This past Friday was my last day standing in front of Planned Parenthood for 40 Days for Prayer. I was told that a woman who arrived for an abortion changed her mind when she saw a little girl that was with someone in our group.
God saved a child that day. If that's the only child God saved during that entire 40 day period, standing in rain for two Fridays and in the heat the other two Fridays was worth it.
It was worth every minute.
Praise God!
4/3/12
3/21/12
It's Time To Nut Up Or Shut Up
There's a very disturbing trend surfacing in our society. We, as a people, don't like owning our words or our actions.We don't want to offend anyone, so instead of saying what we believe, we hide it behind "feelings". "I feel like I should...." "I feel that God wants..." "I feel in my heart that...." You get it. At its best this is a steaming pile a horse pooh. At its worst this is a dangerous and harmful steaming pile of horse pooh.
When someone asks you what your opinion of homosexuality is, own it or don't answer the question. I believe homosexuality is a sin. There is no free pass to mistreat sinners, so don't take what I said tell everyone that I advocate "stringing up queers". Loving all people doesn't change that homosexuality is a sin. See? I owned that. I'm not going to back down from that. If someone asks me why I haven't changed my opinion about this as it becomes more socially acceptable, I'm not going to answer with "I feel like God loves all people, even sinners" because that is not standing firm in your faith. That God loves all people, even sinners is absolutely true, but using the term "I feel like" beforehand as a way to give yourself an out when it hits the fan means you aren't willing to commit to that and leads to you using that way out when you suddenly become unpopular. This is what retreating out of fear of not being popular looks like. When you do that, you open the door for those who see things differently than you do to continue questioning your faith and your beliefs. When that happens, they start pestering the rest of us with their politically correct garbage and expecting us to bend to their will and ideology. I don't want to clean up your mess.
STOP IT!
When someone asks you if you believe a woman should not have the right to choose, "I feel like all life is important", while true it may be, is not an answer to that question. That is you being a pansy. "I believe in a woman's right to choose whether or not she wishes to be sexually active. Do you believe a child should not have the right to live?", "Abortion is murder. Get used to it.", or my favorite, "No", are all acceptable responses you could give if you are anti-abortion. When you sissy out of this one, you open the door for more attacks on our nation's children.
ACCEPT THE FACT THAT PEOPLE AREN'T GOING TO LIKE YOU!
I'm sure you all at least know who Ricky Gervais is. For those who don't, he's famous for having created and starred in the original British comedy The Office and hosting the Golden Globes for a few years. Ricky Gervais is an incredibly faithful atheist who believes all people of all different faiths are morons and should be put in their place. He uses his twitter account for this very reason; insulting religious people of all types. By extension, he thinks I'm one of the stupidest people on earth because I'm a Christian. I would sooner have lunch with him and listen to him publicly mock me and everything I stand for than have lunch with Christian who was afraid to take a stand on something they claim they believe. Ricky Gervais has a freedom that a socially conscience Christian will never have because Ricky Gervais doesn't give a crap and he'll tell you that to your face all day long and then some.
OWN IT OR STOP CALLING YOURSELF A CHRISTIAN!
Christianity is under attack because of our views on homosexuality, abortion, and if you're Catholic, birth control, as well as a host of other things. The only way we're going to come out of this fight alive is to stand our ground, look our antagonists in the eyes, and say "No! We don't care what you think about us! Our God is great and mighty! Our God teaches us that life is precious and homosexuality is a sin! It is you who are wrong! Get over it!" By not doing this in the past, the Church has lost it's power to stand up for morality and has surrendered to the media, to political correctness, and to the masses. Non-Christians certainly don't mind telling me when they think I'm a bigoted troll. Liberals certainly don't mind calling Sarah Palin a cunt. A tweeter certainly didn't mind telling Kirk Cameron, and by extension me because I agree that homosexuality is a sin, to "go to hell and suck a thousand dicks". I certainly don't mind telling someone that if they kill their unborn baby that they're a murderer or someone who lives a homosexual lifestyle that they're living a sinful lifestyle.
When David danced for God and Michal mocked him, David didn't respond by saying "I feel like God was honored by what I did." No! He said, and I paraphrase, "Shut up, woman! God chose me to rule over his people, not you or your father! I will celebrate my God and become even more humbled in the site of my God, my people, and myself, and through that I will be held in honor." On top of that, Michal bore no children to the day she died, which would be like being bitched slapped by the hand of God today.
For the record, this goes for those of you who I don't agree with. None of this is to say that you shouldn't be open minded. There is always the chance that you are wrong, and you should listen to those around who disagree with you and try and learn from them. But, if you're well educated in the subject matter, there is no reason you shouldn't stand by what you believe.
