You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

[The Burgomaster]

5) People who dismiss things with no knowledge of them. Like kids who refuse to watch older movies because they're black and white or from years ago. Hello, should we refuse to read all the classics of literature - I don't think so. Should we only record history for the last 10-20 years - I think not.

There's an administrative assistant in my office who started watching THE GODFATHER for the first time a few months ago.  She said she couldn't get into the movie because it's "too old," so she never finished watching it.  I'm 46 years old and she's a year or two older than me.  This movie is IN COLOR and was made DURING HER LIFETIME and she said it's too old.

[Flick James]

Knee-jerk Christian bashing! Especially from Hollywood and the media.   When people who have never set foot inside a church or read a single page of the Bible dismiss and ridicule all people of faith because of

(A) Stuff that happened a thousand years ago when the Church was actively ignoring what Christ taught
(B) The actions of a few nutjobs who are about as representative of Christianity as I am of the Slug Beings from Planet Talos.

Maybe try to actually learn a little bit about our faith before you dismiss all of us as idiots and hypocrites.

I've set my foot inside several churches, and read a bit of the Bible, so I guess I'm clear to bash religion.

So I guess that brings me to what grinds MY gears: people who try and indoctrinate me with their religious views and their faith. Some people seem very intent on "spreading the gospel" and feel it's important to have prayer in school, yet they seem to ignore where the Bible tells them they should pray in secret. Please, could you do a little more of that?

I actually do know what you're saying about the Church when it was actively ignoring what Christ taught. I agree with that statement thoroughly. Unfortunately, not much has changed a thousand years later. Unfortunately for anyone who actually believes in what Christ taught, the Church is forever going to speak for you in the eyes of the multitudes. Not a thing you can do about it, and it's a deep well of material for those faith bashers to draw from. It's kind of like some U.S. presidents (I won't bring up examples because I'm not going to get partisan), there could have been a number of great things they did, that will forever be overshadowed by negative things. All you can do is tend to your own beliefs, because humankind will forever contradict one another with what each one "knows" to be the truth.

[Leah]

on Youtube, when I look up some of my favorite bands, there is always so B.S. about how Justin Beiber, Lady Gaga, or Miley Cyrus is better and the song(s) I listen to is s**t! BULLs**t, Your taste in music is different than that of others! LEARN SOME FRIGGEN RESPECT YOU GOD DAMN DUMBASSES, YOU'RE BEING A TOTAL DICKHEAD!!!!!!

[Trevor]

There's an administrative assistant in my office who started watching THE GODFATHER for the first time a few months ago.  She said she couldn't get into the movie because it's "too old," so she never finished watching it.  I'm 46 years old and she's a year or two older than me.  This movie is IN COLOR and was made DURING HER LIFETIME and she said it's too old.

Burgo, that reminds me of the idiot at my neighborhood video store who was concerned about me wanting to rent a certain film. His reasons were:

1. The film was in black and white.
2. It was in French
3. It was violent
4. It was anti-police
5. It was only on VHS*
6. He didn't think anyone would want to see it because of 1 through 5.

The film's name? La Haine and yes, I did rent it and yes, it was good.

* I found it on DVD at the same shop a few days later. 

[indianasmith]

Knee-jerk Christian bashing! Especially from Hollywood and the media.   When people who have never set foot inside a church or read a single page of the Bible dismiss and ridicule all people of faith because of

(A) Stuff that happened a thousand years ago when the Church was actively ignoring what Christ taught
(B) The actions of a few nutjobs who are about as representative of Christianity as I am of the Slug Beings from Planet Talos.

Maybe try to actually learn a little bit about our faith before you dismiss all of us as idiots and hypocrites.

I've set my foot inside several churches, and read a bit of the Bible, so I guess I'm clear to bash religion.

So I guess that brings me to what grinds MY gears: people who try and indoctrinate me with their religious views and their faith. Some people seem very intent on "spreading the gospel" and feel it's important to have prayer in school, yet they seem to ignore where the Bible tells them they should pray in secret. Please, could you do a little more of that?

I actually do know what you're saying about the Church when it was actively ignoring what Christ taught. I agree with that statement thoroughly. Unfortunately, not much has changed a thousand years later. Unfortunately for anyone who actually believes in what Christ taught, the Church is forever going to speak for you in the eyes of the multitudes. Not a thing you can do about it, and it's a deep well of material for those faith bashers to draw from. It's kind of like some U.S. presidents (I won't bring up examples because I'm not going to get partisan), there could have been a number of great things they did, that will forever be overshadowed by negative things. All you can do is tend to your own beliefs, because humankind will forever contradict one another with what each one "knows" to be the truth.

