Hello, friends.
Spring vacation has sprung and I, apparently, am going to use clichés now. Perhaps it’s because Rome wasn’t built with a cliché, but I’m not thrilled by it. It’s the opening I have, though, and—like many of my students approach their work—I don’t feel like revising it, so you’re stuck with it. I’m looking forward to resting, writing, and reading. Maybe even being mildly social (writing that reminded me of an email I received last week that I still haven’t responded to! Let me go do that. BRB)(Okay, I’m back. Onward!).
Welcome to the 169th installment of Gauthic Times, the newsletter about my writing, my life, and the strange occurrence of a lot of religious iconography from students. If you’re a reader who subscribes via Substack, my website, or Patreon, your encouragement helps motivate me. I’m not breaking any records but I’m thankful to have any audience.
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This past week was nearly as busy/bad as the week before (with a few brighter points including seeing a former student who is now an amazing teacher), so not a lot got done in the realm of writing. What did get done was research. I did market research for short stories. Specifically, I’m looking for a home for my dark story “Calls In the Night,” my take on the Golden State Killer. I didn’t find a place (yet) that I think would work but I found several markets that looked interesting, including one I’m seriously considering sending a comic that I’ve made to.
This coming week, thanks to vacation, I’m hoping to finish up the query letter and synopsis for Project: Amusement Park and find some agents that may actually be open to subs. If you’re a writer with an agent and think they’d be a good fit for me, let me know! I haven’t seen it work yet but who knows?
I also want to work on a few more stories and maybe begin revising Four Moons, my werewolf novel that I posted the first draft of to Patreon.
Another thing I’d like to play with is maybe recording a story for Patreon, a test run to see how I’d do reading my own work in audiobook form.
Lastly, I’d like to play with more art this week.
Unfortunately, I have a lot of stuff to do around the apartment, spring cleaning and organizing type bullshit, so if I play Adult, some of the art and recording may get pushed to the side. On the other hand, organizing and cleaning may also help me be more productive in the future.
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I was walking out of school with a colleague teacher friend and they asked, “Is it just me, or are the kids using a lot of religious imagery in their projects?”
It was a question I’d asked myself many times this school year. This conversation happened in either October or November and my colleague and I had been teaching exploratory at the vocational-technical high school we work at. I tend to notice religious symbols and images a lot on projects, maybe because I’m an Atheist. I don’t care much if students use the imagery as long as it’s not preaching or derogatory toward others. (Though I will say, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone putting anything other than Christian imagery on their work, which probably says something). This year, though, there was a lot. And not just in the collages, pins, and tee shirt designs they did, but their own clothing.
The thing that really surprised me about my colleague’s question is that they’re a fairly religious person, so if they’re noticing it, and they’re thinking it’s weird, then I’m not being a curmudgeonly Atheist asshole.
In light of the last ten years in the United States, I have to admit that the rise of Christian imagery, quotes, and what have you has been a little unsettling. When the likes of the current president and his White Nationalist ilk have co-opted religion to the point that they’re feuding with the Pope—a person I never gave two shits about in the past but have to say, I’m a fan of Pope Leo—then there’s something wrong.
If people were being kinder to each other, then maybe it wouldn’t stick out so much. They’re not, though. And some of the biggest problems I had with students came from students who did whole collages of religious imagery: crosses, Bible quotes, images of Jesus, and the rest. The King of Peace adorning a collage of a student who treats everyone around them—especially the teachers—with contempt and derision is a strange juxtaposition.
This isn’t terribly surprising given the current state of the world and the country I call home, but it is sad and, frankly, a little scary. Not scary in itself of people being religious, because if you’re using your religion to feel better, to make the world better, to speak and act in peace, I’m there for it. If you’re using religion to put others down, to justify your own superiority, or to scare or frighten others, then it’s bad. From what I’m seeing, the world is not becoming kinder.
When I began teaching twenty years ago, I remember being surprised by how the teenagers seemed so in tune with the world, so accepting and promoting of diversity. I don’t see that anymore. Yes, there are many students who are still like that, but there seem to be many more that, despite the Christian iconography they seem wear and use as a shield, don’t behave in the manner that Christ is supposed to have preached.
This past week didn’t help with T—p posting AI slop of him as Jesus Christ, murkying increasingly murky waters with hate, arrogance, and self-aggrandizing. They are going after young men with their messages, too. Specifically, young white men. The ridiculous Turning Point USA circus that T—p spoke at is what 20 years of white people—men—bitching about how they’re being moved off the stage, having livelihoods taken from them, and losing power in the courts, in government, and basically everywhere. That’s their argument, not mine. The trope of the Angry Young Man is real and it’s what MAGA has been messaging for a long, long time, since before it was called MAGA. The use of religious—Christian—iconography acts as armor, makes them feel righteous in their crusade.
So when I see the abundance of this iconography it worries me. Certain local cultures have always been religious. It wasn’t odd to see Christian iconography on projects from students of Hispanic backgrounds, for instance. I live in an area where there’s a large Portuguese population and the religious symbols popping up from time to time on collages or other projects wasn’t unheard of. The huge amount of them now is startling because I’m not seeing behavior that should qualify for it. I’m seeing drastic changes going backwards.
At a schoolwide presentation this week, I saw a young man wearing a tee shirt that read, “Prayers are the key to heaven.” The young man was tall, white, had curlyish (permed) hair, and built like a football player. I also remember that he was rude, disruptive, and insubordinate. He sat a few rows ahead of me, chatting with friends and smirking through the presentation about mental health. It didn’t come off as very Christian. But I guess that’s okay since he had that tee shirt.
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That’s this week’s newsletter. Thank you so much for subscribing, reading, and for your support. Be safe out there, friends.
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Gautham: Bill Gauthier.com 
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