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Welcome to mistersite.net, home of... well, something unique, I hope. Be sure to check out all those lovely links to the left to see who I am, what I do, and what I like. Read my blog too... it's right under this paragraph. And leave a comment, so I know you've visited.
Okay, so comments don't seem to be working since the whole service outage thing... I don't know what to do until they're back up. Again, I say just remember what you wanted to say, and perhaps do a little research and put in a nice little bibliography with some parenthetical citations to make yourself look really smart. Wait, that came off sounding really jerky. I didn't mean it like that. At least, I don't think I did. Tell you what... if you're someone I don't like, I meant to be a jerk. If you're a friend, relative, or passerby, I meant it in a flippant and jovial, yet irreverently good-natured, way.
So, about my life.... well, as I said before, it's not all that interesting. School is going... I've got most of the big stuff wrapped up, except for that 25-page whopper I've got due in a week that I haven't started writing yet, and a project for PSF that'll take me all of an hour. I'm really just gearing down from a long semester, and looking forward to the stuff I get to do this summer, as well as next year (hopefully) at Fuller.
In other news, I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I'm not going to find me a woman 'round these parts. The thing is, and I have to be honest, the women here are generally of a much lower quality than they were at Calvin. There are some exceptions - I dated one of them, was interested in another one, and the rest are below the Limit - but for the most part, the women I've met here are, well, of a lower calibre. There's just something about being able to look at someone, think "gee, she's pretty," and not having to worry about who she's slept with or whether she's got God or whether she's dumb as rocks. (Not that women who had slept with a lot of guys, didn't have God, and were dumb as rocks didn't exist at Calvin, but in a small place like that their reputations generally preceded them, or at the very least shortly followed.) Here at BG, yeah, there are a lot of pretty women, but not a lot of good ones. I guess that's what it's like in the "real world" - if so, I'm glad I'm going into church work, because to be honest if I had to venture into the "real world's" dating scene I don't think I'd be good at picking out the chaff from the wheat, so to speak, and I'd get myself in a lot of trouble.
Again, to save myself the angry flame comments I know I'm going to get anyway from the BG crowd, I'm not saying that all women in BG are like that. I daresay all the women I associate with - that would include anyone reading this site, unless you just randomly decided to find out what a "mistersite.net" is - would fall into the "quality" category (which is why I either dated them, was interested in them and gave up, or was not interested in them for any number of reasons, and I just realized that these three categories basically describe every human on Earth). But the majority of women I've seen and encountered at BG, and this would include the "it's springtime so I'm going to wear this shirt with half my boobs hanging out" crowd (which really disgusts me on a number of levels, moral, aesthetic, and otherwise), just don't have the character, the integrity, the honesty I'm looking for.
From my conversations with my friends of the female persuasion, the men here aren't much better.
Okay, I've angered enough people for one night. Those whom I have failed to anger, let me just close by saying that I'm thinking something mean about your mother. Even if I don't know you, I'm thinking something mean about your mother. When comments are back up, feel free to flame me.
posted by jimmy at 20:27 -
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So, no four day update. Well, I would have updated it, but my site was down, because my hosting service's hosting service (figure that one out) was being stoopid about something. Oh well, these things happen. All that matters is that the site is now back up and running. Yay, site.
Anyway, the topic for today, I believe, will be "money well spent." The first instance of that was this Saturday, when my friend Jessica and I went to the Toledo Art Museum and spent $5 to see the "Van Gogh: Fields" exhibit. I was very impressed with just about everything about the exhibit... there seemed to have been quite a bit of attention paid to getting the chronological order of the paintings right, and I could clearly see Van Gogh's career progression. The colors they chose for the exhibit walls complemented the paintings nicely. Overall, a very elegant exhibit; my enjoyment was only impeded by the fact that we went on a Saturday and thus there were far too many others enjoying the exhibit at the same time. The steady stream of people pretty much ensured that I wouldn't be able to actually look at any painting for more than a minute or two, and that disappointed me, because there were a few there in front of which I wanted to tarry a bit longer.
