That trailer really has nothing to do with what I’m actually going to talk about regarding Chuck, but it does a great job of introducing the premise in one and a half glorious minutes.  If you refuse to watch it for some reason, here’s a nice do it yourself recipe: take James Bond, mix it with The OC, and add a healthy dose of geek humor (Big Bang Theory?), shaken, not stirred. (Chris Anthems, your #1 source for outdated pop culture references!)

I can’t go any further without mentioning the obvious.  You may have picked up on it when you mixed James Bond with The OC: this show has sex out the wazoo.  The funny thing is that the central characters, Chuck and Sarah, are engaged in a perpetual will-they-won’t they situation they would put Ross and Rachel to shame, so they haven’t actually done the deed, but rest assured that everyone else in the show has. But that’s about as bad as the show gets from a moral standpoint.  Although there’s always violence, it is never gory or brutal, instead aiming for a clean and stylistic approach.  There’s not much language to speak of, and the bad guy always loses.  Yay.

But that’s not why I’m here.  Well, not here, inside your computer screen, but you can think that if you want if it helps motivate you to finish this so I can stop weirding you out.  Being show about spies, Chuck deals with lying quite a bit.  In the most recent episodes, the main character’s ever-increasing propensity for deception has become a major plot-point as he realizes just how easily and thoughtlessly he has begun to lie to his family and friends.  Sarah, the super-spy he has been working so hard to impress is actually scared of the way he is “improving”, because she liked him when he was honest, innocent, and a little bit of a doofus, not his “cool” new spy persona.  So, sitcom-ey lessons aside, it’s kind of interesting for a show about style and spies to suddenly shift into reverse and portray the dark sides of being a spy, and lying in general, while looking fondly back on what was once portrayed as “uncool”: being an honest and caring person.  I honestly can’t think of any other show that does something quite like that.

Did you see that trailer?!

Tags: analysis, Chuck, deception, lying, review

Firefly was a space western television series from the mind of Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  It was praised by critics and viewers alike for its unique take on science fiction and brilliant characters.  Fox sent it to die after one season to make room for thos great reality shows everyone just loves!

There’s not too much I feel comfortable explaining about the show; it’s pretty simple and is one of those things that is really better left to be experienced firsthand.  But here’s the gist: humans have exhausted the Earth and colonized space.  The same exact problems we face now are just as problematic, if not more so, hundreds of years from now, including bigotry, prejudice, selfishness, and corruption.  The whole thing is, in many ways, a metaphor for America’s state after the Civil War.  The ‘verse is split into Central, rich planets and Outer, poor planets.  The main character is a veteran of the war between these planets; others would tell him he chose the wrong side, but he’s not so sure.  What he is sure of, however, is that he hates the idea of being ruled by this new Alliance, and instead lives with his crew on the fringe of civilization, part smuggler, part thief, part cowboy, all outlaw.

I chose the videos above for two reasons: one, YouTube has hardly any decent clips of this series, and two, they both have a similar theme.Each episode (all 14 of ‘em- thanks Fox!) has a different theme that I could talk about, for the sake of this blog I want to talk about one of the more recurring ones: faith and religion.  Both are very much alive in the future as told by Firefly, and because one of the main characters is a preacher, the issue comes up rather frequently.  Christianity is always the religion under the magnifying glass, and the show hardly has anything nice to say about it.  Even the preacher in question often seems to adopt the position that, while faith is important, the specifics are negotiable.  Watch the first video.  Depending on who you are, you may come away with an appreciation for the show’s respect of faith or irritated on its insistence that faith is completely blind and even intentionally ignorant.  I think this particular case may have been intentional on the part of the writers; however, other episodes, and especially the movie that was later released, seem to really drive home the point that religion is pointless, but faith alone, no matter what it is in, is hugely important.  I get the sentiment, but even though I love this show, I have to disagree.  Faith misplaced is just as deadly as dangerous as correctly placed faith is powerful.

The other clip, besides being awesome, has a pretty obvious message about the subject.  The common thread in both scenes, a girl named River, is essentially autistic in many ways but is often very intuitive about what people are thinking, almost to the point of mind-reading (or, in the movie, legitimately mind-reading).  Her and her brother at one point get abducted by a cult-like village in the middle of nowhere, and even though the villagers take a liking to her and she proves to be helpful, they decide to burn her as a witch because they are afraid of her.  It’s up to the free-thinking, rebellious protagonist to rescue them from the superstitious, pig-headed religious folk.  Obviously, I’m not condoning witch-burning, and I think that on its own, this scene is pretty innocent, but it does seem suspiciously heavy-handed when coupled with the previously-mentioned religious issues.  Would such practices really survive to the future?  Make of it what you will.