  For a Christian who believes in and honors the teachings of Christ, attempting to spread one's faith is an imperative, not a choice.  However, the clear example of Scripture is to spread the faith by gentle persuasion and moral example, NOT by violence, force, or obnoxiousness.  The Church lost its way when it picked up the sword in the Middle Ages.

   However, while the Church today is so splintered and fractured today that it is almost impossible to speak of in the singular, there are plenty of churches out there filled with good people who try to honor the teachings of Christ and obey the Scriptures to the best of their ability.  No church is perfect because churches are made up of people and people are messed up creatures.  But I firmly believe there is more good in the church than bad.

  A very common criticism that is levelled against people of faith is that they are failing to obey one Scripture or another (like praying in secret, as you mentioned), and then criticized roundly when they try to obey another Scripture (like, "Go ye therefore and teach all nations . . .").  For a person of faith, Scripture shouldn't be followed in snippets.  It needs to be read, studied, and followed in its entirety to the best of our ability.  The majority of a Christian's prayer life should indeed be done in private, one-on-one with God.  But there are times and places where Christians should pray as a body (corporate prayer, we call it, but not in the "business" sense of the word), and there are even occasions for public prayer.

  I think a big part of the gripe about prayer in schools is that it was an active part of our nation's academic life for over 150 years, and the courts struck it down without citing a single legal precedent for doing so . . . and now the "Separation of Church and State" issue has been pushed to such ridiculous extremes that teachers in many public schools can't even wish their students a "Merry Christmas."  I don't think even the most deistic of our founding fathers ever intended for the Establishment Clause to reach that level of intrusiveness.  Compare the statistics on reading level, test scores, literacy, student behavior, teen pregnancy and drug use, and almost every measurable category of performance in our schools between the 1950's and today.  Are we sure the Supreme Court did us a favor there?  Maybe those prayers DID do some good!

Aw, man, there I go sharing my faith again.

I guess I just ground your gears.  Sorry.

[3mnkids]

I think a big part of the gripe about prayer in schools is that it was an active part of our nation's academic life for over 150 years, and the courts struck it down without citing a single legal precedent for doing so . . . and now the "Separation of Church and State" issue has been pushed to such ridiculous extremes that teachers in many public schools can't even wish their students a "Merry Christmas."  I don't think even the most deistic of our founding fathers ever intended for the Establishment Clause to reach that level of intrusiveness.  Compare the statistics on reading level, test scores, literacy, student behavior, teen pregnancy and drug use, and almost every measurable category of performance in our schools between the 1950's and today.  Are we sure the Supreme Court did us a favor there?  Maybe those prayers DID do some good!

The problem is what religion to teach? certainly most Christians would not approve of the Muslim faith being taught. Muslim prayers in school! How about Buddhism? I don't send my kids to school to be preached at. If I wanted that I would send them to church. No offense. I understand and appreciate your dedication to your faith. Its admirable. I just don't think its for everyone.

Too often the bible is used to divide people. To belittle them, make them feel inferior in some way. That has NO place in school.

Sorry about the quote thing.. I couldnt figure out how to just quote that section.  

[lester1/2jr]

I can understand both sides of the issue. on the one hand, the US is all about freedom freedom freedom. on the other hand I think it would not be awful if the bible was taught in schools. I mean, if I decided to raise my kids in thailand or something, I wouldn't be shocked if they taught some buddhism in the schools.

I think the bottom line is christian notions of morality permeate our society.  So I htink that's like  both an argument for having those things taught in school and against because doing so would actually be somewhat redundent.

[Flick James]

Knee-jerk Christian bashing! Especially from Hollywood and the media.   When people who have never set foot inside a church or read a single page of the Bible dismiss and ridicule all people of faith because of

(A) Stuff that happened a thousand years ago when the Church was actively ignoring what Christ taught
(B) The actions of a few nutjobs who are about as representative of Christianity as I am of the Slug Beings from Planet Talos.

Maybe try to actually learn a little bit about our faith before you dismiss all of us as idiots and hypocrites.

I've set my foot inside several churches, and read a bit of the Bible, so I guess I'm clear to bash religion.

So I guess that brings me to what grinds MY gears: people who try and indoctrinate me with their religious views and their faith. Some people seem very intent on "spreading the gospel" and feel it's important to have prayer in school, yet they seem to ignore where the Bible tells them they should pray in secret. Please, could you do a little more of that?

