Stuff Christians Like

Posted by John Farrier in Religion on March 28, 2008 at 10:02 am


Alex previously linked to the amusing blog Stuff White People Like, a blog about white American culture.  Here’s a spinoff: Stuff Christians Like, a satirical poke at American evangelical culture.  One of my favorites:  

#68.  Saying “I don’t even own a TV.” 

When someone tells me at a party, “I don’t even own a TV,” I immediately stop, drop and roll my way into another room. It’s not the most graceful escape but it works. I am completely cool with people that don’t have televisions. I think I watch too much. I wish I didn’t know who got a really horrible angel tattoo on the show, “Biggest Loser.” I wish my Tivo didn’t know me better than some friends do. I don’t think watching a lot of television is a good thing, but I can’t stand how condescending people get when they’ve “conquered” television and want to tell you about it. Even worse is when they say, “I don’t even own a TV, I like to spend time with my kids instead.” Oh, low blow. What that sounds like is, “For me, my kids are more important than the show Lost, but then I’m not a horrible dad.” If you don’t own a TV, that is cool, seriously, but let’s talk about something else if you see me at a party. Please.

Link via Thinklings


Previous post
this post? Please Email this               
Next post


FUN PRODUCTS FROM THE NEATORAMA SHOP:


COMMENT

28 comments to "Stuff Christians Like"

  1. alison
    March 28th, 2008 at 11:17 am

    doesn't seem like satire so much as a guy just complaining about christians

  2. plainswalker75
    March 28th, 2008 at 11:29 am

    It's like watching 90's standup all over again . . .

    "What's the deal with these hard pews?"

    "See now, Mormons pray like this, and Christians pray like THIS"

    "If yer coffee table has a bible on it, you just might be . . . a Christian"

  3. Kevin
    March 28th, 2008 at 12:04 pm

    "alison
    March 28th, 2008 at 11:17 am
    doesn’t seem like satire so much as a guy just complaining about christians"

    alison as most christian "humor" does. I don't know what is worse. Evangelical Christians that simply wont shut up about people going to hell, or the secular humanists that put stuff up like that to convince their own brand of faith.

    I am wondering what the author of said site would think about putting up a similar link to a site belittling black people, or gays, or atheists?

    Cause you know, white Christians are the only people that it's ok to poke fun at now..

    weird.

  4. Lea
    March 28th, 2008 at 12:05 pm

    the site was NOT FUNNY. and no where did the author give credit to the blog he stole the title from.

  5. christina
    March 28th, 2008 at 12:08 pm

    This one seems more amusing to me than the stuff white people like, because it's not really even satire. It looks like a relatively straightforward "here are some things we do that are actually ridiculous, but it's how things actually happen."

    Whereas the stuff white people like is more "Here are things that are signs of white privilege" like "recycling" and "graduate school."

  6. christina
    March 28th, 2008 at 12:12 pm

    And actually, the "Stuff Christians Like" started before the "Stuff White People Like"

  7. christina
    March 28th, 2008 at 12:14 pm

    Or maybe not. The first one does say they took it from swpl, but I'm not sure how the dating worked out funny.

  8. bean
    March 28th, 2008 at 12:14 pm

    Not owning a TV isn't a Christian thing, it's a poor people thing.

  9. John
    March 28th, 2008 at 12:39 pm

    Kevin wrote:

    I am wondering what the author of said site would think about putting up a similar link to a site belittling black people, or gays, or atheists?

    Why not poke fun at Christians? Lord knows there's plenty of material. Maybe this is "insider humor", but as a pastor, I found the site hilarious.

    I'd like to think that adherents of a religion have a right to lampoon it from time to time.

  10. redphone
    March 28th, 2008 at 12:42 pm

    I say "I don't even own a tv", but in a moaning 'please pity me and invite me over to watch your tv' kind of way.

  11. MikeB
    March 28th, 2008 at 12:55 pm

    Some of you definitely seem to be missing that the site is done by a Christian.

    I'm Christian and find it hilarious... and true.

  12. Kevin
    March 28th, 2008 at 12:58 pm

    "Why not poke fun at Christians? Lord knows there’s plenty of material. Maybe this is “insider humor”, but as a pastor, I found the site hilarious.

    I’d like to think that adherents of a religion have a right to lampoon it from time to time."

    Oh I have no problem with it. My point was however, I am not sure the author is an equal opportunity jokester. ;)

  13. bob
    March 28th, 2008 at 2:11 pm

    "Not owning a TV isn’t a Christian thing, it’s a poor people thing."

    It's a matter of priority, not finance.

    Nearly every shack and shanty in the slums of São Paulo has a TV in it.

