Equal Opportunity Offender

            Welcome to America where you can be as offensive as you want to be about whatever point of view you have. As long as you aren’t punching people you are more then welcome to call them a pinko-commie-hippie-liberal-baby-killer and as long as you’re not sending them death threats you can call somebody a right-wing-fascist-woman-hating-fundamentalist-Neanderthal. Freedom of speech, baby! Oh yah! It’s a beautiful thing!

            The best part is that no matter what you’re point of view you can find enough people and “facts” to back it up and make yourself feel superior over the other side. You can find enough statistics, reports, and scientific data, to prove your point of view all day long. And don’t worry, since you have all that, when somebody brings up an alternate point of view, opposite data, or a question you can’t answer, there are enough politicians out there to teach you how to sneer, laugh condescendingly, and let the other person know that the data you’ve collected is totally unbiased and that their data is wrong.

            It is so easy to get caught up into the political, and religious venom in this country (especially during election time) and forget that we’re dealing with real people. Every four years we are either Democrats or Republicans. Liberals or Conservatives. Red or Blue. Nobody has names only sides. That person at work who we used to chat with about Dancing With the Stars is now a buffoon because they won’t vote for our guy or see things our way. They don’t see the world they way we do therefore they must have some kind of mental disability. Okay, that’s harsh; they are just ignorant and uneducated.

            So yes, you can be as offensive as you want. You can Facebook, Tweet, blog, Tumblr, whatever you want. You can post as many ironic pictures with funny tag lines attacking whatever core values of whomever as much as you want. You can pride yourself for taking a stand and letting the world know how you feel.

            And you won’t be changing a damn thing.

            When you get into a fight and somebody pulls out a knife the rules change. If you have a knife you pull it. If you have a bigger knife you pull it. You react to what gets tossed at you and you have to go bigger. Ideological debates are no different.

            The Right has a news station so the Left needs one.

            The Christians have blogs so the Atheists need them.

            The Democrats have attack ads so the Republicans make them.

            Bigger. Better. Faster. Stronger. Louder. That’s what we have to do in order to “beat” the other guy. We don’t have to have all the facts just the money and the megaphone and people will believe it. We have to make the world a better place for all the people so we have to attack those who disagree with us.

            Do you want to change somebody’s mind? Go buy them a cup of coffee and ask them why they believe what they believe and then shut up. Nobody believes what he or she does by accident. Maybe that Democrat grew up on food stamps and WIC after their father died in battle. Maybe that Republican was nearly aborted as a baby and worked his ass off to make her company a success. We all have our reasons and they are not usually better then anybody else’s.

            I grew up in the 1980s Evangelical church (and yes, I still believe in Jesus). If you were a Christian you voted Republican and that was it. If you voted Democrat then your conversion to Christianity was obviously fake. Now I work in a very liberal environment where if you vote Republican you obviously didn’t go to college and you’re a knuckle dragging, religious nut. These sentiments have led me to neutrality for one major reason: both sides really feel like they are doing the best thing for the people at large. If you sit down and really listen to somebody from the opposite side that you’ve placed yourself on you’ll usually be surprised at how articulate, thought out, and honest they are. They are not your enemy they are human just like you. They don’t hate like you think they do they just see the world differently because of the life they have led.

            Social media has destroyed this. We now judge people by what they post on line. We feel as though we know their whole life story and what they believe because they “like” Mitt Romney on Facebook or #Obamarocks on Twitter. That’s narcissistic bullshit. It is impossible to know somebody through this. It’s impossible to make a perfect opinion on somebody when all you see is them ranting with impunity.  

            Of course there are the stereotypical nut jobs out there that make both sides look bad and it’s the media’s job to put them and their out of context sound bites all over the web in order to fuel a position. There are people out there that just love to hate. They are ignorant, they are loud, and they don’t represent real people. Experience tells me they are the minority.

            I really don’t care who you vote for or which side you lean. I probably disagree with you on a lot of issues and agree with you on some others. La-di-frickin-da. But as tensions rise what I want you to remember is as you rant, rave, get passionate, and freak out, people won’t be changed by how loud you are but how much you care about them.

           

            Oh, and when you take the gloves off, don’t bitch about getting a knuckle sandwich.

