It’s been a while…

I realize that it has been a while since I posted. There are a few people who read the blog regularly so I know I’ve kinda disappointed you. The truth is, I’ve been rethinking things. I went back and read a lot of the stuff I wrote and wanted to do a major overhaul. Of course, then I realized it’s just a blog! Due to a few classes that I took in my last year of university (*sigh*), I started thinking about the nature of ‘art’ and it’s role in our culture. I started to think more about Christianity’s relationship to culture. Christianity has a bit of a PR issue (a term that only our culture could appreciate) in western culture. Gone are the glory days of western domination.

Long story short, I decided to start a new blog. Soundtrack to My Thoughts was an experiment in writing for me. Some friends and strangers seemed to enjoy the stuff that I was writing about, so I guess I passed the test. My new blog is basically an expansion of this one. I like to explore cultural themes, especially when these themes are discussed through ‘art.’

It’s officially up and running, so check out High Thoughts on Low Art.

Stupid Batteries.

Let me recount a couple of events to you.

A few months ago I was downtown Toronto with a friend. We were in a part of town that was unfamiliar to me. The streets were narrow and the buildings towered above us on either side. How tall they were I cannot really say because we were so close to them that we could not see the tops. The sky was barely visible to us and shadows cast by the massive buildings covered almost everything. But suddenly we broke into a clearing and found ourselves in a massive concrete courtyard of sorts. Now we could see the buildings. They were massive; too many stories to count. They were all made of glass and their innards could be seen by all who passed by. As far as I could tell all the buildings housed banks and other financial institutions. I cannot even begin to guess how much this city block is worth or how much many pours in to those buildings every year. In some ways it felt like we passed through a great valley. In other ways it was a very creepy feeling. It was as if we entered a world in which nothing mattered except little pieces of paper and little round pieces of metal.

Well, that’s the first event. The second event happened just a day or two ago. I was sitting on the couch eating breakfast and watching T.V. A show ended and on came a World Vision program. The images of starving children were disturbing (come on I’m trying to eat), but I watched just long enough to remind myself that deep down inside I’m a really good person and it’s not my fault that they’re starving. You don’t even have to look very deep to see the good in me. Just look at the world around me. Life is pretty good. Anyway, then I picked up the remote to change the channel and for the first time in my life (and at a very critical moment I might add) the remote control failed me. Dead batteries. How could this have happened to me? I’m trying to eat my three course breakfast, the images of starving kids are making me feel guilty and my batteries die. Talk about bad timing. So there I was, siting on the couch with the T.V. more than three feet away (that’s like from you to the monitor and back). I sat there in a little bit of shock, just looking at the TV. Staring back at me were little kids and their moms who needed something to eat. And I got to thinking; what the hell is wrong with us? Seriously, what the hell? How could I just sit there?

What kind of human being can sit on his couch watching this stuff, too lazy to get up and change the channel? So I thought to myself, from this moment on I’m going to change. No more sitting back and doing nothing. I’m getting up, I’m defying laziness, I’m changing the channel. I will not let Laziness overcome me any more. For too long Sloth has been my friend. If I must get off the couch to change the channel then so be it. How dare I sit back and do nothing while bankers and lawyers work their butts off to build their financial empires? How dare I sit on my couch sweating and consuming while they work so hard to guide the world from their towers and perches that reach into the sky?

I will do something with my life. I will invest my money. I will make haste to multiply my fortunes. I will help the poor bankers one brick, yea, one pane of glass at a time. I will insure everything I own. I will even insure my insurance if I can. Gone are the days of doing nothing. I swear allegiance to loose change. For the price of a cup of coffee a day, at a compounded annual interest rate of two percent over prime, I will succeed. My life will have value. So will yours my friend.

Now to find some cheap batteries.

