especially as he crossed his arms and leaned back, yelling “Jesus is LORD!” at passerby as we spoke with Jonathan about having a debate.

I am intrigued by this behavior; although I’m not quite sure how to categorize it. Trevor decided to put me on the receiving end of this once; but although I’m fairly certain he’s singularly aware that I’m non-Christian, I don’t know if that’s actually the case. Shouting this phrase can have several psychosocial origins: (1) a intragroup symbolism that they’re using to recognize one another, some sort of common greeting; (2) just some sort of showing off using the above symbolism, e.g. boasting tribal affiliation; (3) in some cases, deliberately attempting to captivate or insult other people by pronouncing something that’s meaningful to the intragroup but might be dismissed by the outgroup except that it’s being bellowed at volume.

In Trevor’s case he shouted, “Jesus is Lord!” at me so I just shrugged and bellowed back, “Goddess is Mother!” I didn’t stay long enough to see how he reacted, he kinda shouted it at me whilst I crossed the street away from him—but it was pretty much the exact same sort of unnecessary cultural machismo. Does this mean that they expect a Muslim to shout something like “Allah is Lord” or an atheist to look at them funny?

What are they expecting? On the face of it, I think Trevor was just acting out. It’s possibly the same for people like Phil. Some sort of juvenile desire to promote their team.

It’s not like the greater mass of these individuals ever honestly discuss the implications of their actions.

As we walked up, Phil hastily removed his arm from its position around Missy’s shoulders and sat up straighter on the planter box.

Aw, adorable! Even if they’re aren’t together. I haven’t spoken to Missy, but Mill Ave is a good place for romance.