Some of my favorite memories of television viewing was being huddled together with my family watching some late night, freaky episode of the Twilight Zone, Dark Shadows, or Kolchack: The Night Stalker. You may wonder why would my parents allow me to watch these terrifying shows? The answer is simple, "They liked scary movies too...and my dad enjoyed watching his children jump." Sometimes while watching a scary show, with all the lights out, my dad would take out his fake teeth, mess up his hair, sneak up slowly behind my sisters, and then he would grab them and scream...my sisters wanted to kill him. I thought it was hilarious. So I guess you could say over the years my sisters and I became horror connoisseurs. Gina loved monster movies: "The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Blob, and The Birds." Stephanie liked weird movies: "Chuckie, Children of the Corn, and Night of the Living Dead." I liked anything that included creepy music, crazy plots and dark corners. Rod Serling's "The Night Gallery" was always some of my favorite television viewing. Recently I have enjoyed "Stranger Things" on Netflix -- Creeeeepy....... So as I sat on my couch with popcorn bowl in hand, I would often wonder while watching an appetizing spine tingler, "what makes a scary movie good?" One of the scariest movies I can think of was "Psycho" by Alfred Hitchcock. It had all the elements that intensify fear: Strange camera angles, the creepy surroundings of a cheesy motel in the middle of nowhere, and darkness that hides the truth. The longer the truth remains hidden, the scarier the movie becomes. Take M. Night Shyamalan's "Signs" as an example. For most of the movie, creepy things were happening, you didn't know what was going on, crop circles appeared out or nowhere. And then toward the end of the movie, a skinny, silly looking alien appeared. From that moment on, the movie lost its sting. The light exposed the danger, and finding out that this particular alien was allergic to water; nothing to stress about. He was a paper tiger, all roar, no bite. That is a movie you can only watch once, because the danger was exposed and found silly. The longer a movie keeps you guessing and the darkness hides the truth, the more intense the fear. Light and exposure ruins everything. Spiritually speaking, light has the same effect on sin and evil. People who rebel against God are described in scripture as children of darkness, and the reason is simple: they are trying to hide their guilt and shame. Like a good scary movie, the longer something remains hidden the longer it has power to deceive, scare, trick and keep people cowering in fear. Sin's power comes from it's hiddenness and ability to deceive. I once read that Christianity is a struggle between the promises of sin and the promises of God. Light, the truth of the word, exposes the deceit, folly and emptiness of sin's promises. The longer a person lives in the darkness of his lies, the longer sin rules and controls. Like a good scary movie, evil is terrifying until it is exposed in the final scenes. So too with sin. That is why Jesus says in Luke 8:17, "For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light." A true Christian comes into the light and no longer buys the lies of sin. The darkness loses it's power when Jesus is present. Maybe that is why watching scary movies on a sunny beach doesn't work so well? Everything is exposed! I will say the only time when the exposure of the monster was scarier than when it was hidden - - his name is Negan - - pure evil.
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Have you ever been in charge of keeping 30 squirrelly hormone driven High School Students safe, organized and entertained on either a missions trip or retreat for a whole week? Caring for a group of this size will take seven years off of your life. I have been on more than 10 of these weeks, so that means I need to add an additional 70 years to my current 50 years of age. So, you could say, I am an 120 year old man. No wonder I can barely get out of bed in the morning? Each time I spent a week with a group like this it was inevitable that there were a few students that constantly wanted my undivided attention throughout the week. They were the students who always wanted know what we were doing at all times; they often would try to sit next to me on each trip, and then talk the whole time. Quite honestly, they thought the trip was planned exclusively for them. And when you tried to explain to them that you had 29 other teens you needed to spend time with, the needy student would usually pout feeling like you didn’t really care about their wants and needs. If you were not careful, one singular selfish teen could make your whole trip miserable, especially if they kept demanding you meet their needs. I call this the “Tyranny of the One.” One person who feels hurt, misunderstood, or insecure could quite literally ruin a whole trip for everyone else. I will never forget on one trip to Las Vegas where we almost lost a student because they felt unwanted and started walking the streets alone, while the whole rest of the group had to go out on the streets to look for them. I bring this up because as a country