In which Kippur rambles aimlessly.

[kippurbird]

Kippur is in pain. Her arm has decided to act up again. It does so about once a year. With lots of shooting pains and other fun stuff. Shlomo has reappeared. Fortunately Kippur is going to the doctor for her stomach today.


I was also highly insulted yesterday. I went to an AGUA meeting (a social group for high functioning autistic people/aspies) yesterday and not feeling up to snuff I brought my sketch book to work on a gray scale drawing of a picture I wanted to paint. To get the shading right. At one point I got up and left my sketch book where I had been sitting, to talk to some people. One of the Parents came up to me and said that she had skimmed through my book and wanted to know if she could get a better look at it.

Yes. They went through my private things without my permission. Now the sketch book had pretty innocent drawings and sketches in it, but that's not the point. The point is that the sketch book is MINE. I did not put it in a public place. I had actually left it kinda hidden. So she had to seek it out to look at it. And she did it without my permission. Why?

Because for some reason a lot of parents haven't gotten it through their heads that autistic people have a right to privacy. And that we wouldn't mind, because we don't show emotion in the same ways they do. Also they tend to think that we're all five and so we wouldn't have anything private anyway. After all five year olds don't have any sort of secrets, now do they?

It makes me want to show them some of my more... adult works. XD

Then, later on, a pair of parents come up to me, having seen me working on the drawing and ask if they could look at the book. Seeing as how they asked, I let them.

They did the "Oh Let's Give the Autistic Person Self Esteem Strokes" bit. That's when they ooh and aww over ... whatever it is, without even really looking at it. I know they didn't look at it because they couldn't tell the difference between marker and pencil. Also they used that voice. The patronizing voice that says "We're so amazed that you can do this. Aren't you the talented little puppy."

I hate that.

Please. I'm twenty nine. I have a Master's Degree. Don't treat me like I'm five. I would like to be treated like an adult.

Gee, you're not able to tell the difference between markers and pencil. Maybe you need some educational therapy. Then you'll be able to learn how to tell the difference. Oh! You identified that this is a person. Very good! And yes, this isn't a finished drawing. Excellent!

Gee you're going into people's private property. Did you know that was wrong? I think we need to work on not going into people's things. Sometimes people don't like to share what they have. It's personal. That means it's very important to them and they may not want other people to see it. If you would like to see it you need to ask for permission. Do you think you could do that?

That's what I should have said to them.

And finally on a slightly nuttier note, the true immaculate conception.

"Mary?"

"Yes, Joseph."

"We have a problem."

"What is that dear?"

"I'm pregnant."

(After all, how else could Jesus be descended from David? You get your tribe from your father and your religion from your mother according to Judaism)

Comments

[lauramcvey.livejournal.com]

Gah. I once left my writing notebook upstairs at a family gathering, and left explicit instructions not to touch it. I came back upstairs after a few minutes, and they were passing it around the room. Ad the worst part was that my mother decided the writing was too dark for my age (I was eleven) and wanted to take me to a psychologist and/or see what was "influencing" me. Yeah. Bottom line: never leave notebooks anywhere, because there will always be inconsiderate assholes/snoops who think that common decency doesn't apply to them. Rraw.

[the-norseman.livejournal.com]

Sheeze! Truly annoying people, truly, truly annoying.

Generally they get very offended is you point out what they're doing is wrong, so if you do point it out be ready for an angry ranting response. They'll also claim that it's really your fault. Etc etc.

[lauramcvey.livejournal.com]

"Well, I didn't REALIZE it was your's . . . you shouldn't have left it out anyway . . . why are you so upset? I liked it!" And of course, the classic, "You don't have to be so rude about it!"

[reverie-shadow.livejournal.com]

Really. I'm rather disturbed right now that I can't find my writing notebook anywhere, myself. I've looked high and low for it and can't find it for the life of me, and I only kept it in places such as at work or at home. For similar reasons, I'm worried that someone may have found it and kept it.

