Christianistiliciousness
The rightosphere seems to be deciding whether to get mad about 'christianist'.
Maybe we could do a kind of deal, like, you guys knock it off with that dopey and irritating use of 'Democrat' (as in 'the Democrat party), and we'll agree not to use 'Christianist.'
There's some complaining about Sullivan's definition of the term, but it's actually well within terminological specs.
Yet another terminological tempest in the teapot of the blogosphere...
The rightosphere seems to be deciding whether to get mad about 'christianist'.
Maybe we could do a kind of deal, like, you guys knock it off with that dopey and irritating use of 'Democrat' (as in 'the Democrat party), and we'll agree not to use 'Christianist.'
There's some complaining about Sullivan's definition of the term, but it's actually well within terminological specs.
Yet another terminological tempest in the teapot of the blogosphere...
posted by Winston Smith at
7:50 PM
6 Comments:
Maybe we could do a kind of deal, like, you guys knock it off with that dopey and irritating use of 'Democrat' (as in 'the Democrat party), and we'll agree not to use 'Christianist.'
I agree with that. "Democrat" instead of "Democratic" sounds vaguely pejorative, I dunno, something negative. (I actually think that "Democratic" sounds positive, and "Democrat" is neutral, but there's certainly an intention there to blunt the viscerally appealing sound of "Democratic.")
Of course, "Christianist" has a very clear insinuation, to compare the non-existent theocratic threat to America's freedom (the 1950s are not coming back) to bin Laden's caliphate and the Islamic Republic of Iran that hangs gay people from cranes when they don't just simply pitch them off buildings.
So, WS, I agree a truce should be called. I do think people have a right to be called what they want, that self-identification thing, you're nothing if not your name. Even YHWH would agree.
I felt bad when I referred to your commenter Duke of Prunes as "Dookie" and he took offense. I really wasn't up to anything, I just made the mistake that an ideological opponent would want to be treated familiarly, as if we weren't enemies, but simply disagreed. Brothers, fellow Americans, all that nonsense...
"Anti-choice" and "pro-abortion" should each be likewise excised. We can play the pejorative game on occasion in referring to concepts or third parties, but if I meself have ever fallen into referring to the cheap rhetorical trick of "Democrat Party" (I hope I haven't), I do apologize.
That ain't right.
I felt bad when I referred to your commenter Duke of Prunes as "Dookie" and he took offense. I really wasn't up to anything, I just made the mistake that an ideological opponent would want to be treated familiarly, as if we weren't enemies, but simply disagreed. Brothers, fellow Americans, all that nonsense...
TVD, you can't actually expect anyone to believe this, can you? This is basically the George Allen defense (iteration 1), though for a much less serious offense.
Your name-shift is pretty funny for a joke about shit, too. Maybe you just wanted to avoid an homage to Green Day, now that they're singing against our own American Idiot.
I agree with you about the insinuation loaded into Christianist. However, theocratic political rule is the goal of many groups and people who can thus legitimately be called Christianist. That's not the 50s coming back; it's a brand new thing all its own, and sharia is its closest kin.
Of course, not all conservative Christians are Christianists.
Well, I see why he got so upset, then. But coming from Philadelphia, I affirm I had no idea until this moment that dookie = shit.
This so weird. I remember that whole dust-up, and couldn't figure out what was going on, but because I didn't realize that you didn't realize what 'dookie' meant.
It's a kind of unusual term, and I only know it b/c it's commonly used Chapel Hill and vicinity. 'Duke' is intentionally misspelled as 'dook' (probably out of a relatively unsophisticated intention to annoy, just like 'Democrat party' and 'Christianist'), and then 'dookie' is a cognate.
Anyway, it's IN NO WAY unbelievable that Tom didn't realize what 'dookie' means to some people. I didn't hear that usage until grad school, and, again, only b/c I happened to go to UNC.
It's not easy to pull off a major cultural faux pas in your own country, but I managed to do it.
Duke, wherever you are, sorry, man. I didn't even know what "doody" was until I saw Caddyshack, honest. We cuss differently in Philadelphia.
I hope this doesn't mean we have to rethink George Allen. Nope, he went on to other even less credible defenses, and even if you dropped the word macaca altogether, his videotaped words had unmistakable malign intent. What a maroon!
This slang is probably generational - even though I'm too old to be expected to have learned dookie from Green Day. My teenage daughter doesn't get the credit/blame either. I probably learned it in a time she was listening mainly to classical and I had not yet retreated into adult contemporary and oldies.
Man, there are a lot of slang synonyms for shit. I bet there's a book in that if it hasn't already been written.
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