Born Frustrated – by Rancid

On Angels, Brutes and Dark Knights

“Man is neither angel nor brute, and the unfortunate thing is that he who would act the angel acts the brute.” Blaise Pascal

Why has western civilization fallen in love with a guy in a bat suit and a guy in a clown costume? I think it is because in some ways the story of Bruce Wayne and evil villains is our story. Batman tells us something about who we are. It tells what is good about us and reminds us of our great potential for evil. It also gives us hope. I don’t intend to spoil the plot but I do want to discuss some of the underlying philosophy of the movie.

I opened this post with a quote from Blaise Pascal who is a 17th century philosopher. His great philosophical work was not completed before his death but his writing survives in fragments and has been published under the title Pensees (French for “thoughts”).

In some of the fragments Pascal discusses the greatness and wretchedness of humankind. Who can deny that humans are capable of great acts of goodness? On the other hand, who can deny that humankind is capable of great acts of evil? Individual people do great things but we also do evil things. Societies and cultures as a whole do great things and they do evil things.

We know that we should do good things but instead, we do evil. We are not angles and we are not brutes yet, instead of acting like angels we choose to act like brutes.

I think we see this theme played out in The Dark Night. Bruce Wayne is a man with a lot of money and he can do whatever he wants. He chooses to do good. He acts like an angel. Well, a bat at any rate (they both have wings).

And then there is the Joker. Contrary to Bruce Wayne’s courageous selflessness, the Joker chooses to act the brute; quite literally. Make no mistake, these are not two equal and opposite forces of good and evil battling it out on the streets of Gotham. These are men who are capable (to some degree) of being good. But one chooses to be evil and to wreak havoc. This is a choice that we all have to make.

There is more to the story of course. Bruce Wayne himself recognizes that he is in danger of making wrong choices and being guilty of evil. We know from Batman Begins that Bruce has a dark side and that doing good does not come naturally. Just like Spiderman, Batman must struggle to do good things with his great power rather than bad things. Though he may wish to escape his high role of responsibility, to the delight of movie goers everywhere the caped crusader won’t be hanging up the bat suit just yet. The more he struggles to restore Gotham to a place of justice and opportunity, the more he must struggle with himself.

I think the people of Gotham illustrate Pascal’s point. It is from Gotham that these super-criminals come. There are very few angels in Gotham but many brutes. We do not get many glimpses of the larger population, but the look we do get foretells us that Batman hasn’t battled his last criminal. Gotham is constantly churning out new thugs and while crime rates go down, they never stay down.

In my opinion, Bruce Wayne has a false sense of hope in the people of Gotham. He really thinks that they can change. It is interesting that he thinks that a city that churns out supercriminals and a city that hates their own superhero might actually one day choose to act like angles.

And this is where I think The Dark Night reminds us of ourselves. We all choose to act like brutes don’t we? We all like to blame the problems of the world on other people but let’s face it, we are the world. Every once in a while a great person comes along and gives us great hope for the future. But we don’t listen. Every once in a while a very evil person arises and threatens the things that we care most about. We rise up and make a few good choices (like the people on the two ferries) but then we settle back down to live life as brutes. I think a little honest reflection proves this true. If we expect nothing but hideous evil from people we’ll be pleasantly surprised every now and then. After all, we’re not really brutes we just play the part. However, if we expect too much from people we’re going to be disappointed every day. Bruce Wayne won’t be with us forever.

Who can save us from this mess?

The kids aren’t alright… anymore.

When I was 17 I swore I’d never do it, but it happened. I grew up. I’ve been reflecting a lot in the last year or so on my childhood and teenage years. Thanks to Facebook, I now know everything that is going on in the lives of every person I’ve ever met. We didn’t all turn out the way we thought we would. Some turned out better, some worse, some didn’t turn out at all.

There is a tragedy in growing older isn’t there? When I was a child I couldn’t wait to grow. I loved the thought of unlimited freedom, late nights and cake for breakfast. But now that I’m an adult I’m not so sure I want to be here. Already, friends are dying. The pressures of life are too much for some. Unlimited freedom didn’t turn out to be all that it’s cracked up to be.

