indoctrination

1. gee, surfer friend, in high school i never woulda' thought YOU would be the one converting ME.

2. the bible belt has begun to claim my sister as its own. she is dating this guy whose family is super duper bible thumpin' xtians. she owns a bible. she goes to sunday school. which is all fine, i guess, since it's her life and it's up to her and as her big (and more enlightened, i hope) sister i should not judge her. i can only hope she comes out of it with less psychic struggle than with which i did.

but i can already see the seeds of indoctrination. every once in a while she will say something that doesn't sound like her, or that sounds like my own reasoning and thoughts at the time of MY indoctrination.

the other day she said something about wanting to cut her hair because she loved it too much. she spends too much time looking at it and just likes it too damn much, so she should cut it off [so she isn't tempted to love it so much, i guess?].

when i accused her of having fallen victim to indoctrination, she said that thought had nothing to do with the church or her boyfriend's influence. easily bought by an outsider, but not by someone who has used that same reasoning in the past. why is it a symptom of indoctrination? the bible says you're not to love the world or anything of it - her hair is "of the world" - therefore she shouldn't love it - since she loves it a lot she should cut it so she doesn't love it so much. my problem with it: it's her hair! it's part of her! if you want to believe in god, he put it on her! he could have given her thin mousy straight hair if he wanted, but instead he gave her this gorgeous curly thick blonde hair that ought to be shown off! my own secular argument: WHAT? it's her hair, it's part of her. she should not feel bad for loving it, if loving it is how she naturally feels about it. there is nothing WRONG with loving her hair, so long as she keeps herself from following the example of narcissus and drowning for love of looking at it. she should not feel guilty about how she feels about her hair because loving it doesn't harm anyone as she is not one to brag or look down on her mousy-haired compatriots. it's quite a pleasure to behold. so for the pleasure of the rest of the world she should keep her hair where it belongs, on her head. (i know, my secular reasoning needs work but that's the challenge of secularism - no one moral authority).

3. we were driving to our grandparents' house when boyfriend mentions that he would like to get some starbucks coffee. my sister begins to chat about how she loves starbucks but does not want to become dependent on it - she doesn't want to NEED to drop five bucks for a coffee drink. i suppose this is a valid concern for any coffee drinker - symptoms of deviation from your daily coffee habit can be quite uncomfortable; not to mention that a daily starbucks cold-frouffy-drink habit could end up being quite expensive. symptom of indoctrination? maybe. for me, definitely because i've used that thought process before. here it goes: the bible says we're to give 10% of our income to god - therefore i shouldn't waste my money on frivolous things - coffee isn't something i need so it's a frivolous thing. therefore i shouldn't make a habit of it. my secular argument to her: first, starbucks isn't expensive if you buy regular coffee drinks or even a short cappuccino, like i buy. second, i wouldn't want to have a daily coffee habit either; that's why i say, EVERYTHING IN MODERATION.