It's amazing how much more fulfilling life is when you offend someone and aren't apologetic about it. Stand by what you believe. If you don't, you should really be asking yourself what you're contributing to life on this planet, because the answer is probably "nothing".
If I offended you just now, good. I stand by what I wrote here.
When someone asks you what your opinion of homosexuality is, own it or don't answer the question. I believe homosexuality is a sin. There is no free pass to mistreat sinners, so don't take what I said tell everyone that I advocate "stringing up queers". Loving all people doesn't change that homosexuality is a sin. See? I owned that. I'm not going to back down from that. If someone asks me why I haven't changed my opinion about this as it becomes more socially acceptable, I'm not going to answer with "I feel like God loves all people, even sinners" because that is not standing firm in your faith. That God loves all people, even sinners is absolutely true, but using the term "I feel like" beforehand as a way to give yourself an out when it hits the fan means you aren't willing to commit to that and leads to you using that way out when you suddenly become unpopular. This is what retreating out of fear of not being popular looks like. When you do that, you open the door for those who see things differently than you do to continue questioning your faith and your beliefs. When that happens, they start pestering the rest of us with their politically correct garbage and expecting us to bend to their will and ideology. I don't want to clean up your mess.
STOP IT!
When someone asks you if you believe a woman should not have the right to choose, "I feel like all life is important", while true it may be, is not an answer to that question. That is you being a pansy. "I believe in a woman's right to choose whether or not she wishes to be sexually active. Do you believe a child should not have the right to live?", "Abortion is murder. Get used to it.", or my favorite, "No", are all acceptable responses you could give if you are anti-abortion. When you sissy out of this one, you open the door for more attacks on our nation's children.
ACCEPT THE FACT THAT PEOPLE AREN'T GOING TO LIKE YOU!
I'm sure you all at least know who Ricky Gervais is. For those who don't, he's famous for having created and starred in the original British comedy The Office and hosting the Golden Globes for a few years. Ricky Gervais is an incredibly faithful atheist who believes all people of all different faiths are morons and should be put in their place. He uses his twitter account for this very reason; insulting religious people of all types. By extension, he thinks I'm one of the stupidest people on earth because I'm a Christian. I would sooner have lunch with him and listen to him publicly mock me and everything I stand for than have lunch with Christian who was afraid to take a stand on something they claim they believe. Ricky Gervais has a freedom that a socially conscience Christian will never have because Ricky Gervais doesn't give a crap and he'll tell you that to your face all day long and then some.
OWN IT OR STOP CALLING YOURSELF A CHRISTIAN!
Christianity is under attack because of our views on homosexuality, abortion, and if you're Catholic, birth control, as well as a host of other things. The only way we're going to come out of this fight alive is to stand our ground, look our antagonists in the eyes, and say "No! We don't care what you think about us! Our God is great and mighty! Our God teaches us that life is precious and homosexuality is a sin! It is you who are wrong! Get over it!" By not doing this in the past, the Church has lost it's power to stand up for morality and has surrendered to the media, to political correctness, and to the masses. Non-Christians certainly don't mind telling me when they think I'm a bigoted troll. Liberals certainly don't mind calling Sarah Palin a cunt. A tweeter certainly didn't mind telling Kirk Cameron, and by extension me because I agree that homosexuality is a sin, to "go to hell and suck a thousand dicks". I certainly don't mind telling someone that if they kill their unborn baby that they're a murderer or someone who lives a homosexual lifestyle that they're living a sinful lifestyle.
When David danced for God and Michal mocked him, David didn't respond by saying "I feel like God was honored by what I did." No! He said, and I paraphrase, "Shut up, woman! God chose me to rule over his people, not you or your father! I will celebrate my God and become even more humbled in the site of my God, my people, and myself, and through that I will be held in honor." On top of that, Michal bore no children to the day she died, which would be like being bitched slapped by the hand of God today.
For the record, this goes for those of you who I don't agree with. None of this is to say that you shouldn't be open minded. There is always the chance that you are wrong, and you should listen to those around who disagree with you and try and learn from them. But, if you're well educated in the subject matter, there is no reason you shouldn't stand by what you believe.
It's amazing how much more fulfilling life is when you offend someone and aren't apologetic about it. Stand by what you believe. If you don't, you should really be asking yourself what you're contributing to life on this planet, because the answer is probably "nothing".
If I offended you just now, good. I stand by what I wrote here.
