Undermining my Teetotalism

I am not much of a drinker and it is pretty rare for me to have a drink at home.  However, for the last couple of nights I have been kicking back with a relaxing gin and tonic.

I grew up in a tea-totaling church.  This branch of the church (Assemblies of God if you're interested) gradually came to accept a bit of "sensible" imbibing over the years.  And so I got to graduate from Lemon, Lime and Bitters, to occasionally having something a little more potent.

I have spent a lot of my 4th decade unraveling the knots I acquired in this environment but I still have not acquired the knack of drinking very much.

I have found it interesting to observe how others relate to alcohol after deconverting from the same, or similar, religious upbringings.  Some continue to avoid it: "I have lived perfectly well for this long without drinking why start now?"  Others suddenly embrace alcohol, and by embrace I mean at every possibly opportunity as they try to rapidly make up for missing out on teenage hangovers and embarrassing lapses of dignity at parties.

I have tended more towards the conservative side.  Partly because I have a voracious sweet tooth and most alcohol still tastes crappy to me (though I don't leave your bottle of butterscotch schnapps lying around).  But probably it is mostly because I am a control freak and the thought of being drunk is scary.

I watched Paul last night (while nibbling on dips and bread and sipping my G&T) and had a good laugh.  I loved Kristin Wiigs character who undergoes an instantaneous deconversion.  She makes it look so simple.  All you need to do is find an accommodating alien to lay hands on you and impart his knowledge and experiences.

Below is a little promo youtube thingy.  I have included it here because it shows some of her post-deconversion antics.  It is a pretty predictable movie so I don't think it will spoil it too much if you have not already seen it.

I love the character's reaction to her suddenly altered world view and new found freedom.  Pretty different to how I have reacted.   There is a lot for me to think about right there.

Worth Watching

I talked to someone on the telephone yesterday at length about how can we possibly account for the tragedy and evil in the world. Where is the meaning in our lives? Is there something beyond random chance at work?

As humans, we have a rich heritage of mythology, which has persisted through the ages and across diverse cultures. What are the lessons that we, as individuals and as the human race, can learn from this wisdom passed down in story form, and from the breadth of our history?

The person I was talking to has started on the process of discovering and asking their own questions quite recently. I could identify very strongly with their dismay in realising that the more they thought about "things" all it did was reveal more questions, rather than resulting in answers.

I find this talk by Jordan Peterson very helpful.
>> Jordan Peterson: The Nature of Evil
He is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto (formerly a professor at Harvard). He has obviously been thinking about these issues for much longer, and much more in depth, than I have.

I highly recommended watching this presentation. It is well worth taking the time to watch and think about some of the ideas he presents.