                                                                        -D.Ex

We are all Exiles

“For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.” -Romans 8:20-21

“We all long for [Eden], and we are constantly glimpsing it: our whole nature at its best and least corrupted, its gentlest and most humane, is still soaked with the sense of ‘exile’.”
-J.R.R Tolkien
       
        Do you ever feel like you don’t belong? Do you ever feel like the more you buy into society, professionalism, religion, materialism, or the American Dream the less you have? I see a lot of band-aids on bullet wounds. I see a lot of smiling faces that cannot afford honest questions. I see a lot of people buying into things and not being satisfied. I see a lot of people creating strongholds to defend because, by god, they need something to pour their lives into.
        We all want success. We all want to be part of something big. We all strive for fulfillment. We pay a lot of money, spend a lot of time, sacrifice a lot of people just to get a head only to find that there are still people ahead of us and crap still rolls down hill. We don’t know where we belong. Nothing seems to fulfill long term. It’s almost like we’re living in a body that doesn’t like us, and a world that is just waiting to spit us out.
        This is exile.
        Read through Genesis 1. When God created the world He said it was good. Don’t believe in Creation? Okay, when things evolve they are supposed to get better. Everything is supposed to be on the up and up right? It was on the up and up until man came into the picture and started goofing things up. Let’s take it from the Biblical standpoint that we had a perfect planet with a perfect society, with perfect people and then we chose something else. We chose to disrupt that perfection for a “better way.”
        We now live in a world that is so far from Eden that the very thought of paradise is considered a myth. It’s such a myth that we look at the world around us and assume that this is all there is. We look at our broken relationships and assume this is as good as it gets. We know we were made for something better but, dammit, that is so hard to see and so far off that it must not exist.
This is all of our own choosing. Every good thing, every good feeling, every smile, comes from God and is just a poor reflection of Eden’s perfection. Every bad thing, every pain, every sorrow, comes from somebody going against God’s perfect plan and trying to re create Eden without that pesky God guy.
Now that you know you’re in exile you have a choice to make. Will you make a home here or will you look to your future home? Most people just pitch a tent and live in the confines of exile. This is easy. Its all there is. It’s not fully satisfying but nothing is. Nothing is perfect but if we try really hard we can create a good life for us here.
The other choice is to remember our father and that we don’t belong here. That feeling of emptiness is natural because we are broken.  That feeling like we don’t belong is because this world is not how it is supposed to be. You can doll it up, you can create a nice life but deep down we all know this place is not why we are here and it is not going to last.
Does that sound crazy? Read the tabloids. Check out how many celebrities are in rehab, are getting divorced, or killing themselves. You can have everything you want and still want more. Does that sound like freedom? Does that sound like paradise? That sounds like exile to me.
        It’s a hard choice to make. We all want to belong. We all want to know and be known. The fleeting success that comes from work, sex, religion, and everything else this world offers is like heroin; you never get back that feeling of the first time but you keep trying.
This is not our homeland. Do we fight to assimilate into this mouse wheel of an existence or do we rebel and fight for our homeland? Either way it’s a knock-down drag-out.

Gentlemen of the Road: Portland Stopover

When you have a band as lyrically deep and thoughtful as Mumford and Sons and you know the preparation that is going into the Gentlemen of the Road stopover tour it’s hard to not look at it as a serious event. When 12,000 tickets sell out in under twenty minutes it’s hard to not think about how this event could go down in history and you’d be part of it. It’s nearly impossible to look at the event without wide eyed wonder. Then they give you a free mustache when you enter.

I can honestly say that the Gentlemen of the Road Portland Stopover was one of the funnest days I’ve had in a long time. It wasn’t that I was constantly entertained but rather that I didn’t have to be. The whole feeling of the day, the mix of music, food, beer, nature, and the town left me happy and smiling most of the day. They created a mood and a vibe that would rival a religious experience.

Being fairly new to Portland, Maine I wasn’t sure what to expect about the Eastern Promenade but since I’m naturally an ocean lover finding out that the day’s backdrop would be the Casco Bay made me happy. As my wife and I walked from downtown up Munjoy Hill we were welcomed with a homemade donut from a local vendor (whoever thought of putting sea salt on a chocolate donut is a genius) and a gorgeous view of the bay.

The festival itself was set up very well. The Promenade was blocked off nicely, the volunteers and security were polite and helpful, and we entered rather quickly, all things considered. Having the two stages helped kill downtime between sets and having them close together also kept us who just wanted to sit and enjoy from having to get up and move every time the bands changed. My wife and I sat in the 21+ seating area which gave us a great view of both stages, the bay, and let us remember why we left the kid with my parents. The free water on a 90 degree day was a nice touch. I’ve been to many festivals where they don’t let you bring in food or water but don’t worry, they’ll happily sell you a 6 oz Dasani for $20.

My only complaint about the festival set up was the food. The food was good there just wasn’t enough of it. It was a bummer to have to stand in line for an hour to get a burger and miss a band or two. I’m sure it was no fun either for those sitting on the hill who had people waiting in line standing in front of them and around them.

But the music made it all worth it. The show started right around 2 o’clock and there wasn’t more than a 15 minute break between sets for the rest of the day. I have never seen a festival with that kind of turnaround time (well, except for old Warped Tour where the bands first song was their sound check). The sound was well done except for stage two had microphone issues at the beginning of two of the sets.

