Rev Roger, Sermon #80: Pull Your Head Out of Your Ass

[The Good Reverend Roger]

WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?

There's been some serious backsliding in this here church.  Once the haven of those who could laugh at adversity until their sphincters popped, the home of a breed of mutant that wore NO MAN'S UNIFORM, there seems to be a little bit of the old Grey creeping in.  People are running around with causes.

And we all know that there is only one "cause", and that is Chaos, in all her forms and glories. 

Of course, people will deny their uniforms, even as they straighten their collars and brush lint off of their epaulets.  "This is just one side of me", they say, "There's lots more, but I don't choose to express the rest at this time".  And so they click their heels and smack their heads on the backdrop in an effort to march off into the glorious sunset.

Fact:  Once you've put on a uniform, you tend to filter everything through it.  You become what you espouse...A two-dimensional being that sees only the things that their uniforms allow them to see.  Then they fuck off to Facebook or whatever, because they can't get Discordians to stay interested in that topic forever.  And may Eris have mercy on what's left of their souls.

Are you ONLY a scientist?  Are you ONLY a professional in your field?  Are you ONLY a student or a home maker or an artist?  Have you BECOME that uniform?  "Of course not", you say, "It's just what interests me."  But if your interests have narrowed to ONE THING, then WHAT THE HELL IS THE DIFFERENCE?  You have indeed become that uniform.  In fact, it's really hard to see you, because the uniform pretty much covers you up entirely.  One day, there'll be nothing BUT uniform.

Fanaticism on ANY topic is the hallmark of The Pink.  Among myriad other sins, it is boring.  It's not funny, and believe me when I tell you, your sense of humor may be the only surivival trait you have left.  The Machine™ can - and will - take everything else, but it can't touch your sense of gallows humor unless YOU LET IT.

I can't MAKE anyone see the light, here.  I doubt I can even convince anyone...The uniform has its own defense mechanisms, and the biggest weapons in its arsenal are DENIAL and BUTTHURT.  It whispers to you, it tells you that if you take off the uniform, you will have BACKED DOWN, and this may make you LOOK WEAK, and that may adversely affect your standing in "the tribe", whatever you may conceive that to be.

Right-thinking Discordians know, of course, that the strongest person is one who can change his or her mind, one who isn't afraid of changing course, who can ADMIT when they've strayed from the path...And who doesn't have some sort of phobia about looking "silly".  You look silly all the time.  Taking a dump looks silly.  You look silly when you sleep.  But you look silliest of all when you try to never look silly.  That's pomposity, and there's nothing sillier on Earth.

That uniform won't save you from the coming Weird Times™.  I doubt much of anything can...But there's no sense getting all SERIOUS about things you can't do anything about.  Laugh a little.  No, scream your laughter until your vocal chords come out...BRAY SPITTLE AND LAUGHTER IN THEIR UNCOMPREHENDING FACES UNTIL THEY FINALLY BRING YOU DOWN.

Beats the fuck out of ulcers.  And it beats the fuck out of pretending you're something you're not.  In short, it beats being Pink.

Or Kill Me.

[Freeky]

To this I say HOORAH except the part about being a student. A proper student wants to know everything about everything until bad wiring and information overload leaves them lying on the floor, twitching painfully and with a glazed look in the eye.

Once that information has been processes, havoc can be caused in a fashion that can be like unto a scalpel.  The hammer is good for some but not all occasions.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

To this I say HOORAH except the part about being a student. A proper student wants to know everything about everything until bad wiring and information overload leaves them lying on the floor, twitching painfully and with a glazed look in the eye.

There's nothing wrong with being a student.  If you don't learn, you can't deal with the world around you, especially in the high tech world we live in today.  The danger is becoming A Student, and allowing that to describe you entirely.

Richard Feynman wrote about this, in that he was at first upset when he was told he had to take courses that had nothing to do with his major...And then he learned two things:  Most of them DID relate to his major in one way or another (if nothing else, they taught him how to think in new ways), and that THERE IS LIFE OUTSIDE OF YOUR MAJOR.  Or, indeed, outside of your education.

[Freeky]

Touchee. A Student is different from a student.

[AFK]

The last director of this agency was A Student, which made him a pretty horrible Director and boss.  Way too cerebral and didn't know how to drill down and just bring some Rock and Roll to the party.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

The last director of this agency was A Student, which made him a pretty horrible Director and boss.  Way too cerebral and didn't know how to drill down and just bring some Rock and Roll to the party.