many of our current new laws and policies are being held hostage by the “Tyranny of the One.” Yesterday I read a report by the group Public Advocate, a pro-family and traditional marriage non-profit group, which made this argument: “On May 13, 2016, the Department of Education (“DOE”) and the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued what they called a “guidance letter” to every one of the nation’s public schools. . . either schools let students use whatever bathroom and locker room they wish, according to how they feel about their “gender” on a given day, or the schools will lose their federal funding. “On their official blogs, the DOE and DOJ alleged that the reason for this change was because of requests received from “a growing chorus of educators, parents, and students around the country about the need for guidance on how schools can successfully support transgender students and non-transgender students in compliance with federal civil rights laws. “On September 12, 2016, DOE sent the Public Advocate 424 pages of documents in response to our FOIA request. And that’s when things got interesting. “We read through the documents and found that there was no “growing chorus” of Americans asking DOE for transgender bathroom desegregation. In fact, if there was any “growing chorus” to be found, it was on the other side of the issue — those asking DOE not to allow bathroom “flexibility”… the DOE received only six letters from individuals who requested transgendered bathrooms. Meanwhile, DOE received 42 letters from individuals specifically asking DOE not to give in to transgender bathroom demands…In addition to individual letters, DOE received 27 pre-written “form letters” in favor of bathroom desegregation, but it received at least 4,101 petitions asking DOE not to desegregate school bathrooms! That’s 157 times more people opposed to the idea than in favor of it!...Additionally, DOE received a handful of letters from pro-homosexual/transgender lobbying groups — all special interest groups — much different from the individual “educators, parents, and students,” as DOE had claimed.” Do you see how the “Tyranny of the One” works? If a small group feels offended or not taken care of, the government will use that small minority to jump in as the “Hero of the Oppressed” in order to gain more control over the majority. Are they really being oppressed or is it another tactic used by lobbying groups to dictate their demands to the majority of Americans? The “Tyranny of the One” is slowly eroding what was meant to be the “government of the people, by the people, for the people." Even Cleveland's favorite Chief Wahoo is being used as bait by “Tyranny of the One.” One article writes, “Hundreds of Native American activists staged their protest as the game was played out on Tuesday at the Progressive Field baseball park - the first of seven matches between the rivals and the first World Series game for the Cleveland Indians in two decades.” Hundreds was really about 25 people holding up signs for media attention, while thousands of regular fans filed past to cheer on their beloved Cleveland Indians play. I always wondered why the word “Indians” is a seen as a slam when fans choose a mascot to rally around and cheer on? I thought a mascot was meant to be a compliment and not an insult? Unless of course if you are a lion living in the jungles, I would demand reparations from the city of Detroit for how much they tarnished the poor animal's reputation! The irony of “Tyranny of the One” is that it has the potential to ruin all of us. If just one person is offended, everyone must be held hostage. I think that is why I quit leading youth trips - - someone was always upset with me. But not anymore! I am the pastor of big people's church and you don't ever have to deal with adults wanting special treatment, do you? (And if you believe that last statement I have cheap real estate to sell you!) I am writing not expecting anyone to listen, nor am I on a crusade to change minds. All I want to do is say what I see. As a pastor who has spent the past 20 years in the same church, I have learned some things that I really think could be helpful to people, both in and outside of ministry. However, I have also found over these 20 years, people don't care about what you have to say as much as you think they do - - so I have decided not to "sweat-it" if no one listens. I will share my mind anyway. So I am going to start a Monday series the next couple weeks called, "Screaming into the Void." Today's discussion is going to be one part marketing, and another part pastoral intuition. The subject I want to discuss is why churches of the conservative Baptist and independent Bible flavor that I have been serving at, are losing members and dying. It is true numbers in Mainline denominations are declining as well, but for far different reasons; I may talk about this another time. I want to start my thoughts by explaining the common "Bell Curve." I first learned about this chart while studying marketing at The University of Dayton. The Bell Curve is a general way to describe how organizations grow and die based on statistical research. I have found this pattern to show itself true in businesses, television shows, music genres, and especially in church life - - something I have come to know very well.