The bands picked for the tour were nearly perfect. The music was diverse but not much of it was out of place.  The first act of the day was Simon Felice. He started the day on stage two and fell victim to the microphone problem. I’m sure the lyrics to his first song were great, but nobody could hear them. Lyrically Simon didn’t wow me but he had no lack of talent or passion musically. I’ll admit to having a soft spot for fiddle and upright bass so he had me at hello. I met him in the water line by saying, “You’re wearing a Gentlemen of the Road badge. You must be important. Who are you?” He laughed, told me who he was and chatted with me for a bit. He was very grateful for being there and gushed about the show more like a fan then an artist. It was nice to see the human side of what’s on stage.

I’ll admit to not being into the next band of the day, but the sisters of Haim were well received by the crowd. They were musically eclectic and talented but their sound was a lot older then they looked with vocals and synth that made me think of 1987. I will admit that they were fun to watch. They had a serious energy and having three pretty girls jamming out and rocking a full band drum solo is always a good time.

The Apache Relay and The Maccabees were the first two bands that made me really sit back and go, “wow!” I found them to really get me into the festival mood. The Apache Relay reminded me of Against Me! on their meds while The Maccabees first couple of songs reminded me of Cool Hand Luke from back in my early festival days. I’ll admit that I only heard most of The Maccabees’ set because I was in a ridiculous food line, but I was tapping my feet and bobbing my head the whole time and that is always a good sign.

Okay, time for me to be a jerk. St. Vincent was the only band of the day that made me say, “Oh my gosh, are they still playing?” The vocals were solid and some of her lyrics were ironic and bordering on depth. Musically I felt like they had no idea where they were going but they were going there really slowly. They had a lot of sludgy industrial synth sound that made me feel like earlier in the week they bought the complete Joy Division and New Order discography and said, “We can do that” and tried. The crowd seemed to dig them and the people I was with said their sound live was not at all what is on their records so this is a band to at least give a good look at but they were by far the weakest link of the day.

Dawes was the best band that I had never heard of. I had seen them bopping around Noisetrade  but never really gave them a chance. Boy was I missing out! They had everything I like in a non-punk band: solid music with a great command of the stage, and honest, thoughtful lyrics that put everything you hold dear under the microscope. I saw a video of Mumford & Sons live and they said, “The biggest mistake we can make at a concert is playing right after Dawes.” I don’t know if I fully agree with that but I will tell you Dawes was the only opener besides Dropkick that I would run out and buy tickets for.

Oh yes, The Dropkick Murphys! When I found out that the DKM boys were added to this show I nearly messed my pants. I see DKM every St. Patty’s Day and they are one of my all time favorite bands. They played a show at the State Theater later that night (which I had to miss. I wasn’t bringing my pregnant wife in there! Are you nuts?) so this was just a teaser set. The original bill said “acoustic set” which was blown out of the water when they came out unintroduced, rocking “The State of Massachusetts. They played half the set plugged in and half the set unplugged. ! I will admit they were a little out of place with the hipster crowd, but for us punkers who were there, for whatever reason, it was a great warm up for Mumford.

Now understand Mumford & Sons is a family affair for us. The CD is constantly in the car, my wife and I actually agree on them (which would be like Obama and Romney agreeing on, well, anything) and my five year old boy can sing “The Cave” in its entirety. My wife worked her tail off to get us these tickets and she sat, pregnant, in the 90 degrees all day to hear them.

They were effing amazing.

I had heard their live show was great and I was not disappointed. Everything they did was very intentional but not scripted. The light show fit and wasn’t overbearing. Bits of it were cheesy but I even feel like that was intentional. Playing “Little Lion Man” second was a bold move. I was happy they got it out of the way early to shut up all the radio fans (which I’m assuming there weren’t many). All the songs from their upcoming Babel album were well received and it sounds like we’ll get at least one more magical Mumford album.

What did surprise me was how little Marcus talked. He strikes me as a true poet and seeker who is trying to figure stuff out through music. He is very talented musically, owning both guitar and drums, and lyrically he is amazing. Somehow he was able to run the whole show without being overbearing. A lot of bands I see with strong lead singers look like they are going to fist fight when they leave stage but not Mumford & Sons. The whole band just looked like they were having the time of their lives. I got the feeling they got off stage and said, “I don’t believe that just effing happened!”

I am not sure if this show will be remembered as historic as it felt. At the end of the night the bands were praising the city of Portland and thanking the fans and letting us know the day’s success was a joint effort. All I know is that if Portland is smart they will let more festivals play the Promenade and if Mumford is smart they will swing by again, and again.

