The crownless again shall be king. - J.R.R Tolkien
Sometimes what I write in this blog will be well articulated, grammatically correct essays that serve as good social commentary on current issues. Most of the time, however, I'm busy and am not as diligent about proofreading or properly expressing thoughts as one should be when presenting one's writing to others. I apologize for anythingyou may read that seems worse than a rough draft, or appears to be a random disconnected thought. "Them's the breaks."
I'd like to create a discipline of writing more, particularly after speaking about it with an old friend and mentor this week. Often though, I fear I am not so good at maintaining disciplines. This one, in specific, I have failed at many times.
Tonight I was thinking about my dislike for activists in spite of my own activism. It's like that Mitch Hedberg joke "I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it." I have been moved to writer particularly in light of the current 'Occupy Wall Street' movement, my sympathy with the cause yet disinterest in joining anyone on the street coupled with how the effect of the media and how they have or have not been involved up to this point. Christian communities, as well as politically active communities of either side, will warn the public of evil media influence. We hear of there being too much sex or violence and media bias swaying elections. Sensationalism gets in the way of real news. These things do bother and affect me, but I'm sick of hearing and talking about them.
Are you not sick of dwelling on everything that is wrong with the world? Is it not exhausting?
"Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" Philippians 4:8 (NRSV - New Interpreter's Study Bible)
The book of Philippians is beautiful to me. In this book Paul is doing much less scolding and directing, he's pleading and he's encouraging. The major issue I have with Paul is when he speaks of the role of women in the church, sometimes suggesting they should just keep quiet. But this verse is actually in response to an argument between two women Euodia and Sytyche who Paul is pleading with to stop fighting, to stop looking so closely at each other's faults. He respects them because they "Struggled beside me in the work of the gospel." They weren't silent. So here Paul is asking us to look for the best in one another. It's real easy to get together and complain but until we can find something good, is there any way forward?
In spite of all the complaints we do have plenty of good messages in our media and we don't have to look that hard for them. What in modern media do you find worthy of praise? What is true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable or excellent?
If you are prone to only consume media of one type (e.g. "I only listen to 'Christian' music.") I challenge you to look for this good in unexpected areas. I once read a beautiful story about Martin Luther King Jr. The story was told to Bono by Harry Belafonte:
The Civil Rights Movement had hit a wall, Bobby Kennedy had been elected Attorney General. No one in the movement had anything good to say about him. He was an Irishman, and the Irish were racists. Culturally the Irish were just one step above Blacks on the social ladder and they were sure to exercise that power because it was all they had.
Eventually Dr. King got angry. He would not reconvene the meeting until they had one redeeming thing to say about Bobby Kennedy because until then they couldn't move forward. Soon they learned that Bobby Kennedy was close to his Bishop, so they befriended him.
When Bobby Kennedy was assassinated, in Harry Belafonte's words "There was no greater friend to the Civil Rights Movement. There was no one we owed more of our progress to than that man." (paraphrased from Bono in Conversation with Mitchka Assayas)
We cannot continue to only point out what is wrong with the world and think that it will change. Things change when the best is appealed to, not the worst. History has proven that change is better, more effective, and (best of all) more desirable when we seek the light in (of?) the world. Has anyone out there caught sight of a really bright star worth following recently?
I like C.S. Lewis, I do. I have however noticed that an abundant number of people are reaching my blog because they use the search terms "not all those who wander are lost cs lewis" IT IS NOT A LEWIS QUOTE, it's J.R.R. Tolkein. They were friends and all, and both great writers but the poem comes from Lord Of The Rings.
I just got a bit testy reading through my visitor results realizing the sheer volume of people searching for that phrase assuming it was written by C.S. Lewis and thought I should be clear, though I'm thinking the fact that I attribute it to Tolkein at the top of my blog should be enough.
Because I'm on twitter and a couple weeks ago I saw, and was distressed by, the furor that erupted over the book Rob Bell was about to release I decided that I would be reading that book.
