# Why am I a member? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 25, 2003, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-a-member/184223 "2003-06-25T04:10:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cargogal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/48db29/32.png) [@Cargogal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cargogal)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-a-member/184223/1 "2003-06-25T04:10:08Z")
It tells me I am. See? There on the left, under my handle. But I don’t think I am. I do not become stiff when I see a pretty woman. I do not regularly become encased in latex. I do not require lotion to have a good time. I do not dangle in a somewhat sheepish fashion when not in use. Why am I a member? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-a-member/184223/2 "2003-06-25T04:12:34Z")
Your wit is unmatched. My sides are splitting. Really. (I need a poker-faced smiley) ---
**Author:** ![Soup\_du\_jour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Soup\_du\_jour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soup_du_jour)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-a-member/184223/3 "2003-06-25T04:15:31Z")
Look on the bright side. At least you’re not a group of people playing rock music. ---
**Author:** ![bluforever1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@bluforever1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluforever1)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-a-member/184223/4 "2003-06-25T04:16:07Z")
Interesting. Hmmm… let me think about it and I’ll get back to you and your member. Luv, Brittany ---
**Author:** ![Cargogal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/48db29/32.png) [@Cargogal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cargogal)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-a-member/184223/5 "2003-06-25T04:19:01Z")
These were very uplifting responses. I will think hard on them and come back later. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-a-member/184223/6 "2003-06-25T05:41:21Z")
Oh, wait…I get it! It’s INNUENDO!!! BwaHAHAHAHA!!! ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-a-member/184223/7 "2003-06-25T05:50:47Z")
You could e-mail **Tuba Diva** and ask if she would change your status to “tool.” ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-a-member/184223/8 "2003-06-25T06:16:11Z")
Aww, shut up ya prick. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-a-member/184223/9 "2003-06-26T00:12:27Z")
“Participant” doesn’t have the same ring to it. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-a-member/184223/10 "2003-06-26T01:04:29Z")
Great leadoff for a MPSIMS thread, **Cargogal**. But this being the Straight Dope, where our goal is to combat ignorance, you’ll be pleased to know that it’s not merely a pun. As with a few other words, it’s a metaphor that has come to be the main meaning of the word, with the old meaning only present in archaic or idiomatic usages. A member was originally a term for a body part (yeah, the one you said you didn’t resemble, but also fingers, toes, ears, and presumably tentacles and proboscises as appropriate). Paul, in the 12th chapters of both Romans and First Corinthians, used the metaphor of the Church as Christ’s Mystical Body working in the world, and the individual persons who comprised it were therefore members – appendages – of that Body. From this grew the modern usage – you became a “member” of the Body in baptism, and therefore were a member (in the modern sense) of the church – and from the latter usage came the idea that if you joined the Masons, the Odd Fellows, the Republican Party, or the International Federation of Thistle Sifters, you were a member of that group. So, like it or not, you’re an appendage of Cecil’s Virtual Body, aiding in the fight against ignorance throughout the world. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-a-member/184223/11 "2003-06-26T03:14:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*So, like it or not, you’re an appendage of Cecil’s Virtual Body, aiding in the fight against ignorance throughout the world. > \*\* I figure I’m just a Plantar Wart on the Bottom of Cecil’s Virtual Foot. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-a-member/184223/12 "2003-06-26T08:11:16Z")
Can we choose which appendage we are? [Fight Club] I’m Cecil’s raging bile. [/Fight Club] ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-a-member/184223/13 "2003-06-26T08:19:43Z")
I became a member so I could wear the Members Only jacket.