    These are people who have to steal electricity, who don't have a phone, who might not have running water and who probably haven't every owned a set of new clothes. Some of them collect cans for a living.

    In the two years I was there it never ceased to amaze me that a family with 6 people living in a single scrapwood room would still have a TV.

    Btw, as a Christian who owns a TV, I think the key is to use it appropriately. Some shows can bring families together, stimulate discussion, etc.

  14. Jon Acuff
    March 28th, 2008 at 2:40 pm

    First, thanks for mentioning my site, stuff christians like. I really appreciate that. Second, I need to clear something up. Lea mentioned "and no where did the author give credit to the blog he stole the title from." I have to disagree with that. The very first thing I posted said the following:

    p.s. this is a direct rip off from a really popular secular site.

    the second post I wrote said this:

    I took the wildly popular site "stuff white people like" and tweaked it just a little to make it about people that worship God. But "creatively borrowing" ideas from the world is only one of the things we Christians like to do.

    I am completely cool with people not thinking it's funny. I don't like 2 and a Half Men,but for some reaons millions of people do. But it's not cool when people skim the site and then say, "no where." Stuff white people started first, I have said that from the beginning. (I just back dated my posts so that I could have a neat, one post per day format but never indicated I was first.)

    Jon

  15. Christophe
    March 28th, 2008 at 3:14 pm

    I don’t even own a TV.
    True.
    I don't need it, I spend my free time on Neatorama!

  16. jesse
    March 28th, 2008 at 3:16 pm

    isn't "i don't even own a tv" more a hipster literati type thing to say?

  17. Robert Seddon
    March 28th, 2008 at 3:34 pm

    Jinx—although The Onion didn't link it to evangelicalism.

  18. Video Game Dork
    March 28th, 2008 at 3:56 pm

    the "i dont even own a tv" is an elitist thing, no matter the creed, race, wealth deographic, religion, etc.

    It's said (in a bragging way) by people who want to sound somehow superior to 'the masses.'

  19. Schodts
    March 28th, 2008 at 4:04 pm

    Too funny, that's the same reaction I have when someone say's, "I'm a republican."

  20. Henry Didymus
    March 28th, 2008 at 5:17 pm

    I enjoyed this site...right up until the repeated anti-Mormonism started creeping in. I guess watching one group of Christians bash another group could be considered funny in some circles, but it really just seems kind of sad to me.

  21. Andrew32
    March 28th, 2008 at 5:59 pm

    .. yeah. i'm Christian, and i own a TV. people that do that annoy me too. this guy's dumb.

  22. Evlyn
    March 28th, 2008 at 9:17 pm

    Way to promote generalization, Neatorama!

    So what if I don't own a tv? I'm a poor college student who's too busy to care. And just because I like compassion in my religion doesn't mean I'm a nutjob.

  23. ted
    March 28th, 2008 at 9:25 pm

    Was kinda lame.
    If you read any of them, you'd see the guy's a Christian who's talking about aspects of his faith - just a load of small sermons.

    I guess if you even knew what The Message was, you'd get the joke - it's more of an insider site.

  24. al
    March 29th, 2008 at 2:41 am

    I've told people in social situations that I don't own a TV -I'm not christian at all.

    I think it's a valid response, if someone else brings up a "by television knowledge only" subject, that seems like a good time to remind them that the omnipotence of television in modern life has the connotations of a pretty embarrassing association.

  25. lux
    March 29th, 2008 at 11:02 am

    boooorinnnnng. I'm not religious at all, but I wanted to take a bible and smack that blogger upside the head.
    Then at least I'd be offending two annoying things at once.

  26. smak
    March 31st, 2008 at 11:03 am

    *in response to blog post #61*

    YOU ARE IRRELEVANT!

    Now, will you please stop telling me about "the rapture" and how an omnipotent, omniscient god -- who, by definition, knows everything I have done and will do -- is going to condemn me to hell because I don't believe in a 2,000-year-old book?

    Please, for the luvva...shut the eff up. All of you.

  27. Rob
    March 31st, 2008 at 12:05 pm

    i think #1 shoulda been "the gays" or to put it into internet terms, "teh geighs".

    and yeah this site isnt a satire at all

  28. Kevin
    April 1st, 2008 at 3:11 pm

    "Schodts
    March 28th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
    Too funny, that’s the same reaction I have when someone say’s, “I’m a republican.”

    That probably says more about you than it does the republican...


PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT

Neatorama Comment Policy
You don't have to register or login to comment, but it's easier if you do so. Comments aren't censored, but those that are abusive or off-topic may be edited or deleted.


Stay updated on the comments with Comment RSS