Quit Being So Gullible!

Mind you that I grew up believing that listening to rock music with backwards messages in it would make me want to do drugs and practice witchcraft.

It's time that Christians learn a lesson that many others in the world learned a long time ago: You can't believe everything you hear, and it's a good idea to do your own research before you go flapping your gums to the rest of creation.

If you want anything spread quickly over the internet, send an email and associate it with a Christian cause. It'll spread like wildfire. Case in point: I get so much junk email from well-intentioned people wanting to make sure that those rotten athiests don't pass a law making it illegal to say God's name on television. 1) This is legally laughable. 2) Believe me, any thinking atheist wouldn't want to touch religious programming. Most of it proves everything that they're saying about us.

Another example: David Barton heads an organization called Wallbuilders and goes around the country making a living off of lecturing churches about history, specifically history from the Revolutionary Generation. Being a history teacher, and having remembered Barton coming to my church in my childhood, he piqued my interest.

Barton's main objective is to get people to think that our founders were, by and large, "evangelicals" who saw the church and the American government as partners. His favorite thing to tell people is that the Constitutional separation between church and state is a myth... that it's a "one way wall" designed only to make sure the state doesn't meddle in the institution of the church.

And, like most things stamped "Christian", evangelicals have bought it, hook, line and sinker.

Unfortunately, it's bad history, and it's making us look very foolish. Barton's "history lessons" are being repeated all over the country, even by Congressmen and in courts. What many of these people haven't realized is that much of the foundation that Barton laid his early work on is questionable, and Barton has acknowledged as such. Many of the quotes used to link the founders to evangelicalism, as well as to Barton's understanding of the relationship between the Constitution and Christianity, are completely unsubstantiated. Not only does Barton study history badly, refusing to look into the prevalent thought in society at the time and viewing details through a proper historical lense, but his facts are just plain false. He takes the conclusion he is looking for as his point of departure, then looks for the "facts" that back it up, regardless of whether or not they are being removed from that ever important factor known as "context."

Barton has a BS from ORU and an "honorary doctorate" from Pensacola Christian, so I'm not sure exactly what qualifies him to be treated as an expert in the field except his research, which is, plainly, not very good. Yet people in the church are more likely to accept what he has to say than a real historian, who knows about historical investigation, but who might come to different, less acceptable conclusions. Do we really think that people who are "conservative Christians" are actually more reliable simply because of their social/political/religious views? Have we not seen often enough that people are willing to distort facts or (less cynically) at least allow their agenda to excessively color the truth? How many times do we have to learn this lesson?
posted by Stephen at 10:34 PM | |

 
I thought this was a great assessment by Dan Wetzel of the ridiculousness that happened at the end of the Pacers/Pistons game:

"The public occasionally may be drunken, pathetic idiots who lash out full of the courage that comes from the crowd. Getting hit with a beer may not be fun. But sadly that is one of the tradeoffs of the job.

When a fan crosses the line, you leave it up to security, you press charges, you turn the other cheek. No matter how tough that is.

You never, ever go into the stands to attack a fan. Ever."
posted by Stephen at 1:07 PM | |

 
My, How Things Change

A friend of mine sent me a link to the website for Chick Publications, specifically their tract about rock music. I read it to my students. They got really mad. It was funny. It sort of showed me how funny I must seem to others when I get upset about things that people think.

What's funny is that he's got a multitude of other tracts that deal with everything from straight up salvation messages to how the King James Version is the only "inspired" Bible. The latter has a litany of specious historical references about how there is a "satanic" version of the Bible that people throughout the ages have conspired to perpetuate in order to lead people astray, while the few committed followers have stuck religiously to the true translation.

I used to think in these terms.

I remember when the knowledge that things like druids, masons, and atheist university professors existed scared me. Satans little puppets. What's more, I had this sense that everyone who wasn't "one of us" was actively engaging in a conspiracy to take our Bibles away, water down our truth, and get us hooked on drugs and sex.

If only the enemy were so blatant... we should be so lucky.