But yeah, having people pass stuff like that around isn't just invading your privacy. It's damn insulting. I've had my family think the same about me when they read some of my work--minus the psychologist, though, oddly enough. Needless to say, I don't let them read any of my stuff. God forbid we ever write about anything that's not angels and kittens and treasure at the end of the rainbow!

As for Kip's problem.... I'm sorry to hear about that. That's just damn rude as well. I can understand if someone sees a person's sketchbook lying somewhere and looks at it to see who it belongs to in case if it's been lost, but it's a completely other story to just invade someone's privacy and flip through it. I see someone with a sketchbook, I take it upon me to always ask. Because it's, you know, courtesy.

Ugh.

[spoofmaster]

If it's any comfort, people do occasionally pull that kind of peeking-into-sketchbooks bullshit on the rest of us, as well. I imagine it might happen more to you, though, for the reasons you listed. Another reason, though, is that people apparently have some notion that if it's art, it must be intended for the public, and it's their right to look at it. Nevermind if you drew it just for yourself or your friends, or if it's not finished, they want to look at it and damned if they won't peek over your shoulder while you work and leaf through your book the second you turn your back.

[pandoras-closet.livejournal.com]

This rant needs more use of the word "bitch".

Also, people suck.

[(Anonymous)]

Gah! I don't envy you one bit. I hate if people try to invade my writing or drawing privacy. I also hate that special patronizing voice most adults seem to have when talking to someone "beneath" them. In one of Julia Cameron's books, she calls that voice the Identified Patient Voice. She defines it as the voice that people use to talk down to other people. I hope your next meeting's better.

Cheers,

kellicat

[kellicat.livejournal.com]

Gah! I don't envy you one bit. I hate if people try to invade my writing or drawing privacy. I also hate that special patronizing voice most adults seem to have when talking to someone "beneath" them. In one of Julia Cameron's books, she calls that voice the Identified Patient Voice. She defines it as the voice that people use to talk down to other people. I hope your next meeting's better.

Cheers,

kellicat

[christinaathena.livejournal.com]

(After all, how else could Jesus be descended from David? You get your tribe from your father and your religion from your mother according to Judaism) The virgin birth is pretty clearly tacked-on after the fact to impress the gentiles, who wouldn't be all that impressed by claims of being descended from some ancient king of a long-ago conquered minor kingdom. There are, in fact, two separate (and inconsistent) geneologies of Jesus, both going through Joseph. It's pretty obvious that the first followers of Jesus fabricated Davidian ancestry to establish Jesus' legitimacy as Messiah, and then later on, when they began proselytizing among the gentiles, they tacked on the old divine ancestry bit which everyone important had. Augustus was supposed to be the son of Mars, and even the mathemetician-philosopher Pythagoras was supposed to be descended from one of the Greek gods! (I forget which one)

(BTW, Immaculate Conception actually refers to Mary's conception, which was supposedly without lust)

And, geez, that art thing is just inexcusable. >:-(

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Rraw indeed. At least they didn't have that look like they were doing you a favor. >

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

I knooooow... It's horrible. It's so unfair.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

That and the fact that people don't seem to think that Autistic People can't draw anything... adult. I'm going to do a smut piece (two guys kissing passionately) and show it at the next art show and see what happens. >:D

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Probably. But I'm not one for cussing in my writing.

And yes. They do.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. That Voice. The Voice of EVIL. I had someone use that voice on me once, asking what I was doing out of the group therapy room and I just looked at them and said, "looking for my mother." before turning and walking off.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Well... I like my idea better.

