Counter-cultural

Roses are red,
Violets are blue (actually, they're violet, hence the name),
I'm schizophrenic,
And so am I.

I'm wondering if I am:
--cultural
--countercultural
--counter-countercultural

In some ways I follow the norms of the culture around me. OK, in maybe a few ways. I have a computer, I'm on facebook, I like a nice latte.
In more ways I go against the cultural grain. I refuse to buy an ipod, I have a Sony walkman mp3 instead. I really REALLY don't like Starbucks--I go to Blenz (and a few other independents) for my regular caffeine fix. Most of my clothes are Value Village, and I couldn't tell you what brand my jeans are. My vehicle of choice is BC Transit.
There are lots of countercultural things that are so common they have become cultural. Clothing/hair/persona styles like gangster, emo, punk, prep, etc.; tattoos and piercings, and lots of other demonstrations of not being like everyone else. So far I don't have any tats or piercings, don't have enough hair to do a mohawk, and can't figure out how you can walk having pants hanging around your knees. But that doesn't mean I can't understand the mindset. In many ways my anti-ipod anti-Starbucks stance is almost intentional counterculture. There's a lot of this decadent consumer culture I don't like. If I was a few years younger and had more hair to work with, it just might be green and spiky. I'd probably be sporting a piercing or two.

I guess where my cultural schizophrenia really shows up is in my friendships. I actually do count some 'normal' people as friends: 9-5ers, university students, even preachers! Then there are the edgier guys like artists (like a couple of my favorite baristas), a developing writer, a couple anarchist punks, a bunch of anti-poverty activists, and a collection of street people.

Another area where my culture/counterculture shows up is in the arena of faith. No doubt about it, I am a Christian. I am a part of a local fellowship, a lot of my life involves ministry in some shape. However, I don't necessarily agree with everything that passes as 'church'. In fact, my heart really resonates with Casper when he asks "Is this what Jesus told you guys to do?"
I'm finding myself drawn to the basics of Jesus' love, and really trying to let it happen through me. As I look at some of the rhetoric coming from some of the church, I think being loving and accepting is kind of countercultural for some chunks of the church. What makes it even more meaningful is that people outside of the church have noticed it for years. They know we are supposed to be loving, but often are on the brunt of judgment.
I've got a terribly long way to go, but if loving like Jesus is countercultural, count me in.