you know you're getting old when you don't do anything on your saturday off but watch movies, and you feel guilty because you didn't get anything accomplished. that's what i did today. i knocked out casino royal and children of men. both movies were great and intense, and both were so different that there's no way i could say i liked one better than the other. among their differences, i noticed that casino royal was, overall, pretty cynical in its message, while children of men had a message of hope. in casino royal, the new bond film, james bond learns the hard way that you can trust no one. children of men was about a child born into a world plagued by 18 years of infertility and war.
the other day, anne and i were riding behind a car that was plastered with bumper stickers. they were on the bumper, the trunk and the back window. anne spotted one bumper sticker that said "ca(sin)o." now, i don't agree that all gambling is wrong, but, whatever, everyone has a right to their opinion and to put corny bumper stickers on their car; so i didn't think much of it. later on, however, something occurred to me.
other stickers on this car had, not surprisingly, religious messages. what occurred to me is that many of the christians i know are incredibly cynical people. recently, my cousin erica made a comment that "there just aren't very many honest people anymore these days." in class, not too long ago, we were discussing whether things had gotten better in our country concerning racism. i argued that it has, but another classmate commented, "i just don't think things are going to get better." now, i know what these two people think concerning the fate of the world, so these remarks don't surprise me. but it's still bothersome to me that the only hope these people have for the future is that a sliver of humanity will be spared before locusts the size of ponies swoop down and devour some 1/3 of the planet. they would actually believe that the world was a better place a long time ago, when all it takes is a quick glimpse at history for one to discover that things have gotten better and not worse.
here's my point in all this. i think maybe the greatest, most ground-breaking, turn-all-of-reality-on-its-head, thing the bible has to say is that God is love. that in some unexplainable way, the very core of reality is love. now, there are many things to be cynical about: pop music, buffets and right-wing politics :) just to name a few. but for me, i have hope that all of this isn't just waiting for a cosmic wrecking ball to tear it down. and if God is indeed love, maybe cynicism is one of the greatest heresies of all.
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15 comments:
well stated. :)
great post.
The only thing I would add (and I saw the smiley, so I know it was a joke) is that really all politics are worthy of cynicism, not just conservative politics. I have the same reaction to both camps right now. Both are deceiving us to get elected. And that makes me sad.
how do you think both camps are being deceptive?
i am planning on responding to the comment i left on your post btw. but it's a complicated emotionally explosive topic, so i'm taking my time.
I started to outline how I see both sides being deceptive, but I deleted it because I figured you would just agree with what I said about McCain and then argue with me about Obama. And honsetly, I am so fed up with both candidates that I really don't feel like defending one or seeming like a bully towards the other. They both stink.
A good friend gave me some advice a few years back which I think is just starting to sink in: "The only time you shouldn't trust a politician is when they are speaking."
And that is where I am at. I think I actually hope (in some sick way) that Obama wins. Because maybe that will wake up the conservatives to the terrible folly of drifting towards the middle. I heard someone say, maybe we have to endure another Jimmy Carter to get another Reagan. I actually think that might be true.
BTW, please don't feel obligated to respond to that post. I understand the emotion involved. Each year I take part in Dayton's Life Chain prayer event and have seen and heard the reality of the divide... People's thoughts on abortion are generally not subject to change.
So if you are pro-choice then we will just end up arguing passionately against each other for no good reason with nothing productive coming from it. I enjoy your comments and your point of view, but perhaps we would do better to leave that one alone...
i'm not pro-choice, but i don't think the solution is as simple as making abortion illegal.
Granted, it is not. However, it is a positive first step.
Feel free to comment on it if you wish. Just know that I am a passionte person when it comes to this issue for many personal reasons, so don't expect that I will be easily pursuaded.
Also, pro-choice is generally defined as someone who believes that the woman should have complete freedom in choosing whether or not to have an abortion, with no limitations placed upon her by the state. This is diffrent from pro-abortion which accepts abortion as a moral form of birth control.
So if you are against making any form of abortion illegal (as Obama is), you are pro-choice.
to anyone following this thread:
i've moved the discussion to heath's blog since this topic is a little more relevant for one of his recent posts.
sorry for changing topics on you... back to the original discussion, I have boycotted buffets.
I normally tend to be very positive. Though I must admit, that when it comes to politicians I am one of those that do not trust any of them. At least on the national level. I know there are some decent ones out there, but they are a very small minority in my opinion. They are also almost impossible to spot, because all of them are very good at looking like they are great people.
i agree with what's been said about politicians. one of the things i hate about politics is that it's all about portraying the right image and saying the right things to appeal to these certain people to get votes. mccain's moved to the right, hillary's moved to the center. this implies that, personally, mccain is still all over the place and hillary is still to the left, but in the eyes of the public, they've changed. it's just fakery. and one of the main reasons i used to like mccain was that he wasn't fake, i liked that he was all over the place because it showed that he didn't care about toeing the party line, he did what he thought was right. one of the reasons i like obama is that i feel he's authentic and he doesn't just say what he needs to, to get elected.
Yet he started to wear a flag pin this week... Change of heart or doing it to get electerd?
i honestly could give a crap about the stupid flag pin. the fact that that even got any attention is part of what's wrong with american politics.
My point is, he is a politician and will do and say whatever he thinks he needs to to get votes. He is no diffrent than the rest of them, just well packaged.
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