In my final days of this year of blogging, I thought I might go back and request a few of do-overs. My first blunder happened on July 10, when the hour turned late and, after losing time floundering over the content of my post, I finally decided to confess that I had nothing satisfactory to share.
This is the offending post, with a few edits:
In class tonight, my instructor pronounced for me the Arabic names of the 22 countries in the Arab League. I giggled when she got to Palestine, as it is more enunciated: phelisteen. I thought, thankfully not aloud, hehe,
fucking philistines.
In my house, this is a favorite way to express disgust for the artistically, culturally, and intellectually bankrupt. I also like knuckle draggers and mouth breathers. Sometimes in combination, depending on the severity of the case; always with that same modifier.
I couldn’t wait to get home and see if I could find the connection between Palestine, Philistia, and Philistinism and learn whether my insult had its founding in racial bigotry. Not because wanted it to, but so that I might figure out where its roots came from, and stop using it if I discovered it evolved from an ancient ethnic slur.
I’m not entirely sure what I’ve concluded after reading this, this, and this.
I'm inclined to believe that it was originally born out of groundless intolerance. Which is a damn shame because my use of it is entirely justified.
**6/17/2013 update**
Aggg. I just re-read this post in the light of day and, despite my efforts, it still sounds a bit to me like I'm saying something horrible about Palestinians. Palestinians are fine, as far as I know. Remarkably, I have two friends from Gaza: one who lives here in Michigan now and one who is over there. I like them. But I dislike philistines.
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