I really am awful. I'm a holier-than-thou bitch. I know more about what you should and shouldn't do than you do. And I'll be happy to tell you all about it. It doesn't matter what the subject is, I have the answer, you don't. Here's an example: When I was part of the Cof$ (Church of $cientology), I thought anyone who wasn't part of it was an imbecile, too stupid to be bothered with. Now that the bubble has burst and I am free to see the scam, I think anyone still "in" is a stupid, brainwashed, numbnuts who deserves what they get (being scammed by a cunning, money-grubbing cult). I was aware of those feelings, each in their turn. I knew when I was "in" that other $cientologists felt the same way -- it was common to put down "wogs" (the word used by $cnists for unenlightened commoners) and pity them for their ignorance. I was especially good at it. Now that I'm "out," I feel no compunction about my distaste for people who still practice $cn. In my defense, I will say that I feel sorry for the people I knew well and had friendships with. I'm sorry they haven't seen the light and are still giving their hard-earned money (and it's not like they have lots of it) to those thieves.
I'm pretty much always on my soap-box. And my realization today was that it's getting really old. Who do I think I am? I act like I'm the only concerned, intelligent, informed human being on the planet, the only one who's trying to save everyone else. What makes it so much worse is that I smoked for nearly 50 years. sigh. And there wasn't one sanctimonious holier-than-thou asshole telling me to quit. It's an epiphany. I can relax. The world will do whatever it's going to do. sigh. This will take some getting used to.
What do other people do who feel strongly about something? Like the environment, or government interference, or Catholic priests buggering little boys? What do they do? Sit quietly chewing their fingernails? Try to effect change? And if they're trying to effect change, don't they need to get on a soap-box at least a little bit? Hmm. sigh. I obviously need to do some research. I welcome your advice.
11.30.2007
Confessions of a sanctimonious know-it-all self-righteous asshole
Labels:
$cientology,
Me,
Rant
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2 comments:
I think you're being too hard on the soapbox. Friends and family on soapboxes teach me new things all the time - about why I should worry about what goes into my cosmetics, for example. Sure, there are more and less abrasive forms of this particular method, but I think yours is well on the less abrasive side. Advocacy is a good thing, in my not-always-humble opinion. Is "humble opinion" an oxymoron, by the way?
I think soapboxes are good - as you know, I have my own well-used one. But I become less and less willing to see things as black or white, good or evil. I am right now in the midst of an e-mail exchange with an ex-Scientologist - a good friend - who is still a "true believer." His last e-mail told me I was "a menace to the human race" by questioning Scientology. Well, we'll see where all this goes. I find it hard to condemn him as vehemently as he condemns me. After all, I was in his shoes at one point!
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