If I say something clever, I want it to be something I said. There's nothing more pretentious than hearing the same clever line from the same clever book 27 times, so that (white) evangelicals can seem well-read and edgy. This is a clear sign in fact that the comfortable are being comforted.
[Maybe you just don't like evangelicals.--ed.] That's a thought. But I wouldn't say I dislike anyone. Here is every evangelical blog comment thread ever on An Important Topic:
Person A: I read that book, and it's great! I had questions about [Intellectual Words, demonstrating, on the face of it anyway, more than a vague familiarity with whatever it is.]
Person B: That's a good question, and I think a partial answer can be found by reading this in conjunction with Another Smart Work By Another Person. They don't line up precisely, but that's what makes it interesting!
Person C: Kudos to the writer of this post. I will now deploy a quote from Chesterton, Lewis, or Flannery O'Connor that has only the remotest relation to the post, but it will demonstrate that I am Well-Read and Concerned About The Right Things. (Let me remind the reader of the "Kudos" Vainglory Corollary: If someone starts a comment off with "Kudos," the chances that they have not read the work in question approach 1.)
That's the other thing: If you need Catholics (or almost-Catholics) to say what you're trying to say, well, come on in; the water's nice.
[Maybe you just don't like evangelicals.--ed.] That's a thought. But I wouldn't say I dislike anyone. Here is every evangelical blog comment thread ever on An Important Topic:
Person A: I read that book, and it's great! I had questions about [Intellectual Words, demonstrating, on the face of it anyway, more than a vague familiarity with whatever it is.]
Person B: That's a good question, and I think a partial answer can be found by reading this in conjunction with Another Smart Work By Another Person. They don't line up precisely, but that's what makes it interesting!
Person C: Kudos to the writer of this post. I will now deploy a quote from Chesterton, Lewis, or Flannery O'Connor that has only the remotest relation to the post, but it will demonstrate that I am Well-Read and Concerned About The Right Things. (Let me remind the reader of the "Kudos" Vainglory Corollary: If someone starts a comment off with "Kudos," the chances that they have not read the work in question approach 1.)
That's the other thing: If you need Catholics (or almost-Catholics) to say what you're trying to say, well, come on in; the water's nice.
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