Ryan, Debi, and Toren Cragun's Blog

I don’t typically mention my publications on this blog, but this is one about which I am particularly proud.  I think it is a significant contribution not only to the study of Mormonism but also to theory in the Sociology of Religion as well.  I’m also proud of it because of the amount of time that went into it.  I’m guessing that this article took me close to 1,000 hours to produce (that’s about 41 days).  It started as a class project in graduate school, probably around 2003 or 2004.  It then turned into a series of conference presentations, was submitted to three different journals, all of which rejected it but provided useful feedback.  Eventually I decided that the article needed to aim larger than just Mormons, so I included Adventists and Witnesses and invited Ron Lawson to help me (he’s an expert on Adventists and Witnesses).  Anyway, here’s a link to the article:

The Secular Transition: The Worldwide Growth of Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Seventh-day Adventists

If you’re really geeky and want to read the article but don’t have access to the journal via a university subscription, let me know and I can send you a copy of the article.

Its over 6 months since it was published, but apparently I was mentioned in a news story in the Guardian, a prominent UK newspaper. Yeah for me!

Our second day in Southeastern Florida was mostly spent volunteering at Horses for the Handicapped.  We did a variety of things while there, from painting to picking up rocks to grooming horses, but mostly we cleaned up horse feces.  Horses defecate a lot.  I was happy to help, but I’ll be happy if I never have to clean up horse crap ever again.

The day was pretty uneventful until our way home.  The large van I drove down to Fort Lauderdale didn’t get the greatest gas mileage.  On the way home from volunteering we needed to gas up.  So I stopped at a gas station near our hostel to get some gas.  While I was pumping the gas a car pulled up to the pump opposite mine.  In the car were three young, black men.  The driver got out and began filling his car.  Meanwhile, the young man in the passenger seat seemed busy with something, then he threw something out the window onto the ground.

Enter one of Ryan’s major pet peeves: I HATE it when people litter!!!

I periodically see people through garbage out of their car onto the ground.  Whenever I do, my blood boils.  I’m not quite sure why I get so irate, but it really, really bothers me.  As most of the time I see people do this they are in cars and I can’t really pull them over to chew them out, I usually can’t do anything except honk or give them dirty looks (yep, I get that mad).  But this time… Well, the guy was sitting in the car 5 feet from me.  So, I put the pump on automatic and walked over to the car.  Here’s how the conversation played out to the best of my memory:

Ryan: Um, did you drop something?

Guy in car: Excuse me?

Ryan: I thought I saw something fall out the window.  Did you drop something?

Guy in car: Yes, I dropped something.  I threw it out the window.

Ryan:  Oh, you meant to drop it?

Guy in car: Yeah.

Ryan: Oh, okay.  Um, I wasn’t sure if you meant to drop it.

At this point the conversation paused while I considered whether to say what I was thinking.  Perhaps stupidly, I said it…

Ryan: You do realize there is a garbage can about 10 feet away, right?

Guy in car: Are you some sort of ecololo-ecolologist?  (that’s exactly how he said it)

Ryan: Nope.  Just a guy who doesn’t like to see people litter.

Guy in car: Why do you care?

Ryan: I just don’t understand why you’d drop something on the ground when there is a trash can 10 feet away.

Guy in car: I was done with it.

Ryan:  Oh.  Okay.

The driver of his car has now finished filling up the car and now gets in the driver’s seat and starts the car.  As he begins to pull out, the guy with whom I’m sharing this enlightening conversation decides he’s not done.

Guy in car (to the driver): Wait.  I’m going to pick this up.

He opens his door, bends down, and picks up one of the two pieces of trash he dropped on the ground.  He stands up in front of me and continues our conversation:

Guy formerly in car: There.  I picked it up.  (pointing over to more trash near the street)  But I have a question for you.  Why do you care so much about me dropping this when there is trash all over the f*cking place?

Ryan: Because it is littering.

Guy in car: But you’re not going to pick it up, are you?

Ryan: I volunteer picking up trash. (It’s true; part of what we did at Horses and the Handicapped is pick up trash.)

Guy in car: But you’re not going to volunteer to pick up trash right here, are you?

Ryan: I think you’re missing the point…

Guy in car: You’re not, are you?

It’s at this point he draws right up to my face until he’s about 6 inches from me, kind of like this:

This is pretty close to the real deal, except I doubt I was smirking and we were about the same height. This must have been how it looked to the students in the van (props to Quinton Jackson and Forrest Griffin).