[guardians-song.livejournal.com]

Considering that I go berserk when I get the mindless oohing and awwing from my parents... Must be ten times worse from other people. D: And man, they went through your stuff and SHOWED IT AROUND?! I... Wow. The closest I've come to that is a nightmare where that happenened. I believe I ended up tackling the random dream-person who did that. :P Then again, my behavior in dreams is usually different from real-life (far less restraint), so I think I would only go into a rage if that happened in real life. As in "GAD, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" >:(

And yes. People get HORRIBLY offended if you point out that they're being condescending. *sigh* Suffice to say, they seem to feel obligated to match your anger at being talked down to with THEIR anger at your "ingratitude". >:(


P.S.
The "Immaculate conception" is hilarious, by the way... ah, Biblical MPreg... XD XD XD I think a book about THAT would be far more boundary-pushing than the Da Vinci Cra- err, heh heh, CODE.

[pandoras-closet.livejournal.com]

I am. It's rather liberating.

I advise booby trapping your sketchbooks with nukes.

[veriun.livejournal.com]

Whoa. Had it been me, I would've yelled at them, grabbed whatever of my stuff they were studying like some kind of exctinct animal and shut myself in my room.

I remember going to a specialist, seeing as I'm also autistic (Asperger or something), and I would draw while listening to her. I couldn't get the drawings with me back home, but I really didn't care too much. It was when I came a little early and found her and a couple of others looking at them while giggling and whispering that I decided not to leave any drawings in her custody anymore.

Having others look through your stuff is very insulting; it's like taking someone's diary and read it out loud.
I dunno. Maybe it's okay to read a diary by an autistic person, because the contents couldn't possibly be, you know, personal.

(Damn, now I will always look at the Bible as a supporter of Mpreg and slash.)

[the-norseman.livejournal.com]

I've heard theorists suggest that the royal geneologies were tacked on after the fact, however the whole Virgin Birth fits in far too well with the rest of the narrative. At least if you believed from day one that he is divine, and Christians did indeed believe it from day one.

Also the virgin birth fits in well because it fulfills a prophecy, there's a place where they say the Messiah will be born of a young woman / virgin. Most translations today feels the word means young woman, but obviously some Jews believed that she'd be a virgin as well. So that fits in far too well with early Christian interpretations of Biblical prophesy.

Further if you're going to forger the history of your God to impress the gentiles you should be leaving things out like:

Born under, ah, circumstances that could be interpreted uncharitably.

He was a carpenter.

Executed in a shameful and humiliating manner.

They didn't do that, all of which are much bigger stumbling blocks.

So no, even if you don't believe in divine inspiration it makes too much sense that the Virgin Birth was there from day one; It fits in perfectly with the rest of the narrative.

[jacedraccus.livejournal.com]

Now that's just wrong, your specialist abusing your trust like that... bad enough J Random Fuckwit would look at your pictures without permission, but for someone in that position to show other people and then apparently ridicule the pics....

[reverie-shadow.livejournal.com]

Totally, completely off topic, but maybe this will help cheer you up. If it doesn't induce serious WTF-age, it's hilarious as fuck.

[oceans-heart.livejournal.com]

Oh Jeez what jackasses. Those are probably the same kinds of morons that would treat kids like they are idiots.

[christinaathena.livejournal.com]

I don't see anything in the gospel narratives, other than the nativity account, that requires - or even suggests - virgin birth. Jesus is referred to as "son of God", yes, but that term already had meaning in Judaism. As for the execution, there were other sacrificed gods, most notably Mithra, who was even said to have been buried in a cave and rose to heaven on the third day! Besides which, that would've been a lot harder to hide, particularly once Jesus' disciples had adopted the divine sacrifice interpretation of those events and made it a crucial part of their beliefs.

As for the carpenter, many (not all, but many) of the early Christians came from the lower classes. Saying that God came down in a humble form would be quite appealing to them!

On the other hand, Jesus was several times referred to as the Messiah, which presumed a patrilineal descent from King David.

