This post is not thought provoking

It really isn't. Just a bunch of random crap I wanted to put out here.

Last spring Justin put up a website at forumsplace.com, and nobody ever used it. After the last couple posts, I thought it would be a great place to have some of the discussions that have been taking place. So I posted some questions about truth on his site. I really think that should be a starting point for these discussions.

Some of you may have noticed a new addition to the bottom of my sidebar. The button with the picture of a bird is a link to the website, www.freederekwebb.com. Derek Webb is a Christian musician who is making his most recent album available free of charge. On his website, he gives this explanation: "I found that music has been an exceptional means by which to get this potentially difficult conversation going, and this is certainly an important moment for dialogue amongst people who disagree."

I have to say, "CCM" is not my thing. At all. But this album is phenomenal. It cuts to the core of many of the issues we are dealing with today. His lyrics are exceptional and thought provoking. I have been listening to it almost constantly the past week and a half. You should all go download it instantly if you haven't already. I leave you with the lyrics from his song, A New Law.

Don't teach me about politics and government,
Just tell me who to vote for.
Don't teach me about truth and beauty,
Just label my music.
Don't teach me how to live like a free man,
Just give me a new law.

I don't want to know, if the answers aren't easy.
Just bring it down from the mountain to me.
Just give me a new law.

Don't teach me about moderation and liberty,
I prefer a shot of grape juice.
Don't teach me about loving my enemies,
Don't teach me how to listen to the spirit,
Just give me a new law.

Because what's the use in trading a law you can never keep,
For one you can, but cannot get you anything?

Do not be afraid.

Good to know that if I ever need attention, all I have to do is die

Thank you everyone for all the comments on my last post. I agree with all of you.

The original purpose of my last post was to explain why I had posted on political topics twice in a row. If you know me, you know I generally steer clear of political discussion. I felt I should explain the issues that motivated me to talk politics. It was never meant to be a treatise on my "disillusionment."

The bigger purpose of the post was to discuss my own hypocrisy. The fact that I love philosophy and apologetics but I know that I will never have the answers. The way I claim not to care about what anybody thinks, but there I am in the corner--rocking back and forth, waiting for your validation. I love the way that I think I am pretty unique in the way I view music and art and life in general, but I spend all my time trying to convince everyone to think like me. And then there was my last post--a post responding to comments by saying that I don't write in reaction to comments. So, like Kanye West, I want to condemn the problem, but admit that I am part of the problem, as well.

So let me address a small portion of what was said in the comments.

Anon: I agree that my disillusionment was caused by a lack of real knowledge about God. But getting rid of my "disillusionment" didn't help my view of God. I needed to address why I had those issues before I could get past them. Confessing or repenting of my "rebellion" did nothing for my relationship with God. Trust me, I tried.

Ryan: Thanks. I couldn't have said any of that better. It is so much more meaningful in that it is real. You cut to the core of what everyone was trying to say without any of the pretentious "spirituality."

Josh: I never really claimed to be the only one to see hypocrisy in the church, or to go to a war zone, or to prefer green M&Ms over brown. But I do think the sum of my experiences are most likely different then yours. Remember kindergarten? They talked about snowflakes and how each individual snowflake is different. Well, gravity is constant, isn't it? So individuality shouldn't matter. Gravity is true. We all believe it, and I would be the last person to doubt that it exists. But some snowflakes come straight down and land in your eye, while others float down slowly and dance away when you try to catch them on your tongue. See, gravity is the same, but it affects snowflakes all differently when combined with all the other factors. So I don't think I am the only one to do anything, but I think I can occasionally offer a unique viewpoint on some particular subject.

Also, I am interested about what you say is a "pattern of worldliness" in my life. I talked about that topic a little in a previous post called GodCon06. I would be interested to see what you thought.

And I have no clue how you can say that religion and a relationship with God is totally intergrated. I'm sorry, I just think that is ignorant. Do you know anything about history?

Jess:I think you really hit on the crux of this whole issue when you talked about when manufactured Christianity. For me, the manufactured Christianity I had in my mind collapsed completely in Iraq because I was no longer in an environment where it was easy for me to be a nominal Christian. For some people, it is a failed relationship. For others, it could just be an unsettling conversation. But at some point, everyone hits a crisis point. A point where the actions they have been taking in the name of Christianity don't cut it, and they realize they need to cry out to God and find a real relationship.


So I guess this is where I tell you how I am right and people who disagree with me are wrong. But I'm not going to. And it's not just because I am trying to promote some "postmodern" ethic of acceptance. It's because I'm sick of trying to defend myself. I think that what I believe is right. If I didn't believe it was right, I would find something else to believe in. And I think there are things going on in fundamentalism and politics today that need to be spoken out against. And if one of those issues comes up, I will speak out. But I don't want to sit here and spend all me time defending myself and attacking others. That isn't the purpose of this blog. This isn't Sharper Iron. So don't act like it. But if you want to be part of this conversation, I would love for you to contribute. No matter who you are or what you believe.

Besides, maybe I am wrong. Maybe I shouldn't shouldn't listen to Lynyrd Skynyrd and read Karl Marx. Maybe I should listen to Tsaichovsky and read Thomas Jefferson. A pedophile and a man who raped his slaves are far more Christian than hillbilly rock and a communist. Maybe I should qoute from Mozart's Don Giovanni instead of Kayne West's College Dropout. Maybe I should innoculate myself from the culture I am supposed to be reaching. Maybe I should convince myself that Jesus loved capitalism. I'll just find interpretive meanings for all those verses about helping the poor. Maybe I could even change my hairstyle and clothes to make myself more conspicuous. Maybe I should spend all my time justifying my own veiwpoints over the beliefs of others.

But wait--I am already doing that.