There are three chief complaints that emerged over this book Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived
1. It was claimed that Rob Bell's ideas were Universalist
2. It was claimed that Rob Bell suggested Hell does not exist
3. It was claimed that Rob Bell suggested Hell is empty
If you're following along, yes claims 2 and 3 are contradictory in that 3 would suggest that Hell at least exists. In any case, NONE of these are true claims. I have only one simple suggestion, if you've read any C.S. Lewis, most specifically The Great Divorce, The Chronicles of Narnia, and A Grief Observed. Nothing Rob Bell has to say should be in any remote way "new" and if what Bell has to say is heresy then so is the work of Lewis. Bell's gift is that he's a great communicator and so it may be easier to understand in his book, but it has been said before.
I'm not going to give you my review of the book, read it for yourself, don't try to find out more before you read it, that's silly. Trying to find out what conclusions he comes to at the end of the book by reading blogs is like searching blogs to find out who committed murder in a mystery novel, and some of the bloggers made up their own ending. So, read it for yourself, and decide for yourself. While you're at it, read a little Lewis too.
Theodicy: In essence this is the question of why bad things happen to good people.
Last year at this time I was working on my senior thesis on St. Thomas Aquinas’ literal exposition on the book of Job. Several people I talked to, mostly at church, were intrigued and told me that they would be interested in reading my thesis as they had always been interested in that question of theodicy. The problem is that I was writing a history paper on Aquinas’ work, and theodicy is a theological question, I suppose I could write on the changing perspectives in theodicy with an emphasis on Aquinas, but the other problem is that Thomas Aquinas genuinely didn’t seem to care about theodicy, and best I can tell people can ask that question of Christianity all they want but it happens to be the only religion that won’t give them an answer. Aquinas approached the book of Job as a question of Divine providence in that God throughout the whole book clearly was watching and had a hand in what was happening, though ‘the Adversary’ conducted many of the trials they were only permitted because God allowed them. So here’s a man whom God is actively allowing “bad things” to happen to, and Aquinas’ response is this:
For good things do not always befall the good nor evil things the wicked. On the other hand, evil things do not always befall the good nor good things the wicked, but good and evil indifferently befall both the good and the wicked. (Prolog to the Exposition on Job)
Mind you, this all falls into Aquinas’ argument relating to Providence which I am not discussing in this blog, I didn’t even discuss it in my thesis. The paper I wrote ended up being a feminist piece on Aquinas’ effect on the role of Women’s Ordination. Also not my topic for this blog.
So why am I even breeching the subject of theodicy now? For starters a magnitude 8.9 Earthquake hit Japan tonight and portions of the U.S. West Coast are under Tsunami Warning/Advisory only 14 months after a devastating Earthquake in Haiti, and 12 after an Earthquake of similar size in Chile. Recent floods in New Zealand and Australia not to mention earthquakes there in the last year. My church is currently doing a study on suffering and Wednesday marked the beginning of lent. Accidents, natural disaster and unpreventable incurable diseases kill our loved ones.
First, now that I have named these things, I want to make a simple point: As an island nation Japan will probably have more damage than Chile, however the damage done in Haiti will still be found to have been worse. A small island nation which was forced to maintain a state of poverty due to brutal dictators and poor international policy of the world powers had, and still has little infrastructure to keep it a float without any natural disasters. The earthquakes in Japan and Chile were both 8.9, Haiti was a 7.0. I only draw this distinction to say that much, though certainly not all, the devastation in Haiti was preventable. It was already going to be bad, but it didn’t have to be that bad.
The only subject in Science that I’ve really had much interest in was Geology. Seismic and volcanic activity is something I find interesting. The shifting of tectonic plates and, quite frankly, the vast devastation that that can bring. The idea of Harry Truman in his cabin on the side of the mountain telling off the bearers of bad news saying that if St. Helens really is gonna blow then he’ll go down with the mountain, David Johnston doing that last bit of research before he’s trapped and shares Truman’s fate. Photos of the San Francisco earthquake are interesting to me as well. One of the major things I learned in my geology classes is simply that none of us are safe. Right now there is something seriously messed up with the very place that you are sitting and something could happen at any moment, an earthquake, an eruption, a sinkhole, any number of things. So when people start asking why God would allow an earthquake at this one specific point, be it Haiti, Chile, or Japan I simply feel as though, if they were truly outraged enough, they would be asking why the planet is so broken.
Then, we might be getting somewhere.
Why is the planet one big powder keg? Why do we all have to die? Why does it seem that the physical, natural attributes of this planet and our bodies mimic the fragile state of our human relations?
