You all may have noticed that I’m updating much more frequently. This is a response to popular demand, since many of my potential readers have told me their on-again-off-again habits with regards to this website were spawned by an erratic posting schedule. Fair enough, dear reader, expect to hear from me all the freakin’ time. And also, be careful what you wish for.
It’s time for another issue of Pontifications! Let’s get right down to it.
Ephesians is awesome. I was just reading it last night. St. Paul gets a lot of flak for telling women to be obedient to their husbands and such, but I think that misses the point of the passage. He keeps repeating “be subject to one another,” in the same way Christ made Himself subject to us. Imagine a world run by the kind of behavior Paul is talking about. Imagine a world where humanity was subject to itself, exhibiting care and concern for our brothers and sisters above everything else. I don’t think we’d even notice who was being obedient to whom. Does anyone really believe, in that kind of world, that women would be paid less for the same work, as they are now in this supposedly “enlightened” age that is so desperate to sterilize religion?
I think the point Paul wanted to make was that gender roles are not the enemy. In our culture, we’re waging cultural wars against enemies we term “sexism,” or “racism,” or “homophobia,” or whatever. Our method so far seems to consist of finding people we don’t like, slapping one of these terms on them, then suing them until they can’t afford a Snickers bar. It’s like the Red Scare all over again. What if we loved and cared for people who commit hate crimes, as well as the victims? And don’t say it’s more than can be asked of us; if Christ forgave the guys nailing Him to a piece of wood for doing nothing wrong, we can do this.
The truth is, being subject to each other works. It’s not glamorous or sexy, and it takes time, but whenever it’s employed, it rocks humanity to its core. I needn’t remind you that Jesus Christ is a poor Jew from nowhere who lived two centuries ago, and He is still talked about more than any of the United States presidents. And anyone who tells you it won’t get the job done should take that up with Dr. Martin Luther King, the most legendary civil rights activist in history (minus Christ, of course).
I’m sick to death of the courtroom methodology we’re using to try and seek out people to blame for sexism (or whatever) and hang it around their necks. We’re all responsible. And I’m tired to death of these “isms” and “phobias” we come up with, that’s like stomping out a burning leaf in a forest fire. Paul told us how to end homophobia two thousand years ago. We’re just not listening.
Rolling Stone is a crap magazine. Seriously, I can’t take it anymore. They panned every Led Zeppelin album ever made, they called Nirvana’s “Nevermind” middling and unimpressive, and they’ve yet to accurately predict a musical revolution or correctly diagnose one in progress. These so-called music “experts” aren’t really doing a bang-up job calling the plays. They’re useless except as a catalogue of opinions that are considered fashionable by snobby people.
And that was all before they decided to be a political magazine. I’ll never forget the first time I noticed that the pictures of dead soldiers in Iraq that they were publishing to vilify Dubya were, in fact, taken during the Gulf War. Their soft-handed, utterly biased idol worship of Democratic presidential candidates contrasted with their unilateral burn-at-the-stake tirades against anyone who is a Republican exceeds the ridiculous and reaches into self-parody. Next time you try to tell me how biased “Fox News” is, I’m going to laugh in your face.
Go read the interview that Obama just gave them (it’s something like his third cover story). On page 3, right at the top, they start trying to bait Barack into talking smack about Palin. They press him twice in a row, but both times he politely refuses, even suggesting that Sarah was a smart choice to reinvigorate the party. Does he really think that? Maybe not, but the Senator has something that Rolling Stone has never heard of: class. Or discretion. Or professionalism. Take your pick.
I subscribed to Rolling Stone for over a year, in point of fact, and I did so under the justification of “know thy enemy.” But after a while, I cancelled the stupid thing, because surely, somewhere out there, I have a smarter nemesis than this.
Go watch “A Bronx Tale.” It’s Robert de Niro’s directorial debut, written by Chazz Palminteri. The story is based on Chazz’s real life experiences, and it really shows. It’s about a teenager growing up in New York in the 1950s, stuck between two men he idealizes. One of them is his hard-working, God-fearing father (de Niro), who is raising his son on his own and scraping by every penny to do so. He makes an honest living, and it costs him dearly. The other is a local mob boss (Palminteri), who is wealthy and successful, but must be ruthless and violent to do so. These are two very wise men, both of whom love the boy sincerely and want to help him, but he must choose which of them to believe. This is a movie about the gray area of morality, and about how important solid values are in the face of uncertainty. It does not succumb to ethical relativism, but bravely encounters the harsh realities of life and affirms the desire to be honest, moral and good anyway. It’s a powerhouse film with comedy, drama and heartbreak. I haven’t seen it in two years, and it’s still haunting me. Go buy it.
“Gears of War 2″ is going to consume my life. It will, just watch. I’ve been happily sustained by paltry multiplayer and replaying the same campaign over and over for two years with the original, so when the new one emerges with a bevy of new options, new features, and a brand-new campaign, I fear my social life will be forfeit.
I like co-operative multiplayer better than competitive. Maybe I’m some kind of pansy, I don’t know, but games where my friends and I have to work together, share ammo, move in teams and communicate constantly are just way more rewarding to me. Yes, it’s fun to beat your friends and laugh, but in the long run you end up getting too competitive, and the fun starts to seep out. Cooperative play, on the other hand, is mutually affirming, because you’re creating something instead of tearing each other down. Teamwork is awesome, that’s all I’m saying.
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