Sometimes I think my calling in life is to be a contrarian. I seem to have to disagree with everything. I suppose there are bigger, more psychopathic contrarians than me, but I tend to disagree with a lot of things most people generally accept.
I feel it the most when I walk into a Christian bookstore. Yesterday I found a reprinted version of a book I loathe. I thought it would die a lonely death with a second-rate publisher. But alas, it’s been picked up and reprinted, and I’ve lost respect for a first-rate publishing house. To my horror, the most irritating aspect of that book was still there, untouched. I still have the original manuscript of that book that I was asked to read and give quotes for the back cover. I keep it on a shelf in my office as inspiration.
But that wasn’t the only thing I disagreed with. I noticed that in the entire “teen christian living” section, half of it was books about sex and dating. Sigh. I won’t even get into that.
But what I did get into were the several books about modesty. For some reason it’s a topic that’s gathering a lot of steam. Once upon a time I would have been on that train (and there’s probably entries in the archive to that effect). But now I see a lot of holes in the modesty logic. I read an article a few weeks back that really pissed me off, and it’s taken all my restraint not to write an all-out rant about it.
Instead I’ve decided to let the ideas fester, let my brain mull it over some more and see what I really think about it. I think in the end I’ll still be the contrarian, but I’m trying to bring a bit of levity to it. Just a bit though. I’m sure the rant is still coming.