I don’t believe that I will know this side of heaven, and I’m not a “Pie in the sky when you die” sort of believer. Faith must have real application here and now. I am the sort of believer who thinks Jesus is the Muslim man or woman being marginalized, the homeless man I step over on the street, the undocumented worker who chooses not to report a rape for fear she will get deported. I’m the sort of believer who believes that God weeps with me and the rest of his children even when he already knows how the situation will be redeemed because he feels our pain.
I’m the sort of believer who stood at the foot of the steps while my pastor put ashes on my forehead while saying “Remember, you are dust and to dust you shall return” this past Wednesday. You have to admit that puts life in perspective for a moment.
The truth is other religions have some form of karma, what you do will come back to you. The problem, in my view, is that that is not always true. It seems like it would make sense and often it does but plenty of people live their entire lives without consequences which is why theology of reincarnation or heaven and hell help, because then we think that maybe they’ll eventually pay. Christianity however, doesn’t have karma, stuff happens and we’re all broken people in a broken world and that brokenness isn’t just spiritual it’s physical. You want to blame God for such shoddy design. Not long after his wife died (I believe of some illness, possibly cancer) C.S. Lewis wrote a journal that was later published under the name N.W. Clerk because some of the things he had to say and some of the anger he had to express toward God he was concerned to have directly associated with his name in public on particularly compelling passage reads:
If God's goodness is inconsistent with hurting us, then either God is not good or there is no God: for in the only life we know He hurts us beyond our worst fears and beyond all we can imagine. If it is consistent with hurting us, then He may hurt us after death as unendurably as before it. Sometimes it is hard not to say, 'God forgive God.' Sometimes it is hard to say so much. But if our faith is true, He didn't. He crucified Him.
I hope what Lewis is saying there isn’t lost, that last paragraph is short but wordy. The point he makes in the midst of his anger is that God deemed that someone did need to suffer for the brokenness evident in the world so he chose to do it himself. Of course at this point in the book this paragraph does little to reconcile Lewis’ struggle with God’s goodness I still find it to be an interesting thought to spring forth in the midst of his grief.
Following the Haiti Earthquake a particular high profile Televangelist (who shall not be named) blamed the people of Haiti for what he claimed was a deal they made with the devil. Mind you I do believe that the god they were presented with by their French oppressors was a god worth rejecting, who wouldn’t choose to turn to what they had been taught was the opposite of what kept them in bondage? Following this man’s declaration he received a great deal of media attention, though I continue to be a fan of the Daily Show With Jon Stewart, after playing the video clip of this man’s words Stewart pulled out a bible and asked incredulously if, out of such a large book, that’s all this man could come up with. Stewart then quoted a few verses:
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18
Fear thou not; for I [am] with thee: be not dismayed; for I [am] thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Isaiah 41:10
Thou who hast made me see many sore troubles wilt revive me again; from the depths of the earth thou wilt bring me up again. Psalm 71:20
Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the Lord, who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54:10
I can only pray that someone won’t, once again, make such a heartless statement that will require a comedian on a fake news show to do his job for him. Our faith doesn’t teach karma, sometimes things will come back to bite you in this life but sometimes they won’t. An earthquake is not God’s punishment and it’s not God randomly doling out suffering. The world is broken but healing has already begun and we can join together to make the kingdom “on Earth as it is in heaven.”
For closing, I've found a new favorite song: Jon Foreman lead singer of Switchfoot singing "Instead of a Show"
I managed to grab a ticket to see Lifehouse play at the Showbox SODO here in Seattle tonight (for those of you who sleep at midnight rather than go to work read "last night"). Openers for the night were Mindhead a band from Mt. Vernon, Wa they were quite good and I picked up a CD after the show. I had a blast, I've been a fan of Lifehouse for over a decade. It was very strange seeing so many teenagers at the show, perhaps as strange as when I profess my love of U2's Joshua Tree album... the one that came out the year I was born. I was very excited to see a guitar tech wearing a t-shirt with a chord chart and the words "Gsus Saves" on it. I like that kind of thing, either mocking cliched religious phrases or the old religious kitsch passed down by very religious relatives that most consider too gaudy and weird to display. I currently have a magnetic Jesus on my fridge (a gift to my roommate) that can be dressed in various outfits, from business suit to pope to sheep costume. I take my faith seriously which is why I think I do it a disservice if I can't have a laugh at the cliches and misuse of it. Thus, the Gsus Saves shirt simply had me in a better mood for the show, I had a stupid smile on my face the whole night, it did dim a bit when I had to run to catch a bus to get to work on time tonight but it was an awesome night nonetheless.