It is composed of four groups that represent the whole of any given organization. They represent different types of people and their responsiveness to change and innovation. Here is a general overview: Group One: "Innovators" This group, even though statistically small, contains those who generate new ideas and are excited about change. They often have a good pulse when it comes to understanding trends and tastes outside of the group, so they are always pushing the rest of the organization to move outside of the box. (Organizational traditions, values, and expectations). For any group to change, they need to really allow this group to have a voice. Group Two: "Early Adopters" This group, along with the late adopters, contains the majority of the organization's people. This group is composed of those who are both very supportive to the organization but are flexible when it comes to change. People in this group do not generate change, but they are accepting of the new innovations that bring positive growth. They still value loyalty to the organization, so in order for them to adopt drastic changes, the innovators must persuasively convince them the change will be good for the whole in the long run. Group Three: "Late Adopters" This group is composed of those who are both very loyal to the organization but are inflexible when it comes to change. People in this group do not understand the need for change, and they become suspicious of the innovators when they try to push change. Because they value loyalty above everything else, they often will demand rock-solid reasons why they should even entertain the idea of doing things different. Loyalty to tradition often trumps love for outreach. Group Four: "The Laggards" This group, even though statistically small, has tremendous power over the rest of the group. They contain those who hate new ideas and abhor change. They often are so insulated and ignorant when it comes to understanding trends and tastes outside of the group, that they are convinced of their own tried and true ways as always being the right ways. For any group to change, they need to learn how to not allow this group to poison the majority. Understanding the Bell Curve is essential if you really want to grow and still be able to both attract and speak to those outside the organization. If someone says, "we don't need to change who we are in order to attract those outside" it's a sure bet you are hearing from the Laggards. Just this past Sunday as I was thinking about this post, our congregation sang a song that had a strong beat to clap too. It was funny to watch how each of these groups clap. The Innovators just clap naturally. They understand beat patterns and they are not clapping because they think they are supposed to, they are clapping because for them it feels natural. Innovators also know when clapping is not cool, while others keep clapping. The Early Adopters see the Innovators clapping, so they smile, and start clapping along. They see clapping as an expression of their new found freedom, and they even start clapping extra loud to try to get more people to clap as well. Often their clapping can be off-beat and held a little too long, sometimes they will clap at songs you can't really clap at - - you see, for them clapping is a new window of opportunity to show how relevant they are. The Late Adopters hate clapping, but will do it if the leader in the front encourages clapping. They will fell very awkward and will look for the moment when they can stop clapping. They also will only clap at songs where it is proper to clap, but no more than that. The Laggard sees clapping as an instrument of the devil. So they will hold their arms crossed refusing to follow the crowd even if the worship leader has stopped playing and is expecting everyone to join him with large clapping gestures. This example is very trivial but it shows how the different groups respond. When issues get more important, the tensions between groups will ramp up accordingly. Music Wars, evangelism techniques, dress preferences, meeting times will all be sources of strife if the leader is not aware of the values of each group. A church dies when the Laggards keep getting their way. Often Baptist circles are run by the Laggards to the detriment of the whole. The way you can best tell a church is run by Laggards is when you have no Innovators attending and there is only a small group of Early Adopters. Why stay when your voice doesn't matter? Why be at a church when only one group sets the direction for a church? This is not an issue of being relevant for relevance sake, but of valuing the different groups in your organization and seeing them as a gift to your community to help you go outside your four walls. I am by nature both an Innovator and Early Adopter - and I have been blessed with a church that values doing whatever it can to reach people who don't know Christ. I have also been at places that see me simply as an instigator throwing out unneeded criticism when things seem to be going fine. Needless to say, for Innovators like me, we will not stay at places