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There is a trend in blogging sites where they become less usable every time I log in.
So I'm on facebook
I don't know if that link even works.
I use it to get in contact with old friends, so that I can engage them in conversation just as little as I always have. Also I use it for status updates about just how emo I am at given times of day and stupid quizzes that most likely lower my intelligence every single time I complete one.
Right now my life can be summarized pretty accurately like this: I have become almost entirely unable to motivate myself to do things that need to be done. I'm bored and lonely and a little depressed here and there.
This concludes my emo update for the year.
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| In a culture where Christians praise violence and consider military an honorable choice of careers, how does one stand against these things without hurting those people one cares about?
Or, more in general...
How does one stand against something they think is entirely wrong when everyone they know thinks it's right?
Will Christian pacifism ever be taken seriously? Right now more people are likely to cry foul if they see a Christian in a bar than if they see a Christian in an organization with the sole purpose of training for and employing lethal force. Is it possible to deal with that kind of disconnect in a way that doesn't hurt people?
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| Heroes predictions:
* The old bald guy (the Hunter) has a power, and is in fact Sylar's father.
* Noah is currently working with a partner (one of us, one of them)... who is also "Rebel", the invisible man.
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So last week the population of California voted to explicitly define marriage in this state as between a man and a woman. I've been struggling to come up with an appropriate Christian response to this, and to the protests surrounding it, ever since.
You see, very recently it's clicked for me. I've known for a while that my views as a U.S. citizen and my views as a Christian will very often be contradictory. This left me stuck in a weird situation... I'd say things like "as a Christian I think that... but as an American I think that...". But what I realize now is that there's no valid viewpoint outside the Church, because no other entity has a correct understanding of the universe.
My viewpoint as an American is irrelevant, because for all intents and purposes I'm not really an American. I'm a Christian whose land of sojourn happens to be the United States. I'm a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven and an alien here on earth. So I don't need to bother with what I might think as an American. It's bound to be invalid, and it shows a misunderstanding of the Church's position and of my position within the Church.
That said, my "American" position on California's Proposition 8 would be this: all citizens should have equal rights. This is touchy, because same-sex couples have a legal arrangement available to them in California that gives them all of the same rights as a marriage. Yet the "separate but equal" doctrine that we're all so afraid of since it was used to marginalize blacks not long ago is a sticking point here. At the same time, however, many people value what is to them the religious tradition of marriage. There is no acceptable compromise for either group. The correct solution is to make civil unions available to all couples and refuse to define "marriage" as a legal term. Strangely enough this solution wasn't represented by either a yes or no vote on Proposition 8.
But the American position is worthless, as explained above. So I need to look at it from a Christian perspective. Here's what I came up with...
Neither the U.S. government nor the state government of California has a valid claim on the ability to define marriage. Both a yes and no vote on Proposition 8 validate the government's authority to do this, yet it has none. As such, abstain should be the correct vote.
Regarding a Christian view of homosexuality: I don't know. I'm fortunate to not have to answer this question. I am not homosexual and I am not a pastor so I have no concern with whether or not homosexuality is morally wrong. My responsibility is to treat others with the love and servanthood demonstrated by Christ without regard for their sexual practices.
Regarding a Christian view of the Prop 8 protests: I don't know. I react very negatively to protests like these, with people parading around with signs that have false or barely true slogans on them, targeting churches and blocking roads. Were I a Christian homosexual I think I would feel hurt and betrayed by the vote, yet as mentioned above I would not be looking to the government to validate my understanding of marriage. Yet I am not sure how to think correctly about these protests.
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| Election day can't come soon enough.
I've seen people on busy corners around town holding signs fairly often in the last two weeks. For and against Proposition 8 (the gay marriage ban), as well as some people for Obama. I'm always slightly amused at the number of people in these crowds that I wouldn't peg as over 18 and eligible to vote, but I don't suppose it matters.
The real issue here is that people mistakenly think that it's appropriate to use car horns as a sign of support for the people with signs. This is incorrect. Car horns are for alerting the person in front of you that the light is green and for alerting fellow motorists of your presence in the hopes of preventing a collision. That is it.
As for the presidential election, I enjoy reading off the wall commentary by people who aren't very well informed about the candidates, but this gets old and I'd rather it just all be over now. If the election ends, and Obama wins, I'm not going to have to hear about Sarah Palin again for a long time. I won't have to hear my family talk about how great it its to have a Christian president despite all signs indicating that the Christian president is one of the worst in recent history. And maybe, a few years down the road, I won't have to hear about the President pushing the country to invade another nation based on sketchy intelligence when there's no clear threat to our country established.
But back in real life, to Christians the establishment should matter a little less. I'm about halfway through Resident Aliens, which is Haeurwas's attempt to emphasize the fact that we, as Christians, are aliens in a foreign land. The United States, for most of us, happens to be the foreign territory we occupy, while the Kingdom of God is our home country.
Something that follows immediately from this, though it hasn't been brought up in the book, is that Christians should be especially sensitive to the plight of immigrants in the United States, because we're in the same position. We can look to them for a bit of insight into how immigrants live. Specifically, they either keep their culture, or they partially or fully assimilate into the culture they inhabit. We, as Christians, cannot afford to assimilate, yet most of us have. How do we avoid it? By associating with our own kind. Meeting regularly and keeping our traditions alive. Encouraging one another not to abandon our traditions. The Christian life can't be lived alone, and this realization (or reminder) has got me seriously considering attending church meetings again. I haven't done this regularly in almost 5 years.
The problem, of course, is that most Christian churches don't have an accurate view of themselves. I'm still wondering whether this will matter to me as I attempt to start attending church meetings and choosing a congregation. I think that the benefits will outweigh the costs, though it's always tough trying to relate to people when you view your education and insight as superior to theirs. I'm a bit of a dick, so this is bound to happen wherever I attend. It's something I need to get over.
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