Sarah Morgan
A great article from The Guardian on irony – what it really is, and how almost no one uses the concept correctly almost ever. It does make the inescapable Alanis Morrissette reference, but the rest of the article makes up for it with a lot of really interesting explanations and ideas.
One line I like: “There is a limit to how far you can take irony before you have to shoot yourself.”
Another, that I like less but am interested by more: “[T]he mere act of questioning causes the faith fairy to disappear.”
See, I don’t know that that’s true. Or, perhaps, I don’t want that to be true. I question everything I can think of to question. Teachers, bosses, friends, family, reality, journalists, governments, myself. Especially myself. Constantly. I don’t like trying to be satisfied taking something at face value.
But, Zoe Williams seems to believe that inclination is incompatible with having faith.
She was talking about it (I’m assuming she’s a she) in the context of religious faith, but it bothers me on both the religious and the general levels.
I have faith in some people… I have faith in some sort-of religious things. I also have faith in deja vu, which I just had, but I digress. But because I question them – because I don’t automatically have faith – it’s not faith? I’m not sure I agree.
I’d prefer to think that faith that isn’t reflexive is a little more durable.
I still can’t get my title lines to appear, and I haven’t figured out how to succeed with a less-garish color combination than pink, light grey, and dark red yet. That’s not irony; I’m just oversharing.