[christinaathena.livejournal.com]

D'oh! Now that I read it correctly, so do I. ^_^

[(Anonymous)]

You know what's funny? Just yesterday, my sister was looking through my artbook. Now, see, I was right there, so I managed to snap it away from her. She was all, "Ha, I bet it has naked pictures in it!"
I was all,
"No! It's just my private stuff! Mine! Mine! MINE! D:<"
I mean, I'm sorry, but I'm not about to let people LOOK at the map of my imaginary world, okay? That's just weird. I'm not sure why. Just the idea that someone could look at the sea between Marquee and Berutu is just STRANGE, as well as the character sketches.
So, like, yeah.
MY NOTEBOOK IS MINE.

Pet peeves, bear with me

[the-norseman.livejournal.com]

Urm Mithra was said to have been buried in a cave and risen on the third day? Where? Can you show me an actual mythic account where this happens?

This sounds a bit like a conflation of the myth of Mithras' birth from a rock (or a cave); and the fact that the followers of Mithra would go into a cave to conduct their rites.

The one big similarity between the Mithra myth and the Nativity is that both were adored by shepheards. From there matters diverge, Mithras is shown as a warrior right from the start, he kills the heavenly bull from whose blood the useful animals spring. He never dies, he is never shamed, he is never sacrificed.

There is however a lot of wild speculation about mithras, especially from the Victorian period, which is still held up as fact today.

By the way: Pagan gods who die and are reborn, and celebrated as saving mankind, generally do so as part of a harvest cycle. In short their salvation is the very physical crops. Their deaths is winter, and their rebirth is the spring. Viz myths of goddesses abducted by the King of the Netherworld, and carried away.

So if you want to find something pagan in Christianity look at maypoles, plumpuddings, the Pope calling himself Pontifex Maximus, syncretizing saints and pagan gods, and even the sites of many churches (built on top of pagan monuments). There you may have some luck, however the gospel accounts is something fairly new and peculiar in the British sense of the word.

Indeed it's not untill you've sat down to read Roman criticisms of Christianity, like Porphyry's "Against the Christians" or Celsus' "The True Word" that you can really understand their objections. I have linked you to Christian refutations of both, but fortunately it was custom in those days to quote massively, sort of an early hyperlinking. If you want you can skip most of the Christian argument and just read what the Pagans said.

When the pagans accuse Christianity of stealing from paganism they accuse them to taking morality, and parts of philosophy, and then they accuse them of making up fables from whole cloth (e.g. not appropriating pagan stories). Which makes sense since in the olden days making new things was shameful you ought to stick to the old.

It just strikes me as odd that if the similarities are this strong one of these fellows wouldn't go "This is ridiculous! These Christians are just selling a weird version of Mithraism!"

Re: Pet peeves, bear with me

[christinaathena.livejournal.com]

Hunh. I've read a number of accounts of Mithraism that included the sacrifice motiff. But, they're all second-hand, so maybe you're right about that.

At any rate, the Mithra issue was a minor point. Divine descent was very common in pagan religions but unheard-of in Judaism.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Well how about next time I give you the content of my rant and you can add the cuss words?

Sounds good!

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

I like your icon. It's funny.

[christinaathena.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :-) I can't remember where I found it.

[christinaathena.livejournal.com]

Oh, wait, from the icon journal iconomicon

[pandoras-closet.livejournal.com]

It just wouldn't be the same though.

And the best part is, you only need to lay the trap once. Of course, there is the matter of fallout, the devastation, the mutants, but hey, no plan is perfect.

[sonic-sues.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I hate when people say that I must have drawing/writing porn when I tell them not to look at my stuff.

I have another pet peeve: people looking over my shoulder at the computer. They use the "you must have been looking at porn" excuse on that one, too.

[papier.livejournal.com]

Oh, I hate that. I like to draw too, although I'm not any good, and my family love trying to look at what I'm drawing. What is it about 'mine, private, secret' that people don't get?
I also know my mum definitely looks at the stuff I buy online. I put it all away in my drawers or wardrobe and she comments on them when I speak to her, even though I don't usually show her what I buy (no real reason, I usually just forget about it). Once she mentioned shoes that were kept under a bunch of stuff in a shoebox at the back of my wardrobe. I've nothing to hide but geez, mother.