I'm a history buff, so studying "pagan" religion has become par for the course. Needless to say, it doesn't scare me the way it did when I was younger. For better or for worse, I've come to see people's religions (especially ancient religions) almost sympathetically. Most of them are doing the best they can with what they've got. We can debate whether or not that's enough... that's not the point of my post (and I'm not one of those wimps who say "It doesn't matter what you believe as long as you're sincere about it," so no need to blast me for being a relativist). The point is, I don't see that all these people are evil, conniving conspirators engaged in a plot to ruin Christianity as it exists in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Christians can be a paranoid bunch. We get so defensive so quickly. Is this a human thing or a conservative Christian subculture thing? I haven't thought about that long enough to have anything worthwhile to say.

The point is this. We spend a lot of time guarding the perimeter... making sure that the lines are plainly drawn between "us" and "them". I wonder what is more of a threat: forces on the outside or forces on the inside?
posted by Stephen at 10:54 PM | |

 
I Heart Huckabees
Here's a nice interview with David O. Russell about the movie and Jesus.

posted by Jimmy at 9:26 PM | |

 
Tony's Gauntlet
Tony Jones has made some insightful posts lately...this one has a good discussion going. The comments and associated blog links may be the best discussion of the whole Emergent thing (looking at it's strengths, weaknessess, assumptions, etc.) that I've seen in a while.

His post has led many other bloggers to post their thoughts in answer. Here are a couple from the comments:

http://www.forgettingourselves.com/index.php?p=54
http://harbinger.blogs.com/harbinger/2004/11/there_is_no_eme.html

I remember when it was as simple as wanting to be in a faithful community. I guess that's the thing with cycles...somehow you're moving ahead and somehow you're not get anywhere at the same time.

posted by Jimmy at 8:48 PM | |

 
Overheard...
A friend quoted the following concerning the stats showing that church attendance spiked after 9/11 and now is lower than it was before...

"America went back to church and remembered why they had left in the first place."



posted by Jimmy at 8:45 PM | |

 
Our 15 Minutes of Fame
Well, noticing that our site was moving rather slow, that we kept losing comments, and that our hit-count jumped quite a bit, I checked out our referring links. We've hit the big time. USAToday has linked to us in an article. Okay...so we haven't hit it big time. We don't even get mentioned in the article...just a link. And then it's not for anything meaningful we've said, but it was one of our shoddy humor posts. (Why is it that we get pegged as a humor site so often?) It's also unfortunate because we've apparently used up our 15 minutes of fame.

Here's the USAToday article. Don't look for us, though. The link is the one in the second sentence of the article about the Arby's mitt. Here's the post that landed our place in a major news publication.

BTW...if you're visiting from the USA Today article...welcome. I hope some of this stuff makes sense to you, or you enjoy it, or something...

posted by Jimmy at 6:17 PM | |

 
6:33 AM
6:33 AM...5 Days in a row.
6:33 AM...two minutes before my alarm goes off.
I roll over and it stares at me...6:33.

"Seek first the Kingdom of God..."

6:33..."Seek first"...my first echoing thought 5 Days in a row.

God are you speaking to me?  Is this just chance?  It feels like you're speaking to me.

This morning...6:34 AM..."Don't worry about tomorrow.  Each day has enough trouble."

God, I am seeking...but I feel like I'm looking for the very fog I'm walking in.  It's all around me.  It is the air I breathe.  It obscures and filters everything I see.  It's so thick it dulls my hearing.  Even when I exhale, when I speak,  it is visible in the cold air of this world.  But I can't grasp it, can't touch it, can't make it tangible.

So here is my life.  I will keep seeking.  Not worrying about tomorrow, today I will look for You.


posted by Jimmy at 1:01 PM | |

 

Why Can't I Write This Stuff? #112
RealLivePreacher is at it again...saying words that are the ones in my own heart before, better, and more beautifully than myself.

http://blogs.salon.com/0001772/2004/10/28.html

posted by Jimmy at 6:19 AM | |

 
Tapping on the Glass

Well, citizens of Tulsa... Apparently Fred Phelps and his... ahem... ilk (the word is so overused now, but it conveys just the right amount of disdain) will be visiting Sand Springs and Charles Page High School this weekend in order to tell a bunch of high school kids and their teachers how much God hates them.

