Category: Conformity
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Self Betrayal Does Not Lead to Love
Generally speaking, I am not nice. But, I am kind. Nice is performative and at its core is a subtle form of manipulation. You present yourself in a certain way in order to manage another person’s perception of you, whether its to convince them that you’re a better person than you actually are for your…
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No! You Do Not Totally Get It
Do you know what always annoys me? When people always talk in absolutes and never understand that there are things they may never understand. Did you see what I did there? I used absolutes to explain that I am always annoyed with people who speak in absolutes. Annoying, right? Absolutely Ludicrous So in the off…
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Two Ideas One Mind: The Vices and Virtues of Cognitive Dissonance
I sometimes wonder if hypocrisy comes from a person’s inability to harmonize the seemingly divergent awarenesses that arise as a result of them experiencing cognitive dissonance. Take for example someone like the segregationist Senator, Strom Thurmond who, despite adamantly advocating against civil rights for Black Americans and pushed for state’s rights to impose segregation, was…
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Brain Trust
There is a reasonable chance that I am on the autism spectrum. I have never written those words before. But, in the past few years, I have tried to leave clues to this possibility and have been openly sharing with some people that, when I was younger, family and some friends raised this possibility many…
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Transforming Purpose
Years ago a friend told me that he was sad because he didn’t know his life’s purpose. For some reason, I had never thought about that concept before. And so, because I didn’t know how to take what he was saying seriously, I insensitively reacted with laughter. This upset him, which only made me laugh…
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There is No Competition
I might be going through a midlife crisis (MLC). A word that etymologically means, “the point at which change must come, for better or worse.” I remember that whenever I heard about MLCs growing up, I thought that whatever it was, it would never happen to me because the way MLCs are typically characterized, it…
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When Rules Break the Law
Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 1holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.…
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Is Common English An Inherently Biased/Oppressive/Racist Language?
Can a language be biased/oppressive/racist? I know that right off the bat some people will take issue with the question this title suggests. They’ll say, “No. A language can’t be inherently racist or anything else other than a method of communication. It is neutral. Words don’t hurt people. People hurt people.” And to some degree,…
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Who Are You Ashamed For?
Is it possible for humans to create or invite in the possibility of a shameless society? Or, is shame an integral part of group building and maintenance, without which there would be more chaos than we currently witness? One of the most difficult things about engaging with groups is the tendency of collectives to try…
The Roofless Church 