boredom

"At all costs avoid being boring. I put that before everything...You must use your imagination, an imagination which is based on sure foundations and which employs all means and methods to bring to the ears of the masses the new attitude in a way which is modern, up to date, interesting, and appealing...I am placing a major responsibility in your hands for you have in your hands the most modern instrument in existence for influencing the masses. By means of this instrument you are the creators of public opinion. If you carry this out well we shall win over the people."
-Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's chief minister of propaganda speaking about radio

"Here we are now, entertain us."
-Nirvana

Cogito ergo sum!

the defiance of declan mcmanus

One criticism that can be made of popular culture is that artists are forced to compromise their integrity in the name of profit. This definitely is a valid concern. In order to obtain the capital required for mass-distribution and promotion of art (especially music and film), artists often need to please investors. I, however, do not like to be a complete cynic about this. I think that although it is difficult to protect one's artistic integrity, it is possible. And although I agree to a certain extent with this argument, I see several problems with writing off pop culture completely. To begin with, artists had to please investors long before the arts were democratized. Michelangelo worked for commission and certainly had to keep his patrons happy. He did not even want to paint the Sistine Chapel, but relented in part due to the huge commission he was offered. Shakespeare would never have become so famous had he not been able to fill the Globe Theater. Mozart had to please not only the Holy Roman Emperor, but also the Viennese opera fans. Therefore I think it is a bit short-sighted to limit the temptation to sell out to the contemporary artist. In addition, it is becoming easier by the day to bring your art to the attention of the masses with a minimal investment. Any amateur filmmaker can post a video on youtube and find celebrity seemingly overnight. Finally, whereas commercial pressures may result from the presence of a free market, this same freedom can also be applied to the speech of the artists. Although arguably a significant minority, there are a growing number of artists who seem to maintain significant control of their own work. The popularity of film directors such as Wes Anderson and Quentin Tarrentino, as well as musicians like Beck and Radiohead is certainly a ray of light for contemporary culture. Another such artist is Elvis Costello (ne Declan McManus). His song "Radio Radio" is an excellent case in point. The song is a vehement protest of the control over artists wielded by powerful record labels. In 1977 he was selected to perform on Saturday Night Live. They wanted him to perform his song "Oliver's Army" which deals with English fascism and was popular in the U.S. Several bars into the song, he stopped the band, and said to the audience "there's no reason to do this song here." The band then launched into radio radio. Incidentally, the stunt had him banned from SNL until 1991. The song as well as this particular performance of it show that all is not lost in the realm of popular culture. A defiant artist can choose to make quality music and challenge the artistic status quo. In addition to the above link to the lyrics for the song, I am also including a link to Elvis performing "Radio Radio" on SNL in 1977.

words of wisdom

Sometimes someone expresses something I think much clearer than I ever could. My wife is reading "How Children Raise Parents" by Dan Allender, who is president of Mars Hill Graduate School in Seattle. He says the following "...here is the insanity. Many parents say they want to protect their children from the horrors of the sex, drugs, and rock and roll of this receding and decadent era, and yet they show far more concern for their stock portfolios, their standing at church, and their waistline than the matters of hunger, AIDS, bigotry, sexism, white-collar crime, and the growing hatred and violence in homes, families, churches, and society. We are in an age not only of inanity but also insanity." (55) I could not agree more. I see this as I teach popular culture to high school students. Parents are hyper-concerned about the content of the media that their children consume. They are particularly concerned about specific content, such as sexuality and language. What they are almost never concerned about is what the presence of the content in pop culture, nor its popularity in American society, reflects about reality. It is at this point that we fail to engage in other issues such as the ones listed by Dr. Allender. Shortly before he died, Francis Shaeffer admonished Christians to not worry too much about treating social symptoms, but to focus on the disease. For example, he said that we should focus not just on ending abortion, but on helping increase the value and dignity that society gives to human life. I think the fact that Dan Allender has observed this behavior as a generation-defining issue shows that we have not listened. I believe that if we would seek to be more consistent then we might be taken more seriously.

good news gone bad quickly

The phone rang tonight around 5 and it was Sarah calling from her cell. She was at work, so the fact that it was her cell made me think she was coming home early. Indeed that was the case, but she said it was under bad circumstances. She said that she had been stuck at work. If you are not around medical professionals, that means she was stuck with a patients needle. It is not uncommon, but it is always scary, and it was the first time it has happened to her in ten years as a nurse. She had just finished giving a patient a shot when she accidentally got herself. She works with addicts, and this patient is a heroin addict which makes this very scary. They tested his blood and at this time there are no concerns that he could have transmitted anything to her. Nonetheless, we are both a bit shaken up. Please keep her in your prayers as she will probably need to be tested again later on. In addition, please remember the countless patients of hers who are HIV positive and don't have the love and support that she does.