He was actually about my height.  I think he thought he was going to be taller than me, so he could intimidate me, but he wasn’t any thicker than I am or any taller, so his attempt at intimidation didn’t work.  But he sure tried:

Guy formerly in car: Are you my f*cking mother?  (feints at me)

Ryan:

Guy formerly in car: Why don’t you mind your own business?!?  (feints again)

Ryan: (probably just staring dumbly at the fact that this guy is getting in my face because I called him on littering)

Guy formerly in car: Why don’t you mind your own business?!?  Why don’t you mind your own business?!?  (feints each time he says this)

Perhaps he thought I would back down or that I would throw a punch, I don’t know.  But when I just stood there and stared at him he eventually gave up his feints at me, turned, walked to the trash can, threw his trash in it, walked back to his car, got in, and drove away.  All the while I just stared.

After he left, I walked back to the van, removed the gas nozzle, and closed everything up.  I then opened the door and looked in to see all the students staring at me in a strange combination of awe and bewilderment.  One of the guys said, “I thought we were going to get in a brawl.  I was about ready to jump out and back you up.”

I laughed and said, “All that over a piece of trash.”

One of the students then said, “Remind me never to litter around you.”

Right.  So, that’s the story.  But I have to admit I’m really, really intrigued by this whole event.  As noted above, littering is one of my pet peeves.  But as a sociologist, I can’t help but wonder why people do it.  Almost every single person I’ve ever seen throw trash on the ground has been young, of a lower socioeconomic status, and black. Here’s where I’m intrigued.  Clearly there is a cultural difference between myself and the individuals who throw trash on the ground.  But I’m not sure which characteristics leads to this behavior.  I’m guessing it’s not a youth thing as I have been anal about littering since I was a kid and there are lots of kids who don’t litter.  I’m guessing this isn’t a racial cultural difference as I don’t ever see higher socioeconomic status blacks litter and I’ve been in predominantly black, middle-class neighborhoods (in Cincinnati) that were basically trash free.  Why it has been mostly blacks I’ve seen this, I don’t know, but it could be due to where I live (in cities where the poorest group tends to black) and the fact that blacks are more likely to be poor.  My best guess is that this is a lower socioeconomic status thing as I’ve seen poor white people litter.  I’ve also been in poorer, predominantly white neighborhoods that have a lot of trash on the street.  So, I’m going to venture a guess here and say that this must be a lower socioeconomic status cultural difference.

This leads me to my question, which I’m really hoping some of my sociology colleagues who read this post will be able to address:  First, am I right that this is a class difference?  Second, what is it about this socioeconomic group that leads them to litter?  I thought the response of the Guy in the car was somewhat telling – “he was done with it.”  Is that the mindset of people who litter?  They give no consideration to: (1) the environment, or (2) to the people who will have to pick up their trash.  Their only thought is: “I’m done with this and don’t want to have it around me anymore, so I’ll just throw it on the ground.”

I happened to catch a science news article a couple days ago after this incident that I thought might help explain it.  Apparently young offenders who think they are likely to die young are more likely to engage in criminal activities, which runs counter to common wisdom.  Perhaps there is a similar disregard for social order among those who litter?  Anyway, I don’t have an answer to this question, but am interested in any thoughts you have.  I’d really like to understand the litterer’s mindset.

Oh, and any thoughts on why the Guy in the car got in my face over this?  I have my suspicions, but I’m open to ideas on this as well.

I have a super-nice uncle who also has some very different views from those I have.  There’s certainly nothing wrong with having different views; in fact, I think that’s a good thing (or to quote a bumper sticker from my younger brother’s car, “You are perfectly entitled to your wrong opinion.”).  However, my uncle also periodically sends out mass emails that are really disturbing.  When they are really, really bad, I respond (not just to him, but to everyone on the email list).  As a result, he doesn’t usually send the emails to me anymore (though he occasionally still sends them to Debi, which means they still get forwarded to me).

The email below is one of my uncle’s mass emailings.  As a sociologist and a human who tries not to be prejudiced against any groups, I couldn’t help but respond.  Here’s the email with my response below:

Proud to be White or Are You????????

“WHITE” Pride”

This is great. I have been wondering about why Whites are racists, and no other race is…..

Proud to be White

Michael Richards makes his point…………… Michael Richards better known as Kramer from TVs Seinfeld does make a good point. This was his defense speech in court after making racial comments in his comedy act. He makes some very interesting points…

Someone finally said it. How many are actually paying attention to this? There are African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Arab Americans, etc. And then there are just Americans.