3/9/12
An Unexpected Life Changing Event
Before I came into work today, I went and stood in front of Planned Parenthood in Memphis and prayed. I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I've see Pro-Life (Anti-Abortion, for those who want to argue the details) "protests" before but I had never participated in one.
I did this as part of 40 Days For Life, a group that organizes two of these 40 day events annually in various cities across the country. It's not really a protest in the traditional sense. Protests involve people holding signs, lots of shouting, maybe a march, and so on. 40 Days is a time for Christians to gather in front of Planned Parenthoods and pray whatever it is that God leads them to pray. Pray for the people inside. Pray that God would eliminate abortion. Pray that people who walk into the Planned Parenthood would change their mind. All of this is done silently while we hold signs (the only protesty thing we were doing). No one is shouting. No one is keeping anyone from going into the building to do whatever it is they came to do. We didn't even talk to anyone while I was there unless they approached us.
Someone did.
I did this as part of 40 Days For Life, a group that organizes two of these 40 day events annually in various cities across the country. It's not really a protest in the traditional sense. Protests involve people holding signs, lots of shouting, maybe a march, and so on. 40 Days is a time for Christians to gather in front of Planned Parenthoods and pray whatever it is that God leads them to pray. Pray for the people inside. Pray that God would eliminate abortion. Pray that people who walk into the Planned Parenthood would change their mind. All of this is done silently while we hold signs (the only protesty thing we were doing). No one is shouting. No one is keeping anyone from going into the building to do whatever it is they came to do. We didn't even talk to anyone while I was there unless they approached us.
Someone did.
12/14/11
Liberals are Dumbasses
I thought real long and hard about the title of this post, and I couldn't come up with anything nicer without lying.
I'm not saying conservatives are the poster children for common sense (I'm looking squarely at you, Michele Bachmann!) but there are plenty of places on the internet you can turn to to read about the shenanigans of conservatives.
My attention was directed to an article on The Huffington Post. If you're not familiar with the online publication, you aren't missing much. It's basically a place where liberals can gather together and spew their venomous socialist agenda all over the web and whine and complain that their laziness is not being rewarded. I'm a huge fan of free speech, so I support them in their efforts to prove to the world how truly foolish and ill-informed mankind can be. The article in question was a very anti-Amazon.com article, claiming that Amazon's success has come at the expense of brick-and-mortar and small retail book stores.
Amazon offers an app that allows you to scan a bar code, and the app will show you the availability of that product on Amazon.com, the price, and for a limited time, give you a discount on that product on top of whatever discounts there may already be for that product. This is really no different from finding a Target weekly advertisement in your local newspaper's Sunday Edition, taking said ad to Wal-Mart, and having them match the price plus take an additional 10% off. No big deal right? Well, if you're a dumbass, this is a huge deal.
See, in the land of liberalism, competition is bad. Score should not be kept during a little league soccer game becuase the feelings of the team who sucks the most might get hurt. Likewise, innovators who find a way of doing things better than the current method should stop benefiting from being smart and move out of the way so that local book stores who refuse to or are unable to innovate and improve their business model can continue to exist. This does not work!
It's no coincidence that, once the United States was formed and freed themselves from the monarchy of England, advances in technology and our way of life increased rapidly. In countries where monarchies control the masses, dictators control the markets, and liberals and socialists are allowed to squash innovation because it might hurt someone's way of life, these advances would not be possible. A few innovations made there way out of Europe as free-markets began to emerge courtesy of Martin Luther giving the establishment a swift kick in the testicles, but these innovations faced many trials and tribulations and came at great costs. Once the US had established itself and dumbasses got out of the way so the free market could breathe, our way of life began to change at an alarming rate, and mostly for the better.
The Cotton Gin was created and made farming of cotton in the South significantly easier and more affordable. It's likely that someone lost their job because of it. GASP! Eli Whitney should have his left big toe tied to a rope and dragged through the streets so we can flog him with broken pieces of our desire to stay in the stone age! Who cares that the cotton gin made cotton affordable for many small farmers, creating small farming businesses across the South. Someone lost their job because farmers realized they didn't need to pay Timmy to separate cotton seed from cotton. Sure, Timmy could adapt, learn how to operate said cotton gin, and become a very valuable asset to the farmer, but that would require effort! Blasphemer!
That's just one example. The automotive industry was made possible by innovators and the government getting out of the way. Some sellers of horse drawn carriages adapted and began selling cars. Others held fast to their old way of thinking and disappeared. Barnes and Noble answered Amazon's challenge, created an online ecosystem which compliments their brick-and-mortar sites, and have created an online shopping experience that Amazon can't match because Amazon does not have a local presence. Border's Bookstore failed to adapt and is now nothing more than an afterthought on the behind of American capitalism.
