I feel bad to have joined a community just to vent, so forgive me for adding my 2¢ here.
To me the infuriating part of this whole debacle was not the "sinner" thing in the afterword, nor the fierce proselytism.
I'm willing to forgive even the most heavily loaded sentences as, say, clumsy use of English as a bridge language (I'm certainly in no position to cast any stone, but it clearly does not read as an essay written by a native speaker). While the message in itself is very clear, I can very well give the benefit of the doubt on the wording. For example, the very controversial line <<
your problem is...>> (mentioned here just a few posts ago) was possibly intended in the sentence as
"if you feel like you're lacking purpose in life, turn to God"
rather than
"I know for certain that you DO have a problem".
Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe BOTH.
Quantum physics.To comment another point that came up in these pages and on disqus: honestly I can't completely relate to the apprehension towards Minna's conversion, her professed (and allegedly toxic?) self-loathing, and such. I think that most of us don't know Minna personally, we don't know which kind of person she is other than what she shares with us (what if she's *gasp* really evil?
), and I don't find it so fundamentally wrong to take a U-turn at some point in your life, take notice of the flaws in your behaviour and try and do better. And yes, if you do that in accordance with some religion, then the concepts of "flaw" and "sin" might overlap.
But more importantly- I don't... care that much?
I hope it's not impolite to say!
My appreciation of her work and her dedication has very little to do with my appreciation of her as a person (I don't know her!), or my interest in what she feels, other than the basic human empathy: it's good to know she's doing fine, it's sad to know she's not. Everything else (she sounds like she got caught up in ... / her words reveal that ... / I hope her family does ...) feels to me like an intrusion on something that is really,
really not my business, and the fact that Minna made something public about herself does not grant me permission to speculate on this or other aspects of her private life.
Maybe this is a cultural thing.This feeling is reciprocated in that Minna basically told us "feel free to go somewhere else to complain": how we feel is not her business and, as shocking as it can be, she's not there to please her fans. (A commendable philosophy for an artist imho)
In this sense, I don't need to identify with her, or even take interest in her system of beliefs in general, in order to enjoy her work.
A "Christian" story, published just in time for Easter, starring the most literal Easter bunnies you'll ever find, telling about the Passion of Jesus, the Denial of Peter and his Repentance, with a technocratic sauce on top...
... all of this is something I would personally not choose to read, but could enjoy for what it is. (After all, the art is stunning.)
I do understand that some people might feel betrayed about the sudden revelation in the afterword. Now the seal is broken, and we know that Minna - to a certain extent, at least - adheres to a system of values that systematically contributes to the oppression of minorities. Hence I understand the "I can't believe Minna hates me" reactions, although I must say that I personally find them a bit excessive (albeit legitimate): I think it's a mistake, in general, to assume that the creators of content we appreciate also share our same values, and if this issue is so central to me and the way I enjoy works of art, then
*I* should do the homework in advance and do the relevant vetting on the artist. Of course I don't mean to dismiss people's trauma; I just think that one shouldn't unilaterally declare a place as a safe space, without knowing it is, and with little to do to make it as such (I'm explicitly setting apart the fan community from the artist here: we can be in control of what we write and how we interact with our peers, but we are not the ink in Minna's pen).
On the covid19-passport thing I really think we need to sort the wheat from the chaff; I actually believe that Minna touches a very interesting point when she states that people are collectively willing to tolerate more when in fear or in a time of emergency. This conversation does not intrinsically belong to conspiracy theorists and their environments; for example, as workers [European PoV here] we should not be forced to hear sentences like "what do you complain about?! you're lucky to even have a job during these times!" if we call out our employers on their shortcomings, infringements, mistreatment or exploitation (mind: I've heard these things being said). And when it comes to travelling [also: European PoV here; at some point in recent history we collectively decided that internal borders were not as much of a thing here as elsewhere], I could definitely agree with the point made e.g. in
this article (which unfortunately now seems to be placed behind a paywall! But maybe it's just because I've exceeded the maximum number of free articles) commenting on Norway's policy of shutting its borders close to an unprecedented extent, which people this affects the most, and how this creates a dangerous precedent for right-wing parties and how the local population basically did not bat an eye.
Of course, this has nothing to do with Christians being denied freedom of speech.
So, all the above is stuff that I'd put in my personal "it's not my thing" box.
If you found a religion, that's (of course!) fine by me. Whatever floats your boat.
If you want to enthusiastically talk about the good thing that you found in it, be my guest!
If you want to turn a blind eye to the past and very much present wrongdoings perpetrated under the banner of Christianity against minority groups and individuals... that's also ok-ish maybe? I'd argue you're not the first person who chooses to live in this way their own belonging to a Church or a religion.
That being said--To me the disconcerting part was really the persecution complex emerging from both the comic and the afterword (<<and nobody is allowed to say or write anything "harmful" anymore>>), and the bit about Bible 2.0, the mockery about political correctness, gender-neutral language, <<And that's valid, sis!>>, and such, which felt really like a slap in the face.
And this was a premeditated slap. Because Minna had been going on about this side-project for months, and had never once mentioned
what it was about. So it is clear that she intended to shock us. This makes me a bit unsympathetic towards those users on disqus who've been sending messages of "support" after the backlash, as to me it is evident that she knew very well what she was doing. And indeed, in a profoundly honest way, that's what she tells us:
for those of you who were worried that I'm upset or hurt by any things that have been said: don't be! I can't be upset, [...] So don't worry. I'm even surprised how non-hurt I feel, [...]
From a very personal perspective I need to report that I'm not welcome in the community I grew up in - a countryside village where one's social life completely revolves around the Default Religion - because I'm married to a person of the "wrong" gender. So while the "it's ok you're just a sinner" rethoric is something I can laugh about (and I'm sure not everybody can), the idea that, Anno 2021, Christians sit at the persecuted side of the table and they live under the looming threat of being violently silenced by the knights of political correctness is... well... just wrong, in any possible way. It might not
hurt, but it does really feel like an insult. We didn't need this.
But I also see how confusing this outrage might look to some of those who profess themselves Christians. The sad truth is that Christianity often says A but it either lets itself be weaponized by people who say B, or hide under a broader, edulcorated, more digestible meaning of A while hiding its more violent traits. I couldn't possibly count the times I heard about
tolerance in church as a child-- which is ironic considering how it all ended for me.
At any rate, the massive divergence between opinions feels somehow like the most natural resolution of a story which presents a very blunt dichotomy "us good, incorruptible, persecuted, real,
lovely" vs. "them bad, dishonest, malevolent, fake, unpleasant". The discriminating factor is dictated by religious dogma? Can't expect any less than fireworks.
At the same time I wonder whether the reactions would have been just as polarized, and whether all these (Christian) people on disqus saying stuff like "it's not a personal attack, why do you feel attacked" would have thought otherwise, had Minna disclosed that she converted to a religion that is less practiced in the countries where she's most read - say, Islam.