I actually do know what you're saying about the Church when it was actively ignoring what Christ taught. I agree with that statement thoroughly. Unfortunately, not much has changed a thousand years later. Unfortunately for anyone who actually believes in what Christ taught, the Church is forever going to speak for you in the eyes of the multitudes. Not a thing you can do about it, and it's a deep well of material for those faith bashers to draw from. It's kind of like some U.S. presidents (I won't bring up examples because I'm not going to get partisan), there could have been a number of great things they did, that will forever be overshadowed by negative things. All you can do is tend to your own beliefs, because humankind will forever contradict one another with what each one "knows" to be the truth.

 For a Christian who believes in and honors the teachings of Christ, attempting to spread one's faith is an imperative, not a choice.  However, the clear example of Scripture is to spread the faith by gentle persuasion and moral example, NOT by violence, force, or obnoxiousness.  The Church lost its way when it picked up the sword in the Middle Ages.

  However, while the Church today is so splintered and fractured today that it is almost impossible to speak of in the singular, there are plenty of churches out there filled with good people who try to honor the teachings of Christ and obey the Scriptures to the best of their ability.  No church is perfect because churches are made up of people and people are messed up creatures.  But I firmly believe there is more good in the church than bad.

 A very common criticism that is levelled against people of faith is that they are failing to obey one Scripture or another (like praying in secret, as you mentioned), and then criticized roundly when they try to obey another Scripture (like, "Go ye therefore and teach all nations . . .").  For a person of faith, Scripture shouldn't be followed in snippets.  It needs to be read, studied, and followed in its entirety to the best of our ability.  The majority of a Christian's prayer life should indeed be done in private, one-on-one with God.  But there are times and places where Christians should pray as a body (corporate prayer, we call it, but not in the "business" sense of the word), and there are even occasions for public prayer.

 I think a big part of the gripe about prayer in schools is that it was an active part of our nation's academic life for over 150 years, and the courts struck it down without citing a single legal precedent for doing so . . . and now the "Separation of Church and State" issue has been pushed to such ridiculous extremes that teachers in many public schools can't even wish their students a "Merry Christmas."  I don't think even the most deistic of our founding fathers ever intended for the Establishment Clause to reach that level of intrusiveness.  Compare the statistics on reading level, test scores, literacy, student behavior, teen pregnancy and drug use, and almost every measurable category of performance in our schools between the 1950's and today.  Are we sure the Supreme Court did us a favor there?  Maybe those prayers DID do some good!

Aw, man, there I go sharing my faith again.

I guess I just ground your gears.  Sorry.

Look, you and I are clearly going to disagree here. The Establishment Clause is just one of those things. It seems to be crystal clear to me, yet to you it seems equally clear, and we don't agree. It says nothing about excluding prayer from public school, yet it also says nothing about including it. Again, back to my statement that humankind is plagued with the tendency to see the truth and something that is very clear, yet it can be strikingly different to what someone else sees as the truth. Where I'm puzzled is how the exclusion of prayer in school can be "intrusive." Seems a contradiction to me. This is the kind of irrationality that the presence of religion and faith bring to any forum.

The two of us can go back and forth all day long in regards to the historical context, and we're still not going to get anywhere. I can bring up, for example, that catholic immigrants from Europe in the 1800's protested to having to recite Protestant prayers in school. "Under God" got added to the Pledge of Allegiance in the 1950's. This is a topic that has been gone back and forth since the country's inception.

The insistence on prayer in school can only come from the religious right, because, as you say, it is a moral imperative to spread the gospel. The insistence on prayer NOT being in school can only come from the liberal left. And on and on it goes. Who decides what is acceptable prayer? Can a muslim child bring out their rug and pray to the east five times a day? Why should these questions even be an issue at all?

It may be the imperative of Christians to spread their faith, but it is not the imperative of the government. The government of a free society must remain secular at all times, and let faith and business fend for itself. It falls up on the parent to provide matters of faith to their children, and thus, send them to a religious school if that's what they want for them, not the other way around.

I know we're never going to agree on this. Nothing I can do about that. We both seem to use the constitution as our argument, yet we have opposite views. Funny how that works.

[diamondwaspvenom]

Other things that really p**ses me of:

Modern movie goers who endlessly praise cgi and constantly condemn animatronics, stop-motion and actual set construction for being "fake".

People who give nasty looks at you just because of what you're wearing.

Teenagers...just teenagers. I know I can't criticize every one of them for being immature, stuck-up little s***s. Unfortunatley, the majority is like this. I hate all of their stupidity, close mindedness and immaturity.