The other instance of money well spent is the $15 or so I shelled out for Coldplay's newest album, "A Rush of Blood to the Head." I've been listening to this album just about nonstop ever since I got it, and I have to say that it's easily the best album I've heard since Norah Jones' "Come Away With Me." Coldplay is kind of like the love child of U2 and Radiohead, and I can hear both influences very strongly in the album. My favorite track is probably still the one they've been playing a lot on the radio, "Clocks." I can't explain why it appeals to me - perhaps because it's so reminiscent of early-80's U2, perhaps it's because it's one of the few songs they play on the radio where the lyrics are about more than sex, women, or drugs. The whole album has this simultaneous sophistication and simplicity that I find very appealing.
I also bought for $6 a CD of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. This will undoubtedly enrich my ears as well, though it is difficult for me to find a situation in which to listen to it and fully appreciate it. It just doesn't seem like "car music" to me.
In other news, other things are happening, none of which are that exciting. I may write more about these later.
posted by jimmy at 15:44 -
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I seem to be updating this thing every four days. I'd act like that's some kind of a pattern or something I'm committed to doing, but frankly, you, my one reader, and I both know that's a lie. So I'm going to update now.
I'm kind of on the upswing right now. I had a real downer of a weekend... not that anything bad happened. In fact, several good things happened, including a very good Easter service at CedarCreek and seeing the extended family in Paulding (aka the geographic center of nowhere). I just was a little depressed, and that happens sometimes; I wonder if that's a more serious problem, or a symptom of a more serious problem. But that's something to muse about at a later time, because right now I'm really busy with schoolwork.
Yes, schoolwork. I have schoolwork to do, and the worst part is that I'm actually interested in it. I'm referring to the Mr. T project, which interests me more and more as I get into it. The consequences of his taking on the role of a role model, as well as his shameless self-promotion and his perspectives on race, politics, and religion, make him a very interesting subject of study. I find this project - and the 25-page paper I'm going to be writing on said project - very intriguing.
I also find myself waiting to hear from Fuller... the last bits of my application got in last Friday, and so they should be letting me know whether I'm in sometime in the next several weeks. I'm a little worried, but not too worried, since I'm relatively sure I'm going to get in, but it would still be nice to know, you know? I know you know. You always know. Oh, you're so like that.
posted by jimmy at 20:28 -
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Turns out a night of good sleep did help - a little. I'm not quite so negative now. Of course, it also put me behind in all the schoolwork I was going to get done that night, but I'd rather have good mental health than good grades any day of the week. (That unfortunately also means, though, that I'm going to spend my Easter weekend writing papers. Ahhhh, the life of the college student is a tough one at times.)
So today is Good Friday, and now that that has sunk in a little (it's a normal day on the BG schedule) I'm getting reflective. Unlike most other Christian holidays, this one actually has some correlation between the day it's celebrated and the day it actually occurred. I know that I as a Christian don't reflect on the significance of this weekend enough; much of the time, it seems like so much abstraction, something that I know is true but don't process as real, like a conceptual truth. It's only in the past few weeks that I've really been coming to grips in my own head that the crucifixion is historical truth as well, and this has been remarkable but at the same time difficult to wrap my head around.
In these postmodern times, we're taught that nothing is significant, that nothing we do has any meaning outside of our own plane of existence. The dreary, humdrum world we live in, with its actual day-to-day life, seems like it is so far removed from higher or transplanal things that it's difficult to deal with the idea that something outside our world - the Creator, the Almighty - actually came into this world and lived. It's weird to think that until He was 30, Jesus was a carpenter like his earthly dad; if Jesus had come now, He'd probably be in college, or working a construction job, or serving food at McD's right now. It's really weird to picture the Son of God living the same kind of day-to-day, in-and-out life I'm living right now. It's really weird to picture the Savior of the World waking up at 8:00am and being groggy and needing some coffee before He could function for the day; but that's all part of our humanity, and that's what He experienced, in a manner of speaking (only translate all the stuff to ancient Palestine.)