You pass me on the street and sneer in my direction. You call me ‘White boy,’ ‘Cracker,’ ‘Honkey,’ ‘Whitey,’ ‘Caveman’… and that’s OK..

But when I call you, Nigger, Kike, Towel head, Sand-nigger, Camel Jockey, Beaner, Gook, or Chink .. You call me a racist.

You say that whites commit a lot of violence against you…. so why are the ghettos the most dangerous places to live?

You have the United Negro College Fund. You have Martin Luther King Day. You have Black History Month.. You have Cesar Chavez Day. You have Yom Hashoah. You have Ma’uled Al-Nabi.You have the NAACP. You have BET….

If we had WET (White Entertainment Television), we’d be racists. If we had a White Pride Day, you would call us racists. If we had White History Month, we’d be racists. If we had any organization for only whites to ‘advance’ OUR lives, we’d be racists.

We have a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a Black Chamber of Commerce, and then we just have the plain
Chamber of Commerce. Wonder who pays for that??

A white woman could not be in the Miss Black American pageant, but any color can be in the Miss America
pageant.

If we had a college fund that only gave white students scholarships… You know we’d be racists.

There are over 60 openly proclaimed Black Colleges in the US . Yet if there were ‘White colleges’, that would be a racist college.

In the Million Man March, you believed that you were marching for your race and rights. If we marched for
our race and rights, you would call us racists.

You are proud to be black, brown, yellow and orange, and you’re not afraid to announce it. But when we
announce our white pride, you call us racists.

You rob us, carjack us, and shoot at us. But, when a white police officer shoots a black gang member or beats up a black drug dealer running from the law and posing a threat to society, you call him a racist.

I am proud… But you call me a racist.

Why is it that only whites can be racists??

There is nothing improper about this e-mail.. Let’s see which of you are proud enough to send it on. I sadly don’t think many will. That’s why we have LOST most of OUR RIGHTS in this country. We won’t stand up for ourselves!

BE PROUD TO BE WHITE!

It’s not a crime YET…. but getting very close!

My response:

Wow! That is a racist email.

Will anyone mind if I give point by point rebuttals?

“You say that whites commit a lot of violence against you…. so why are the ghettos the most dangerous places to live?”

This statement over-simplifies what is actually a very complex issue. Crime rates vary based on a lot of factors and from year to year. Yes, some predominantly black inner-city ghettos have high violent crime rates (e.g., Detroit). But so do some very rural, all-white areas. For instance, the violent crime rate in Branson, Missouri in 2005 was 2,124 violent crimes per 100,000 people, almost the same as Detroit’s, 2,419 per 100,000 people. Yet Branson is 94.5% white while Detroit is 81.6% black. If blacks are more likely to be violent criminals, which is what this racist email suggests, then aren’t Branson Missouri whites almost as violent? Or is the issue far more complicated?

“You have the United Negro College Fund. You have Martin Luther King Day. You have Black History Month.. You have Cesar Chavez Day. You have Yom Hashoah. You have Ma’uled Al-Nabi. You have the NAACP. You have BET…. If we had WET (White Entertainment Television), we’d be racists. If we had a White Pride Day, you would call us racists.”

This is a telling quote. Based on this, Martin Luther King is only a hero to blacks, not to all minorities (he worked toward civil rights for all minorities, not just blacks). Cesar Chavez was a union organizer. He isn’t celebrated for being Latino but for helping the poor. Apparently the author of this email hates the poor, too, regardless of race. Oh, and eight states celebrate his birthday. The author of this email also hates Jews (who are racially white, but ethnically Jewish). There is some irony here, considering so many Christians (Mormons in particular) like to consider themselves descendants of Abraham, yet they hate Jews. Oh, and Yom Hashoah is “holocaust rememberance day.” The bigot who wrote this email doesn’t feel like the genocide committed against Jews warrants being remembered? It’s an official holiday in Israel, not the US. The author also hates Muslims. He/She misspelled “Mawlid,” which is the day of birth of the Prophet Mohammed. Any Christians out there celebrate the birth of Jesus? The birth of Jesus is enshrined as a national holiday in the US; Mawlid is not. Yet the author of this email has a problem with that? Talk about bigotry!!!

As for BET, go ahead and name as many sitcoms or dramas as you can where the lead character or the primary characters are black. How many can you name? Now think of all the TV shows you watch. How many of the main characters are white? FYI, 12% of the US population is black – that’s over 36 million blacks. Maybe 12% of television shows should feature black actors, but 12% don’t. The author of this email is so bigotted he would prefer to see blacks disappear and have no public presence.

