Rant meme, swunked from Curia Regis. (See, Falc? It's not always you every time!)

[fpb]

1. Comment with any subject that you would like me to rant on. (Note that I may not have an opinion on your subject, and if I do, it might be different from yours.)

2. Watch my journal for your rant.

3. Post this in your own journal, so that you may rant for others.

Comments

and here's the rest...

[fpb.livejournal.com]

reality tv shows
They take the worst features of mankind and make money out of it. They exploit the masochistic need of the protagonists to show that they exist at all, and the voyeurism of a public that wishes to see things that debase them (as the debasing of a human being debases us all). Personally, I find the processes involved so vile that I have never managed to bring myself to watch more than a piece of an episode, and that was in Italy where it involved a beautiful actress I had had a crush on long ago. And I watched the rest of the celebs involved gang up on her and force out. This is the sort of behaviour these shows encourage.
Catholic doctrine vs. Protestant doctrine
Well, how can I speak of that which does not exist? There is no doctrine that a Protestant body has not held or denied at some point; there even are bodies like the Jehova's Witnesses and the Mormons, who, while visibly Protestant, are not actually Christian at all. Protestantism is not a doctrine: it is an attitude. It is the attitude of the person who, coming upon a doctrine or religious practice which s/he does not understand, immediately declares it unsound. On the other hand, Catholicism certainly is a doctrine. It is even too much of one, as anyone who has a look of the Catechism of the Catholic Church knows. But it is also an attitude: the attitude of someone who, having inherited a huge body of doctrine developed by a community of saints and sages down twenty centuries, even where s/he does not understand or even sympathize, accepts it on the witness of the Church (i.e. of our shared historical past). It follows, by the way, that, now that the Protestant churches have existed for centuries, there are a lot of Protestants - perhaps the majority - who have the Catholic attitude of trust in the common past, if not the Catholic doctrine.
people who can only speak one language
Of course, it may not be your choice. It may be a misfortune. But if it is a matter of choice (as it is, for instance, for the majority of Britons), then it is rude to the majority of the world, arrogant, and profoundly self-damaging. To speak another language is not only to have an extra instrument, but to be open to a slightly different way of seeing the world, to new experiences, and last but not least to new people. And it is nice. My German is nothing to write home about, but I will never forget the bright, incredulous, grateful smile of a group of German tourists in Rome, when I answered a question from them in a few broken words of their own language.

Re: and here's the rest...

[privatemaladict.livejournal.com]

Wow. You know, I'm surprised to find I agree with you on most of the above. Well, I don't have an opinion on Catholic vs Protestant doctrine, (would be a bit hypocritical of me if I did). I think swearing is occasionally called for, and I know too well the satisfaction of sometimes letting loose. Still, I've gone to a lot of trouble to clean up my speech - I used to swear really unnecessarily, and I'm sure it didn't do anything good to my image. I share your views on pot, though I can come up with a lot more to say about it, and again, I'd be slightly hypocritical to denounce it completely. And ranting, as well as being a cheap way to make yourself look good, can just be a good way to blow off steam. As such, I'm up for the occasional rant, and don't even try to tell me that you're not. :) And as for speaking one language - well, being able to speak two is nice, and useful, and it makes it easier to understand both other languages, and the ones you speak. But not everyone has a knack for learning a second language, especially if the only practice you get with it is at school.

And I couldn't agree more on the subject of reality TV shows. Big Brother, a fascinating psychological experiment? Give me a bucket.

Re: and here's the rest...

[fpb.livejournal.com]

I'm up for the occasional rant, and don't even try to tell me that you're not
Actually, the whole passage was addressed largely to myself.