Which, I suppose, is the whole point, isn't it. No longer is God some removed being, separated by this huge chasm from our everyday lives, but God is here, among us - Emmanuel. Jesus is here, living our lives with us, only living them like we should have all along, like we were designed to all along. And they killed Him for it - and He accepted this death, so that we may live. It's worth it to reflect on Jesus' humanity, but it's just as important to realize that Jesus transcended it, that where we were going to die and stay dead, He died and brought Himself back to life, and He's going to bring us back to life too. That's the joy of the crucifixion. That's why Christians aren't sad on the anniversary of the day Jesus died - reflective, yes, and a little more sober as we realize the tortures, pains, and isolation He went through for our sake - but not sad, because this day is filled not only with the pains of the present but also the joy of the future, as we know that in three days Jesus, who seemed beaten and vanquished, rose triumphant to take the world back for God.
Hmmmm.... I'll have to think some more.
posted by jimmy at 08:57 -
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I want out.
I keep wondering why I did this whole grad school thing... and every time I look at it, it's because I would have felt like my life was standing still if I'd have stayed in Grand Rapids.
So why is it that I feel like my life is standing still here, while in Grand Rapids it would be moving forward?
I'm really beginning to detest this town, this university. Not because of the school thing - in fact, school's probably the easiest part of my life right now. School's manageable... clear goals, clear expectations, knowing when and where everything's going to happen. It's nice, having that kind of security.
It's just everything else that's getting to me.
I'm really very annoyed by the vast majority of the student body here. Complain about Calvin and its Republicanism all you like, but at least there it's reflective. Most Calvin people actually think about why they believe the things they believe, rather than just waving a flag and joining the ROTC. Here at BG there seems to be a widespread lack of critical faculties among most of the student body. That isn't to say that everyone here lacks this quality; those whom I have chosen as my inner circle, friends, and close acquaintances, including many in the h2o-cru axis and the few theatre people I still talk to, seem to have this quality. It's just the rest of the student body - the ones who go to college to drink and do as little thinking as possible to graduate (and don't say they aren't out there, because I have an informal student body sample coming in and out of the shop every day, and I catch snippets of conversations in my many ramblings among the people) - that really get to me. They don't seem as prevalent at Calvin - maybe it's because most profs there want to engage their students in thought, maybe it's because there are actual admissions standards beyond knowing how to write one's name and hit the broadside of the embarrassingly large barn that is graduating high school in this country, maybe it's just one of the side-effects of a Reformed Christian school, much as I hate to admit it. Or maybe I just didn't see them. But it seems like there's an intelligence gap - an open-mindedness gap, perhaps, is the more fitting term - between BG and Calvin, and it's really starting to annoy me.
I don't know, maybe Grand Rapids is home and it always will be to me. Maybe I'm just hearkening back to the good ol' days in college, days I can never revisit. Maybe so much of who I am has been determined by the environment that surrounded me for four years that I'm unable to be as happy outside of that environment. All I know is that I was happier at this time last year; I felt like I was at home this time last year; I had good friends, a brotherhood around me, and something to do most every night of the week. I was actually afraid and saddened to leave Grand Rapids; here, it's going to be good riddance the second I get out of this God-forsaken state. Sure, I'll miss my friends here, and I'll come back and visit every time I'm nearby, but quite frankly if I had to live here another year I'd go nuts. I want to find someplace I belong, and this isn't it.
I'm not going to actually do anything drastic like leave or anything; in all likelihood, I'll just plod on for another four months of this dreary place and then it's off to bigger and better things, like (hopefully) Fuller. Maybe that'll be more my fit; I certainly hope so. Perhaps I'll never find a fit again - perhaps I never even had one in GR save by means of hindsight. We are, after all, made for a better place than this earthly existence. All I know is that I'm not at home here, and that's really starting to muddle my thoughts. It's even more a jumble in there than it ever has been, and that's frightening sometimes.