If we had White History Month, we’d be racists.

The author of this email should read a history book. How much of a standard history book in a high school today is black history? It’s not 12%. Most of it is white history. And which part of white history does he want to celebrate: The enslavement of blacks by whites? The genocide of Native Americans (over 95% were killed within a century of the arrival of Europeans) by whites? If that is the white history he wants to celebrate, I think his perspective is a little off. Don’t you?

If we had any organization for only whites to ‘advance’ OUR lives, we’d be racists.

Hmmm… Maybe most of the organizations that exist already favor whites. Like most banks, local, state, and federal government, and most corporations. If blacks had equal representation among CEOs in the US, there would be 72 CEOs of Fortune 500 companies who are black. Guess how many there are… 4! Wow! Those blacks have so much power. What about in government? Of the thousands of state governors in US history, how many have been black? 4! Hmmm… Those blacks have so much power! Things are so stacked against whites! How many black presidents? 1! Come on. The current system favors whites, which is why blacks could use a little help. And yet you complain about it.

A white woman could not be in the Miss Black American pageant, but any color can be in the Miss America pageant.

Sure, but how many blacks have won Miss America? 6. How many should there be if the contest doesn’t favor whites? 11. When was the first black winner? 1983, 62 years after it started. That’s 62 years of all white women winning. If black women had a probability of winning equal to their proportions in society, there would be no need for a Miss Black America pageant.

If we had a college fund that only gave white students scholarships… You know we’d be racists. There are over 60 openly proclaimed Black Colleges in the US . Yet if there were ‘White colleges’, that would be a racist college.

If whites had a couple hundred year disadvantage because they had been slaves to blacks, white college scholarships would make sense. Oh, and there are all-white universities in the US – Bob Jones University. It is a racist university. And there are no “all-black” universities anymore, just “traditionally black” universities. I was accepted to Howard University in DC, which is a traditionally black university.

In the Million Man March, you believed that you were marching for your race and rights. If we marched for our race and rights, you would call us racists.

At what point in US history have white men not had some rights that others have had? Why would whites need to march for rights? Are there any they lack? If whites march for rights for whites, it can only be to take away the rights of others, not to give whites more, as they have all there are.

You are proud to be black, brown, yellow and orange, and you’re not afraid to announce it. But when we announce our white pride, you call us racists.

There is nothing wrong with being proud of your ancestry. But being proud of the immoral things your ancestors did is wrong. No one is saying you can’t be proud to be white. But being “proud to be white” shouldn’t also mean “blacks shouldn’t be treated as well as whites.” That’s racist!

You rob us, carjack us, and shoot at us. But, when a white police officer shoots a black gang member or beats up a black drug dealer running from the law and posing a threat to society, you call him a racist.

Name a black terrorist. Just one. Go ahead. I’m waiting. Now name a white one. Timothy McVeigh (white Christian); blew up the Oklahoma City Building, killing hundreds, including kids; he was a white supremacist. Scott Roeder (white Christian); killed a doctor last month in Kansas over abortion. Eric Robert Rudolph (white Christian); detonated a bomb at the Atlanta Olympic Games for religious reasons and because he’s a white supremacist. Osama bin Laden (he’s white, but he’s also a Muslim, so I’m sure the author of this email would discount him). White supremacists are far more likely to be terrorists than are blacks. I wonder why that is. Oh, and white people rob others, carjack people, and shoot people all the time, why aren’t they mentioned?

This is racism. Why not be proud of all ancestry? Why not be proud to be human? It’s bigotry like this that leads to lynchings, hate crimes, and discrimination. Make the moral choice and don’t pass this on.

(Note: I wouldn’t normally pass this drivel on, but I figure if someone out there reads this racist rant then google’s the text and comes across my response, I will have done the world a favor.  Also, Michael Richards had no part in the above racist screed, per Snopes.)

It’s the weekend before Christmas and I’m trying to get all of my grading done when Debi comes into the office and tells me  that the clothes dryer is no longer working.  It heats up, but it doesn’t turn.  I was on track to have all of my grading  done so I could relax a little bit on Christmas before trying to get everything I have planned for the break complete.  Now this.  The first thought that came to my mind: “How much does a new dryer cost?”  Answer – at a bare minimum if you buy it new, about $300.  On Craigslist in questionable condition – $75.00.   A service call from an appliance repair person – $55.00.  Well, crap!  I didn’t want a new dryer for Christmas and I’m a sociologist, not an engineer.  I can’t fix a dryer!!!!