Jason Wade - Lead Vocals, Guitar
The set was awesome, they took requests and played a lot of the songs from the album that came out when I was a teen. There's also something wonderful about the base and the driving rock in the louder, faster paced songs. I don't just like to hear the music I like it to shake my ribcage.
An oddly placed older gentleman (he looked much older than my dad, I'm guessing a healthy 70s?) next to me seemed a little surprised when I would get really excited about the obscure requests people would make from the band's early work but he seemed to be quite familiar with most the music himself. One song, a cover of a song originally recorded by Sue Thompson and written in 1952, "You Belong to Me" (1,000,000x better than anything Taylor Swift has ever dreamt of writing but then I'm partial to 1950s music) Jason Wade- Lifehouse's lead singer- said he had only played a couple times before (I assume he meant live). He recorded it for the Original Shrek film and I distinctly recall recognizing his voice when I saw the movie back in the day and scanning the credits until I saw his name. [The things we had to do before "google it" entered the modern lexicon.] I do prefer Wade's rendition but I love the song whenever I hear it played. Someone also requested Storm, another OLD OLD favorite, it does appear on the Who We Were album but back in the early days of peer sharing I was an aspiring hipster looking for the obscure stuff, perhaps the best sort of music downloading fan in those days. I bought the albums that were available but anything out of print I hunted for on Napster. Back in those days I was in love with music in general but listening to Lifehouse felt like something different all together.
Ben Carey - Guitarist
One major event in my life coincided with the arrival of Lifehouse on the scene. It was the moment when I finally decided to make my faith my own, I was raised in the church but this was the time when I really became a Christian. Nowadays I still have a very real, very tangible faith and no one I spend time with can deny that I take it very seriously yet religious language makes me cringe. Sometimes I cringe because it's cheesy, mostly because of the Christian music industry and the commercialization of my faith. I personally like Jon Forman's (lead singer of the band Switchfoot) response to the unsettling debate over whether or not his band was still a "Christian Band" when they broke out of the Christian niche market (I prefer to call it a self-imposed ghetto) and hit the main stream, he has written and said so much about it that I hate to limit it to one quote but I encourage you to google "Jon Foreman Christian Band" in any case here is just the beginning of my favorite bit that Foreman has written on the subject
"To be honest, this question grieves me because I feel that it represents a much bigger issue than simply a couple [of my band's] tunes. In true Socratic form, let me ask you a few questions:
Does Lewis or Tolkien mention Christ [by name] in any of their fictional series?
Are Bach's sonata's Christian?
What is more Christ-like, feeding the poor, making furniture, cleaning bathrooms, or painting a sunset?
There is a schism between the sacred and the secular in all of our modern minds. The view that a pastor is more Christian than a girls' volleyball coach is flawed and heretical. The stance that a worship leader is more spiritual than a janitor is condescending and flawed. These different callings and purposes further demonstrate Gods sovereignty. Many songs are worthy of being written. Switchfoot will write some, Keith Green, Bach, and perhaps yourself have written others. Some of these songs are about redemption, others about the sunrise, others about nothing in particular: written for the simple joy of music. None of these songs has been born again, and to that end there is no such thing as Christian music."
(Brackets represent my slight edits to aid reader understanding)
Truth be told however I think the first time I heard someone say something to the effect of "We're Christians in a band, not a Christian band" May have been in an interview with Jason Wade. To those of us who truly appreciate music we need to be ready to acknowledge that maybe, just possibly (and by this I full intend you to read "definitely") "Christian Music", that is to say the kind of music that is produced in the "Christian Music Industry" and sold exclusively in "Christian Stores" with no hope of escape, well... it sucks. Any band on an exclusively Christian label that turns out to be any good usually gets a record deal in the main stream and, if they weren't already, bombarded with accusations and questions relating to them "selling out". Good bands seldom start, and NO good band ever stays, on Christian labels- nor should they.