Back to the situation at hand, Amazon has created a way for people to comparison shop. This is called competition. Competition encourages innovation and progress. So, instead of congratulating Amazon for pushing the market forward, liberals have decided that Amazon should be punished because some local shop who has decided to complain instead of fight back might get hurt. Here's an idea. Offer to beat the price that the app turns up for a product that you sell. When you see a customer using said app, offer to match the price right then and there. The customer gets his product right away without having to wait for Amazon to ship it to him, and you gain what will likely turn into repeat business. Like I said before, this is no different than price matching offered by other retailers.
On another note, The Huffington Post completely missed the hypocrisy of this post. By being an online publication, The Huffington Post is contributing to the decline of the print media industry. By the logic displayed in the post, we should all boycott The Huffington Post.
Also, Amazon.com is opening two warehouses in Tennessee, which will result in the creation 1400 jobs. How in the world is this a bad thing?!
Stop your bitching. You're making the rest of us look incredibly stupid.
I'm not saying conservatives are the poster children for common sense (I'm looking squarely at you, Michele Bachmann!) but there are plenty of places on the internet you can turn to to read about the shenanigans of conservatives.
My attention was directed to an article on The Huffington Post. If you're not familiar with the online publication, you aren't missing much. It's basically a place where liberals can gather together and spew their venomous socialist agenda all over the web and whine and complain that their laziness is not being rewarded. I'm a huge fan of free speech, so I support them in their efforts to prove to the world how truly foolish and ill-informed mankind can be. The article in question was a very anti-Amazon.com article, claiming that Amazon's success has come at the expense of brick-and-mortar and small retail book stores.
Amazon offers an app that allows you to scan a bar code, and the app will show you the availability of that product on Amazon.com, the price, and for a limited time, give you a discount on that product on top of whatever discounts there may already be for that product. This is really no different from finding a Target weekly advertisement in your local newspaper's Sunday Edition, taking said ad to Wal-Mart, and having them match the price plus take an additional 10% off. No big deal right? Well, if you're a dumbass, this is a huge deal.
See, in the land of liberalism, competition is bad. Score should not be kept during a little league soccer game becuase the feelings of the team who sucks the most might get hurt. Likewise, innovators who find a way of doing things better than the current method should stop benefiting from being smart and move out of the way so that local book stores who refuse to or are unable to innovate and improve their business model can continue to exist. This does not work!
It's no coincidence that, once the United States was formed and freed themselves from the monarchy of England, advances in technology and our way of life increased rapidly. In countries where monarchies control the masses, dictators control the markets, and liberals and socialists are allowed to squash innovation because it might hurt someone's way of life, these advances would not be possible. A few innovations made there way out of Europe as free-markets began to emerge courtesy of Martin Luther giving the establishment a swift kick in the testicles, but these innovations faced many trials and tribulations and came at great costs. Once the US had established itself and dumbasses got out of the way so the free market could breathe, our way of life began to change at an alarming rate, and mostly for the better.
The Cotton Gin was created and made farming of cotton in the South significantly easier and more affordable. It's likely that someone lost their job because of it. GASP! Eli Whitney should have his left big toe tied to a rope and dragged through the streets so we can flog him with broken pieces of our desire to stay in the stone age! Who cares that the cotton gin made cotton affordable for many small farmers, creating small farming businesses across the South. Someone lost their job because farmers realized they didn't need to pay Timmy to separate cotton seed from cotton. Sure, Timmy could adapt, learn how to operate said cotton gin, and become a very valuable asset to the farmer, but that would require effort! Blasphemer!
That's just one example. The automotive industry was made possible by innovators and the government getting out of the way. Some sellers of horse drawn carriages adapted and began selling cars. Others held fast to their old way of thinking and disappeared. Barnes and Noble answered Amazon's challenge, created an online ecosystem which compliments their brick-and-mortar sites, and have created an online shopping experience that Amazon can't match because Amazon does not have a local presence. Border's Bookstore failed to adapt and is now nothing more than an afterthought on the behind of American capitalism.
Back to the situation at hand, Amazon has created a way for people to comparison shop. This is called competition. Competition encourages innovation and progress. So, instead of congratulating Amazon for pushing the market forward, liberals have decided that Amazon should be punished because some local shop who has decided to complain instead of fight back might get hurt. Here's an idea. Offer to beat the price that the app turns up for a product that you sell. When you see a customer using said app, offer to match the price right then and there. The customer gets his product right away without having to wait for Amazon to ship it to him, and you gain what will likely turn into repeat business. Like I said before, this is no different than price matching offered by other retailers.
