not quite random curiosity

[ratcreature]

The object of today's curiosity is signatures added to blog and journal posts. In particular the practice I've encountered in some blogs (mostly non-fandom) to include random religious scripture excerpts at the bottom of every post, even if the blog itself has no obvious religious content or otherwise preachy slant or anything like that. I tend to find this vaguely annoying, and usually won't subscribe then, even if I otherwise might have. Case in point, just now I came across one of those "a painting a day" blogs, and the art looked nice enough, but I find signature quotes that are unrelated to the content of the post annoying more often than not in general (especially the picture sigs on some message boards, I'd actually take preachy ones over those), but these seem even more obnoxious to me.

I understand that for some faiths there exists some sort of obligation to spread their words or something like that -- I vaguely remember that from confirmation classes at least -- but does it have to be in your art blog posts? It's not like I'm about to be converted by these. So now I'm curious: Do others like/dislike this kind of thing? Are indifferent? Maybe you overlook them, like with ad-blindness? Thus a poll:

Poll #2288 religious signatures?

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 40

View Respondents

What is your reaction to religious quotes as blog signatures?

View Answers

I like them.
0 (0.0%)

I like them only if they are from my religion.
0 (0.0%)

I don't mind them/just overlook them.
10 (25.0%)

I dislike them.
28 (70.0%)

Your radio buttons are oppressing me.
2 (5.0%)

Comments

[glockgal]

LOL word semantics: I can't say I actively dislike them, because live and let live, since it's not harming me*. But as your first commenter says: if they have the right to post quotes, I too have the right to find the quotes trite and simplistic.




*then again, it may not harm me; but perhaps it may harm others? In which case, maybe I do have more of a problem with it than I originally thought?

[ratcreature]

Yeah, after I posted it occurred to me that I maybe should have differentiated between the dominant/majority religions and minority religions, because there is power difference between these and their public presence, their preaching, history of oppression of others and such, but I admit that that hadn't really occurred to me, mostly because as an atheist with protestant cultural background I'm pretty much the mainstream where I live.

Personally I'm mostly bothered by the "spam aspects", i.e. that with every blog posts there is some part that does not belong to the topic of the blog/entry, and that the content of that tacked on part is not something I'd be reading on its own (like funny quotes or the like), so they seem more annoying that the usual sigs even. And I'm not that thrilled with those in blogs either.

[glockgal]

Good points!

:D Yeah, I don't really feel discomfited by seeing religious quotes; but not being religious (in a community sense), I admit I tend to make judgments/assumptions on the people who so fastidiously use them, heh.

Now the spam aspects, I totally get - for me, any unwieldy sig (religious or non-religious) that can sometimes get larger/more obnoxious than the post itself is just really annoyingly spammy. I feel the same way about tedious sig lines in emails as well!