Music

You know when you ask someone the ever-important, getting to know them, question of "so, like what kind of music do you, uh, like?" And then they respond with, "well, I like everything." For me, this tells me one thing - we aren't gonna be close friends. Well, that's not necessarily true - it means that the odds of us being close friends are slim to none. Or, about one in a million...not bad odds some may say. The reason why these odds are so dismal? You may ask...well friends, the odds are so catastrophically small because when someone responds the question of what kind of music they like with, "everything," it means they don't actually like it. In fact, it probably means they just like to party. This individual's life would be fine without the existence of music. There are exceptions to this rule, yes. Very very few, but there are some out there. I'm fairly certain anyways...
I recently had a discussion with someone I run into around town from time to time. We met on the opposite side of the country through a bizarre sequence of events known, primarily, as "life." It goes by other names and aliases to protect it's identity but we all know whats under the cape. Anyways, somehow we began discussing how we both went to Christian Colleges and that because of this fact she now despises "Christian culture" and no longer believes Christianity is legitimate. We disagreed on a few points here and there throughout the convo...I empathized with many of her disappointments and being generally disillusioned by religion in general. The main thing we connected with though, bringing us back to the beginning of this entry, was music. The odds are supposed to be high we are gonna be friends right? She showed me one of her favorite songs by "Fink," the name of the track was "Blueberry Pancakes." One of the lines the singer utters are the words, "The Beauty of what was, isn't what won't be..." Strange sounding at first, eh? Ironically, this girl used to be a Christian. Moreover, people used to live in complete harmony with God. "The beauty of what was, isn't what won't be..." Essentially, what was could, and will, "be" once more.

Reason

I recently read an article on Burnside Writers Collective talking about Faith and Reason. Essentially, it is saying that the word "religion" doesnt mean much anymore because anyone can attribute their actions, or lack of actions, to their religion they subscribe to. It is the trump card, you cannot argue with someone if "their religion is okay with it." it is this culture of relative belief that allows everyone to make up what they think sounds good, believe it, and call it religion. It is so sad really. it makes sense that it has come to this point, but it is sad. In the article the author goes on to talk about how this girl put her virginity on ebay, selling it to the highest bidder and saying it is okay because it is not against HER religion. This whole issue of religious affiliation is no longer a crux for an argument. The convoluted cosmos that has become this word no longer allows for any platforms to exist from which to make points. Our culture, however, relies on reason now more than anything. Well, at least more then the ever-ubiquitous "religion," whatever that means anymore. The faith systems we used to call religion have been converted into different kinds of faith systems. I won't get into what those have become in my opinion because I am not versed enough in the broad array of everything out there right now. I will, however, say that our faith systems are now formed from within ourselves, from looking inward, then searching discovering, and pursuing answers externally. If it feels right, or if you don't feel wrong, then it must be Ok. I believe it is and believing it makes it true, right?
I heard a girl talking tonight about how someone asked her at work, after they found out she was a Christian, if she thought they were going to Hell. A man was sitting at a restaurant, overheard that his waitress was a Christian and his first question is, "Do you think I am going to Hell?" Not "how are you?" Not even "Why are you a Christian?" How many steps does that question skip and how presumptuous is it to jump to that point? At that point is this question a genuine question or a means of attack? I would venture to say the latter. It is interesting that in todays world one must have a million and one reasons to believe in God, but to say God does not exist doesn't require the same amount of reasons, the same amount of thought. It seems that it is acceptable to say he isn't there. It is as if Atheists and Agnostics are saying: "You have to have reasons why you believe, but I don't have to have reasons why I don't." I am being slightly facetious when I say that, but for the most part it is true - that Christians are under a higher scrutiny than anyone. Why is that? Why is the Cross so offensive? Is it really more offensive than other religious faith systems?
It is too bad that people can't meet Jesus before they meet Christians.