We Have Seen The Enemy, And The Enemy Is...Blogblond

the newest disturbing blogblond realization: i have alienated the few friends i still have from my childhood.

i grew up in a clique of 5 people. one of them fell out of the group a long time ago, but the other 4 of us have managed to keep in touch over the years- in spite of the different directions our lives have taken. i try to keep politics, and mostly religion, out of our discussions, since these are points of (potential) contention. you see, i have jumped ship on the left-leaning ideology of our middle class youth. while they have gone on, for the most part, to lead lives that are reflective of the general values that we were all raised with, i have turned my life upside down (which i think was a good decision). after much earnest and thoughtful searching on my part, i embraced a set of values that i think reflects Truth (yes, the kind with a capital T). my friends, who i am certain had their own journeys in search of Real Meaning, have stayed more in line with the ideology we grew up with.

so, what does this have to do with this blog?

well, several of those friends have checked out this blog. (sorry d, but you don't count here, since rumor has it that you have also come over to the dark side and embraced a republican wife...)
was i so excited to share my new pastime with my friends? on the contrary, i felt vaguely evil, as if i had betrayed them and the unspoken pact to not throw controversial issues in each others' faces. i felt like they could/might see my posts as an attack on their values, or as a negation of the sense of meaning they have in their own lives. while i find posting vey cathartic and very inspiring, i purposely did not tell certain friends and family members about the blog so it would never be viewed as a slap at them in any way. but then i found out that some of them have been reading the blog. UGH. (sinking feeling in the pit of stomach...)

so, why this post? i guess in part it is to say that i am writing to provoke thought and not anger. in part it is to apologize if i have offended anyone personally, since my real intention is to attack ideas, not friends (this is for you too, anysara). i don't apologize for or regret AT ALL who i am and what i believe, but i know that at times i can be a bit acerbic, and i want everyone to know that it is not my intention to pick any personal fights.

so, that said, and caveat emptor being officially invoked, i hope you will all come back -as often as you can stand it :) and that you will find something hree that will make you rethink- or at least something that will make you smile when you shake your head sadly, and think, oh no, there she goes again...