On another note, The Huffington Post completely missed the hypocrisy of this post. By being an online publication, The Huffington Post is contributing to the decline of the print media industry. By the logic displayed in the post, we should all boycott The Huffington Post.
Also, Amazon.com is opening two warehouses in Tennessee, which will result in the creation 1400 jobs. How in the world is this a bad thing?!
Stop your bitching. You're making the rest of us look incredibly stupid.
10/16/11
What Am I Doing?
Have you ever looked around at your life and asked, "What the hell am I doing?"
I have. Many, many, many times over the course of my life. Sometimes it's because I climbed up on the roof, ignoring my fear of heights, only to be quickly reminded once it's time to climb back down the ladder. Sometimes it's bigger picture, like when I had been at Cracker Barrel so long that I got offered a chance to train to become a manager.
I want to talk big picture stuff here. A friend of mine posted the following an his facebook page: "If you want to do something great with your life and make a difference, you cannot do so until the pain of being average is stronger than the fear of uncertainty." This phrase didn't originate with him, but it really struck me when I read it. It sums up everything that I'm feeling. The fear of uncertainty has always existed and has grown since I became married and a father. Lately, though, the pain of being average has grown exponentially and far outweighs that fear of the unknown.
I have to respond appropriately to this pain. I cannot be reckless in my response, but I also cannot be timid. I must be bold. I must be strong. I must have faith in my God. I must trust that He will take care of me and my family in spite of my shortcomings, whether I succeed or fail.
I have to surround myself with like-minded people. I have to find people who have also looked around at their surroundings and said, "What the hell am I doing? I'm better than this. I was meant for more than this!" I have to find people who are willing to take risks. I have to find people who want to be remembered when God is done with them on this planet.
If you're one of those people, please, I beg you, let's surround ourselves with each other. Let's change our situation. Let's do something worth doing. Let's talk, and then let's do.
I have. Many, many, many times over the course of my life. Sometimes it's because I climbed up on the roof, ignoring my fear of heights, only to be quickly reminded once it's time to climb back down the ladder. Sometimes it's bigger picture, like when I had been at Cracker Barrel so long that I got offered a chance to train to become a manager.
I want to talk big picture stuff here. A friend of mine posted the following an his facebook page: "If you want to do something great with your life and make a difference, you cannot do so until the pain of being average is stronger than the fear of uncertainty." This phrase didn't originate with him, but it really struck me when I read it. It sums up everything that I'm feeling. The fear of uncertainty has always existed and has grown since I became married and a father. Lately, though, the pain of being average has grown exponentially and far outweighs that fear of the unknown.
I have to respond appropriately to this pain. I cannot be reckless in my response, but I also cannot be timid. I must be bold. I must be strong. I must have faith in my God. I must trust that He will take care of me and my family in spite of my shortcomings, whether I succeed or fail.
I have to surround myself with like-minded people. I have to find people who have also looked around at their surroundings and said, "What the hell am I doing? I'm better than this. I was meant for more than this!" I have to find people who are willing to take risks. I have to find people who want to be remembered when God is done with them on this planet.
If you're one of those people, please, I beg you, let's surround ourselves with each other. Let's change our situation. Let's do something worth doing. Let's talk, and then let's do.
9/3/11
Can You Be a Libertarian and ProLife/Anti-Gay Marriage?
I recently began receiving a free trial subscription to TIME Magazine. In the latest issue, there was a very good article about Republican Presidential hopeful, Representative Ron Paul. I was pleasantly surprised that the article was mostly a factual description of the Congressman and not some liberal or conservative commentary on the man. However, the author attempted to explain that he is not a true libertarian, as Paul claims to be, because he is pro-life and anti-gay marriage. I would argue that, in fact, these stances that he takes are part of what make him, and others like him, libertarians.
7/13/11
Am I Crazy and Alone in This?
This post is sort of a way for me to discuss something that I've been struggling with. I'm not looking to get anyone worked up; I'm genuinely trying to work through this. Constructive input is appreciated. Note: I make a lot of broad, blanket statements that I realize are not entirely fair to the medium. I'm not going to pick this apart, so just go with it and realize that I'm laying this out admitting that I might just be plain wrong.
