I'm not even going to bother quoting in this reply - it would just make this post really long, and it's already going to be long enough. You know what was said, and you'll recognize what I'm answering in each part if you've been following along.
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I don't personally burn anything so it can smell good, or spray, or plug in, or anything else. I try to keep things from smelling bad like taking out the garbage and replacing the bedsheets occasionally, but that's about it. My car usually smells like food, but that has a lot to do with my job too.
My car is white. Why? It keeps cooler in the sunlight and is easier to see than most other colors. I do wash and wax my car. Why? Mainly so the paint won't come off, causing the body to rust. I intend to hang on to this car for another six years if I can.
The walls in my room are a light blue color. They were already painted when I moved in, and I've seen no reason to change them.
No, my fiancée never wears dresses and isn't a fashion-addict. I've never seen her wear makeup.
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Now to close another big compartment in your argument: Define vanity. My dictionary defines it as undue or excessive pride in one's appearance or achievements. When this discussion started, it had nothing to do with vanity. It had everything to do with what different people considered attractive. Vanity and attraction are two completely separate, yet often confused concepts.
Everyone has their favorite blend of tea, and what is beauty to one may be disorganization to another. Some people gaze in awe at a Picasso; I stare in puzzlement. My dream car may be a Buick while yours may be a Bugatti. Being attractive is one thing; being over-the-top is quite another, and even with that, different people have different standards for what constitutes what.
Even without being the least bit vain, I can make myself, my house, my car, or anything else very attractive. I'm neither a straightforward conservative nor a rugged traditionalist, but the more natural, pure, and conventional things appeal to me more as a whole than the freehanded and revolutionary.
My fiancée is a very beautiful, intelligent, humorous, and talented young woman. That doesn't even begin to describe her, but to think that either one of us is an all-function-and-no-form human being is ridiculous! Mind you, form should always follow function and never the other way around.
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I suppose you want to hear from my other side now. Well, certainly! I do actually like white because when it's clean, it looks clean! And it doesn't show scratches nearly as easily (and mind you there are lots of them, under the wax). The whole reason I even chose the model of car I have is that I found it the most attractive model in my price range. Regardless of how useful a vehicle may be, I won't buy an ugly automobile.
What was the first thing I noticed about my fiancée the first time I ever saw her? She was really cute!
Do I care what I look like? Well, of course! When I see people who are ugly, stink, or look like they've just survived a bomb attack, I tend to look the other way, unless they appear to be in need of some assistance I can render or direct them to. I suspect that most other people do the same thing. Not that I want to be ultra-careful or politically correct in any way, and I certainly don't care whether or not I appeal to someone in any way (aside from my fiancée), but one of the last things I would want to do is to offend someone by the way I look or smell. I will at least make myself presentable to other people if I'm going out to public places.
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And two final replies to comments made by my fellow board members:
Yes, I hate the world, but no, I don't hate the people in it. Whether or not you know it or believe it, this world is going to hell at an alarming rate. Even if you don't accept or have never read the Bible, the evidence is all around you. While I can't even guess at when we're scheduled to arrive there, I know I don't want to be stuck here when it happens. I never want to be so wrapped up it what is going on here that I lose sight of my priorities and neglect my highest duties. It's impossible not to be here while we're alive, but we can control how we associate with the rest of society. And what is our highest duty? It's to share with others in the world with us the love that we have been shown just by our very creation and the gift of life and the power to choose what we do. We have been given so much, and yet most of us don't realize it until it's lost. How selfish of us it is if we who have found joy and meaning in life don't share it with others!
And as for Adam and Eve, true, they didn't wear deodorant and they survived just fine. You can also survive bee stings, a cold, indigestion, and sunburn, but that doesn't mean they're not health issues. And even though bacteria on your skin are normal, they can cause staphylococcal infections.
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