Excuse me while I rant

[litlover12.livejournal.com]

I just want to get something off my chest:

As a Christian, I am so, so, so, so, so, SO sick and tired of hearing about Anne LaMott.

(Raise your hand if you've had this experience.)

Okay, I accept that she's a fellow Christian. I accept that she's a sinful person like me, and that she's very open about her messiness and need for God. Good for her. We all should be so open. I accept that she's a very bright writer and a lot of Christian writers consider her a great guide to the writing life. Fine. Every writer needs guidance; if they find that in her, more power to 'em.

What bugs me is that Christians push her like she's the patron saint of tolerance and open-mindedness, with her arms open to embrace the whole world, when she says and writes stuff like this:

"No wonder a lot of us feel paranoid and hypochondriacal -- it feels more and more as though the Dark Side is truly rising. Did it cross anyone else's mind that Karl Rove was somehow involved in Clinton's heart disease? No? Well, never mind ..."

"I wish Sam didn’t have to grow up in such a violent scary world. There’s so much cancer, so much plague; there are so goddamn many child-snatchers, psychopaths, Republicans."

"I hate to criticize. [Ha!] And I love to kill wolves as much as the next person does. But this woman takes such pride in her ignorance, doesn't have a doubt in the world about her messianic calling, that it makes anyone of decency feel nauseated -- spiritually, emotionally and physically ill." [Haven't guessed who she means? Read on . . .]

"I loathe Sarah Palin. What an idiot."

"It would have been sweeter to me if the careers of Joe Leiberman and Bart Stupak had been destroyed in the [health care] process, but that is because I am an awful person."

Catch that? "I'm an awful person." Translated: "Tee-hee! Aren't I clever? I can spew hatred and vileness and everyone will love me because I'm just so freaking open about my own awfulness." It's like those people who drone on about how they're such great sinners but they won't admit to a single specific sin they've committed. And the thing that makes my heart sink is that it WORKS. You hear the nicest, sweetest Christian people pushing this woman as if she's Mother Teresa. (Just today I saw this on one of my favorite sites: "A week or two ago a friend posted this quote from Anne Lamott on her blog: 'Breathe. Pray. Be kind. Stop grabbing.'" Funny how no one ever quotes her on Clinton, Rove, and heart disease.) It works with people who ought to know better, because we're trained to extend grace, and she's telling us to extend it to her. Even though she doesn't have a thimbleful for anyone who disagrees with her. She's got this twisted act of hers -- the "I'm just so daring and truthful, well, anyone who doesn't like me MUST be a hidebound hypocrite" act -- down to such a science that everywhere you look, people are quoting her as if she invented joy and peace and enlightenment.

And I refuse to accept that.

Comments

[mprice.livejournal.com]

I can happily say that I've never heard of this person. But then again, I tend to ignore faux Christian diatribes.

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That said, those who have accepted God's forgiveness are instructed to leave the sinful nature behind not revel in it. We are a new creation, not the old one with a new paint job slapped on to hide the imperfections.

[litlover12.livejournal.com]

"That said, those who have accepted God's forgiveness are instructed to leave the sinful nature behind not revel in it."

That's it exactly. She revels. You're fortunate to have escaped her thus far -- I hope it lasts!

[neemarita.livejournal.com]

Faux Christian is right.

Love, love, love. All you need is love.

[mosinging1986.livejournal.com]

Preach it! I can't speak to her popularity in Christian circles because I haven't had any experience hearing them speak about her.

What I have is personal experience. I read one of her books and a few articles by her and was absolutely HORRIFIED at her hatred of President Bush, Republicans and all the rest. I had not heard about her hatred for Sarah Palin, but it doesn't surprise me.

You're more grace-filled than I am. I hesitate to call her a Christian at all. It could be that she is. But I find it hard to accept that someone who believes and spews the same lies that the Left does has any clue who Jesus even is.

But therein is the difficulty. As Christians we have become so wimpified (is that a word?) that it is no longer acceptable to even say such things about fellow Christians, or those who claim to be fellow Christians. We are called judgmental and mean.

Don't even get me started on THAT rant, or we will be here all day. To people like this I say, take it up with Jesus and with Paul. Peter too, while we're at it. Go complain to the OT prophets as well. All of these people called out sin, evil and just plain wrong-ness, wherever they saw it.

[athousandsmiles]

Never heard of her. Can't say I'm upset about that.

[dark-weezing.livejournal.com]

Wow. She makes Debbie Schessel look sane, although Debbie isn't Christian. Heh.

I would admire the self-deprecation, except, yeah, she is being intellectual dishonest, here and there. (I'm not a Christian, so is it a big venial sin when added altogether?)

[dark-weezing.livejournal.com]

By the way, congrats on making the big time:

http:// bigjournalism. com/gdalfonzo/2011/06/11/letting-the-media-do-our-thinking-an-excerpt-from-bring-her-down/

You is famous, now.

[litlover12.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :-)

(I'm Protestant, so I'm not sure how the whole "venial sin"/"mortal sin" distinction works. That's more of a Catholic thing.)

[modernelegance.livejournal.com]

The first time I heard of her was yesterday when I asked for book suggestions. I checked out the book recommended and it was too chaotic in thought for me to even want to pursue reading it.

I can certainly understand your frustration. I have no problem with Christians having different political opinions, but I hate it when Christians spew hatred. It is an oxymoron. We're commanded to LOVE our enemies and PRAY for them...not degrade and be something else other than Christ-like.

[fi-harkness.livejournal.com]

Never heard of her. And I apparently ain't missing much.

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

I think I've heard of her. There are Christian lefties, like Rev. Jim Wallis or that fellow who's going about claiming everybody goes to Heaven. There's the guy I call St. Strawman, a Catholic blogger who's trying to excuse his continued affiliation with the Party of Death, Drugs, and Deviancy by criticizing folks like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Sarah Palin. (I'll take atheist S.E. Cupp any day of the week over a Kennedy Kafeteria Katholic, that's for sure.)

But this lady sounds like a moonbat first and a Christian second. WAY second. She got far enough to realize the benevolent power of the state isn't enough but still harbors a lot of prejudices toward people who don't share her view of the world.

[scarletwool.livejournal.com]

Her book Traveling Mercies is very good.