I adore this show, even though I may not agree with it.  It is leagues more thought-provoking than most any other television show out there and I highly recommend it to both people who are looking to expand their horizons a bit and people who like people shooting at each other with big guns.  Who’s says there’s not enough room for both?

House of Heroes is one of my favorite bands.  They are Christian, but most of their songs, including this one, don’t have an overtly Christian message.  However, there is nearly always some kind of theme in their music that you can trace back to Christianity,which I tend to think is more effective anyway.

According to the band, this song is about a spy in Nazi-occupied France during World War II.  If the rest of the album, which also has a World War II/Cold War motif, is to be believed, there’s a girl involved, too.  There’s always a girl involved.

I have to be honest and say that I loved this song when I first heard it not because it was meaningful, but because it’s awesome.  That being said, I think at some subconscious level, the lyrics helped it stick out in my mind.  To me, the key point in this song is whether it’s okay to lie and kill in war.  That was something that always bothered me, especially when I was younger and first learning about these things in Sunday School.  The song is pretty clear: the reality of war sucks, but sometimes you have to sacrifice yourself for what you love; in this song’s case, the singer’s love for his country is the only reason he’s participating in these atrocities, along with the aforementioned girl who may or may not exist.

That’s pretty much it.  A lot of bands seem to advocate peace and vilify war, but I think this song does so without being a total wimp about it.  Wanting peace is great, but sometimes that’s not an option and we have to be willing to fight for what we love.  A useful lesson for Americans and Christians alike.

This may be the first review I do where I don’t have to make any concessions about recommending it, so just listen to it and enjoy (or don’t, whatever).  It’s clean, as are the rest of the songs by this band, and it has a cool message.  Who would’ve thought?

Tags: Code Name Raven, House of Heroes, Music, Song, War

There they stood, ranged along the hill-sides, met
To view the last of me, a living frame
For one more picture! in a sheet of flame
I saw them and I knew them all. And yet
Dauntless the slug-horn to my lips I set,
And blew. “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower came.’

Above is the final stanza of Robert Browning’s “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”, the poem that, along with Lord of the Rings and The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, inspired Steven Kings self-proclaimed magnum opus, The Dark Tower.  This seven-part epic serves as a linchpin for the rest of King’s works and tells the story of the last remaining gunslinger, Roland Deschain, who has made it his life’s mission to find the Dark Tower, which is both physical and metaphorical.  Throughout the books, we continuously learn more about what exactly the Dark Tower is, but the gist is that it is the nexus where all of time and space meet, and it is falling.  As a result, Roland’s world has “moved on”, meaning it is now a post-apocalyptic wasteland of a civilization that is eerily similar to ours.  His life’s purpose is to save the Tower and thereby all of existence.

But really, the Tower only serves as a destination; the story is actually about the journey.  As it unfolds, we learn about Roland’s life, and what the Tower really means to him, via flashbacks.  Somehow, he has been pursuing the Tower for hundreds or perhaps thousands of years, and along the way he has been forced to watch every single one of his friends, fellow gunslingers and protectors of the Tower, die, some even by his hands.  He has suffered for so long in the name of a goal that, ultimately, may not even exist, and he is completely willing to sacrifice his own life and those of everyone around him based purely on unwavering faith.  Starting to sound a little familiar?

If I really wanted I could fill this page with quotes from these books that I find extremely meaningful as a Christian, but this one will do for now:

“[My brother] taught me if you kill what you love, you’re damned.”

“I am damned already,” Roland said calmly.  “But perhaps even the damned may be saved.”

“Are you going to get all of us killed?”

Roland said nothing.

Eddie seized the rags of Roland’s shirt.  “Are you going to get her killed?”

“We all die in time,” the gunslinger said.  “It’s not just the world that moves on.”  He looked squarely at Eddie, his faded blue eyes almost the color of slate in this light.  “But we will be magnificent.” He paused.  “There’s more than a world to win, Eddie.  I would not risk you and her-I would not have allowed the boy to die- if that was all there was.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Everything there is,” the gunslinger said calmly.  “We are going to go, Eddie.  We are going to fight.  We are going to be hurt.  And in the end we will stand.”