Well, off to bed. Maybe I won't be quite so negative about NW Ohio if I've got some good sleep in me.
posted by jimmy at 21:46 -
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The weekend. I love weekends. Especially this weekend. This was a particularly good weekend, except for Sunday, when my terrible finger karma caught up to me yet again. I'm becoming very good at bandaging my various fingers. Almost too good.
Aaaaaaaanywho, I went back to Grand Rapids Friday night, to see my friends from my alma mater (Calvin College) and participate in the monstrosity known as Smorg (in which Calvin theatre people parody the current production.) Smorg was excellent; I was very impressed with the Schtein's writing and with the Moke and Michael Page. It made me very happy to be back.
Saturday. Went shopping with the Schtein (I bought three articles of non-black clothing, including a pair of blue jeans), went out to dinner at Bennigan's with the Schtein and Rae-rae, then saw Emma (Calvin's current production.) I was really impressed with the production; I was interested and even slightly emotionally engaged in it, a fact made all the more shocking by my absolute loathing of all things Jane Austen. I think it was the acting - the young woman playing Emma was incredibly good (and stunningly beautiful, if I do say so myself), as well as a Mr. Neal DeRoo (who couldn't seem to entirely lose his northern accent from Wuthering Heights) and David James Ellens. The mise-en-scene was impressive as well.
After that, strike. Most people hate strike. I love strike. (For those not of the theatrical persuasion, strike is when you dismantle the show because it's done.) Not only that, but I love Calvin strike even more. For some reason, being there among my friends and proteges, getting to pull down instruments in the Gezon like old times, was really refreshing to me. I don't know, things feel more... more real there. I loved every minute, to be honest. I really liked getting to see Noah and Alphie stepping into their own as electrician leader types.
Then, the legendary Strike Party, which was incredibly fun. If you've never been to a Calvin strike party, it would be impossible for me to describe to you all the rituals that go on there - all the songs that have to be played, all the special dances to those songs, who goes out when, the atmosphere. Suffice to say that CTC strike parties are like no other party I've ever been to.
As I drove home from the party, I felt this lump in my throat and slight pain in my stomach that I knew wasn't from the alcohol; it was sadness. That was weird for me. But as I thought about the fact that that was the last time I'd ever get to make the party "official" with the CTC crowd, that that was the last time I'd get to be at one of those parties, the last CTC strike I'd ever be at, the last time I'd ever see some of these people, the feeling was overwhelming. Maybe this is what it's like to have a home, to have friends so close I'd call them family, to have someplace my heart will never truly leave. But alas, I am already old; to stay would be to prolong something which was not meant to be prolonged. I regret having not made the most of the times I had with the CTC bunch, but to try to continue reliving the good times long after I should have passed the torch would be denial of the fact that things change. I guess that had never hit home in quite the same way before last night.
So I drove home this morning loathing Ohio. I still do, in many ways. I haven't made a home here like I did at Calvin - no offence to anyone here, but it just isn't the same. The theatre crowd doesn't have that level of togetherness; the church crowd doesn't have that level of ritual. BG isn't home like Calvin is - maybe that's just because of all the formative times I spent there. My brain has been working on that one for a while now - is there something special about Calvin (or CTC) itself that makes it home, or is it just the fact that my closest friendships and my formative years are there? I don't know. But I feel... bittersweet. This weekend was magnificent; unfortunately, probably too magnificent, so that it's even sadder that I'll never have another quite the same ever again.
In other news, I have this really serious problem with being really attracted to women I could never in a million years hope to be with (for logistical as well as other reasons) - it happened again in GR this weekend. It's kind of pathological, and disturbing at the same time. Is there something wrong with me, or is this a normal human thing? (I've never been a normal human, so I can't be too quick to pass it off for that.)
