Asking the hard-hitting questions.
theothersparrow
joined 2 years ago
T'Pring's pop wins the award for chillest Vulcan and most loyal malewife.
It can be a touch alienating; there's a swath of rituals you're now not a part of, either because you're actively excluded or because you just no longer fit there (talking about church events and the like).
Conversations change just a little bit too--in the same way monotheists look at polytheists funny when they invoke more than one god, atheists wind up looking at any theist in the same fashion. By that token, when people realize you're atheist, they look at you as a bit damaged--my bestie's cousin blurted out "tf is wrong with you?" when I admitted I was atheist, for instance. In the US it only takes a look at some states' laws on eligibility for public office to see that for some, the only thing worse than having a different faith is having none at all.
It can also be kind of disorienting; you spend quite a bit of time recalibrating your moral framework--what you consider right/wrong and why you take those positions. In this regard, it can be a bit draining too, dedicating so much of the processor sitting on your neck to a kind of reconfiguration.
Lastly and perhaps the worst drawback is how limiting it can feel: when there's no longer a higher power to feel guarded by, you're left with the realization that there's just your own little mortal self and it's depressing lack of influence.
But ultimately, I've found it kind of rewarding: ditching the need for a creator figure (and later, the concept of an afterlife altogether) has freed me of that dissonance that occurs when injustices or random tragedies occur. When you no longer lean on the idea that there must be an inherently just or attentive higher power, those bad things become a little less nerve-wracking.
And while I lose a some rituals and venues through which to connect with others, it's a drop in the ocean compared to what's still out there.
And that powerlessness we're left behind with eases when we recognize there's other kinds of power that come through community (nebulous as that concept feels right now).
The simple answer is they're attempting to insulate themselves from consequence or challenge.
Free speech doesn't work like that (it only protects you from gov't retaliation, not other private citizens), but it doesn't stop them from trying because as some of the responses here exemplify, people will fall for it and let them continue saying whatever, regardless of whether it's true or harmful to the vulnerable.
You're right, it's not terrorism.
It's mass murder.
Yeah they ditched that slogan in... 2009? 2010?
I remember everyone was side-eyeing pretty hard when they did.
A flood of brands I can't opt out of--I gotta mute/block each of them individually--no bookmarks or drafts for Threads I might like to come back to, no fuckin' gifs, mobile only, de-prioritization of news...
Tbh it's just kinda lame.
I saw the writing on the wall when they dropped the occasional free awards.
But nothing would have gotten me to purchase premium so shrug
I really feel like any feeling of divergence is the result of Kirk's image in popular culture; Steve Shives did a segment on Kirk as we remember him and how accurate that memory is to the actual depiction in TOS, and over time certain traits were magnified in the mainstream.
Wesley's Kirk feels honest--that is to say he resembles Shatner's Kirk, through Wesley's performance.
Meanwhile, the Klingons put the nacelle inside their BoP. I guess they just YOLO it.
Which honestly fits for the Klingons, who probably consider safety as an afterthought.
Holy shit, I forgot about Ketwolski.
Hope they're safe and well.
Me and @siewyuk, @psychothumbs and @YoBuckStopsHere