like that for long. And that is why some churches die. “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Isaiah 6:5 I was a clean cut, and rather naive, 11 year old the first time I saw Star Wars on the big screen, and I remember it well. My memories, however, do not revolve around the characters of Luke Skywalker or Han Solo; nor are the campy graphics of the Starfighter shooting at the Death Star foremost on my mind. Oh no. What I remember most about that day was the crowd that was waiting outside for the midnight movie to start. As my dad and I were coming out of the 10 p.m. showing of Star Wars there was a long line of the strangest people you ever saw. Many of those in line were creepy men dressed like women, donning black lady’s undergarments, leggings and bright red lipstick. Others wore vampire make-up and most were just plain scary. I noticed they were smoking some very funny looking cigarettes as well. I asked my dad, “What is wrong with those people?” He pointed to the movie marquee that flashed, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and he said, “They are dressing up like freaks because they are waiting to see that rotten movie.” I asked, “What is that movie about?” He looked at me and said, “Well Chris…(pause)…don’t worry about it…what I read about it is that it is loaded with a bunch of smutty trash. I can’t understand why parents would let their kids dress up like fools and stay up all night watching such filth?” I never thought about that movie again until last Sunday as I was watching Detroit Lions football on Fox. An advertisement came on the television promoting a new remake of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s do the Time Warp Again.” I did a little research on it and found out that it is a musical about a straight-laced couple who stumbles upon a transsexual transvestite conference in Transylvania. Sounds like a good one, doesn’t it? Apparently the producers of “High School Musical” wanted to revisit the “playful debauchery” that was featured in this perverted 1970’s cult classic. They even enlisted the squeaky clean Victorious Justice from Nickelodeon fame “Victorious” to play the coming of age character who happens upon the shameless queer conference. The New York Time’s review of this remake says, “It is bone dry…used up…disappointing….and a chore.” However, in one telling line, the writer remarks, “It speaks to the cultural distance between 1975 and 2016: What’s shocking anymore, even if you’re pretending to be shocked?” Great question: What’s shocking anymore? A show that once was watched because it was an in your face, clenched-fist, declaration of late-night teen rebellion in the 70’s is now to be considered an acceptable story-line for prime-time family television viewing. Now that’s what I call progress! Don’t you think? There is nothing more American than a good old fashioned transsexual transvestite musical? Reminds me of our political climate: As we are getting ready in a matter of weeks to vote for our next President, we aren’t talking about real issues, we are talking about raunchy sex. Who cares if our budget is teeter-tottering over a cliff of bankruptcy, or ISIS is infiltrating our local suburbs, or Putin is snubbing his nose at our military - - what matters most to Americans is which candidate is less depraved. Or at least we seem to be voting for the person who is better at getting away with their perverted exploits. In Isaiah 6, God was looking for someone to send to warn the world of his holiness. And when he came upon a man named Isaiah, Isaiah cried out, “Woe to me! I am ruined.” When he saw God he knew he was in trouble, so much so he expected to die. And here is why... “For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips.” Isaiah's self-assessment may be the best description of where our current culture finds itself. When we celebrate transsexuals and seemingly only have sexual predators to pick from for public office, something is desperately wrong. But what I think is even worse than that, most of us seem very comfortable talking about our candidates sick proclivities. We joke about it, and love getting our fill of all the harrowing details. We are swimming in filth. I have also found, many of us who claim Christ have no problem wallowing in smut with the best of 'em. We can also laugh with the same snide cruel laugh of evil. We think laughing at adult humor is a sign you are an adult. Sorry, it is a sign you have a taste for sewage. Whatever happened to thinking about, "whatever is right, noble, beautiful, pure and true?" (Philippians 4:8) In the late 70's my dad could freely call the fans of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” fools and freaks. But no longer - - we are supposed to see this kind of behavior as courageous self-expression and proof of cultural progress. We have become like dogs in heat, living with only one thing on our mind, sex. How can that be dignified? Glorying in shame (Philippians 3:19) is supposed to be shameful...but not anymore. If you continue to read Isaiah 6, in verses 6-7 a very strange thing happens. An angel is sent from heaven and he has a pair of tongs holding a live coal that came from the altar of God. It