely untrue—so untrue that she set out to prove it. She started to wear shirts that would show the skin on her shoulder (tank tops, but some just had a hole right there)—something frowned upon in the church.
What she found was that the reaction was very different. People stopped hanging out with her. People stopped their kids from playing with her kids. It was a totally different social environment.
It’s crazy that something as simple as showing her shoulders got her socially isolated. Which begs the question—how different can you be from the people who expect moral perfection before they decide you’re the enemy?
(I recognize this is not very related to The original post- but I have a lot of thoughts about this. I am very open to responses, but try to be kind and cordial about it. I don’t expect to change anyones mind, but I invite you to try to change mine. I’ve learned that there is value in everything people say to me, and I thank you for your time.)
i feel so insanely guilty right now. here i was being an idiot, watching the super bowl with my dad, and live tweeting about usher’s halftime performance on my private twitter account to all of my mutuals. all while israel was taking advantage of the world’s attention on the super bowl by bombing Rafah. i encourage anyone else that was distracted to not be silent about this and call attention to this. i am writing this as i am thinking so excuse how any of this might sound and feel free to hold me accountable. Free Palestine 🇵🇸
This could be the most important post I’ve ever shared. Please Share it with anyone who is or might be going through this terrible disease.
https://twitter.com/ItsMa____/status/1345432772538724355?s=19
I have recently discovered that playing deep rock galactic while riding a dildo is the objectivly best way to play