"A real Christian is a person who can give his pet parrot to the town gossip." Such is the random quote I found at my (religious) university website today. Maybe it's because I'm an agnostic Jew. Maybe I need another cup of coffee. But as hard as I try, I can't comprehend its meaning. Would any of my readers be gracious enough to explain it to me? Or at least to make an informed guess?
Either or both of the following:
ReplyDelete1. The "real Christian" is so good he would never say anything bad that could repeated by the talking parrot to the town gossip.
2. The "real Christian" is so good he would not mind if everyone knew his business.
A "real Christian" is meant to be saintly and have nothing to hide, I guess. It is pretty stupid.
I think you are dead on on number 1. Thanks! And yes, it's pretty stupid. But if you have a "quote of the day" fixture in your website, it is a recipe for dumb quotes (regardless of religion)
ReplyDeleteSometimes I can be so clueless unless someone spells everything out for me, so I thought I would pay it forward.
ReplyDeleteDaily quotes are usually bad, regardless of religious influence, yes. If people think they are inspirational they are fooling themselves. Ha.
Also, part of #1, would be that the parrot wouldn't have learned naughty or cuss words.
ReplyDelete@Bardiac: I would have never picked up on that subtlety either. As well adjusted as I am to the US (and I am), I feel the cultural difference on certain occasions. One is when it comes to religion. It's not because I'm an agnostic Jew. It's because very few people go to religious services in Argentina, regardless of their faith.
ReplyDelete(The other situation is when I realize that only Argentinians would find normal that I end up having a political conversation with the lady waxing my legs: http://spanishteachingissues.blogspot.com/2012/06/waxing-and-politics-in-buenos-aires.html)