7/9/11
Big Brother is a Big Baby
In the 1980's, IBM was viewed by many small start ups as this sort of all seeing eye that controlled everything, turning it's users into mindless drones that were unaware that things could be better. Back then, Apple was the company who had access to the light; who had access to that something better. And they wanted IBM to know that they were gunning for them. So, during Super Bowl XVIII, Apple showed the world what was on the other side of the wall that IBM had built with this commercial.
5/20/11
Taking Sin Out of Art
Note: We're all adults here. I'm not going to use language like "the d-word" or "the s-word". If I need to use "the d-word" to prove my point, I'll simply type damn. That goes for every other foul word in the book. If that offends you so much that you won't be able to read this without fixating on that, please navigate away from this post.
Let's face it, people. There's sin (bad stuff for those of you that don't believe in sin) in the world. There's a lot of sin in the world. It doesn't matter how far you attempt to remove yourself from it, you are surrounded by sin. It's a fact of life here on Earth.
Why do so many Christians artists attempt to shield their audiences from its existence?
Don't get me wrong, some things just aren't necessary. I discussed in an earlier post how I feel about certain "sin" in the media. To refresh your memory, I wrote that I believe that many things, even though they may be offensive, do have a place in media. In fact, I believe that in some cases they're necessary in order for the art to be grounded in any sort of reality.
This is what brings me to this post. Christian art, especially modern media, is often not as good as secular art because it's not believable.
The weekend that it was released to the cinema, my wife and I saw The Grace Card. The Grace Card was produced here in Memphis, TN, by a group of very enthusiastic Christians. The story revolves around a Memphis police officer, Mac, who lost his first son to a hit and run. The car who hit the child was being pursued by police in a car chase. This moment defines the rest of Mac's life; his heavy drinking, his racial prejudice (which probably existed anyway, seeing as he is from Memphis), his failing marriage and relationship with his son. Everything points to that moment in his life. To add insult to injury, a young, black police officer, Sam, gets a promotion that Mac has been chasing and is made Mac's partner and, by extension, his superior. It's at this point that Mac's racial prejudice starts to rear it's ugly head, but it never gets uncontrollably ugly. Mac is hurting, but he isn't broken; not yet.
While in pursuit of a suspect, Mac foolishly breaks away from Sam and their backup unit and finds himself at the receiving end of the suspect's pistol. The suspect goes through the usual routine of threatening to kill Mac if he doesn't cooperate. What's not usual is the language used. If this were a television show or made for TV movie, I can understand a certain amount of restraint. I'm wouldn't pay a fine to the FCC over making my work believable either. But, this is a cinema release film that's already rated PG-13 for other reasons. Why wouldn't a desperate suspect who finds himself seconds from being a cop killer not cuss up a storm? Instead, the worst the suspect can conjure up is "white boy". And for what? To protect the audience? To be able to gain support and a recommendation from Joel Osteen or KLOVE? He didn't even need to say anything like "I'm gonna pop you in the back the head mother fucker" to sell it to me, just a simple "asshole" or "punk ass bitch" would have been plenty. Instead, what we're given is the most unbelievably clean almost cop shooting in the history of cinema.
But wait, it's not over. Once Sam is able to talk the suspect into giving up his weapon, Mac picks his gun up from the ground, grabs the suspect, and violently slams him up against a wall. Mac has officially snapped. All the racial prejudice and anger has officially erupted forth from Mac's being. The tables have turned. Mac has his weapon to the back of the suspect's head and is not happy about having been called "white boy", which is something I've never understood. I'm a boy and I'm white. Why being called those two things back to back would bother me is beyond me. But, I digress. Back to the furious racist and his black hostage.
If I were an angry racist who had just been jumped by a black dude and suddenly found myself in a position to be dealing some swift, personal justice by committing murder, believe me, I'd have called my black victim a nigger more than once. Even a black guy who was about to kill another black guy would be calling his victim a nigger. I'm not saying it's right. I hate that word as much as I feel a white dude possibly can. It's not right, but it is real. As I said above, even a simple "rat bastard" or "son of bitch" would have sold me. Instead, what we're given is the most unbelievably clean almost death by cop shooting in the history of cinema.
Mac is given one more opportunity to show me he's a real person towards the end of the film. Sam is dropping Mac off at his home after a climax that I wont spoil here (though if you watch the film, you'll see it coming a mile away). Sam is trying to get Mac to open up, but he's not interested. Mac gets a little touchy, and he's about to let Sam have a dose of the nigger word when... silence. Mac catches himself and then excuses himself from the vehicle. Now, here, the restraint is a little more believable than in the previous situation. No matter how angry and racists I may find myself being, if I'm with someone who I consider to be slightly more than an acquaintance, I'm not likely to drop a racial slur either. But, I wouldn't rule it out.