Growing up doesn’t have to be a tragedy but the 9-5 and growing debt doesn’t leave much room for meaning. Before you know it life has nearly passed by and you’re wondering what you’ve done and why things haven’t turned out the way you thought they would when you were a kid.

I don’t know, maybe I’m the only one that thinks about this kind of stuff. I don’t bring this up because I think my life sucks. On the contrary, I think my life is pretty great. I have a great family, amazing wife, and awesome friends. On top of this, I’ve had the privilege of studying philosophy and ancient Christian writings with some top notch scholars for the last few years. I’ve dug deeper into Christianity over the last few years than I ever thought possible. I’ve wrestled with the meaning of life and the meaning of everything else for that matter! I just wish other people had these opportunities.

My life has really changed since I was 17. Believe me, it’s been for the better. The videos that I posted below are about the crappy part of growing older. There is some hope in them though. For some reason, in spite of all the crappiness of life, people still hope for something good.

The Offspring – The Kids Aren’t Alright

Less Than Jake – For The Rest of My Life

Shhh! We’re Trying to Watch the Movie.

Everybody knows how to watch a movie but not everybody knows how to watch a movie well. There is a difference between simply watching movies for entertainment and watching a movie to really interact with it.

It occurred to me a few years ago that people probably don’t make movies so that audiences can be mindlessly entertained. I think that there are a variety of ways in which movies are meant to interact with us. Some movies capture our imaginations and make us wish that we could enter their world. We follow the cast on a wild journey and kinda wish that we too could get swept up into something beyond the daily grind.

Some movies help us to confront the horrors that litter the landscapes of history. These are usually war movies about real people or tales of superheroes from other planets. The Band of Brothers, Spiderman, Superman, Transformers, and Saving Private Ryan all help us to confront and perhaps even battle the forces of evil, if only on the silver screen.

There are other movies though, that are not grand adventures and they do not portray cosmic battles between good and evil. They are movies that remind us about everyday life and yet somehow they still manage to capture our imaginations and maybe even our hearts, if only for an hour and a half. Here I have in mind movies such as Reign Over Me, Little Miss Sunshine and Juno. They are movies about real people; you probably know these characters in real life. There is something about these movies that we can all connect with. These stories star dysfunctional families and half-hearted friendships. The characters are always a little naive and make fools of themselves. They’re a little like us. In these characters we see the effects of the tragedies of life. If we were smart we’d stop and reflect and realize there is something to be learned from these characters. Out of tragedy often comes unity. A real unity among the characters that would not have been there if tragedy had not shook them out of their routine.

I think that one thing that stops Christians from watching movies well is that we are too easily offended and too quick to ignore things that seem sinful. We bypass movies that have bad language because they make us uncomfortable, but by doing this I think we’re throwing the baby out with the bath water. I mentioned Reign Over Me, Little Miss Sunshine and Juno. These movies are full of bad language. They probably rank among the worst movies for language that I have seen. But interestingly enough, I think the bad language was fitting, I think it was needed. In one way or another these movies are about real people. Sure, they’re a little rough around the edges but then so are you.

The real world is full of people that use bad language. Christians are called to be a light to the world and to interact with the world and show the way to God. Are we going to ignore people who use bad language? Of course not. So why ignore the movies? These movies can help us to reflect on life. They can teach us something about sympathizing with those who face tragedy. The filthy language forces us to consider just how bad the situation is for them.

Don’t get me wrong. I think that there are many movies that just have no taste. I don’t particularly enjoy movies that are full of senseless violence and sensational language and themes. Sometimes bad language is necessary because bad language is real. Sex is real. War is real. Inner struggles are real. Life doesn’t come with a mute button or an R rating, you never know what you’re going to get. I think good movies wrestle with the perplexities of life. But I think a good movie ought to remind us of the way life could be, the way life should be and the way life was meant to be.

I’ve included a couple video clips from a radio show called Stand to Reason. The host, Greg Koukl, spends some time talking about watching movies in general and also discusses Juno and Prince Caspian. I think we could learn a thing or two from him when it comes to watching movies. Check out these clips especially if you’ve seen the movies.

