My mom bought me this CD for Christmas: Vincent Price in "The Pit and the Pendulum." It is really scary... ...and so is the way Christians in each generation swing back and forth from conservative to progressive. Your father is a right-wing zealot, he sees politics as a weapon of power - - and without meaning it, he also perceives it having potential as a path to salvation. "We can bring God's kingdom to earth through electing the right candidate." Children can't live off of their parents political zealotry, there is no life in it. The moral majority of the 80's are not akin to the apostles. Joining in "Focus on the Family" boycotts will not persuade the masses to turn and repent. Political salvation is nothing more than Christian heresy and hypocrisy; which in turn breeds contempt. The children see in their parent's love of Fox News and Ronald Reagan as a betrayal of Christ. So the pendulum swings, and their contempt turns into arrogance. Hatred of the "right" breeds a new-bright hope and a superior feeling towards the ideas of the "left"; progressive politics is adopted as the new savior. In an attempt to save the gospel from the "right's" poison; the next generation's naive arrogance leaves them open to allowing the gospel to be kidnapped by the "left". The pendulum swings! Loyalty to Christ really becomes loyalty to progressive ideas. It is the other side of the political tug-o-war. But there often is a tinge more arrogance and self-righteousness included with each successive swing. "You hypocrites," is another way of saying, "Me righteous!" And boy, discussing ideas with arrogant people is a tough go. Just try to tell a progressive that you think it not scriptural to accept the practice of homosexuality with open arms, and they will instantly accuse you of being a "Fox News" watcher. That is worse than being called a Nazi in some circles. (To defend yourself just admit you listened to NPR in the last week and they may let you off the hook?) The pendulum swings...right, left, conservative, progressive, hatred, arrogance...WILL SOME ONE JUST STOP THE PENDULUM FROM SWINGING? How? One word of advice, Philippians 2:3, "in humility value others better than yourselves."
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Who doesn't like & respect the actor James Franco? He went to Columbia University and Yale, he was Harry Osborn (the rich son of the Green Goblin), he has a star on Hollywood's walk of fame, and he was the wizard of "Oz". So he is a man that is a somebody, and as Oz he must know what he is talking about. Recently in the New York Times, he submitted an opinion piece concerning America's love of 'selfies' (If you don't know what selfies are I can't help you, only pity you). Instead of castigating us over our obsessive penchant for vanity, he encouraged selfie takers everywhere to keep clicking those Iphones! Listen to his tribute to the wonder of selfies... "Attention seems to be the name of the game when it comes to social networking...it's what everyone wants: attention. Attention is power. And if you are someone people are interested in, then the selfie provides something very powerful." He goes on to say, "In our age of social networking, the selfie is the new way to look someone right in the eye and say, 'Hello, this is me.'" Wow, take a selfie if you want to look at someone right in the eye? Take a selfie if you want people to know who you really are? No wonder people don't know how to have relationships. Here is my quick take on selfies: I agree this is an issue of wanting attention. But which kinds of people want attention? Those that aren't getting it. Have you ever worked with kids? Those who act up the most are craving for attention; and usually the reason is because there is a disconnect from their parents, primarily with dads. Maybe our obsession with selfies and our need for attention is because we feel disconnected. Yes from others (especially when a selfie can be considered as looking someone in the eye); but maybe there is a feeling of abandonment in the general populace because so many people don't have a relationship with the Almighty Father? I think Nietzsche was right, when we abandon the foundation of a caring Sovereign God, in practicality it is as if we have said, "God is dead." And the result is that in the depth of our soul we feel left alone; children abandoned with a deep hole left uncared for. By our own arrogance of thinking we can live without God, we have created for ourselves a silent world...desperately needing attention. So instead of admitting our need and turning back to the one who has created us with meaning & significance; we turn back to our cameras thinking we can find security in the number of "likes" our picture on Facebook got. Wow, just think what Snapchat does for us, 10 seconds and we vanish away as a morning mist. I think I read that somewhere? |
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