says he touched Isaiah's mouth with it and he says, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." Atonement: That means what was once dirty, diseased and deserving of judgement has been made clean. And the person who was once unable to stand before God's holiness can now live in peace before him. Maybe you have never seen God as Holy? Maybe you think he is just fine with your foolishness? If you think he is, I have a very serious question that you must consider: "Why then did he allow his Son to die?" In Revelation 18:5 an angel warns the people of earth that God and his Holiness is not to be trifled with, "Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins or contract any of her plagues. For her sins are piled up to heaven and God has remembered her iniquities." That is a pretty severe verse, especially the idea that the stench of sin is reaching God. How do you think our election smells these days? So ask yourself, "What do you laugh at?" This will tell you a lot about how clean your lips really are. “God,” said Pascal, “instituted prayer in order to lend His creatures the dignity of causality.” But not only prayer; whenever we act at all He lends us that dignity. (C. S. Lewis) I will admit it, I am a glutton for punishment. Sometimes I do do things that invite blow-back … For instance, every once in a while I try to discuss politics online. And right when I hit “send” to launch my text into cyber-space, a Bob Wiley (“What about Bob”) voice speaks silent words of reproof, “That was not smart…was not smart.” And sure enough, in mere minutes, disapproving comments flutter in from the nether-world: “Chris, you are out of your mind!” Comment after comment of disgust come cascading in, until finally the one person who is fed up following the stream of argument says, “Don’t you know, God is in control, whatever will be will be – It just doesn’t matter!!” But I can’t simply let it go - - and therein lies my problem. When it comes to things that really matter, something inside of me wants to make a difference. I want to effect change for the good. That is why I write blogs, I really believe a single person matters. Blaise Pascal, the 17th century scientist and Christian philosopher, calls this truth the “dignity of causality.” God has allowed our lives to matter. To say, “Whatever will be will be” philosophically speaking, is a cop-out. Or worse yet, it is the negative philosophy of fatalism. Fatalism defined teaches that all events are predetermined and therefore inevitable. There is nothing you can do about it, so quit striving, and quit caring. There is nothing more depressing than that! But according to Genesis 1:27, God designed us in his image and has invited us to participate with his work. Listen to C. S. Lewis’ take on this point: “God seems to do nothing of Himself which He can possibly delegate to His creatures. He commands us to do slowly and blunderingly what He could do perfectly and in the twinkling of an eye. He allows us to neglect what He would have us do, or to fail. Perhaps we do not fully realize the problem, so to call it, of enabling finite free wills to coexist with Omnipotence … This is how (no light matter) God makes something—indeed, makes gods—out of nothing.” Even Jesus teaches us that the prayer of one small believer moves God: “For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds, and to him how knocks, the door will be opened.” What happens if you don’t ask, seek or knock? James says, “You do not have because you do not ask.” We have the ability, through prayer and action, to effect causation. Look at your belly, don’t blame God for its unusually large girth. You were the one who transferred the chocolate chip cookie from the plate to your mouth. Or better yet, are you a coffee drinker? Check out the causation chart at the top of this blog. You are to blame for your own sleepiness. You did it, it was your fault. God gave you that ability. He wants you to pray and even to vote. In other words, you matter. My wife and I were able to live in the former Soviet Union for a whole year. Because of the monolithic power of communistic rule over the previous 70 years, the people we met felt like they had no chance to effect change. They rarely spoke up, they remained cloistered in their apartments, and they figured there was no chance to make a difference in the gray drab world of living in a socialist system, so why even try? But there was one guy who wanted to change the world, his name was Yuri. He always asked me a ton of questions: “What was it like in America,” “How come so many people owned their own cars?” “Could you try different jobs throughout a lifetime in America?” One time I showed him some home movies of my mom’s house and her backyard pool. Yuri never saw anything like that. He was amazed you could have a pool in your backyard. The next week Yuri invited me over to his house. He rented a large front-end loader with a backhoe and started to dig a hole for a pool. When I got there he was filling it up with water, and it was one big hole of muddy water. I asked him what he was doing and he said, “I want a pool so I thought I would start digging.” Crazy, but he wanted to try. He understood the "dignity of