Margarine and Eggs.

Do you ever just stop and ask ‘what am I doing?’ You should try it.

My wife and I were at the grocery store this weekend. We needed eggs. I glanced over to the margarine isle and decided that I should go and see what the prices were like. Eventually, I decided that they were too high and I wouldn’t bother buying any. That was our adventurous Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile our friend’s heart was exploding. He died twice; once right in front of his wife. Just like that.

I’m an amazing shopper. The corporate whores that fuel our consumerist culture love me. Do you ever find yourself thinking that maybe the price of margarine isn’t as important as you thought. I hope so.

This is Your Life – Dropkick Murphys

I Choose – The Offspring

Come As You Are

God doesn’t accept you as you are…

Now that’s a bold statement isn’t it? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard Christians say “God will accept you just as you are.” Why does he do this? “Because he loves you.” When I first heard Come as You Are by Nirvana I instantly thought of God welcoming wretched sinners into his loving arms, and I wasn’t even a Christian then! Is this idea true?

On the one hand, it is a vague statement. In what sense is he accepting you? In spite of what is he accepting you? Into what is he accepting you?

It seems that when people say he will accept you they mean that he will overlook certain things in order to do so. Right now we stand outside of the way things should be but he is willing to accept us into something.

The statement, “God will accept you just as you are” is worded in such a way as to remind us that he is accepting us in spite of something. I think what people have in mind is that even though you have been a bad person God loves you and therefore will accept you. In spite of your moral failure, he will accept you just as you are.

I think what people mean is that God will welcome you into relationship with him. This is what we have been outside of and this is what he accepts you into. Even this though is pretty vague but let’s move on for now.

…rather, he puts you to death and brings you to new life – as you are.

So let’s rethink things a bit. I don’t think God does accept us as we are. What he does do is puts us to death and brings us to new life – and he does this just as we are. Baptism reminds us that God puts our old self to death and brings us to new life in Christ.

Imagine if God were to accept us just as we are. He would accept us with all our faults and failures and hurts and confusions. He would welcome us into Heaven and in less than a day we’d have the place in a mess. We’d make a Hell out of Heaven.

If we are going to say that God accepts us just as we are then we can’t mean that he will leave us that way. God let’s us come to him and perhaps we could call this acceptance. But things cannot and do not stop here. God puts us to death. This is of course metaphorical… sort of, We don’t die physically, but our old way of being human does. In a sense we have to die to ourselves everyday because even though we get new life right away it comes in its fullness later on.

God gives us new life when he forgives us and removes us from our guilty state. Through his Spirit he gives us the ability to live as a new humanity, which is really the way we ought to have been all along. He isn’t satisfied to accept us just as we are rather, as soon as we step up to him he puts to death the old person and gives us new life. He does not accept us as we are instead, he changes us as we are.

Of course a lot more could be said, but then this would be a book not a blog.

Noxious Culture

Virtue, Character and Culture

I was listening to Os Guinness this morning. He was talking about truth and if you are interested you can find his talk here. He made an interesting comment a little more than half way through. He said that the world of culture is where the virtues are formed and character is shaped.

The statement isn’t all that controversial and assuming it’s true then I think we have some problems. I don’t hear people talk about virtue or character much. I’m pretty sure that the concept of virtue is largely ignored today for various reasons. The only place that I ever hear about virtue is in philosophy class. Surprisingly, I think the only time that I hear Christians talk about virtue is when they are bashing it. I don’t know why this is the case. It seems that many Christians are so convinced that salvation does not come by doing good things that they scoff when they hear somebody telling them to be virtuous. Being virtuous is thought to be being self righteous or holier-than-thou I suppose. The only Christians who talk seriously about virtue seem to be philosophers.

