This reminded me of a time when this symbol was a favorite of rebellious youth in the sixties. Except those guys back then were real rebels, and were bucking a real system, along with all the injustices which they had projected upon it. But for today's youth it seems to be more of a sign of a sheep mentality. This is understandable given the state of modern society because it would appear that the only thing today's youth have to rebel against are the mere ghosts and shadows of by-gone eras. They have a pacifist president, no draft, no old and out dated traditions being forced upon them; and-even though they don't realize it-they have prosperity. So the only thing left is to simply dress up like their old granddad in his young and rebellious days to exhibit a sort of faux rebellion.
But for those who have not been sedated by our popular culture, there is still something against which one can rebel, and in so doing, draw on that naturally rebellious spirit bound up in the heart of the naive and idealistic young. Still, given today's youth their due, they are in a more difficult position in their rebellion, for at the heart of "rebellion" is an ultimate rebellion against God. So what are today's youth to do? If they follow their natural inclinations of rebelling against God, they are robbed of the socieital sneers and confrontations once experienced by their rebel grandparents. Yet to rebel against ungodliness almost seems counter-intuitive, even oxymoronic. But rebelling against everything else is akin to rebelling against nothing. There's no fun in that.
Alfonzo Rachel
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12 comments:
I just can't believe you shop at Walmart! Haha, just kidding, so do we! Great post, so true!
Is it o.k. if I still really do like Tie-dye? Danny, seriously, this is a great article as usual, and a very clever title.
I actually wrote this in April. I put some finishing touches on it a few days ago and then accidentally hit publish. Blogger, lovely Blogger, published it on the date that I first began working on it. So here it is the post that refused to remain on the shelf. For those of you who get rss feed I know you've seen it already. At least I think you have.
Dan,
I have been reading and appreciating your recent articles. I don't have any profound comments to make about them, other than good job!
Likewise Jon. In fact, I had written my last article, at least in its basic concept, a little while back and was prompted to post it after reading your last article.
Although the videos are funny, I think that mocking the "other side" only increases antagonism. Will people want to listen to what we have to say if we mock them? Jesus was very direct in his words to the Pharisees, but I don't recall Him mocking anyone. Instead, he was the object of mockery without complaint. This is what "turn the other cheek" refers to - enduring insults. We are not supposed look just like the world.
I think oobama duing a gudt job.
He be taking cair of me. and get me money.
Beth
The premise of the post is that naturally rebellious youth have nothing to rebel against. Although conservatism does require an objective view of the world, an objective world view does not make conservatives Christians. These videos were first and foremost a presentation of a counter cultural worldview in an entertaining format. Even though they painted Christianity in a positive light when mentioned at all, their presentations didn't strike me as Christian as much as political.
I also didn't see these videos as "mocking" either. Not to say that they were not, just that I personally didn't seem them that way.
Dan, thanks for your response. I understand that your reaction to the videos was different than mine. Obviously what struck me is what I perceived as mocking someone with a different point of view, which I believe is not Christian behavior. Is the purpose of your blog mostly political commentary, or political commentary from a Christian perspective? Of course we may also disagree on what we each think is Christian behavior/a Christian perspective. I now see that in focusing on what I did I overlooked the main point of your post. Blessings, Beth
It occurred to me that maybe I am still not understanding you. I thought that you posted the videos because you liked them and were in favor of the message/style of delivery, but maybe you were just pointing out what's out there. On the other hand, maybe you do approve of the videos and we just see things really differently. Blessings, Beth
Beth
Perhaps I'd understand what your questions if you explained to me how they mock others. To be sure I'm probably not the best judge of mocking because I've seen Christianity mercilessly mocked for as long as I can remember. Perhaps my ability to judge the point at which something crosses the line to become mocking has been seared.
Do I like these videos? I suppose I do to a degree. My hope is that they might cause people who would not otherwise listen to the conservative viewpoint to be challenged in their thinking. Also, these might possibly be up and coming youth that will make their way into the field of media and make some sort of a difference there.
I don’t remember the first video bothering me, just the last two, so I just watched them again. They didn’t bother me today like they did the other day, perhaps I am in a different mood. I can see how the videos can be taken simply as tongue-in-cheek and in the spirit of good-natured debate. What has always bothered me is mocking and/or vitriol toward opponents, no matter which side makes the attack. I don’t believe that any useful dialog can occur when either is present. Your newest post about hatred expresses this well; maybe we are not so far apart after all. Thanks for the discussion. Blessings, Beth
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