[Flick James]

Other things that really p**ses me of:

Modern movie goers who endlessly praise cgi and constantly condemn animatronics, stop-motion and actual set construction for being "fake".

People who give nasty looks at you just because of what you're wearing.

Teenagers...just teenagers. I know I can't criticize every one of them for being immature, stuck-up little s***s. Unfortunatley, the majority is like this. I hate all of their stupidity, close mindedness and immaturity.

Yes. Teens can be intensely stupid and annoying much of the time. Their raging hormones make them even more annoying and stupid, as they tackle new emotions for the first time and try to pretend they have wisdom. Ah, youth is wasted on the young. I feel like such a curmudgeon.

[Allhallowsday]

Like so many of you mentioned,  rude or inconsiderate people are on the top my list too.  Don't ya just love it when you're walking into a store, supermarket or public building and the person entering ahead of you lets the door practically hit you in the face.

Oh, I can beat that.  Today, I was exiting the supermarket with a box filled with wine bottles; it was heavy, but this older (or should I say "even older") man was coming in pushing a cart.  I stood back, pushed the door open for him with one arm while holding the box with the other.  He walked right past me like an automaton like it was my job to hold the door for this sack - he saw me hesitate and open the door for him - we were merely inches apart, yet no "thank you" or "thanks" for having inconvenienced myself.     As I walked behind him and out the door, I said loudly "You're welcome!"  M.F.Aho. 

Unsupervised children. I just don't understand parents who don't seem to notice that their kids are running amok in restaurants, department stores, theme parks etc.

The ultimate gear grinder. 

[The Burgomaster]

There's an administrative assistant in my office who started watching THE GODFATHER for the first time a few months ago.  She said she couldn't get into the movie because it's "too old," so she never finished watching it.  I'm 46 years old and she's a year or two older than me.  This movie is IN COLOR and was made DURING HER LIFETIME and she said it's too old.

Burgo, that reminds me of the idiot at my neighborhood video store who was concerned about me wanting to rent a certain film. His reasons were:

1. The film was in black and white.
2. It was in French
3. It was violent
4. It was anti-police
5. It was only on VHS*
6. He didn't think anyone would want to see it because of 1 through 5.

Bastards!  They're all bastards I say!  But this brings to mind another pet peeve . . . when you go to the "Employee Recommendations" section of a video store and it's full of crappy movies.  Everyone is entitled to their opinion but when 90% of the movies in the recommendations section are crap SOMETHING IS WRONG AND SOMEONE MUST BE PUNISHED.  THUS SPEAKS DR. DOOM!

[Flick James]

Like so many of you mentioned,  rude or inconsiderate people are on the top my list too.  Don't ya just love it when you're walking into a store, supermarket or public building and the person entering ahead of you lets the door practically hit you in the face.

Oh, I can beat that.  Today, I was exiting the supermarket with a box filled with wine bottles; it was heavy, but this older (or should I say "even older") man was coming in pushing a cart.  I stood back, pushed the door open for him with one arm while holding the box with the other.  He walked right past me like an automaton like it was my job to hold the door for this sack - he saw me hesitate and open the door for him - we were merely inches apart, yet no "thank you" or "thanks" for having inconvenienced myself.     As I walked behind him and out the door, I said loudly "You're welcome!"  M.F.Aho. 

Unsupervised children. I just don't understand parents who don't seem to notice that their kids are running amok in restaurants, department stores, theme parks etc.

The ultimate gear grinder. 

[Flick James]

Like so many of you mentioned,  rude or inconsiderate people are on the top my list too.  Don't ya just love it when you're walking into a store, supermarket or public building and the person entering ahead of you lets the door practically hit you in the face.

Oh, I can beat that.  Today, I was exiting the supermarket with a box filled with wine bottles; it was heavy, but this older (or should I say "even older") man was coming in pushing a cart.  I stood back, pushed the door open for him with one arm while holding the box with the other.  He walked right past me like an automaton like it was my job to hold the door for this sack - he saw me hesitate and open the door for him - we were merely inches apart, yet no "thank you" or "thanks" for having inconvenienced myself.     As I walked behind him and out the door, I said loudly "You're welcome!"  M.F.Aho. 

Unsupervised children. I just don't understand parents who don't seem to notice that their kids are running amok in restaurants, department stores, theme parks etc.

The ultimate gear grinder. 

Ain't catharsis grand?

[JPickettIII]

I'll tell ya what really burns my butt!!!!!!!






A midget with a lighter.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA