Now I Get It...

I think it rather stupid when someone looks to the past and says it was such a better time. Especially as it regards the collective morality of the country- our country, that sentiment is stupid. Well, it's stupid as far as an historical or moral perspective are concerned, but it may be a very smart way to alienate someone. Depending on who says it, it could mean, "Things were better before you showed up," or "Boy, wasn't it great when your people knew their place?" or, "I sure wish I could hire a 5 year old to work in my textile mill." Sure it works for those times when you want to make someone feel unwelcome but it's just not true that "things" were better in the past.

And...

... We can hardly overstate our bias for the present. We have an overwhelming preference for right now. That makes sense; after all, it's when we are. But it's limiting. I don't mean what MY PRESIDENT and HIS apologists mean- that we are unable to see the "big picture-" that 200 years from now, no one will remember the dead Iraqis and Americans or tortured Muslims and so everything will be okay. I mean it's easy to forget that people anywhere or anytime have ever thought differently. And if we do remember, it's difficult (impossible) to understand that thought from outside of our own thought.

So...

... I don't think there really is a sense of moral understanding that transcends right now. When we talk about the past being better, it's often a cudgel.

But...

... We can still look to the past for examples and for a bit of clariity. To wit, our present values distort our perspective on those questions of torture and fundamental human dignity. I guess I should be more clear when I say "our," especially if it suggest there is a single "our" or unitary "value." So broadly speaking, I guess I'm addressing me, or anyone like me that is deeply troubled as a disciple of Jesus or as an advocate of the public. Whether we are looking at it as a representative of the state or as disciples of Jesus we might be stuck in the present. As such we do not have the ability to see how what is being done may be perfectly compatible with or required by state or church values. We may need to look to the past.

We've forgotten what it means to kill for Christ. Not just kill, but mutilate, humiliate, ruin, make destitute. I don't think it does any good to say, "I'm a Christian and it's sometimes okay to kill people... or rip out their fingernails." That kind of equivocation is worthless. We have the example of a time when we could confidently say, "I am killing you for Christ;" "May the smoke from your searing flesh be a fragrant offering to my Lord;" "I throw you from this window in the name of the Prince of Peace." It worked before, we need to dust off that sentiment and see how it works today.

Perhaps it's time we add to the catalogue of martyrs those who were bold enough to kill for Jesus so we can remember things weren't always as confused as they might feel now.

I'll do it. If I can begin posting with any kind of regularity again, I will highlight heroes of the Church- those we can look to as shining examples of Christian fortitude and zeal. Let's start with: Peter in the Garden

Why Didn't Somebody Tell Me This Before?
Blue N' Boogie- Dizzy Gillespie
Go With the Flow- Queens of the Stone Age
1979- Smasing Pumpkins
Whatever Happened to Pong?- Frank Black
Seventeen- Sex Pistols
Bird Dream of the Olympus Mons- Pixies
Take Me Out- Franz Ferdinand
You are the Sunshine of My Life- Stevie Wonder
My Descent Into Madness- The Eels
Underture -The Who