Althouse: "How cheaply we give ourselves away, how thoughtlessly we toss our valuables to those who will trash them."

June 28, 2009

"How cheaply we give ourselves away, how thoughtlessly we toss our valuables to those who will trash them."

The Anchoress has been thinking about this a lot lately, both in the context of writing for free (as a blogger) and in the context of Carrie Prejean posing naked — or, as The Anchoress puts it "toss[ing] her Holy Thing, which is her loved-into-creation body – the Temple of the Holy Spirit – to the Dogs."

So, do you throw your pearls before swine?

21 comments:

paul a'barge said...: Pearls?

I've heard the Anchoress make snide comments about Protestants. And then repeat them. And then refuse to apologize for them. And then snark when called on them.

Those are not pearls she is casting about, folks. Those are little glistening spheres of hypocrisy.; 6/28/09, 8:30 AM
rhhardin said...: You can catch more swine with garbage than with pearls.; 6/28/09, 8:38 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: We give away our better instincts to kindness, in order to make the cheap joke,..

Guilty.; 6/28/09, 8:38 AM
Ron said...: Hey, if you got the chops, you can be kind and make the cheap joke!

Hang out with better comedians!; 6/28/09, 8:43 AM
Ron said...: And if they want to pay me to take pictures of my Naked Holy Thing -- The Fools! -- who am I to deny them their folly?

Arf arf!; 6/28/09, 8:48 AM
Anonymous said...: I've heard the Anchoress make snide comments about Protestants.

Evidence, please.; 6/28/09, 9:01 AM
former law student said...: "toss[ing] her Holy Thing, which is her loved-into-creation body – the Temple of the Holy Spirit – to the Dogs."

Because she posed for tasteful, semi-topless photographs?

Once again, Matthew is instructive. The Anchoress would have had Carrie Prejean conceal her talent -- her fabulous body -- bury it in the earth. And what if she had?

26"His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

28" 'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

Why would a middle-aged, unhandosme woman describe tasteful topless photos in such a manner -- tossing her Holy Thing to the Dogs?

Envy. Good old corrosive envy. The Anchoress lost the fabulous body of youth, or more likely, never had one. An epistle is most apropos here:

1 Peter 2

1Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.; 6/28/09, 9:52 AM
Anonymous said...: I, for one, would certainly like to see her give the whole "writing-for-money" thing a shot. Point being, of course, that I wouldn't see it.; 6/28/09, 10:17 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "I can see your dirty pillows!"; 6/28/09, 10:19 AM
Jim Hu said...: Seems to me like kind of a strange statement to make about any beauty pageant contestant, much less one who had enhancement surgery.; 6/28/09, 10:53 AM
Peter Hoh said...: I think that writing for free would fit the "don't hide your light under a bushel" imperitive.; 6/28/09, 12:27 PM
Automatic_Wing said...: I'm sure the Anchoress's post reads better in the original Latin.; 6/28/09, 1:14 PM
Jennifer said...: Tossing her Holy Thing to the Dogs sounds like a great sex euphemism. File that one next to Hiking the Appalachian Trail.; 6/28/09, 1:21 PM
David said...: If I had any pearls left, I'd consider tossing them before swine. Alas, I am left only with old stones.; 6/28/09, 1:47 PM
Wince said...: Aptly, Althouse's post about The Seeds of the 1960s made me think of the Lightning Seeds and their so wonderfully 1980s single, Pure.

just lying smiling in the dark
shooting stars around your heart
dreams come bouncing in your head
pure and simple everytime
now you're crying in your sleep
i wish you'd never learnt to weep
don't sell the dreams you should be keeping
pure and simple everytime

Full lyrics at "more info."; 6/28/09, 2:02 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: I think that it is the "to the dogs" portion of the statement that is most relevant. It isn't that The Anchoress says that Prejean should not have posed topless or that her body should be hidden. It is that the gift of the beauty of her body was "thrown to the dogs", those who would have no appreciation or who would take hypocritical delight in savaging her for revealing herself.

When The Anchoress, or anyone else, takes the time to reveal something precious about themselves that they either feel strongly about or that they might hope will bring some enlightenment to others..... and then get pissed upon by dogs like the trolls that infest this blog and other places in the world, they are throwing your pearls before swine.

Some people in this world are just not worth the time or effort.

On the other hand if you want to attract swine, like rhhardin says, chum with some ripe garbage.; 6/28/09, 2:13 PM
Peter Hoh said...: Here's someone who gave it away for a case of Frito Lay chips.; 6/28/09, 4:54 PM
traditionalguy said...: The Anchoress likes a fine vintage of guilt to sip by the fire. She is entitled to see every facet of imperfections in sinful humans and share her sophisticated condemnation techniques with like minded guilt connessieurs, but I am not partaking.; 6/28/09, 6:39 PM
kentuckyliz said...: I was camera shy during my hottie years and now aging and a battlefield of surgical scars make me wish i had some hot pix of the young healthy me. more power to mizz prejean.

i am trying to teach my nieces and nephews to enjoy their youth and beauty and energy--and live fearlessly and adventurously--never let fear or self-conciousness hold you back.

my only regrets are the things and people i didn't do LOL

if anchoress thinks blogging is the same as mz prejeans pearl-tossing, then shuddup with your brainfartporno already.; 6/29/09, 1:14 AM
Maggie Goff said...: Wow, I didn't take her comments in the way most here did. I guess one has to read her on a regular basis, and not just one post. Dust Bunny got it right.

Mr a'barge, please link to the snide and snarky comments about Protestants you accuse the Anchoress of making.; 6/29/09, 1:15 AM
Patm said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/13/09, 1:08 PM