(I'm Not An) ExMob Clone, Corporate Drone
Name this quote:
"I got very bored and depressed, so I went and plugged myself in to its external computer feed. I talked to the computer at great length and explained my view of the Universe to it," said ____. "And what happened?" pressed ____. "It committed suicide."
I left out the names on purpose because the characters would give it away. A crazy old ex gave this book to me many years ago and I read it and loved it, and recently a movie was made of it. The movie was great, and the author actually played a major role in the development of the movie. This is weird because the author is a recluse. Great book; it is the fifth Standard Works. Now, on to the whammy...
I live in Kingwood, Texas, a small suburb northeast of Houston. Kingwood is owned by Friendswood Development Company and is home to a wide socioeconomic range of people. The people are nice, for the most part, and the wards here are extremely good to each other. There are some issues,though,causing me to reflect on culture. Here is my question: does culture guide environment, or does environment drive culture? Could they drive each other in alternating cycles? That is where I tend to lean. Most of the members here in Kingwood are employed by ExxonMobil. I pose that one's employment plays a large role in one's environment. I call these people the ExMob, because most of these people have similar educational backgrounds and employment , namely I.T. and accounting. Now, to calm the fears of the insecure, let me state there is nothing wrong or inherently of the Devil in being an accountant or working in I.T. For the sake of this conversation (post?) I am just pointing out statistics. Our wards in Kingwood are heavily influenced by the ExMob culture, and I don't know how to explain it, it just is. Just like in the Army, whose wards had a feel unique to themselves, Kingwood is the same way. I am pointing this out because it is evident there are many members of the Church, including myself, feeling a little disgruntled with the Church because of the 'culture' of the wards or people they interact with. I have just now realized, after 30 years in the Church, the feelings I have experienced related to angst against the Church was directed not to the Church, but to the 'culture' of a ward, or a misconception on my part of that 'culture'. It was liberating to understand my testimony of the Gospel finally, and relate it healthily to the Church. There is evidence enough of disgruntled members of the Church to base this conclusion on. The Gospel is true; don't mistake that bros and sis'! The Lord has said many times He looks at the heart, and not the appearance. Anyways, I hoped I made my point clear. I have friends, good friends, in the ExMob by the way. The ones I know are good, good people. Not as normal, like me, and a little off, but good.
"I got very bored and depressed, so I went and plugged myself in to its external computer feed. I talked to the computer at great length and explained my view of the Universe to it," said ____. "And what happened?" pressed ____. "It committed suicide."
I left out the names on purpose because the characters would give it away. A crazy old ex gave this book to me many years ago and I read it and loved it, and recently a movie was made of it. The movie was great, and the author actually played a major role in the development of the movie. This is weird because the author is a recluse. Great book; it is the fifth Standard Works. Now, on to the whammy...
I live in Kingwood, Texas, a small suburb northeast of Houston. Kingwood is owned by Friendswood Development Company and is home to a wide socioeconomic range of people. The people are nice, for the most part, and the wards here are extremely good to each other. There are some issues,though,causing me to reflect on culture. Here is my question: does culture guide environment, or does environment drive culture? Could they drive each other in alternating cycles? That is where I tend to lean. Most of the members here in Kingwood are employed by ExxonMobil. I pose that one's employment plays a large role in one's environment. I call these people the ExMob, because most of these people have similar educational backgrounds and employment , namely I.T. and accounting. Now, to calm the fears of the insecure, let me state there is nothing wrong or inherently of the Devil in being an accountant or working in I.T. For the sake of this conversation (post?) I am just pointing out statistics. Our wards in Kingwood are heavily influenced by the ExMob culture, and I don't know how to explain it, it just is. Just like in the Army, whose wards had a feel unique to themselves, Kingwood is the same way. I am pointing this out because it is evident there are many members of the Church, including myself, feeling a little disgruntled with the Church because of the 'culture' of the wards or people they interact with. I have just now realized, after 30 years in the Church, the feelings I have experienced related to angst against the Church was directed not to the Church, but to the 'culture' of a ward, or a misconception on my part of that 'culture'. It was liberating to understand my testimony of the Gospel finally, and relate it healthily to the Church. There is evidence enough of disgruntled members of the Church to base this conclusion on. The Gospel is true; don't mistake that bros and sis'! The Lord has said many times He looks at the heart, and not the appearance. Anyways, I hoped I made my point clear. I have friends, good friends, in the ExMob by the way. The ones I know are good, good people. Not as normal, like me, and a little off, but good.
posted by White Man Retarded at 6:57 PM
1 Comments:
Yes, Mormon culturalism. I almost made the decision to never return to Church just this December based partly on clique behavior.A good friend of mine is struggling with this also and wants to leave the Church because she thinks she's a pariah since her divorce.
Here's the interesting aspect though. I received a calling for Primary 7-8 class, and she also received a Primary calling. I accepted, she turned it down. Thanks to the awesome kids in my class I'm trying to reform and be a great teacher and stay faithful to Church teachings. While my friend has only attended Church once this month.
This has totally reaffirmed my faith in the divine inspiration behind callings.
There will always be oddballs like me in a Ward. Usually there are enough that we can band together and make our own clique, but our Ward is suffering a serious Oddball shortage this year. Maybe next year we'll get a bumper crop and good times will be here again!
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