Good God, Bad People

“What shall we say then brothers and sisters? When you come together each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue of interpretation. Everything must be done so the church may be built up.” -1 Corinthians 14:26

“Dear God, Save me from Your followers.” -Bumper Sticker


I was talking to a guy who spent 25+ years at one church. He left the church peacefully because of doctrinal disagreements. He told me that the church friends he and his family had been friends with that whole time, the kids his kids had grown up with, the people that were over his house once or twice a week were all of a sudden too busy to come over. They were too overwhelmed to call. All of a sudden best friends turned into awkward run-ins at the supermarket.
This totally sucks. It was a huge blow to my family when we left a church and then apparently in the world of Facebook, cell phones, and Twitter, everybody’s too busy to communicate. One time and this wouldn’t be too bad, but three or four times really makes me sick.
It’s usually at this point that I fall back onto my FTW attitude and if they don’t want to have anything to do with me then I don’t want to have anything to do with them. I’m hoping as I age I mellow out, but it isn’t looking good. So what do I do? Well, like any red blooded American I start to blame the church. My issues aren’t with Jesus. My issues are now with the suits and ties that run a church. They might not actually wear suits and ties, they might be cool and all with ripped jeans and sagging beanies, but you get the point. They’re so judgemental. They’re so hypocritical.  They’re why nobody is getting saved. They are what’s wrong with the church. They are why people stop going to church.

Then I look in the mirror and say, “Oh crap, that’s me.”

It only takes a quick observation for me to realize I am a huge piece of that problem.  I am part of the Church. Do I get judged a lot? Yes I do. I can tell when my tattoos and clothes bother pastors because they continue to remind me how it doesn’t bother them and their so happy somebody “like me” is at their church. Do I judge right back? Hell yes I do. I let them know how lucky they are to have somebody “like me” be willing to work with them.

Is the problem that people are judgemental? Partly. Is the problem that people care more about function and form then the Gospel? Sometimes. The problem really lies in the fact that God made His church out of a bunch of dirty no good sinners who at times, regardless of how holy we try to come across, are just dirty no good sinners. The problem isn’t inherent with the church its inherent with the human race.  

“...for all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.” -Romans 3:23. This is a verse we tell most non Christians when we’re trying to get them saved. Then we shift our focus to

2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ a new creation has come: the old is gone and the new is here!” What we often forget is that one verse doesn’t cancel out the other. Yes we are a new creation, but we are still sinners. Yes that person who once was an alcoholic who was getting hammered every night is now an alcoholic who isn’t getting hammered every night. If he relapses is he no longer a new creation? Nope. He still is a new creation he’s just still a sinner.
Savvy?
What we do is we put unrealistic expectations on our fellow Christians. Should we hold each other accountable to living as Christ did? By all means. Should we be critical of things in the Church organization that are opposed to the Bible (which, come on, wake up America, we are saturated in it)? Oh, you better believe it, sister.
Since we are a bunch of dirty rotten sinners we often do the opposite of what needs to be done. When we see other Christians in the church (leadership or not) acting in a way that isn’t Biblical we shouldn’t go around and bad mouth. We shouldn’t be sneaky and remove them. We need to treat the Church like we treat ourselves.
I got really chubby my freshman year of college. I hated the way I looked. When I decided to lose weight I started to take care of myself. If I didn’t change my life I’d be Biggest Loser material by now. If I started tickling my tonsils and revisiting every meal I would be hurting myself. If I started avoiding food then I’d be abusing the body I wanted to make better. We do this with church because we forget, “so in Christ we, though we are many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Romans 12:5
Ain’t that a punch to the gut? When was the last time you looked around your church service and thought, “Dang, we’re all many parts of one body that all belong to each other”? I don’t do this.
“That dude left,” or “We left that church” and “They don’t see everything the way I see it,” these are all crappy reasons to leave and bad mouth. You’ll fix nothing. In fact you’ll be hurting your faith and the faith of others. All of my friends that have left church because of the BS (and there is plenty) and tried to make it on their own have never survived in the faith. The ones who do are like unicorns. We all hear about them, people have claimed they exist, but we don’t really know any. They’re always our friend’s, cousin’s second roommate’s, niece's boyfriend’s dog walker. We don’t survive Christian isolationism because we weren’t built for it.
The issue lies here: why are we going to church? Even better, why are we Christians? Are we going to church and calling ourselves Christians because it’s better than crack? Are we going to church for friendships, healings, and warm fuzzy feelings? Are we going to church, reading our Bibles, and living the “Christian” life to make us better people? If we are then we are putting unfair expectations on things.
I’ve been around enough Christians to realize that people are dumb. I’ve been in enough non Christians to realize that people are dumb. It’s an epidemic. If we are searching amongst these people for the answers to all our problems then we are part of the epidemic. We can’t expect sick people to make us well. We need to be going to church, following Christ, pursuing relationships based solely out of adoration for Jesus. Anything else is idolatry and will lead us nowhere.