She converted to Islam
The joy of speaking to adults
On our Project Pureblood weekly video call this Wednesday (video is optional do not fret), one Pureblood said some stuff about Islam.
Then another Pureblood said some stuff about Islam.
Then a fellow Pureblood spoke up and said, something like this:
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“I am Muslim guys. I met some good people a few decades ago from Malaysia and I converted to Islam. And I’ve gotta tell you, what I just heard doesn’t fit with my experience.”
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I wasn’t expecting that, but truth be told, I can’t recall a single predictable Project Pureblood call.
Things can get wild on these calls.
It is sort of what happens when you are speaking to an adult: it's like they can think for themselves or something.
And then when you get an adult into a conversation with other adults -- watch out.
What happens then is really dangerous to the powers that be.
It's almost like people want to share some of the ways that they think for themselves.
It's not virtue signaling, either, they just start to share. It just starts to come out.
And the reason it just starts to comes out? ...
They aren't surrounded by easily triggered banshees that will freak out and end the conversation (or the relationship) because someone said the wrong thing.
When an adult is around other adults, the adults just start to share differently.
They have adult conversations.
A room full of easily triggered banshees (or children in adult bodies) is empowering to the powers that be.
They are convinced that they think for themselves and are so original, while actually being nothing more than an extension of the borg-like hive-mind that will react predictably when exposed to the proper triggering stimulus.
That's how a child in an adult body acts.
And adults talking to adults, sitting at the adult table act differently.
It's like this Gustave Flaubert quote that used to hang on the wall of writer William Styron's studio (that's a nerdy writer things to know, one day I hope nerdy young buck writers share what hung on the wall of Allan Stevo's writing studio - there are six quotes hanging there right now).
On that writer's wall it said: "Be regular and orderly in your life so that you may be violent and original in your work.”
Yes, neat stuff happens when you get into a conversation with adults.
It's kind of how America was before the 1990s.
Yes, it's kind of like the 1980s.
The 1980's... that time period before it was acceptable to start crying "I'm offended" in an intellectual conversation.
There was a time when saying "I'm offended" was enough to earn you a ticket to being the laughing stock of your professional circle AND social circle.
You were not serious and no one was expected to take you seriously when you said "I'm offended."
After all, "I'm offended," says "I'm too emotionally unstable to speak to someone who has lived a different life than me or who has come to different conclusions than me."
Those were some good days, days I hope to see us return to... in fact, some of us might already be living in those days in our own lives.
If you guffaw when someone says, "I'm offended," you are doing the world a service.
If a Pureblood said "I'm offended," or some similar verbiage to me, I would probably laugh at that Pureblood and ask for a stiffer upper lip.
I would hope a Pureblood (or anyone else) would do the same to me.
So some Muslim stuff got talked about and a Pureblood spoke up, and said, I'm a Muslim, and I have to say, that stuff you said does not line up with my experience.
And then you know what happened?
No one said "I'm offended."
No one got butt hurt.
Including the religious minority in the group.
Not a tear was shed (at least not in front of me).
No banshee screams occurred.
And listen, crying isn't bad.
But running around crying all the time and moaning about how offended you are and how that means other people need to shut up in order to help you control your emotions WHEN YOU ARE LOOKING FOR AN INTELLECTUAL DISCUSSION AMONG PEERS is pretty lame.
We have all felt butt hurt at times. It is a reality of the human condition. We, however, do not all react the same in such moments.
When you find yourself feeling butt hurt, you need a mental health break from life or something, not a platform to speak from and an amplifier loud enough to silence everyone else.
And you'll never guess what happened next on this Wednesday night call... Before long, a Pureblood said some stuff about the Talmud -- a collection of Jewish writing by rabbis.
There was some spicy stuff brought up.
And there might be spicy stuff brought up in the future.
But you know what?
No one cried (at least not in front of me).
And then you know what, one Pureblood spoke up and said he has studied the Babylonian Talmud in completion and much of the Jerusalem Talmud.
That’s not a common thing to be able to say.
We ended up down a few fun rabbit holes on the topic, as I nominated him the resident Talmudist of the group.
He got peppered with questions.
Like many of my readers, the Purebloods are a group that is out of the ordinary, with some unusual and specialized passions that leave us ready for a good discussion.
Plus there’s this: ain’t no one gonna get butt hurt because of something that got said.
Anyway, here’s the deal. If you like my work, get in, and enjoy some time with the Purebloods.
It’s fun and you’ll save a bundle on some other stuff that I do.
If you hate my work, it’s probably not for you.
But there are a lot better people than me in there, so really who knows it might be for you anyway even if you don’t particularly care for my work.
It’s kind of fun talking to the Purebooods.
Again: No one’s gonna get butt hurt.
Did I mention no one's gonna get butt hurt?
It’s almost like you’re having a conversation with adults. They are Americans living in the year 2024, yet somehow they behave like adults in intellectual conversations. It’s a total shock.
I mean, they were turned into subhumans for a few years in 2020 and 2021 and 2022 and for a while they weren’t sure if it would ever end.
After a person‘s been through that, it can be hard to rattle a person like that.
Like I says, No one’s gonna get butt hurt.
They’ve been through worse.
Discussion is a lot better when you get to speak to adults and not aged people with the emotional maturity of an infant.
Anyway, sign up by noon Pacific Saturday if you want in. After that, the doors of Project Pureblood close for the month.
Tap here: https://realstevo.com/pureblood
-Allan Stevo