causation." Do you want things to happen? Or do you just give up and say “whatever will be will be?” Never forget, God made you with causality, that is how he has honored you with his image. “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” Luke 10:40 This Sunday, I am taking a flight into the danger zone. I will be preaching on Luke 10:38-42 and it is not going to be pretty. It is the story of Mary and Martha. Or as I am entitling it, "Walking On Egg Shells." As I was meditating on this passage I kept wondering: Why are some women both so demanding and easily offended at the same time? For this specific group of women, Martha is their patron saint. She is a woman who wants things her way and she even scolds Jesus to get it done her way. I find this story fascinating because it is so true to life today: There are some people in the world that believe they have been given the sacred right to tell other people what to do. We call a person like this a "Control Freak" and they can be either a male or female. Often the male control freak uses aggression to get his way in the form of anger, intimidation or mockery. Women are more passive-aggressive in their threatenings; like holding a grudge or shedding tears. In both cases, a control freak will use any means they can to get you to do what they want you to do. What happens if you don't do what they want you to do? You know how the old bromide goes: "If mamma aint happy, aint nobody happy." Political Correctness is the national form of passive-aggressive control. If you don't think, vote or act the way a certain political party wants you too, they will label you as a hater, intolerant, and dangerous. The political control freak feels it is their duty to point out your racism and sexism, they want to silence you with a look of contempt and snug sophistication - - they are above you! Domestic control is much more insidious. Conversations in the home must follow the course of the controller or they will either blow up, or leave the room in a huff having a pity party for themselves. The way you can tell a controller is that everything always has to be about them, or influenced by their opinion. They somehow feel they have the right to decide who is lazy, who is wrong and who is disrespectful. Why do some people feel they have the right to always be in control? The problem with the controller is trying to get them to see themselves as a controller. It is next to impossible because they hear your disagreement as a violation of what is right rather than a valid opinion. If you are a controller, your pride blinds you to your pride. Here is how you can tell if you are a controlling person: (1) You do most of the talking. (2) People rarely share their opinions or emotions with you because they don't want you to tell them how to feel or think. (3) People don't like to be around you when they are having fun because they don't want you telling them how to have fun, or get upset at their fun. (4) You are easily distracted with the way things should be. You are a very discontented person because once you accomplish something you have to be onto the next something. (5) You see a good Christian as someone who does things for God, rather than a person who dwells with God. (6) You judge people by your expectations and not scripture. And when you read Luke 10:38-42 you actually think Jesus was wrong in that story. Martha was rebuked by Jesus. We need to take this rebuke very seriously. She wanted to serve Jesus, but it had to be in her way. If she had things her way she would have stopped Mary from enjoying God. God does not want the controller controlling how others meet with him. In fact, it makes him quite mad when they try to steal other people's joy! So, while you may think you are only doing things your way because you want to be pleasing to God, and in your doing you are making everyone else miserable, God is not pleased. So while you think you are pleasing you are actually a detriment to the Spirit of God from actively working. So if you are wondering if you are a control freak ask yourself two questions: 1. Why do you think you have the right to always tell others what is right? 2. What would happen if people didn't do things the way you think they should? Will the world stop turning? Oh yeah, and the way to tell if you are a female control freak, you got mad at my comment when I asked, "Why are some women so demanding?" Controlling women don't like men pointing out that some women are controlling. Whereas, non-controlling women think it is funny when men have the guts to tell the truth. Which one are you? "Flea?" They actually called me flea -- a tiny black jumping bug -- and I never felt prouder! My neighbor Jim Whitley invited me to play on his team in a back-yard football game because they needed one more player. I was three years younger than Jim and his buddies, and I was the only one they could find to make the teams even. I also was a head shorter than the other guys. Needless to say, they didn't expect much from me. The first time they threw me the ball, not only did I catch it, but the other team couldn't catch me. An older guy on my team said, "Look at that little flea go?" This rather derogatory slur