Hmmmm. So much to think about, so little time.
posted by jimmy at 22:05 -
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Right now I'm sitting in my office and trying as hard as I can NOT to write about Russian Futurism. So far I've played ten games of Freecell, IMed several people I usually don't talk to, pondered sending out an "update" email to my friends, and now I'm doing this. So follows a freeform discussion of what's on my mind right now. I'm going to take five minutes, edit out names, fix spelling, and then post. Hope you enjoy.
The first thing I think about is that I'm thinking and typing. I hope I can type fast enough to keep up with my thoguhts. I really hope I don't think anything embarrassing because I want to be totally honest about what I'm thinking, and thinking something embarrassing would put me in the uncomfortable situation of either being embarrassed by what I'm thinking or having to edit myself despite my having said I wouldn't. The next thing I think is of all the embarrassing things I could be thinking but aren't, because I'm not really thinking them - in other words, they're things that pop into my head that would be really embarrassing if they were true. Like that there's someone I was interested in (and kinda with) in times hence that I've recently been thinking about a lot more, or that I was trying to keep from everyone that I have some kind of psychological disease, or that I really have an intense interest in someone I shouldn't be interested in. And again I feel the need to say that while those would all be embarrassing things that I COULD think that WOULD be embarrassing, they aren't true. Repeat, they aren't true.
One of the guys in the hall just walked past talking on the phone. That was mildly interesting.
My thoughts are really boring, I just realized that. I'm really not thinking of anything interesting right now. In my head are all these Russian names from the Futurist movement like Mayakovsky or Kaminsky, which makes me think of Kandinsky, the great abstract expressionist who really had nothing to do with Russian Futurism. Hmm. "The Kandinsky looks nice this time of year." That's from Bible: The Musical, which was a movie some friends made my freshman year that I wish I had been in, because it was just so cool. Not that I refused to be in it or anything, they just never asked me. One of the things I really regret is not getting close with too many people at Calvin while I was there. I realize that I was distant and kind of aloof at the time, and I really never got to know anyone as much as I could have, and I really wish I had because that would mean I'd have more friends. Well, that was kind of embarrassing... not totally, but still kind of embarrassing.
Which brings me back to the things that I said aren't true up above, and my continual worry that someone out there's going to think that they are true and I'm just covering. They're really not true. Well, maybe one of them is just a little, but the rest of them aren't totally true. Now I'm thinking that the people I know are going to read this and wonder which one of those three things is a little true and which things are totally false, and that I'm going to be all sneaky-like and never tell them. But it isn't the first one, I'll say that.
Well, five minutes is up. Back to Russian Futurism. Later.
posted by jimmy at 13:56 -
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Okay, so time for a REAL update. Non-political. Sorta.
Except that I'm really mad at certain Republicans right now, because of their comments towards John Kerry last week. (For those who haven't heard of this, last week John Kerry, Democratic presidential candidate, said at a fundraiser that we need regime change in this country, meaning that people should vote for him instead of GWB, to which Tom Delay and the RNC chair jumped down Kerry's throat, saying that his remarks were inappropriate and unpatriotic because we're at war.) It's ridiculous that some in this country believe that any criticism of the President during times of war are somehow wrong, that just because we've got brave men and women dying halfway around the world that somehow makes it wrong for us to say anything bad about the administration, which now seems to include encouraging others to vote against our current president in the next election.
Now that that's over, I can proceed to my non-political stuff about my life, which continues to continue in a continual way. Things around here are rather dull, almost too dull. Many of my friends have gotten into the spring Mating Season and are finding significant others. This, while it makes me happy for them as they are getting into exciting new territory, and satisfied with myself as a friend as I listen to their questions, concerns, and feelings and try to advise them on suitable courses of action, also makes me at the same time a little disappointed that there really isn't anyone on the remotest of horizons for me. While this is a season of my life and I have accepted that and am okay with it, it's still a touch disappointing...
