the ugliness of modernism

This quotation really captures the modern cultural man in many, many ways... Speaking of the joy of the liturgy in worship, of meeting the Lord in the place of His Spirit, Alexander Schmemann says this:

.."And it is this joy of expectation and this expectation of joy that are expressed in singing and ritual , in vestments and censing, in that whole 'beauty of the liturgy which has so often been denounced as unnecessary and even sinful. Unnecessary it is indeed, for we are beyond the categories of the 'necessary.' Beauty is never 'necessary', 'functional', or 'useful'. And when, expecting someone we love, we put a beautiful tablecloth on the table and decorate it with candles and flowers, we do all this not out of necessity, but out of love. And the church is love, expectation, and joy. It is heaven on earth.....it is the joy of recovered childhood, that free, unconditioned and disinterested joy which alone is capable of transforming the world. In our adult, serious piety we ask for definitions and justifications, and they are rooted in fear--fear of corruption, deviation, 'pagan influences,' whatnot. But 'he that feareth is not made perfect in love' I Jn. 4:18 As long as Christians will love the Kingdom of God, and not only discuss it, they will 'represent' it and signify it, in art and beauty......." "Evangelical and Modern Christianity are constantly referring to 'modern man' as the one to whom they are directing their 'ministries.' This 'modern man' is the one who uses electricity and computers, who has been shaped by the new technological society and the scientific worldview. He is the one who is stressed out, burned out, and has all these 'needs.' The modern man has come of age as a deadly serious adult, conscious of his suffering and alienation (or constantly being reminded of them) conscious of sex but not of love, of science but not of mystery, of the function of this or that but never of the beauty of this or that...Based on this analysis, 'modern man' needs therapy, money, housing, a job, etc., No mention is ever made of beauty, poetry, art, singing. Damning omissions which condemn the modern technological and therapeutic world-view, for all its 'practicality,' as being a very truncated view of life indeed."

4 Part review of "The Dark Knight"-- Part 1

I saw the Dark Knight last night. My following comments are a bit of a reflection on the movie, so if you haven't seen it, you may want to wait to read the rest! Wow. I was surprised by the deep themes and darkness, hence "dark knight" I guess! Joker was definitley a picture of a serial Killer, a consistent evolutionist. Batman was facing the boring and typical identity crisis thing. THe commissioner was definitely the hero. Two-Face is a picture of an idolater who turns to the dark side through his idol. Lots of political mssgs in the movie. Hence the black man retiring over the wire-tapping issue. "Nobody cares about a bus full of soldiers blowing up." THe joker is identified as a terrorist who tortures and kills people and then sends the videos in to the public. The movie pokes at lots of things. It makes you think again like other movies, about the relentless question of Hollywood--

Part 2

Dark Knight Part 2-- which is, what is really good. Who is really good? Can anyone be trusted? What is the true nobility? Notice the portrayal of the prisoner who throws the detonator out the window, and neither ship blows up the other. "THere is still some "good" people out there", the movie says. Which is true. However, those good people are only good because of Christ. Hollywood of course, never gets that biblical and leaves it to the individual's own righteousness from within themselves--the relentless message of Hollywood. In some sense, its about what "principle" to live by and indeed some noble sacrifice--the commissioner's and batman's decision to save Harvey rather than the girl. Evil, is found within all of us, says the Joker..."Those schemers, he calls the "civilized" people. And indeed he is like the satanic tempter to Harvey. It is only the "good" that keeps us right. And there are those good. Hollywood just never can get beyond the blindness of the self.

Part 3

Dark Knight-=Part 3. Joker is a picture -a literal "picture" of a man who is not hiding behind the facade of a Christian worldview. All common grace has been removed from him. MOst of the pagans in America simply borrow the ethics of Christianity then spit in the face of their Creator. The Dark Knight, is similar to many other films in America where the conciousness of the director is sending little modern political messages ((i.e. notice in the Bee Movie when the bees are pulling down the honey bear like the soldiers did to Saddam's statue in Baghdad--hence implying that the bees were wrong to do what they did, stop making honey..or invading Iraq)) and Hollywood is repeatedly asking and searching the question of what is the real "good" and the truly noble. All the mean while they continue to come up with Christian truths of morality, but in the end, it is the goodness of the person themselves...And this, I believe, has been the message of too many naive Christians---You do...

Part 4

Dark Knight Part 4 ...your part, and (Fill in the blank_________ some Divine god out there does his part, all according to the whims of what god floats your boat, oh, rich and prosperous American. Jesus says, How long O America, will you borrow Christian morality and attribute it to yourself? How hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven!

Red Neck Hot Tub

See, God does "feel" pain and hurt when his people sin!

Ezekiel 6:9
"Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations.

When is the last time you heard that from a Reformed pulpit!

I love how the obscure and wiry prophets screw with every-one of our neat little hair-dos, most of all mine..

Bertrand Russell

Most men would rather die, than think. Many do.