It Makes Me Want to SHOUT!

 

A friend (thanks, Tim!) directed me to this recent news story:

Louisville seminary merges music school
Associated Press

LOUISVILLE — The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is folding its decades-old music school into another school because of the sluggish economy and waning popularity with students.  The seminary's School of Church Music and Worship has trained thousands of choir directors, organists and other church worship leaders for 65 years.

[the story continues, concluding with the following]

The National Congregations Study, conducted by a consortium of universities and research organizations, found fewer churches using choirs or written orders of worship between 1998 and 2006, and higher percentages using drums, shouting, dancing, raising hands and saying "Amen."

Kent comments:

I’m not quite sure what to make of that concluding paragraph.  Are we supposed to think that in place of ‘choirs or written orders of worship’ some churches have substituted ‘drums, shouting, dancing, raising hands and saying “Amen”’?

I have this picture in mind of some church leader saying, ‘And now, instead of the choir singing as we did last Sunday, we are going to pound on some drums, shout, dance, raise our hands and say “Amen.”  Get ready, get set – go!’

Back in the days of church choirs, I did hear some that were of poor quality.  But my best guess is that even a mediocre choir was better than a bunch of people shouting, dancing, and saying ‘Amen’ – with raised hands, of course – all to the accompaniment of pounding drums.

Of course, to attain even mediocrity as a church choir required a lot of practice and effort.  I’m sure it’s much easier to pound a drum while people shout, stomp and scream ‘Amen’ with raised hands.  I bet I could do the drumming, shouting thing right now with no practice whatsoever, but I won’t for fear of being arrested for disturbing the peace.

Word has it that people are not as interested in churches as they used to be.  Perhaps somewhere in this is a hint as to why.

It’s All A Matter of Words

plus:

‘Needless to say’

‘partnering’ and the general tendency toward ‘verbing’ everything!

And a few misused words and phrases that should be purged from the collective vocabulary:

1.  ‘I was like’ for ‘I said’ (the second is shorter anyway!)

2.  ‘She went’ for ‘she said’ (where, exactly, has she gone?)

3.  The companion, “And so I go . . .’ for ‘I said’

3.  ‘He was literally shouting at me’ (unless the context might allow ‘shouting’ to have some figurative meaning, ‘literally’ here is literally not needed – I mean, it’s not needed!)

Tyranny exercised in the name of the people

“Until our time it had been supposed that despotism was odious, under whatever form it appeared. But it is a discovery of modern days that there are such things as legitimate tyranny and holy injustice, provided they are exercised in the name of the people.” - Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy In America

Kent comments:

Somehow, this sounds very much like, not just the 1830s, but the 2000s.  It sounds like the U.S. of A. today.  It sounds like the Obama administration!

Hugo Says . . .

Hugo Chavez Says Venezuelan Socialism Has Begun to Reach U.S. under Obama
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
By Edwin Mora

(CNSNews.com) - Inspired by his meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama at the Americas Summit, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez declared on Sunday that Venezuelan socialism has begun to reach the United States under the Obama administration.

Kent comments:

Hugo may be a commie thug dictator, but he does seem to recognize his own kind, doesn’t he?

Eco-Cranks

D.C. Area Families Take Green to the Extreme

Eco-Enthusiasts Step on Some Toes in a Bid to Reduce Their Carbon Footprints

By David A. Fahrenthold

Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 20, 2009

Near Leesburg, a woman parks her hybrid car and erases its computer memory. She doesn't want her husband to find out she's getting just 30-something miles per gallon.

In Takoma Park, a dirty plastic to-go container forces a woman to face down her brother. He thinks she should wash it out and reuse it at another restaurant. She thinks . . . no.

And in western Loudoun County, a family quietly defies a mother's rules. She likes locally raised bacon, whole-grain bread and raw milk. But somebody keeps smuggling in Chef Boyardee.

This is life on the dark -- or at least the cranky -- side of green.

Across the Washington region, a few residents have embraced eco-friendly living with a fervor that makes Al Gore look like an oil company lobbyist. They give up everything from furnace heat (too many emissions) to store-bought meat (too much factory farming) to plans for a second child (too much of everything, given the average American's environmental impact).

