...and then, of course, there are the people in it.

I have lately been partaking in various and sundry social experiments, in which someone contacts me and says, in one way or another, "hey, we're doing this thing, d'you want to come along?" and I, in a move that causes shock and awe amongst the populace, say, "sure, when and where?"

I'm aware that these are not, strictly speaking, experiments, that they are in fact episodes of simple socialization. They feel like experiments. I am not in the habit of doing these sorts of things. For one thing, time constraints; for another...

Perhaps it would be better to just tell the story.

This time around, it was a girl who I think I shall call Squiggles, for no reason other than it's a fun word to say. Squiggles used to work with me, and was interesting enough that we kept in occasional touch after she bugged out of work one day and never came back. I have always been slightly antsy about spending any amount of time with her, because while she's quite a nice girl, her taste in people needs work. She is the sort who feels herself unintellectual, and thus pursues with virulent rabidity anyone who she believes to be smarter than she is. Her range is broad, and completely unfiltered. For my part, I ran out of patience with flaming pretension quite some time ago; ergo, previous episodes spent in her company have consisted mostly of other people talking bullshit to one another while I sat in a corner of a booth trying to keep a straight face.

But I like her, and she'd invited others who I also liked, and I'm trying to broaden my horizons a bit, so when I got a text message inviting me out, I went.

When I got into the car, there was a conversation already going. Squiggles' sister was visiting; I believe I shall call her Squoggles.

Incidentally, if you are one of those who knows me personally, know this; I do this with all of you. You are known by casual nickname (usually whatever bit of onomatopoeia is floating within earshot at the time) until I have an appropriate nickname, and sooner or later you evolve to the point where I use your actual name. Unless, of course, I happen to like the nickname better.

But I digress. Squoggles was writing a term paper about that period of time in which sodomy was illegal, sundry sociological consequences and historical precedences, blah blah blah. This subject, much like the whole of human sexuality, happens to fall into my rather broad mental category of Fascinating Things, so I jumped into the conversation headfirst and with good cheer and never mind that I didn't know half the people in the car, including Squoggles herself.

At which point this happened:

Squiggles: Well, for the most part, I think it was because sodomy is like this horrible thing to most religions.
Squoggles: <snort> No, I don't even think the Bible says anything about sodomy in it.
Me: Actually! I'm pretty sure there's a thing in Leviticus that flat-out forbids it. Also,-
Squoggles: <another snort> Well. I'd rather burn a Bible than burn through it, if you know what I mean.
Me: -the etymology of the word comes...from...wait, what?
Squoggles: <smug> I'd rather burn it than read it, it's such bullshit.

At which point my brain came to a screeching halt. But, but, stuttered my brain, but, but... The conversation moved on without me, I'm ashamed to say; there were many things I thought up to reply with after the fact. At the time, I was too busy listening to my interior monologue sputter and slowly grow indignant, then get red around the gills as rage set in. It's probably for the best, to tell the truth. I would have in all likelihood gotten at least a little bit rude with the sister of Squiggles. Squiggles would not have appreciated it, and it would have done nothing to change Squoggles' closed-tight-and-doors-locked mind. I would have likely come off looking like a jerk, and it wouldn't have won me anything.

But neither of them read this blog.

So.

FIRSTLY. Right, yes, burning books, that certainly marks you as a member of the intellectual elite. That's totally what the smart people do. You've proven how very left-wing and anti-conservative you are, congratulations! BECAUSE BOOK-BURNING ISN'T WHAT EXTREMIST CONSERVATIVES WANT TO DO AT ALL. NO MA'AM.

SECONDLY: How can you possibly go through life snorting and being condescending about something you've never even read? Seriously, how can you...I mean, to know about it and not agree with aspects of it, hell, to know about it and think it's all complete malarky, I GET THAT.  I love talking to atheists! I have some of my best and most compelling conversations with atheists! But to not know the first thing about it and yet still feel free to offer opinions? What? What?! Seriously?!

THIRDLY: WHO DESCRIBES THEMSELVES AS A MEMBER OF THE INTELLECTUAL ELITE, ANYWAY?!  WHAT THE FUCK?!

FOURTHLY: The Bible, like it or not, is the single best-selling and most-read book of all time. It is the major text and the single root of not one major religion, not TWO major religions, but THREE. THREE MAJOR RELIGIONS AND ALL OF THEIR BRANCHES. How anyone could consider themselves educated without having read it boggles my mind. You don't even have to read the whole thing! You can read bits and pieces of it! Just...know something about it!

FIFTHLY: THE ROOT WORD OF SODOMY IS FROM SODOM AND GOMORRAH, WHICH IS...LET ME CHECK...OH YES.

FROM THE BIBLE, YOU FUCKING CRETIN.


So not only are you talking about burning books you've never read, batting about ideas that you've not really bothered to think about, offering opinions that have no basis in either your brain or your education and succeeding in actually offending me, which is when you get right down to it REALLY FUCKING HARD TO DO,
but
you
are
WRONG.

WRONG, WRONG ON SO MANY LEVELS, WRONG FACTUALLY, WRONG INTELLECTUALLY, WRONG WRONG WRONG INCORRECT WRONG WRONG WRONG.

Wrooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong.

And I bet your term paper sucks.

EDITED TO ADD: Good gracious me, you peoples with the emails and the yellings! Just because Leviticus says it's wrong doesn't mean I agree with it.! I would have thought you knew me better than that!  That wasn't the point. The point was simply to say  that one of the reasons homosexuality is treated with such prejudice in this country is because the religion of so very many people delcares it an abomination! I DON'T THINK IT'S AN ABOMINATION! 

Also, I have read all of Leviticus and think it's hilariously funny, and the etymology was STILL taken from Sodom and Gomorrah, regardless of at what period in history said word was invented and etymology established!

A bit of context on that last one: quote,

"...the root of the word "sodomy" comes from the name of the city of Sodom, while true, is a consequence of an interpretation made by the people who coined the word, who inferred that Sodom was destroyed as a consequence of the sexual practices of the men who lived there: an interpretation that is disputed by many Biblical scholars. The word "sodomy" first appeared in print in 1297, which doesn't exactly suggest that the connection is immediately obvious."


Fair enough. It was still taken from Sodom and Gomorrah. 


And furthermore, I'm sorry my blog apparently doesn't allow comments from some of you! I'm not sure why that is. Feel free to continue sending me emails, even you yelly people who either don't remember or choose to ignore for the sake of yelling the fact that when it comes to sexual freedoms and sexual rights, I think anyone,


 can do anything they want,


 to whoever they want,


with whatever accessories they want,


wherever and whenever they want,


so long as all parties are consensual and it is not taking place on my bathroom counter while I'm trying to get ready for work in the morning. 


And now that you have reminded me why I don't really bother with talking to people that much anymore, I'm going to go write up my history paper and take it to that class and make nice to the teacher and try not to blow up at the stupidity that has lately been surrounding me every single motherlovin' time I set foot outside of this house.