Whew!

Well I got to talk to my mentor today and she was just as pissed at the professor for his attitude and remarks the other night. I was very relieved that I wasn't overreacting. He just totally did not do what he was supposed to, which was to respond to the drama then "invite dialogue with the audience." His remarks shut down dialogue, and instead of leading discussion, he sat down quite full of himself and left the rest of us unable to proceed in any meaningful way (since we'd been informed anything hinting at faith in anything was stupid).

So at least everyone agrees that he was being a jackass. That makes me feel better. I like there being some rules of engagement, even for people who don't believe in anything. We have a very great relationship with the campus Secular Alliance, which does fall under the auspices of the Office of Religious Life. And they send a rep to our Interfaith Council and I find him to be a lot of fun.

Tonight I get to see the Soweto Gospel Choir. I hear this is supposed to be excellent and not like American (and/or African-American) Gospel music, which I don't much care for.

Then the rest of the weekend will be spent agonizing over this paper that has to be the best one I've ever written (this per my professor). I'm trying to write about the similarities between early Christian rituals and Greco-Roman pagan rites. They are actually quite analogous, although of course that doesn't necessarily imply direct connections. But it does help us see how Gentiles would have been able to understand and incorporate this Jewish sect so readily, because so much of the devotional practice was familiar to them. And one can't help but admit that surely the ethos of the time led to such similarities.

Anyhoo, that's that. Wish me luck.