...especially as there are a few women I'm kind of attracted to but know nothing about them, except that they don't meet Requirement 2. You see, for me there are three preliminary requirements that have to be met before I can even consider being interested in someone. These three rules are that 1. She has to be Christian; 2. She is no more than two years younger or older than me; and 3. We must be able to carry on an intelligent conversation on at least some topic. The problem is that the women I've been attracted to of late don't meet Requirement 2 (too young by a year), and I know almost nothing about them so they can't be the rare exception to Requirement 2 (because exceptions have existed in the past, though the wisdom of those exceptions remains in question.) So that's where that is.
School-wise, things are going. Right now on my research plate: Russian Futurism, Mr. T, and Caryl Churchill's play "Far Away." Right now on the "things I'm actually thinking about" plate: getting into Seminary, finding housing there, not having enough money, the conflict between personal and corporate consciousness, getting into Seminary, abortion, and getting into Seminary. Have I mentioned that I'm concerned about getting into Seminary? When I think about it, I shouldn't be... I have really good grades and good recommendations, and I think the quality of my work stands on its own. But at the same time, there's this nagging worry that this isn't what God wants me to do, or that I've made some egregious error on my application like screwing up a GPA or something, and that I won't get in and won't know what I'm doing in four months. That would suck, especially with the current job market the way it is.
posted by jimmy at 13:57 -
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10 to 15 percent of Muslims are "potential killers." (Philadelphia Daily News, 10.8.2001)
"There is no escaping the unfortunate fact that Muslim government employees in law enforcement, the military, and the diplomatic corps need to be watched for connections to terrorism, as do Muslim chaplains in prisons and the armed forces. Muslim visitors and immigrants must undergo additional background checks. Mosques require a scrutiny beyond that applied to churches, synagogues and temples. Muslim schools require increased oversight to ascertain what is being taught to children." (Jerusalem Post, 1.22.2003)
"I worry very much from the Jewish point of view that the presence, and increased stature, and affluence, and enfranchisement of American Muslims...will present true dangers to American Jews." (Speech to American Jewish Congress, 10.21.2001)
"The Palestinians are a miserable people...and they deserve to be." (Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, 7.2001)
American Muslims are a threat because they have the goal of "transforming [the United States] into a Moslem country." (Jewish World Review, 11.16.2000)
All these quotations are the words of Daniel Pipes, George W Bush's newest nomination for the United States Institute of Peace, "an independent, nonpartisan federal institution created by Congress to promote the prevention, management, and peaceful resolution of international conflicts" (official website). Pipes is considered by many Muslims to be one of the nation's leading Islamophobe. Last year he launched a website called "Campus Watch" that, among other things, provided "dossiers" of professors whose views were, in the minds of Pipes' organization, too pro-Palestinian. In response to the fact that John Allan Muhammad, the alleged DC Sniper, is an African-American Muslim, Pipes said that "it fits into a well-established tradition of American blacks who convert to Islam turning against their country" (Chicago Tribune, 10.31.2002).
Yeah. Sounds like this guy'll be spreading a lot of peace, especially considering that our main national security and peace interests are in the Middle East and involve Muslims. Another winning move from our President... it's kind of like appointing the Grand Wizard of the KKK the ambassador to an African nation. I call on this administration to rethink this nomination and perhaps pick someone who doesn't already hate the people we need to make peace with.
Please comment. I like debate.
posted by jimmy at 14:10 -
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This is in response to Sarah's comment on the previous post. I could respond in the comments themselves, but hey, I pay $10 a month to get to put my opinion in the big letters, so by golly I'm going to exercise that.
First off, I'm going to say that supporting peace is supporting our troops. One of the many lies the Bush administration has told us is that if one does not support the president and his policies, one is anti-soldier and unpatriotic. Any criticism of our president is read as a break in the supposed unity of our country for the war, and as an affront not only to the administration but also to the common soldier. There are many soldiers who do want us to support our president; there are many others who realize that the very thing they are (presumably) fighting for is to preserve our right not to support our president. I believe that the best way to support our troops is to see to it that they live full and rich lives, something made much more difficult when we are putting them in the paths of bullets and suicide bombers needlessly. They signed up to defend America, not to defend the interests of the corporations paying for the GOP's re-election campaigns (like Halliburton, Dick Cheney's former company and chief recipient of contracts for the rebuilding of Iraq - coincidence?)
