Entries from January 23, 2005 - January 29, 2005
apocalypse
"One peculiarity of the present age is that, in some cases, our powers of application are so compromised that we're incapable of recognizing as morally edifying anything that doesn't advertise itself as such. The most glaring example of this confusion is found in the million-dollar industry of marketing under the title of "Christian." Given our current cultural climate, the media consumer does well to be wary of any product that has featured, foremost among its selling points, it's so-called Christianness. Buyers with a taste for propaganda (and who soon find themselves strangely disinterested in anything that isn't) will find, in that which most loudly advertises itself as Christian, much in the way of crude moralism and plenty in the way of slogans and cliches that encourage blissful disregard of the soon-to-be-destroyed world around them. Often promoting an unincarnate faith, this phenomenon has more in common [with Gnosticism] than what can be understood as orthodox belief. I'm personally convinced that such market-driven theology will be viewed, historically, with at least as much embarrassment as, say, the medieval sale of indulgences."
- David Dark, Everyday Apocalypse [subtitle: The Sacred Revealed in Radiohead, The Simpsons and Other Pop Culture Icons]
a bit later, on a lighter note:
"Revelation ("the Apocalypse") is a
document that believers throughout history have claimed and tolerated
as a part of their tradition (like some deranged relative), but which
many would prefer not to think about. Mostly unread, it's as if we
assume it to be the obscure clause by which God reserves the right to
go crazy on us."
future chapters and subheadings:
- You Think You Been Redeemed: Flannery O'Connor's Exploding Junk Pile of Despair
- Impossible Laughter: An Appreciative Response to "The Simpsons"
- Bearing Witness: The Tired Gladness of Radiohead
- Living in Fiction: "The Matrix", "The Truman Show", and How to Free Your Mind
- Boogie Nights of the Living Dead: The Moral Vision of Beck
- Daylight Is a Dream If You've Lived with Your Eyes Closed: The Cinematic Epiphanies of Joel and Ethan Coen
methinks this should be interesting.
note to self
funny, i was just thinking this evening about the flaming fish i inadvertently created a year or two ago. which one smells worse: charred seafood, or burnt popcorn?
bleh.
rant and rave
rant
i am sitting in my office. i have my wool coat on. i have my space
heater cranked. i cannot feel my fingers. i can barely write. i hate this building.
do you know how annoying it is to work with a long wool coat on?!
rave
damien rice.
may i suggest the blower's daughter for an introduction.