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.

Nesquik, arsenic: who are you to judge?

I found the title of this post floating around the Internet a few years ago. I hear the “who are you to judge” line so often that I thought I’d comment on it. I’m not just blowing off steam here, I think we really need to put some thought into this.

Who am I to judge? I’ll tell you who I am. I’m me. That’s who I am to judge! Look, I’ve got 24 hours a day to get through and want to make it out alive. This requires making a few judgments along the way, doesn’t it?

The Difference Between Things

The first step is to realize that there is a difference between things. Not all things are the same. What is the difference between Nesquik and arsenic? Well, for one thing, arsenic is not trademarked and Nesquik is. But there is an even more compelling difference. A couple scoops of Nesquik in your milk really tastes good. A little arsenic in your milk will kill you. That’s the difference.

Who are you?

We are all persons. Persons are effected by things. Persons make choices. Even though our decision making process is often quite shallow, we still have to do it. When we have a choice to make we weigh the possibilities.

Making a Judgment

Not to spoil the ending for you, but the process of deciding between two things is called making a judgment. We make judgments all the time. Should I walk or take the car? Eat in or take out? Drink arsenic or dri… wait a minute! Drink arsenic? Why would I do a thing like that? Drinking arsenic would kill me. Being dead would suck.

But still…

Okay, sure. I can make judgments concerning myself, but isn’t it a little difficult to judge other people? Actually it’s not that hard. We do it all the time. In fact, every time that we tell somebody that it is wrong to judge we are judging them. Right to their face! As persons, we are making a judgment and telling somebody that they are wrong.

A Judgment-less World

Judging people is uncomfortable (except when we do it without realizing it – like when we make the judgment that it is wrong to judge). When we tell people that it is wrong to judge we are refuting ourselves because we have to make a judgment in order to be able to say this.

But what if we all lived up to our “do not judge” attitudes. Do we really stop to think about this? What would the world look like if we stopped making judgments? “Hitler! Stop doing that! It’s wrong.” Ahh! But that’s judging. And who are you to judge? “I’m going to take you to court over this!” Well now, if courts don’t judge I don’t know who does. So shut down the courts because it is wrong to judge.

Try this one day; go through your whole day, from sun up to sun down, without making any judgments. Is this worth experimenting with?

But see, now I’ve forced you to make a judgment. And who are you to judge? You’re you!

Whenever you tell people not to judge you, you are inviting judgment. We are forced to evaluate your statement. You made us judge you. And that’s okay.

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?

Contradiction.

Our generation is weird. We hate labels, love contradictions and make little sense of our world. I learned something a few years back that helped to clarify my thinking in a generation where anything goes, especially the weird.

This thing I learned is called the principle of contradiction, or the law of non-contradiction. Basically it’s just a rule of thinking that says contradictory statements cannot both be true at the same time.

So we can’t say that God does and does not exist. Either he does or he doesn’t. Just putting an ounce of thought into this demonstrates that this is true. If God exists and he is sitting there right in front of you then he obviously doesn’t not exist. If he doesn’t exist anywhere out there in the universe or beyond then he obviously doesn’t also exist. Got it? Pretty simple.

So I plead with our generation, please stop saying that everything is true. It can’t be. Happy thinking!

I leave you with Walking Contradiction by Green Day

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

Naomi, I Think I Love You.

I was listening to random country/punk/ska songs the other day and I discovered Less Than Jake’s rendition of I Think I Love You. I still remember the day that I first realized I was in love with my wife. Well, she wasn’t actually my wife then. She was just a really good friend. I thought that she like somebody else so i didn’t want her to know that I loved her. Anyway, the few lines that I quoted below the video are totally me.

So this song’s for you Naomi! I really love you and I hope you get better soon.

I hold my pillow to my head and spring up in my bed
Screaming out the words I dread,

I think I love you

This morning I woke up with this feeling
I didn’t know how to deal with
And so I just decided to myself I’d hide it to myself
And never talk about it
And didn’t I go and shout it when you walked into the room,

I think I love you

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.