This article by Micheal Moore is really good. Don’t get me wrong, I am not what you would consider a fan of his. Even when I want to like him, I struggle to find him compelling. But when someone, anyone, gets Jesus right, I am committed to being the trumpeter. So check it out.
I have found facebook fairly useful. However, there is one thing that is causing me some confusion. I have friends that I have had for a long time. People I love very very dearly, that are now on Facebook. What I notice is that many of these people post purposefully inflammatory stuff, via status updates, links, videos, polls, etc… I am wondering what people are asking for when they post these things. Do they want those who agree to say so? Do they want dissenters to bring it up? Perhaps this is overly generous, but perhaps they want to invite public discussion? Given that when I see people who dissagree post, it seems to always end poorly, I can’t see discussion really being wanted.
When I post, I desire people to think. I try to not say “believe this”, or “X person is stone cold stupid”. I would like for people to get their hands on dirty, subversive little things called facts, wrestle with them in public forums, and see how things end up for them. My problem is also thus, however: When i see someone make a comment, or insinuate something I consider erroneous or misleading, I feel the need to correct it, since these people posting as my friends makes me feel like I give passive assent to their comments by my own inaction.
I just get tired of picking on the same friends for posting the same agendized, non-helpful pot-stirring stuff. And actually, I just don’t like it when Christians do it. My other friends I actually don’t care. But Christ followers should know better.
And before you ask, Scott, I am not talking about you. I think you are funny in your passion. Plus, I agree a lot. But not always. But you are still funny then.
This came as such a shock to me. I have never read the books, I assumed that clay work was on the rise. Much to my dismay, it appears that Harry potter (the person who wrote the autobiographical books) is a witch herself. George bush was right to not let her win the award.
So… this is how I feel sometimes talking to some people about faith/scripture….
I know, I know. I need to listen to more music. But to be honest, I haven’t exhausted the bands I like yet. So I suppose Fiver Iron Frenzy, Sixpence, Zeppelin, and BNL will continue to get lyric time on my blog.
I love this song.
Despite our selfish selves
Despite all loss of hope
Despite our lack of faith
Despite our stony hearts
Despite the waning moon
Despite the ebbing tide
Of how we think this world should be
Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye Heavenly host
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
The Hebrew word for the sea is yam. In Hebrew, the sea is considered chaotic and scary. Yam also happens to be a Canaanite deity. Which one? The God of primordial chaos and raging sea. Fits, right? Yam is also shown to be a serpent called Lotan, with 7 heads. Well, it seems that tons of mythologies have gods of the sea as chaotic deities that are also serpents. In Norse Mythology, Jörmungandr, the midgard serpent is the snake that circles the worlds seas and will slay Thor during Ragnarok. Typhon (typhoon…), in Greek mythology is the uber-powerful Titan that fought Zeus and is laden with serpentine coils. Tiamat, the goddess of the sea and chaos, is a dragon often in Babylonian myths. The serpent of Chaos in Egyptian myths is Apep. Vritra, the serpent God kept the waters of the world captive in Vedic Brahmanism.
So interestingly, Christian writers began to merge their idea of Satan with the primal chaos of the sea serpents. This is why we get Christian writers talking about Satan being the one who deceived Adam and Eve. While this is certainly a valid opinion to have, I tend to see things a bit differently. I see two different evils in the world. First, there is this ancient Chaos, represented in the seas, formless and void. This is the thing that God overcame when creation happened. This is what we fight against when we chose life over death. This is what is overcome when we chose order and light over chaos and darkness. But there is another evil.
There is the evil that desires not destruction, but power. The anti-God. Not opposite of God, but putting itself in place of God. This is what the scripture calls the Satan. The powers and principalities. The “world”. The system of domination that is in our world today as militaristic, technological, therapeutic imperialism. The suicide machine that focuses on itself as the only thing. Selfishness incarnate. Now, you may see similarities, but make no mistake, the Satan does not desire destruction of all. It needs creation in order to function, because it is a parasite. It corrupts the life.
So… just thought you should know…
I am biased against killing. I don’t think killing a fellow human is ever appropriate.
Unfortunately, I think I am biased against female teachers. I didn’t notice for a long time, but I found myself choosing male teachers over female ones if given the choice. This was not conscious, just an observation.
I believe I am still just a little bit racist. I perhaps try to compensate for it in my theology, but I generally feel more comfortable around people that seem more like me. Of course, the friends I have from different ethnicities don’t seem to count, because I know them.
I am biased against abortion. I just can’t condone in any way shape or form the end result of such a procedure. Not when there are valid alternatives.
I am biased in favor of Jesus. This may be one of my true a priori assumptions. I simply think that Jesus has the right answers to the deepest questions I have. No matter what I go through, I always come back to Jesus as the starting point for where I go from there.
I am biased in favor of logic over emotion. Having said that, I don’t always act like it.
I like passionate, culturally relevant music better than organs and traditional arrangements. I also appreciate movement during songs of praise, rather than forced stillness.
I am biased towards a mix of Narrative/Neo-orthodox/and Liberation theological categories.
I am biased towards auditory learning.
I am biased against authority. Shocking, I know.
I am biased against war.
I am biased in a strange way toward military personnel. While I find their commitment staggering and their willingness to lay down their lives very Christlike, our military is really just about one thing. War. See previous entry. My bias is that I get strangely uncomfortable around military folk. This could be because many of the military folk I have talked with seem a little too gung-ho. About America, about guns, about military spending, and many times about war. Of course, I know many military (especially ex-military) that do not fit this mold at all, but again, as is the case with many biases, it is not entirely logical.
I am biased in favor of skateboards over rollerblades.
I am skeptical of the supernatural in today’s world. I hope for it. I believe in it. But when it is claimed, I am the first skeptic.
I am biased towards liking Obama because he is black. There. I said it.
I am biased against people with piercings and tattoos. Therefore I am going to get a tattoo soon.
I am biased towards seeing the good in people, not their junk. heh.
I am biased in favor of Jewish stuff. Cause of Jesus.
I am biased in favor of using really wine in communion instead of grape juice.
Of course, all of these can and are overcome as my life goes on, but these are the things that kind of go on behind the rational part of my brain at any given moment. Hope I don’t get judged too harshly.
Last semester, a friend and I decided to embrace a more honest approach to theology. The first step is to admit the places we are coming from, so that others (and ourselves) can wiegh those presuppositions (or biases) against whatever theology we are espousing. Then it is up to the hearer to make a judgment on how those biases influence (or don’t) what we say. For example, I grew up getting beat up by green martians, then go on to propose a theology that God hates green martians. I was likely influenced in my theology by green martians. NO ONE has a pure theological stance. EVERYONE has biases. If we can admit them upfront, our theology will not have to be judged so harshly by others if we have already judges ourselves. It’s called authenticity. The next blog is my attempt at it.
John 10:7 says Jesus is the door. As we all know, doors are made from wood. So Jesus, if you take the Bible as God’s word, is made of wood. Now, here is the freaky part. According to the church councils of the 4th century, Jesus is the same substance as God. Therefore, follow me here… God is made of wood. Now to take it to a whole other level. The Holy Spirit, according to those same councils, is the same substance as the Father and Christ. Now…ready?… The Spirit is the same word in Hebrew for breath. Therefore, Jesus=door=wood=God=wood=Spirit=wood=Spirit=breath. Jesus had to breath. Jesus was a breath cannibal. He breathed in himself, which was wood. And since we know humans don’t breathe wood, Jesus was not human.
Thank you for indulging me on this particular piece of stupidity.