The Tower is not just a tower.  It represents addiction and obsession, both good and bad.  Roland’s devotion to the Tower has, most would say, destroyed his life, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.  His extreme devotion to such as powerful ideal has given him the chance to forever change not only his world, but all of existence.  Maybe we, as Christians, could learn something from him.

The world of The Dark Tower has fallen. Violence, language, sex, and many gruesome atrocities permeate the books, so I can’t in good conscience recommend them to everyone.  I am continuously called back to them, however, because of the underlying themes.  The whole thing is a fantastic story of good versus evil, of faith and devotion, and love and loss, and it always seems to remind me that are forces beyond our comprehension at work in everything we do.  Sometimes it’s not our place to understand, but to believe.

The only good quality version of this song on Youtube is from a Guitar Hero clone, so don’t pay any attention to the videos below; just listen.  If you’re in the mood for a happier song, check out the Song of the Week instead.

“Home” by Dream Theater, Part 1

Part 2

The Sleeper:
Shine- Lake of fire
Lines take me higher
My mind drips desire
Confined and overtired

Living this charade
Is getting me nowhere
I can’t shake this charade
The city’s cold blood calls me home
Home, It’s what I long for
Back home, Where I belong

The city- It calls to me
Decadent scenes from my memory
Sorrow- Eternity
My demons are coming to drown me

Help- I’m falling, I’m crawling
I can’t keep away from its clutch
Can’t have it, this habit
It’s calling me back to my home

The Miracle:
I remember the first time she came to me
Poured her soul out all night and cried

I remember I was told there’s a new love that’s born
For each one that has died

I never thought that I
Could carry on with this life
But I can’t resist myself
No matter how hard I try

Living their other life
Is getting them nowhere
I’ll make her my wife
Her sweet temptation calls me home
Home, It’s what I long for
My home, Where she belongs

Her ecstasy- means so much to me
Even decieving my own blood
Victoria watches and thoughtfully smiles
She’s taking me to my home

Help- he’s my brother, but I love her
I can’t keep away from her touch
Deception, dishonor
It’s calling me back to my home

Nicholas:
Her story- it holds the key
Unlocking dreams from my memory
Solving this mystery
Is everything that is a part of me

Help- Regression, obsession
I can’t keep away from her clutch
Leave no doubt, to find out
It’s calling me back to my home

If you didn’t figure this out already, this is a long song.  If you just want to hear the lyrics, jump to about 2:32 in the first video and don’t even bother with the second, because it only has a few lines near the end.  I highly advise listening to AT LEAST the intro, though; there’s more behind a song than just its lyrics.

Before talking about the lyrics at all, I have to commend how well the intro sets up the mood of the rest of the song.  You’ll need to listen to it yourself to know exactly what I’m talking about, but it has a very Arabian sound to it and always brings to my mind being lost in a desert.  Fitting, because this song is all about losing yourself in a wasteland of misery and temptation.

The album that this song comes from is one cohesive story primarily about two brothers.  One of them, “The Sleeper” (I’ll leave you to figure out the names, but they ARE important) is happily married, but his wife leaves him when he develops an addiction to drugs and gambling.  In her despair, she goes to her brother-in-law, “The Miracle”, for support, but it predictably becomes much more intimate than that.  This song is pretty much the centerpiece of the album.  The Sleeper has realized how badly he has destroyed his life, while The Miracle is forced to choose between the love he has for his brother and the lust he has for his brother’s wife. The song then alternates between the two brothers as they try to overcome the temptations that are consuming them and will eventually lead to murder.

This is not a Christian song, and it’s certainly not by a Christian band, but the funny thing is that while every other Christian song you’ll hear is about overcoming temptation, or avoiding temptation, or having overcome temptation, I’ve never heard any that come anywhere close to this song in actually dealing what temptation feels like. There is an overarching sense of uneasiness, especially punctuated by the sharp and somewhat dissonant guitar in the background.  Right off the intro, which portrays being lost in a desert, The Sleeper compares his current  state of mind to being in Hell.  He knows what he’s doing is wrong, and furthermore he doesn’t even seem to enjoy it anymore; it’s simply a compulsion.  His brother, while easily the less repentant of the two, knows he is betraying his brother and it is obviously tearing him up inside.

What really gets me, though, is the way the song uses the concept of “home.”   Obviously, the word has a connotation of comfort and safety, so I figured the song would be about the two brothers escaping their torment and returning their lives to a state of comfort, but it is actually quite the opposite.  For both men, their home is indeed what they are comfortable with, but the chilling thing is that their home is now deep within their sin.  Both say that when they try to leave, their temptations call them back home, where they belong.  To me, at least, this is a poignant and somewhat chilling statement that sometimes what is most comfortable in our lives may actually be the most harmful thing possible, and by the time we realize it, it may be too late to escape.

