Henry Imler June 17th, 2008

Ugh, how true that is. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone through that. People want a 5 second diddy on what you do, not a 5 minute nuanced explanation of what your field is, followed up by a 3 minute description of where your work is positioned within that field.

Most people don’t get what religious studies is (hint: it’s not theology), let alone how you go about/can take a non-canonical religious text and analyze how it functioned to create and sustain a religious community two thousand years ago. Most people quickly assume that I am a cracked theologian who is trying to elevate the Acts of Thomas to the Bible. That’s understandable given the standard perceptions of what people do with texts, but just frustrating when I constantly have to take more time than the hearer wants to explain what I am doing.

The End.

• Humor , Personal , Religion
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