I do hear people talk about character. The problem is that talk often comes too late. When should we talk about the character of a political candidate? We should talk about their character before it comes time to vote. Unfortunately, we often wait until they are involved in some sort of scandal. Then we talk about their character, but by then it’s too late to make a difference. Of course, that’s the beauty of democracy. What is great about democracy is not that everybody gets a vote. The beauty of democracy is that it gives us the ability to keep corrupt people in check. When a politician proves that they have bad motives we vote in a new one in. Evil tyrants don’t last long in a democracy.

If virtues are formed and character is shaped in culture then it seems that by understanding our culture you can predict the formation and shape that virtue and character will take.

Let me finish with a point or two to ponder. Our culture is drifting away from the concept of truth. The idea that there is something true out there whether we believe it or not. It’s true even if we don’t know about it and it’s true even if we don’t like it. This has been replaced by the idea that everybody has their own truth. You have your truth and I have mine. Even when our truths blatantly contradict each other we still insist that they are both true for us. If we don’t hold to the idea that there is truth independent of our own “truth” then we are going to find ourselves in big trouble.

The second point is that our culture is obsessed with commercialism and consumerism. We buy stuff like it’s going out of style. Don’t get me wrong, buying stuff is fine. However, when our lives are consumed with buying stuff and this stuff is what brings us joy in life then we’ve got problems. Have you ever stopped to think about the people that have to slave away in factories to make that junk? Have you ever thought of the garbage collectors that have to haul your junk away when you get sick of it? And think about the poor archaeologists who are going to have to sift through all this crap some day.

Truthless, consumer culture; this is where virtue is being formed and character is being shaped.

I leave you with a song by Rancid called Born Frustrated. It’s about culture, enjoy.

Why Isn’t Marriage Exciting?

So, a few weeks back I posted some things about marriage that I learned from one of my favorite philosopher/theologians. That post is now getting more hits than my two top posts combined. This really surprised me because this blog is supposed to be about philosophy, music and Jesus. But perhaps we should be thinking a little deeper about marriage too.

My wife and I were engaged for a few months before our wedding. During that time we got a lot of advice from people. Several people warned us that once we got married the fun would be over and we would get bored of each other. However, other people gave us advice about how to keep our relationship exciting.

I think the best piece of advice we got in this area was to just actually get excited about each other. Excitement isn’t something that just happens to you, it is something that you choose to do. So, this person suggested that every once in a while I just stop and look at Naomi and say “Wow, I can’t believe I’m married to you!”

It’ll take a conscious effort not to get bored of your marriage. But doesn’t everything in life take effort? Things don’t just happen, so be as dramatic as you need to be, and every once in a while just tell your husband or wife how excited you are about them. Marriage doesn’t have to be boring if you don’t want it to be.

The video I posted is by a band called Rancid. The song is Who Would’ve Thought.

I can’t believe I’m married to you Naomi!

No Happy Endings

“The last act is tragic, however happy all the rest of the play is; at the last a little earth is thrown upon our head, and that is the end forever.” ~ Blaise Pascal

Well, maybe there are some happy endings but there are no guarantees. I saw Cloverfield the other night and thought that I’d make a few comments because it really got me thinking.

Most movies start off in a way that really sucks you in. Not so with Cloverfield. The first several minutes of the movie were very boring. They were boring because they were about real life. I won’t spoil the movie for you but let’s just say it was like watching somebody else’s home video. Not everybody’s cup of tea. But isn’t that strange? They make a movie about everyday life and it’s boring.

The second thing that I noticed about Cloverfield is that it doesn’t have a soundtrack. Unless I am completely mistaken, there is no music during the main portion of the movie. Of course, real life doesn’t have a soundtrack either unless you count MP3 players.

Finally, it should be pointed out that there isn’t a happy ending to this movie. Don’t worry, I won’t give it away. Life, of course, doesn’t come with the guarantee of a happy ending.

All in all, I think Cloverfield is a great movie. It’s a great monster movie and it can teach us a few things about life. Real life isn’t like a typical movie. Life has a slow, boring beginning, it has no soundtrack and the ending is often tragic. Yet, somehow it is still worth living.

Just something to think about.