Thing is, it's damned easy to put a uniform on.  I have to constantly remind myself at the end of the workday that I am not The Plant.  I am a father, but not JUST a father.  I am a husband, but not JUST a husband.  I am a loudmouth preacherman, but not JUST a loudmouth preacherman.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

*weeds through closet looking for signs that stuff I like might be morphing into a uniform*

Thanks!

[Kai]

Discordianism is yet another uniform. Where are YOUR multiple sides, Mr Reverend?

Or, to put it another way, when I first saw this rant I laughed. Then I went picking radishes. This time of year, they're getting big and prickly, and most of them are woody, some of the rest are rotten. A few of them are huge and beautiful.

So I went out and picked radishes, and cursed the spines, and scratched all over my hands and arms from them. I went and found the biggest, woodiest radish, because I knew it was going to be the most spicy bitter one. And I /ate it/. Right there, Reverend, I ate the hell out of that radish, and it was exactly as spicy and bitter as I thought it was going to be. Damn near broke my teeth on it.


That's all I got.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

Radishes sound good.

I went to the store for a bottle of wine. Then I made a profile pic for my facebook. 

[ñͤͣ̄ͦ̌̑͗͊͛͂͗ ̸̨̨̣̺̼̣̜͙͈͕̮̊̈́̈͂͛̽͊ͭ̓͆ͅé ̰̓̓́ͯ́́͞]

There's not much to discuss here because I completely agree. Mittens, awesome post, vindaloo-salute, etc.

For the sake of conversation, I'm going to wear the asshat uniform.

Fact:  Once you've put on a uniform, you tend to filter everything through it.  You become what you espouse...A two-dimensional being that sees only the things that their uniforms allow them to see. 

If uniforms can be equated with identity politics or reality tunnels or Butt Iron Prisons, then what is the alternative? Nakedness? What would that mean?

We can't escape our Butt Iron Prisons, that is to say, we have to limit our perception in some way, we have to come at things from an angle, or to use the uniform idea—we can't escape cultural roles. There is no, "nakedness" then, if I'm understanding the metaphor correctly. Then the best we can do is be able to change our uniforms at will, and wear whatever uniform that best enables us to do what we want.

Or

[Epimetheus]

I think there is nakedness, but the uniforms appear once you have to navigate any kind of culture or society. It's possible to, say, sit in nakedness out in the hills without having to pretend to be anything. It's also possible to be naked in the mind, while uniformed in behavior.

For OP, mittens. I wonder, have you ever seen someone be fanatical about laughter?

[President Television]

It's happening, Reverend. I'm feeling myself crumble away. I feel more and more robotic by the day, and soon I fear that I'll be nothing more than an appliance of The Company. And what's more, it seems to be confined to me. My coworkers chat and laugh and poke fun at each other, and all I ever do is scrub the dishes. I scrub with silent urgency. I scrub with rage, with intensity, but still I only scrub. I scare them, Reverend. I scare my coworkers, and I don't know why. I'll think I'm just wearing my default expression, but when I get a look at myself in a thinned-out pan I see a mask of fury.

[ñͤͣ̄ͦ̌̑͗͊͛͂͗ ̸̨̨̣̺̼̣̜͙͈͕̮̊̈́̈͂͛̽͊ͭ̓͆ͅé ̰̓̓́ͯ́́͞]

I think there is nakedness, but the uniforms appear once you have to navigate any kind of culture or society. It's possible to, say, sit in nakedness out in the hills without having to pretend to be anything. It's also possible to be naked in the mind, while uniformed in behavior.

For OP, mittens. I wonder, have you ever seen someone be fanatical about laughter?

You're still describing roles that are culturally mediated:

• fucking hippie
• I'm a Dreamer, man
• "enlightened" bhodisattva AKA Auto-erotic Flatus Inhaler
• Authentic™ but only in isolation, see
• Mind Nudist Uniform Wearer

[East Coast Hustle]

Fuckin' A. Preach it, Brother Roger.

[Epimetheus]

I think there is nakedness, but the uniforms appear once you have to navigate any kind of culture or society. It's possible to, say, sit in nakedness out in the hills without having to pretend to be anything. It's also possible to be naked in the mind, while uniformed in behavior.

For OP, mittens. I wonder, have you ever seen someone be fanatical about laughter?

You're still describing roles that are culturally mediated:

• fucking hippie
• I'm a Dreamer, man
• "enlightened" bhodisattva AKA Auto-erotic Flatus Inhaler
• Authentic™ but only in isolation, see
• Mind Nudist Uniform Wearer

No, I'm not. Where did I say any of those things?
If you describe nakedness to the culture, it will start to take those roles depending on who hears it or how you describe it.
Doesn't mean you can't get nekkid.