The Grace Card, and many other Christian movies, are generally riddled with problems, most of which I can bring myself to look past. Lighting is usually not as good as it could be. Actors are usually inexperienced. Kirk Cameron is usually involved (which is never a good thing). Although I find these problems inexcusable, I can bring myself to look away long enough to be mildly entertained by the film. What I can't handle is a cast of characters that I can't connect with because they don't act like people I've actually met, all in the name of shielding the audience from sin.
So, what do you think? As a Christina, do you believe that protecting the innocence of the audience come first, or should artists trust that their audience are big boys and can take it? If you're one of my non-Christian readers, why do you think Christian art is not as good as more worldly offerings?
The Forum is open, people.
Let's face it, people. There's sin (bad stuff for those of you that don't believe in sin) in the world. There's a lot of sin in the world. It doesn't matter how far you attempt to remove yourself from it, you are surrounded by sin. It's a fact of life here on Earth.
Why do so many Christians artists attempt to shield their audiences from its existence?
Don't get me wrong, some things just aren't necessary. I discussed in an earlier post how I feel about certain "sin" in the media. To refresh your memory, I wrote that I believe that many things, even though they may be offensive, do have a place in media. In fact, I believe that in some cases they're necessary in order for the art to be grounded in any sort of reality.
This is what brings me to this post. Christian art, especially modern media, is often not as good as secular art because it's not believable.
The weekend that it was released to the cinema, my wife and I saw The Grace Card. The Grace Card was produced here in Memphis, TN, by a group of very enthusiastic Christians. The story revolves around a Memphis police officer, Mac, who lost his first son to a hit and run. The car who hit the child was being pursued by police in a car chase. This moment defines the rest of Mac's life; his heavy drinking, his racial prejudice (which probably existed anyway, seeing as he is from Memphis), his failing marriage and relationship with his son. Everything points to that moment in his life. To add insult to injury, a young, black police officer, Sam, gets a promotion that Mac has been chasing and is made Mac's partner and, by extension, his superior. It's at this point that Mac's racial prejudice starts to rear it's ugly head, but it never gets uncontrollably ugly. Mac is hurting, but he isn't broken; not yet.
While in pursuit of a suspect, Mac foolishly breaks away from Sam and their backup unit and finds himself at the receiving end of the suspect's pistol. The suspect goes through the usual routine of threatening to kill Mac if he doesn't cooperate. What's not usual is the language used. If this were a television show or made for TV movie, I can understand a certain amount of restraint. I'm wouldn't pay a fine to the FCC over making my work believable either. But, this is a cinema release film that's already rated PG-13 for other reasons. Why wouldn't a desperate suspect who finds himself seconds from being a cop killer not cuss up a storm? Instead, the worst the suspect can conjure up is "white boy". And for what? To protect the audience? To be able to gain support and a recommendation from Joel Osteen or KLOVE? He didn't even need to say anything like "I'm gonna pop you in the back the head mother fucker" to sell it to me, just a simple "asshole" or "punk ass bitch" would have been plenty. Instead, what we're given is the most unbelievably clean almost cop shooting in the history of cinema.
But wait, it's not over. Once Sam is able to talk the suspect into giving up his weapon, Mac picks his gun up from the ground, grabs the suspect, and violently slams him up against a wall. Mac has officially snapped. All the racial prejudice and anger has officially erupted forth from Mac's being. The tables have turned. Mac has his weapon to the back of the suspect's head and is not happy about having been called "white boy", which is something I've never understood. I'm a boy and I'm white. Why being called those two things back to back would bother me is beyond me. But, I digress. Back to the furious racist and his black hostage.
If I were an angry racist who had just been jumped by a black dude and suddenly found myself in a position to be dealing some swift, personal justice by committing murder, believe me, I'd have called my black victim a nigger more than once. Even a black guy who was about to kill another black guy would be calling his victim a nigger. I'm not saying it's right. I hate that word as much as I feel a white dude possibly can. It's not right, but it is real. As I said above, even a simple "rat bastard" or "son of bitch" would have sold me. Instead, what we're given is the most unbelievably clean almost death by cop shooting in the history of cinema.
Mac is given one more opportunity to show me he's a real person towards the end of the film. Sam is dropping Mac off at his home after a climax that I wont spoil here (though if you watch the film, you'll see it coming a mile away). Sam is trying to get Mac to open up, but he's not interested. Mac gets a little touchy, and he's about to let Sam have a dose of the nigger word when... silence. Mac catches himself and then excuses himself from the vehicle. Now, here, the restraint is a little more believable than in the previous situation. No matter how angry and racists I may find myself being, if I'm with someone who I consider to be slightly more than an acquaintance, I'm not likely to drop a racial slur either. But, I wouldn't rule it out.