Kent comments:

Nutty? – yes.  But in a free society, people have a right to be nutty, so long as they don’t infringe on the equal rights of others.  Often these points of nuttiness have that religious tinge I have mentioned often lately.  For example, giving up plans for a second child indicates a distaste for God’s commandment to ‘fill the earth.’  Contrary to what some of these enviro-cranks like to spout, the earth is not nearly full.

But, again, crankiness is the prerogative of the free.

But there is, as we know, much more than the cranky side of ‘green.’  (A word which better describes Kermit the Frog.)  There is also a very dark side – unacknowledged in this article – which no free people can afford to ignore.

If you want to give up your furnace, that is your right.  But if you want to force others to give up their furnaces, you are very wrong.  And that is also the case if your attempt to force others into your environmental idiocy takes the form of manipulating energy policy.

There came a time when people who desired freedom had to wage a war against the British Crown.  Is there a time coming when those love freedom will have to wage a war – perhaps even a literal one, as undesirable as that would be – against the dark side of environmentalism?

Selling Environmentalism at Walmart

I usually like Walmart.  I also realize they are trying to sell stuff, and pandering to cultural craziness in the process sometime.  But a recent ad they sent me contained this little gem:

This only confirms that, even in its watered-down, let’s-sell-some-stuff form, environmentalism is religious.

The personification of earth here as ‘her’ is much more than a literary device.  It is a religious view.  The Christian faith does not mistake the earth for a person.  The earth is an object (yes, that is exactly what I mean) that God created for the use of humanity.  (And, yes, I meant ‘use’ here.)

So, from the historic Christian perspective, if you want an more accurate reading on this shirt it should be something like this:

Earth
Use it to make life better

Now if you want to add the thought that we shouldn’t abuse our neighbors’ rights to their parts of the earth, that’s fine and sometimes needed.  But what the world needs right now is an pro-human perspective on the earth.  That perspective can be found in the historic Christian faith.

Meanwhile, back at the Walmart ad, we read a description of this shirt:  “Men's Organic Cotton Earth Day Tee.”  I find that part about it being ‘organic cotton’ rather amusing.  Could someone please show me the inorganic cotton?  That I would like to see!

Fords, Frosted Flakes, and Your Favorite Megachurch

I just saw one of the stranger things I have come across on the net in a long time.

Today popped into my inbox the April 19, 2009 - Christian Standard eNewsletter.  Naturally, my perusal began.  Down among the teaser lines was this:

“Also this year, we're doing something different for fun. We've recruited 16 megachurches for a Sweet 16 online church-branding competition. Select your favorite church brands in each of 8 pairs this week. Next week you'll choose 4 of those, the next week 2, and finally you'll vote for the best brand of the bunch. It will be fun--especially if you participate! See the brands, vote today, and be sure to come back in the next weeks to see how the competition is going!”

I followed the ‘vote today’ link (it appears you can only use it once) and, as promised, various large Christian churches with their logos were paired up like basketball tournament brackets.

I wasn’t quite sure how to take this little gimmick.  Was it meant to be a joke?  Was it serious?  (Is there something wrong with me because that answers to those questions were not obvious to me??)

I must assume it is not all that serious, given the mention of ‘fun’ in the promo.  But I wasn’t quite sure how to vote or why, so I didn’t.  After all, I have never been to most of these churches.  Was I supposed to pick one in each ‘matchup’ randomly? – or based on how ‘cute’ the logo seemed to me?

And that matter of church ‘brands’ – I must admit that I still don’t understand that.  So are churches now like automobiles, soap, and breakfast cereal?  (I fear that to many confused people, they are.  I also fear that many people who should know better – perhaps some of those at the Christian Standard – are pandering to the confused people.)

Now, those who know me know I’m a guy who loves some fun.  But, if this little contest is meant to be fun, it fails because it comes across as a bit, well, stupid.  I’m just not sure what we are supposed to voting for – even if it is just for fun.

If you haven’t already used your ‘eligibility’ on this, try the link and see what you think.