While I may be completely off base, I feel that this is a powerful song that is about both overcoming and being overcome by evil, and unlike most feel-good Christian songs, it pulls no punches about the subject matter.  For all the Christian messages I’ve heard about resisting temptation, I’m much more convinced by phrases like “My demons are coming to drown me”, thank you kindly.

Tags: Comfort, Dream Theater, Home, Music, Temptation

This is an examination of  a movie called the Book of Eli.  The astute reader may have already noticed the similarity between the title of the movie and the first half of this post’s title; this is called A Bad Pun, and I’m allowed to use it because I’m a pretentious blog writer.

As the title  may suggest, this movie tells the story of a man named Denzel Washington who has wondered across the post-apocalyptic remnants of the United States  for the last thirty years.  Like the Blues Brothers, he sports a sweet set of shades and is on a mission from God; unlike the Blues Brothers, his mission involves eviscerating ne’er-do-wells with a really big knife.  What makes Denzel special, besides said knife and ninja skills, is that he may quite possibly have the world’s last copy of the Bible in his possession, and God has told him to take it to San Francisco.  Apparently, after the hazily defined catastrophe that left the world to die, the survivors burned every Bible they could find because they blamed it for what happened.  Now, at least one generation since the disaster, most of the world’s population is completely unaware of the Bible and consequently (or coincidentally, if you swing that way (why are you still here? )) the world is now a pretty crappy place to live.  Trouble brews when Denzel meets a man named Gary Oldman, who remembers how influential the Bible was in the old days and desperately wants to own it so he can spread his own power by manipulating the people who are searching for hope.

I’ve left that subtitle up there (the one about schizophrenia) alone long enough, so let’s talk about that now.  Denzel is a bit weird.  In the beginning of the movie, we see his daily routine.  At night, he reads his Bible, does his best to maintain his hygiene, listens to his iPod, and cleans his knife.  During the day, he massacres people.  You know how it is.  He’s not actually schizophrenic, if that was confusing you; I was actually talking about the movie itself.  It shifts pretty seamlessly from Christian values to gratuitous violence.  By the end of the movie you will see limbs dismembered and bodies ravaged by bullets and explosions, so if that’s not your thing you shouldn’t really be fooled by all the Bible talk.  If you want to think about it, there is an interesting question here as to how far you should go to protect your beliefs before you yourself are betraying them, but the movie never tackles that itself, instead leaving it uncomfortably on the sidelines.  For what it’s worth, though, the action is surprisingly well done.

Speaking of questionable content, there is plenty of swearing and some explicit references to prostitution, but this time Denzel’s hands are clean, and in this aspect there is an obvious difference between him and everyone else in the movie.  Whether that is an excuse, I cannot say, but it at least feels a little more meaningful than most movies.  In fact, the Bible is frequently held up as a book of great importance, both on a personal level (Denzel and a girl he meets who wants to learn about his way of life are pretty much the only respectable people in the entire film) and as a cultural icon (see the villain’s motives above).  The subject of Christianity, however,  is curiously and awkwardly danced around, and, without spoiling anything, the ending pretty much completely undoes the mystical reverence for the Bible that is present throughout the rest of the movie and almost feels like a rushed addition to appease the non-Christians in the crowd, which isn’t necessarily bad unless it interferes with the narrative of the film (it does).

I liked the movie, actually.  The action was great and the dialogue was surprisingly sharp at times.  It’s weird though.  I still don’t know exactly what the filmmakers were thinking.  Did they want to make a mainstream action movie with a pro-Christian message, or, like the villain, did they simply recognize the Bible’s cultural clout and set out to just simply make a good movie?  In many ways it earns its R rating, but it’s also a little more reverent than most movies in the same class today, so make of that what you will.

Great. A so-called Christian has attracted national attention by shooting the operator of an abortion clinic.

In church.

In my philosophy and ethics class we recently had a debate about whether Christianity or Islam was a more violent religion.  It becomes a little harder to defend Christianity when someone like this goes in front of a court and proudly admits that he was considering cutting the man’s hands off with a sword.