The Grace Card, and many other Christian movies, are generally riddled with problems, most of which I can bring myself to look past. Lighting is usually not as good as it could be. Actors are usually inexperienced. Kirk Cameron is usually involved (which is never a good thing). Although I find these problems inexcusable, I can bring myself to look away long enough to be mildly entertained by the film. What I can't handle is a cast of characters that I can't connect with because they don't act like people I've actually met, all in the name of shielding the audience from sin.
So, what do you think? As a Christina, do you believe that protecting the innocence of the audience come first, or should artists trust that their audience are big boys and can take it? If you're one of my non-Christian readers, why do you think Christian art is not as good as more worldly offerings?
The Forum is open, people.
5/2/11
The Struggle
The following was posted to DualAnalogs.net, but very much applies here. Please visit DualAnalogs.net and enjoy what it is I'm doing here.
It's been two weeks since anything new happened here on DualAnalogs.net, and that reality raises a questions for me. What exactly am I doing here? And to be honest, I don't have a clear answer.
I enjoy writing. I enjoy writing about the things I like to do and sharing that with others. I like the rise I get out of people when I say something controversial or that someone else doesn't like. I enjoy getting feedback on those things.
But two things have kept me from doing this more regularly.
The first one would be solved by my doing it more regularly and then spreading the word. There's not a lot of activity here at DualAnalogs.net. There's many reasons for this, but Kelly and I can't actually expect people to keep coming back if there's never anything new here.This is why I am going to commit to making at least one post a week. I realize that that isn't a lot, but I do have a life that requires my attention occasionally.
The second thing is that this blog actually keeps me from doing the things that I like to get on here and talk about. I like video games more than I like writing. I like movies more than I like writing. I like watching football more than I like writing. On top of that, I have to make a paycheck and put food on the table and spend time with my wife. The writing has to take a back seat to those things sometimes.
But there is struggle. I'd love to have this by how I make some money. I'd love for a script that I write and turn into a film to be how I make my living. If I can make that happen, I could not work at a job that, while I do like it, don't want to be doing when I'm 40.
So, I need to remind myself that, if I'd just put the DS down for a few minutes, not play that Xbox 360 game right now, and that Harry Potter will still be battling the forces of evil on that disc 20 minutes from now, and sit down and write, one day this might become my career. If that happens, I'll have more time to do the other things I love. I'll have more time to triple jump over goombas. I'll have more time to watch the extended versions of The Lord of the Rings. I'll have more time to catch 'em all. And, hopefully, you'll enjoy what it is that Kelly and I do here.
Thanks for reading, all 3 of you.
It's been two weeks since anything new happened here on DualAnalogs.net, and that reality raises a questions for me. What exactly am I doing here? And to be honest, I don't have a clear answer.
I enjoy writing. I enjoy writing about the things I like to do and sharing that with others. I like the rise I get out of people when I say something controversial or that someone else doesn't like. I enjoy getting feedback on those things.
But two things have kept me from doing this more regularly.
The first one would be solved by my doing it more regularly and then spreading the word. There's not a lot of activity here at DualAnalogs.net. There's many reasons for this, but Kelly and I can't actually expect people to keep coming back if there's never anything new here.This is why I am going to commit to making at least one post a week. I realize that that isn't a lot, but I do have a life that requires my attention occasionally.
The second thing is that this blog actually keeps me from doing the things that I like to get on here and talk about. I like video games more than I like writing. I like movies more than I like writing. I like watching football more than I like writing. On top of that, I have to make a paycheck and put food on the table and spend time with my wife. The writing has to take a back seat to those things sometimes.
But there is struggle. I'd love to have this by how I make some money. I'd love for a script that I write and turn into a film to be how I make my living. If I can make that happen, I could not work at a job that, while I do like it, don't want to be doing when I'm 40.
So, I need to remind myself that, if I'd just put the DS down for a few minutes, not play that Xbox 360 game right now, and that Harry Potter will still be battling the forces of evil on that disc 20 minutes from now, and sit down and write, one day this might become my career. If that happens, I'll have more time to do the other things I love. I'll have more time to triple jump over goombas. I'll have more time to watch the extended versions of The Lord of the Rings. I'll have more time to catch 'em all. And, hopefully, you'll enjoy what it is that Kelly and I do here.
Thanks for reading, all 3 of you.
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