caught on, and Jim and his pals forever regarded me as "The Flea." I know, it's a terrible name for a height-challenged little guy, but I loved it. Growing up I was called a lot of negative names: My mom called me "Itty Bitty Buddy", my sisters called me "Chrissy", my 6th grade football coach called me, "Little S---", and my friends would spell my last name "Weak instead of Weeks." I once really got steaming mad when 4 of my siblings laughed at me after calling me Chrissy and my dad said, "Chris, remember, sticks & stones may break your bones but names will never hurt you." He was a man of deep, sound, ancient wisdom. And after awhile, I learned to let this wisdom sink-in; where soon the mockery of others rolled right off my back. I even began to see that oftentimes a person's negative name was really a backhanded compliment. "Flea" can be a taken to mean an unwanted, irritating bug; or when understood in context, it can be used to mean a surprisingly quick runner. Negatives often hide positives, and a person who gains some thick skin will often find the silver lining behind the derogatory cloud. This is no longer the case. Yesterday the Supreme Court overturned the request by the Washington Redskins to trademark their mascot the Redskins. They sadly were not allowed to license the picture of the Indian face with feathers because, "The government says the law 'simply reflects Congress’ judgment that the State should not affirmatively promote the use of racial slurs and other disparaging terms by granting the benefits of registration.'" Well, for over 60 years now, Washington fans have cheered on their Redskins, proudly displaying their well known logo. But some people were offended. (I'm not even sure it was true Native Americans that first raised the stink as much as liberal progressives who thought they needed to take the self-congratulatory lead for mascot reform.) The idol of tolerance struck again; and the owner of the Redskins, oops, I mean of the Washington football team is being forced to bow his knee to that all-powerful idol. No longer are we to fear Sticks & Stones, tolerance now teaches us it is "words" that are the true bone breakers. In the book "The Joy of Hate", author Greg Gutfield writes, "The idea of tolerance - a seemingly innocuous concept - has now become something else entirely: a way to bludgeon people into shutting up, piping down, and apologizing, when the attacked are often the ones who hold the key to common sense. They speak an unspeakable truth, and they get clobbered by the Truncheon of Tolerance. Tolerance has turned people into sheep/parrot hybrids, followers in word and deed - bloating and squawking at everyone in a psychological torment not experienced since Dave Matthews picked up the guitar." I love the phrase, "they hold the key to common sense." But when tolerance takes over, that key gets lost. Why can't Washington fans just relax under the traditional banner of a majestic Indian chief? After all, it's a football game? At least that is what we have been told when we try to discuss the importance of honoring the national anthem, "Dude, it's just a game." Or take it step further: Why can't people see the underlying compliment in the word Redskins? Don't the champions for tolerance know a mascot is meant to be a positive thing? So ironically, that means Washington fans actually are pro-Native American. Who ever heard of picking a mascot you hate? You don't see them naming Washington the "Scum-Buckets", "Weaklings", or "Brown-Nosers", do you? Why not the "Itty Bitty Buddies?" But the idol of tolerance demands for us to bow to their authority regardless if they are using common sense or not. Remember, if they are offended, the unforgivable sin against the tolerance idol has been committed. Someone needs to pay! Gutfield goes on to write, "Right now, we live in a world where if someone perceives you as 'offensive,' they win. Meanwhile, the real offenders get a walk. They can wield the weapon of 'tolerance' to protect real scummy behavior. Like any act committed by a radical Islamist or past member of Menudo.... "We have now made it a rule to respect those who refuse to respect us." So if someone is offended by a name they can bypass federal law to punish the offender, as in the case of the Washington Redskin legal battle. They can incite riots on college campuses because someone looked at a black man the wrong way. Christians are even labeled as haters when we use the gospel for saying God wants to set you free from sexual sin. What if someone loves sinning? If I don't tolerate their sin - even though it may biblically offend God - I become the true offender. We are told everywhere that it is "Words that really hurt," so all we are left with are Sticks & Stones. And they are perfectly OK to use when they are being used to shut up the person who wielded those hurtful words. The idol of tolerance wins again! I know, lets make a compromise? I say the name should be the Washington Fleas. That will make everybody happy! Especially every short, fast neighborhood kid who one day dreams of playing for Washington! |
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August 2018
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