So, this guy’s defense was trying to work the “voluntary manslaughter” angle, which means he believed he had justifiable cause and carries a much lighter sentence.  He certainly did believe just that; both when he was arrested and during his trial, he made it no secret that he believed he was saving children’s lives by killing this man.   The judge has thrown this possibility out of the court, and I’m fully behind him.

You will most likely never hear me adopting a view of predestination, which I feel is terribly fatalistic and lazy, but a human life is the most sacred thing on earth.  There are very few situations where extinguishing one is justified, and while some may disagree with me, this situation is certainly not one of them.

This doctor was in church when he was murdered.  I don’t know why he was there or if he was a frequent attendee, but his presence indicates to me that he was open-minded.  Do you think that his murderer tried to talk with him, maybe even witness to him, before he shot him in cold blood?  I don’t.  I think that there was a chance here to further Christianity’s cause peacefully, but it has instead been thrown back far too many steps to count.  Not condoning abortion, but now all we have is one more body in the pile, and that’s not all.  This guy had a family.  How do you think they feel about this?  I wouldn’t be surprised if they are forever estranged from Christianity because of this, and furthermore, I think that that sentiment will spread much farther than just his family.

This is hopefully a pretty obvious post to write, but extremism to this degree helps nobody.  The acceptance of abortion is a symptom of a sick society, and I think more and more that the only way to cure it is to change the hearts of the people.  Trying to work backwards and take the problem into your own hands instead of examining why the problem is there is stupid and dangerous, and it sickens me a little that this man shows seemingly no remorse for what he did.

Tags: Abortion, Murder, Witness

They exist, apparently. Scopes purchased from Trijicon have been proven to have “secret” Bible messages “encoded” on them.  Note that here, “messages” means “numbers that represent verses without any actual text”, and “secret” and “encoded” mean “they’re right in plain sight and there is absolutely no subterfuge going on at all.”

Understandably, countries that have purchased these sights are quite upset and offended.  It isn’t like these verses are just a part of company policy to honor their deceased founder, and it’s certainly not like the company in question has absolutely nothing to hide.

No, no, wait, it’s exactly like that.

These inscriptions could have been found when the equipment was being inspected before the purchase.  I’m no military expert, but I’d imagine the military would be kind of, y’know, thorough about these kinds of things, which leads me to believe that since they weren’t found, these “messages” must be pretty unobtrusive.  Why are people getting upset over something that they wouldn’t even know is there to begin with?

“B-but Chris!” you might say.  “That means they could be subliminal.”  Maybe.  But let’s look at the codes in question here.  They are basically an abbreviation of the book (JN=John), chapter number, colon, verse number.  In other words, letters and numbers.  Gasp.  It would take an at least cursory knowledge of the Bible to even recognize these as verses, and since there’s no text, these codes, at one extreme, may prompt a believer to look up the verse.  But this certainly isn’t being forced upon anyone, and if you choose not to check out the verse, but recognize it as such, all it’s basically doing is reminding you that the Bible and its verses exist. Which I guess is too much for some people to handle.

I really like the bit about these codes strengthening the case for the current conflict being called a “holy war.”  Yes, let’s ignore the complex ideologies and geopolitical maneuvering at work and declare a war to be about religion because of some numbers printed on some of the pieces of some of the equipment.  I guess that’s to be expected  from a country with an ever-decreasing attention span that is already being conditioned to the idea that “Religion=evil.”  I remember hearing that rap music was used during training to psyche up recruits.  That’s more a lot influencing than some numbers on a scope, but I don’t see anyone claiming that this is a war being spearheaded by the rap industry.

I’m pretty dumbstruck at how this is even considered newsworthy.  Apparently people have become so allergic to Christianity than even an unobtrusive acknowledgment from a private company that a Bible verse exists is offensive and even illegal (really).  Not too long before churches are forbidden from displaying verses on their bulletin boards, at this rate.

Tags: Bible, Freedom of Religion, Military, News

Wait!  Don’t leave yet!  This isn’t really another one of those rants about the true meaning of Christmas.  I’m sure you’ve heard that number enough times already.  This more about America during the rest of the year.

To put it simply, I don’t believe how we treat Christmas is the problem.  It’s more of a symptom of the materialistic way of life our nation has adopted.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what we espouse to be the “American Dream”.  Most of the time I hear that phrase, it involves money, or things that can be bought with money.   Okay, fine.  Sure.  America has always been a prosperous nation, and money isn’t the root of all evil or anything (most people forget “the love of”).  But… that’s where the dream stops.  Cars, a big house, “that’s the American Dream right there!”   High-paying job , big TV?  “He’s living the American Dream.”