Enter gender stereotype: I’m the man of the household, I should at least make a token effort to fix this thing.  So, armed with a couple of screwdrivers, I venture into the garage and start unscrewing every screw I can find holding the dryer together.  About an hour later I have loosened one of the side panels sufficiently that I can peek inside the dryer.  I see something that looks loose, so I pull on it and it comes out.  Once I get it out I realize it’s a drive belt and it has snapped.  Aha!  I have found a problem – a broken drive belt.

Enter gender stereotype insecurity: I have discovered something that is wrong with the dryer – a broken drive belt.  But even having done that, I’m not sure I can fix it.

Re-enter gender stereotype: I am ‘the man’ of the household, I should at least make a token effort to try.  So, I start searching on the internet for replacement drive belts for a GE dryer.  I come across this site – partselect.com.  I type in the model of our dryer and voila – up comes a list of replacement parts, including the drive belt – $14.00 ($22.00 with shipping).  Great!  Now I’m really going to have to put some serious effort into this and actually see if I can figure out how to fix a dryer.  But my “male ego” is pretty low at the moment.  Remember, I spent an hour unscrewing every screw I could find and in that time was only able to loosen one side of the dryer enough to peer inside and find a broken belt.  I can order a replacement belt for less than 1/10th the cost of a new dryer, but I have no idea how to put the new belt into place.

So, more time on the internet…  Luckily, on that same site there are some stories by people who have replaced the drive belt on their dryer.  They mention that there are two screws in the door frame that loosen the top of the dryer, allowing you to remove it.  Arghhh!!!  If I had only known that before I started tearing the side panels off (bending one slightly in the process).  I check my dryer.  Sure enough – two screws right where they are supposed to be.  I loosen them and voila – the top of the dryer pops off.  Now I can see the drum, but I can’t get it out.  I read a little more on that same site and someone mentions a couple more screws right inside the top that keep the front panel on.  I check and sure enough, there they are.  I unscrew them and off pops the front panel.  I can now remove the drum and then I see the motor that turns the drum. Crap!  It’s beginning to look like I may seriously have to repair this thing myself.  I know enough now that I can probably do it.  But, just to be sure that the only problem is this broken belt, I come up with an idea…

Enter duct tape: I carefully tape the belt back together then put it on the motor and around the drum.  Hmmm… Problem!  There is too much slack.  When I start the dryer, the motor turns, but the belt is too loose.  I’m doing something wrong!  Back to the internet.  I spend another 30 minutes trying to figure out how the belt is supposed to go on.  I eventually find a diagram that helps me realize that I wasn’t putting the belt on the tension pulley correctly.  I can’t explain it, but it’s very particular and is supposed to look like this (courtesy of this site):

It’s kind of strange how it is supposed to wrap around, but once I see it, it makes sense.  So, with my duct taped belt, I put it on correctly (takes a while), put the front panel back on, and start the dryer.  Everything works for about 30 seconds then the duct tape gives and the belt breaks.  Verdict: The dryer needs a new drive belt; I can put it on correctly; and I have found one online for about $22.00.  I guess I’m going to fix the dryer…

I order the belt and wait.  Just a couple days later the belt arrives (super fast shipping).  Worried that this isn’t going to work and questioning my “manly” abilities, I venture into the garage to see if I hold the solution to our dryer woes.  Twenty minutes later, I have the belt on and start the dryer.  It works!  Another 20 minutes of reassembling the dismantled dryer (I really did remove a lot of screws) and the dryer is good to go.

Hail the Conquering Hero!

What have I accomplished?  Hmmm…. My going rate as a college professor is about $25.00/hour (if I actually worked 40 hours per week; since I work close to 80 I guess I can cut that in half).  I spent close to 4 hours on the dryer.  Cost in my time – $100.  Cost in parts – $22.00.  Total repair cost – $122.  We could have bought a replacement dryer on Craigslist for $75.  A repairman could have replaced the belt in 20 minutes for probably close to $100.  So, did I really save any money?  Well, maybe, since I don’t work 24/7 (more like 16/7), but probably not.

But the real accomplishment is more impressive: I simultaneously boosted my male ego (probably not a good thing) and raised Debi’s future expectations that I can actually repair things (definitely not a good thing).

Hail the conquering hero indeed…