(no subject)
I devour story. TV series, Books, Comics, Movies, Song. All of these are encompassed in pop culture. So in turn I love pop culture. My love and concern is not for the world but this country I make my home. The best way for me as a follower of christ is live my life in a way to reflect him. I don’t know what exactly I am going to do. But I do know is that I like people. I love just getting to know people. My mission statement can be best described in song lyrics by the immortal Squad Five 0, “I don’t want to change the world, I just want to change your mind.” In my opinion, lets worry less about all the way across the globe and worry about how we can help down the block. What bothers me though is that most christians have no idea how they are supposed to do about culture when in the presence of other believers. As a youth group going teen I had a hard time admitting to my friends at church that I loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but had no problem admitting this to my school friends. The church seem to take a shoot first ask question later aspect to culture. My inbox has been deluged recently with chain mail denouncing NBC for a choosing to think that christians like everyone else have a sense of humor about themselves. The first thing this has done is made me to want to get off the Regent email list, and secondly to tell them to shut up. Having never seen The Book of Daniel I can not come to its defense. But I think it may have gotten a better shot if boycotts had not convinced several affiliates not to air it, and in turn causing its cancelation. Same thing happened when Will and Grace decided to have Brittany Spears play a TV chef with a show called Crux-i-fixins (which I think is a funny name, and I think jesus would too.) This week I got an email outraged that Las Vegas had a racy scene set in a strip club. Jeeze won’t they clean up Sin City on TV, don’t let America know that they have strippers. That alone was driving me crazy. Then add in the scandal over the christian film, The End of the Spear. Detailing the story of missionaries who were killed by the people they wanted to save, and how there families eventually bring christ to the tribe. The upset is that one of the missionaries is played by Chad Allen. Who get this, is not only openly gay, but a gay activist.(you may remember him on the hit series Dr Quinn Medicine Women) They argued a gay man can’t play a straight man of God, the filmmakers said had they known he would not have been cast. I thought the point of acting was to be someone you are not. And now I am bracing for the cultural hurricane that will be the Oscars. Most of the films are indie films. They favorites for the big awards are all Gay, Transgender, or Liberal leaning films. To top all that it’s hosted by Jon Stewart who makes fun of everyone on the Daily Show. Brokeback Mountain will win. Which is ironic because it can not be mentioned in the media with making sure that you know that Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal have sex(apparently straight actors are not allowed to play gay either). We as a nation can’t take this film seriously. I have heard so many jokes made at the expense of this film. A speaker at my school used it as an example of Hollywood’s liberal agenda. For the record there is one gay sex scene. It’s a love story not a porno. Good Night and Good Luck takes us back to the good all days when newsmen took a stand against the government. And for that it is labeled as liberal. When I see Christian's attack anything that says anything mocking or negative about our faith the first thought was if i wanted to live in a country controlled by religion I would move to Iran. That may be a bad idea as they are next Dubya’s hit list. America is about being able to practice free expression. It’s place where you can see a film about gay cowboys, forty year old virgins, or curious georges. If there is something on TV you don’t like don’t watch it. I hate Ty Pennington so I avoid Extreme Home Makeover like the plague. No one is forcing anyone to see Brokeback, or Capote. We live in a system that gives all a vote in the free market. Which becomes scary when you realize that Big Momma’s House 2 has been in the top five for the last few weeks, which means that in Hollywood they are drawing up plans to finish the epic trilogy. But that’s how it works. This country has its flaws, and I tend to think that when I am stuck behind a pick up with tires as tall as my car. I may not like it. But it is my fellow American’s right to have tires as big as the state of Virginia will let him. I may not like it, but it’s not my job as a christian to trample on anyone else’s freedom. It’s my task to show them christ working through me.