…well, a lot of Americans seem to be dreaming, because I don’t buy into that at all.  I think people are using their national identity to  justify their overindulgence, or, in extreme cases, overindulging because that’s what it means to be an American!

Nonsense.    Our country was founded on the principles of liberty, including economic liberty.  But money was not really the key concern.  Rather, it was self-improvement and rising above your circumstances; money was perhaps an end result, but not the goal.  Immigrants flocked to America for the opportunity to live a better life, not to make lots of money and buy lots of things.

I’m rambling here.  Let’s get back to the point.

Somewhere along the way, the “American Dream” underwent a subtle but significant change; where it was once the enrichment of the journey, it is now the gratification of the destination.  It used to be about hard work, determination, and self-betterment, with the material wealth being a side note.  Today, that’s flipped.  Our cultural worth is defined by the money we spend and the things we have; as our country’s spiritual foundation is chipped away, the void has been filled with a worship  of the material.

Maybe it’s just my experience, but this is a crushingly empty way to live life.

Back to Christmas.  It’s still very much a religious celebration… but to more and more people, that “religion” is materialism.  But as I said before, this post isn’t about a Christmas guilt trip.  Christmas can’t be blamed; it’s just a logical extension of the lifestyle our country has chosen to hold on a pedestal.  Christmas isn’t the problem, the rest of the year is.  Materialism is a dangerous thing, and I think the best thing we can do to save Christmas is to enjoy it while it’s here, wait until our lives return to normal, and seriously question whether we really want the new “American Dream” at all.

Hopefully this makes as much sense in the morning as it does right now.  Merry Christmas.

Tags: America, American Dream, Christmas, Materialism

Let’s forget about that whole fossil thing for now.  Maybe I should stop trying to do multi-part posts, because I get way too distracted to actually follow through with the “multi” part.  Click this and do that thing that people do to words with their eyes.

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released some survey results yesterday detailing the American population’s religious beliefs.  They may or may not shock you, depending on how cynical (like me!) you are.  Basically, religious lines in the United States have begun to blur.  Look out, here come some statistics!

-65% of American adults, including many Protestants and Catholics, have embraced aspects of Eastern faiths and New Age thinking.

-An estimated one in five churchgoers believe that things such as mountains and trees contain “spiritual energy”

-One in five Catholics believe in reincarnation.

-35% of churchgoers say they attend multiple churches of differing denominations.

This study has generated some conflicting opinions on my part, both good and bad.  Let’s start with the good first.  Look at that first statistic up there: “65% of American adults.”  Despite the naysayings of atheists, the media, and certain unnamed bloggers (hi!), that’s a majority of Americans participating in spiritual activity, folks.  Forget our “liberated thinking” and whatever other buzzwords people use to say we’re awesome because we’re Americans and the rest of the world is populated by cavemen.  There’s a spiritual thirst in this country.  For all our pride in being a “civilized” country full of scientifically-minded, rational individuals who don’t believe in old superstitions, there seems to be a large number of us who have realized something is missing. Ironic to see that, to many, the solution comes from those savages in the Middle East, huh?

Herein lies the bad side to this story, and it’s pretty big.  It’s not just unbelievers who are feeling that thirst.  Many Christians and Catholics don’t seem to be satisfied with their faith, either.   So, let’s ignore the fact that our faith (and us, by extension) can’t satisfy unbelievers.  Why can’t it satisfy us? In response to that question, here’s a neat chicken-or-the-egg scenario: are our beliefs weakening and mixing with others because we are “church-hopping”, or are we trying different churches because our beliefs are losing their conviction?

You’re probably not surprised that I’m choosing  Door #2.

I remember reading somewhere that quite a few Christians believe the phrase “God helps those who help themselves” can be found in the Bible.  The above article only further solidifies the fact that many Christians don’t have a firm foundation in their faith.  Without that foundation, it is not surprising to me at all that many people are not satisfied by any one church or religion.  Of course our nation is losing sight of its Christian heritage; of course Christians have become somewhat of a joke in popular culture.  When we devote our lives to a belief system that only works if (because) it is 100%, right, and we can’t even seem to be sure of that ourselves, it’s little wonder that others can’t seem to take us seriously.  Other religions may subscribe to the validity of a religious buffet line, but our religion, no, our God, is feast or famine, with no room in between.

I never really liked buffets, anyway.

Tags: America, Church hopping, Eastern religious thinking, New Age, Spiritual identity