And the fact is that this war is needless. From a national security standpoint, there are many countries which pose a greater threat to the stability of world politics and the safety of the US than Iraq: Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel, just to name a few. From a humanitarian standpoint, there are many countries which have committed more terrible atrocities and we have looked aside and continue to look aside: the Chinese rape of Tibet, lack of women's rights in many Middle Eastern and African nations, the slaughter of hundreds by rightist and leftist juntas in Latin America. This war is inconsistent with the ideals of the US: We have never attacked first, never opened a conflict with violence. From WWI and the Lusitania to WWII and Pearl Harbor, Vietnam and Tonkin Bay, Gulf I and the invasion of Kuwait, we have always had some external reason - something the enemy actually DID - to attack, whether or not the war was right. Here, there is none; it looks rather like GWB "had it in" for Saddam, as evidenced by his comments over a year ago to several congresspersons, "F**k Saddam. We're taking him out." (link)
In response to the comment about Christianity and war, I think that I can claim that war is wrong and retain my Christianity. I'll note that all your justifications for war in the Bible are found in the Old Testament, when God was carving out a space for His people in Palestine. These wars were started because God told the rulers of Israel, His chosen people, directly, that they were to make war. When the people of Israel went to war without God's blessing, they were defeated. To claim that our wars are on the same par as these wars is tantamount to saying that Americans are God's new chosen people, and that ethnocentric thought disgusts me. As far as I know, GWB hasn't received any revelation from God that he is to start this war, or if he has he's certainly keeping mum about it.
Jesus was a pacifist. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." "If someone strikes you on the cheek, turn the other cheek. If someone forces you to carry their gear one mile, carry it two. If someone takes your cloak, offer them your shirt as well." (paraphrased from memory) Even when He went into the temple and set things right there, He did not kill anyone; he turned the tables over and sent the sellers packing. If anyone had a right to retaliate or make war against their oppressors, it was surely the Son of God; if Jesus had wanted it, He could have had legions of angels to defend him. And yet He went to suffering and death without even a word of violence against his oppressors; His disciples, following His example, did likewise.
The New Testament contains only a few references to violence that are not roundly condemned: Jesus' turning of the tables in the temple, and the battle of Armageddon (which could be read symbolically as easily as it is read literally.) Both acts of violence are taken up with God Himself, either in the flesh or in His glory, at the head of the battle. If and when God Himself appears on the battlefield and says this war is His war, I will be the first person in line at the recruiting office to sign up. But until then, I am left with the conclusion that the New Testament condemns violence. Peter slicing off the man's ear, soldiers beating and killing Jesus, the stoning of Stephen: all portray violence as the weapon of evil against good.
As a Christian, I am still not sure where I stand on war made in self-defense; this is a question I will have to figure out in time, with God's help and revelation. However, the connection between our current war and self-defense is tenuous at best, and nonexistant at worst. This is not a war to protect America. I believe that I have adequately demonstrated that elsewhere; if you want me to again, I will.
Who am I to say that God didn't call GWB to lead us into this battle? I would answer thusly: Who are you to say that God has called GWB to lead us into this battle? War is a violation of the status quo, and thus the burden of necessity must be on war and not peace; in other words, if we are to disturb the equilibrium of peace, those who want war have to prove that there is no other way. The extent of our non-empirical revelation from God is found in His Word, which condemns violence unless God Himself leads us to it. Therefore, the burden is on the one who wants war to prove that God is on their side; otherwise, we must assume that He is for non-violence. So, my challenge to you is to show me, from Scripture and hard evidence, that this war is of God and justified by God; otherwise, I as a Christian am forced to be against it.
posted by jimmy at 09:39 -
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Log
Archives:
After
2.9.2003
9.23.2002-2.6.2003
6.1.2002-8.21.2002
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