Mistakingly insulting SLO students
If I were a mean-spirited atheist (I’m not, although I am an atheist) with a passive aggressive streak AND lived in San Luis Obispo (aka “SLOâ€) AND wanted to spite the student body at the local university, I might create a parody religious website called www.everyslostudent.com (get it, “every SLO student†— ha ha, chortles the mean-spirited people). Then I would post signs all over campus inviting students to come to the site where I would satirically praise the virtues of being a “SLO Christian student†using every known argumentative fallacy I could think of. I know, I know. Sounds immature and petty. Besides, the “SLO†pun is almost too obvious to even discuss. The whole “SLO=slow†gag has been done so many times here in town, it has become a cliche within a cliche. But it is still considered tolerable by the locals when being “slow†can be spun as a positive thing like “I love the SLO life†(in a “Slow Boat to Mexico†sipping-beer-and-fishing-all-day-with-Jimmy-Buffett sort of way).
Well, someone beat the mean atheists to it. But the sad and ironic thing is that it is a real student Christian organization who are responsible. In a lob-a-SLO-one-over-the-plate sort-of-way, they apparently they didn’t really get the “SLO/slow†connection when creating their domain name — which perhaps implies that the double meaning is more accurate than they intended. This is like the old “Slow Children at Play†signs where officialdom, equivocation, and irony collide.
But then take it to the next level. Imagine someone from San Luis Obispo displaying a sign that said “SLO Kids at Playâ€, but who didn’t seem to get the “SLO=slow†irony and also didn’t get the original “Slow down†versus “mentally slow†amphibology. Yes, they really thought they were showing community spirit instead (if I’m missing another layer of irony here, especially if you really are from the San Luis Obispo Children’s Theater at Unity, please let me know because I seriously think there should consider another spin on that).
Or a parent who, with no hint of ironic self deprecation, proudly posted a “SLO baby on board†sticker on their car, thinking they were being clever (ok, I made that one up — but wait for it!). I have to admit it sort of gives me the creeps.
Ok, but we haven’t even discussed the CONTENT of the everyslostudent site yet, which, in honesty, is just all the usual tired Christian apologetics I’ve heard a thousand times over. However, I will grant them that they are at least TRYING to make logical, reasonsed arguments for their philosophy, which is a good start. It will be worth another blog post here in the future to discuss the arguments point-by-point. In the mean time (“mean” as in “in between” not “nasty and spiteful”), can someone who sympathizes with their cause please gently explain to their “SLO marketing group” they need to get a new domain name before they further embarrass themselves and alienate their target audience. Think about it, if you were a student in San Luis Obispo and curious about a new philosophy, would you want to join an organization called “every slo studentâ€?
Sigh. I should stay away from this kind of low-hanging fruit.