So, who's up for a flash-mob?

It seems that some of us are planning to make the venture out there. Like Jimmy put it, "It feels like someone is coming in to town to say nasty things about my dad."

We're not planning on interacting with the haters, though. We're not "counter-protesting." We just want to be a voice for the real God... the witness that God loves people.

So we'll update with details for those who might want to join us.
posted by Stephen at 10:09 PM | |

 
Blog the Vote
Some thoughts on the election

I'm finding it hard to get excited or upset about the results. There are a few that I am happy about.

1) Tom Daschle is gone. Some personalities in Congress have, in my view, perpetuated the cancerous divisiveness that has characterized the last decade and a half. Daschle is one of them. Now if we could just get rid of Tom Delay.
2) Oklahoma passed it's Tobacco tax, although I'm amazed that it had the slimmest margin of any of the other state questions. Give us gambling! Give us a lottery! But don't tax our cigarettes!
3) It didn't drag on for three weeks. A little bit of excitement is nice, and I didn't want the whole thing to be over at 9pm, but I had to admit relief when Kerry conceded today.

A lot of other stuff just confuses me, and I'd like some input on this:

1) Why exactly is it that people get so indignant about the war in Iraq, either for it or against it. I mean, how many of us voters really know what went on, what the President knew and when he knew it? I've done some research, but not much, and the conclusion I came to is that it wasn't a great idea (but I NEVER thought it was a great idea, because I'm really cautious of nation building operations), but with what information it LOOKS LIKE the President had, I can't be too sure I wouldn't have made a similar decision. So what does everyone else know about the war that I don't, for it or against it?
2) Why do people assume that either candidate is a devil/man of God? I got an email the other day. Here's an excerpt:

I believe anyone that does not vote on Tuesday is sinning and anyone that votes for Kerry is committing an even greater sin! We not only need President Bush but we need members of the U.S. House and Senate that will support those he will appoint to the federal bench and the U.S. Supreme Court.

This election is a worldview battle, a battle between good and evil....it is a spiritual battle. This is it folks.....if Kerry wins and
he appoints Judges to the U.S. Supreme Court; America is lost.

I got on a discussion board to discuss these thoughts, and the response was "Kerry's not the devil, Bush is!" This mentality absolutely scares the crap out of me. It's not only irrational, but it's destructive. Do we not learn anything just by being alive? When was the last time a political party brought us to ruin? When was the last time a political party led us to the gates of utopia? It doesn't happen. Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall. Some policies will enhance our economy, others will detract from it, but no political party will be responsible for making us either a Godly nation or bringing our nation to destruction. Both parties are reflections of necessary elements to our republic, and the conflict between them has been programmed into our system from day one. And demonizing individuals in those parties doesn't help anything. Obviously, if a person is corrupt, then they should be tossed out, but being a Republican/Democrat does not make one corrupt in and of itself!

3) It doesn't bother me that one party controls both houses and the Presidency, although I must admit that I'm traditionally a Republican voter. But I will say that, if you are a staunch Republican, the pressure is on. You'd better make it count, because if things get jacked up, you won't have anyone to blame but yourselves now. If you don't like Republicans, I encourage you to not start acting like the world is coming to an end, and thus give in to the same irrationalism as our evangelical friend quoted above. Rather, realize that there is the possibility, however slim, that things MIGHT get better, and if they don't, and enough of the rest of the country agrees with you, you can vote the rats out in two years. I'll help you.

That's enough for now, although I reserve the right to say more later. I know that we don't often get political. I thought it'd be fun to have a political discussion, especially considering the climate right now. Some come on, you liberals! You conservatives! Let's have a clean, good, old-fashioned argument.

By the way, if anyone would like to drop a friendly, constructively-critical email to our evangelical friend quoted above, here is his email address: brannon@worldviewweekend.com
posted by Stephen at 6:00 PM | |