The Unforgivable Sin

The Biblically-literate may expect some intelligent discourse on blaspheming the Holy Spirit. That is not the unforgivable sin. There is an offense which is far more heinous than that. It is a refusal to submit to the power of the almighty Hallmark corporation and celebrate its holidays. That's right, I do not plan to make a big deal out of Mother's Day. Before you go to Wikipedia and put a link to me on their Adolph Hitler page, allow me to explain myself. Sarah and I are not exactly plan-ahead type people. As a result, we are not very good at remembering occasions. I think we both feel very badly about this. Because of this, we have given one another a gift that, in the words of Clark Griswold's Cousin Eddy , "keeps givin' the whole year." We have freed one another from Mother's Day, Father's Day, Valentine's Day, St. Hubbins Day (Spinal Tap fans will remember him as the patron saint of quality footwear) and the like. This does not mean that we might not make a big deal out of them on occasion. What we have done is to rob them of their dogmatic oppression. We certainly want to honor those people for whom these occasions are a big deal. We are not trying to incite rebellion. Those of you who have ever been forgotten by one or both of us on one of these occasions probably understand why we are doing this. We love one another, and we make that fact abundantly clear all of the time. This is something that we have chosen to do within the confines of our relationship. For us, it works. Hopefully, the good folks at Hallmark will not be sending their own version of Torquemada to our house.

Wisdom from a skunk

We received a birth announcement in church today from some friends who recently had their third child. The card, which contained a picture of their child on the inside, had a cartoon skunk on the outside and the words "stinkin' cute." This is a great description of the arrival of a newborn. Yes they stink, and yes they're cute. More than that though, it was for me a collision of the greatest and worst things that had ever happened to me. Prior to parenthood, I expected it to be one or the other. Some people tell you that it is the most wonderful thing that will ever happen to you. Other focus on the inconvenience, the late nights, the messy changes, and the complete eradication of any semblance of a social life. When my children arrived, I found myself identifying more with the latter. It seemed as though life had ended. I felt that because I didn't initially feel that magical bliss of which many boast that I must be a terrible parent. A funny thing happened to me though. I came to realize that I can't imagine my life without my children. Moreover, I am more happy about my life now than I ever ever been before. This does not mean that at times I don't still feel that life is over. What it means is that I have come a bit closer to understanding the elusive concept of paradox. Modernity has left us with a thirst for the polarized. We love the over-simplified. There may be an eternal separation from good and bad. I don't think though that any one person is a complete personification of either. Nor do I think that we can always accurately perceive the difference. This ought to affect our responses to the people and the experiences we encounter. I wish that I had an easier time doing this. It is so hard to shake free of the need to put people and experiences into easy categories. Hopefully, the more I realize the limitations of this, it will become easier to defy it.

Rich Mullins

I have just been watching a special on the HD network concerning the mismanagement of proceeds from Native American-owned oil wells by the United States government. The extent to which Native American peoples are still treated unjustly by the United States government, as well as the extent of the ignorance of the rest of the nation concerning this, are simply unbelievable. Among other things, this brings the late Rich Mullins to mind. Rich Mullins was a musician and a Christian who was killed in an automobile crash 10 years ago this September. I am careful to not call him a Christian musician. I think it would be unfair to in any way place him under the label of Contemporary Christian Music. Certainly, most of his music was undeniably confessional in content. It was a bit different than most Christian music of his time however in that it was not necessarily evangelistic. I don't think proselytizing was Mullins' goal. Rather, his music was full of heart felt reflections about the tangible realities of the teachings of Christ. Mullins took very seriously the concern that Christ demonstrated for the oppressed and the less fortunate. Despite great fame, Mullins took a modest salary from his church and gave the rest of his money away. He had a particular heart for Native Americans. Prior to his death, he moved to the Navajo Nation, where he taught music to students who had no music programs in their schools. Much of the proceeds from his album sales went to Native American charities. Rich Mullins gave everything he had (material, physical, and spiritual) to others. He seemed to be convinced that God was real, and that he wasn't God. His faith defied the dogmatic nature so many give to religion. He had been touched existentially, and he did something about it. I am including a link to him speaking at a concert in Lufkin, Texas shortly before he died. The speech truly encapsulates what he had become at the time of his death. His words could probably be offensive to both Christians and non-Christians alike. I think Christ was offensive in the same way. In it he says "if I want to identify fully with Jesus Christ... the best way that I can do that is to identify with the poor. This I know will go against the teachings of all the popular evangelical preachers. But they’re just wrong...Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world where you can live with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children in a beautiful little house where you have no gays or minority groups anywhere near you. Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved and Jesus loved the poor and Jesus loved the broken." The clip is just under 10 minutes, and is well worth the time. I think it would be short-sighted to just memorialize him though. He presents me with several questions I cannot help but ask myself. 1. What is keeping me from giving everything I have away and serving others? 2. If God's people (including me)would put into practice his teachings, what would that look like? 3. Where are the opportunities around me to put them into practice?