I love music from a variety of genres, the older I get the more I learn that my tastes in music are not as eclectic as I once thought they were. Living in Miami I realized that I don't like latin music, that's not a slight to latin music I just don't like it. I have learned to appreciate most music, that which is vulgar and demeaning I will not appreciate, 4'33" as a statement about the music around us is beautiful, 4'33" as an actual song is a waste of 4 minutes and 33 seconds, and honestly songs that say Jesus a lot for the sake of filling some sort of quota or a rock band at a Christian festival whose cred is judged on how many times they pray rather than how hard they rock is... well.. "a resounding gong or a clangingcymbal" noise, cacophony. I have found that I more deeply appreciate songs of struggle and wrestling with God. I think, even before I was aware of it, that's why I love Lifehouse's song "Storm". I love the Psalms of Discontent in U2's Pop and Achtung Baby, the ones the general Christian community seems to turn from. I had my zealous phase in which the world was only painted in black and white shades of morality that centered on eloquent lists of don'ts and high judgment. Music, starting with Lifehouse never became subject to that rigid world.
Regardless of any particular faith background - or lack there of- I like music, and I still LOVE Lifehouse. I've always been somewhat fascinated by group dynamics and how members come in and out of a band, Lifehouse doesn't have the same make up that they had when they started which isn't typical for the bands that usually land on my playlist but I like the dynamic, I liked the old dynamic too but life changes a year ago I was primarily concerned with feminist interpretations of Thomas Aquinas' work, and comparative genocide with an emphasis on the Holocaust all in a place about as geographically disparate from my current location as one can manage within the continental United States. Considering my inclinations as an avid concert goer I'm simply disappointed that this was the first time I was able to attend a Lifehouse concert in all these years.
And so, to close out my love letter to my favorite band (well, at least in terms of Longevity, as you may be able to tell from this post "favorite band" is a fairly long list) I would like to offer a small humorous story of waiting in line for the concert:
Upon getting into line I discovered I was immediately behind a pair of teenagers who had no shame in telling me all about the meet and greet they had with the band and how "Jason is SO cute", but "he was pretty cocky". Mind you, having been an adolescent girl once myself, to a fifteen year old girl an attractive older man who doesn't engage in flirting at their teenage level seems cocky. Not long after having been informed of the attractiveness of various band members one of the girl's fathers slipped into line, I must tell you he cannot be old enough to have a teenage daughter that's crazy. Also the man was drop dead gorgeous (not even kidding, wish I could've covertly taken a non-blurry picture) but, you know... he was pretty cocky. ;)
EDIT:
I found a couple videos from last night that someone posted. They're of "You Belong To Me", "Simon" and "Storm". "You Belong to Me" and "Simon" are pretty shakey but the audio is good, and then "Storm" has good video and audio although there's a girl near the person recording who seems to want to have a running dialogue with the song that almost comes off as heckling, granted I suppose I understand the excitement. I couldn't hear her last night so all was well.
The House just voted to make huge cuts in this year’s budget. Poverty-fighting priorities--which make up less than one percent of the US budget--were sharply cut.
Now it’s the Senate’s turn to weigh in on the budget--and we’ve got to tell them to preserve this life-saving funding. Cuts to these life-saving programs will have a real, immediate, and devastating impact on the world’s poor.
I just signed this petition asking the Senate not to make cuts. Will you sign it, too?
Twenty four oceans
Twenty four skies
Twenty four failures
Twenty four tries
Twenty four finds me
In twenty-fourth place
Twenty four drop outs
At the end of the day
Life is not what I thought it was
Twenty four hours ago
Still I'm singing Spirit take me up in arms with You
And I'm not who I thought I was twenty four hours ago
Still I'm singing Spirit take me up in arms with You
Twenty four reasons to admit that I'm wrong
With all my excuses still twenty four strong
See I'm not copping out not copping out not copping out
When You're raising the dead in me
Oh, oh I am the second (wo)man
Oh, oh I am the second (wo)man now
Oh, oh I am the second (wo)man now
And You're raising these twenty four voices
With twenty four hearts
With all of my symphonies
In twenty four parts
But I wan to be one today
Centered and true
I'm singing Spirit take me up in arms with You
You're raising the dead in me
Oh, oh I am the second (wo)man
Oh, oh I am the second (wo)man now
Oh, oh I am the second (wo)man now
And You're raising the dead in me
I want to see miracles, see the world change
Wrestled the angel, for more than a name
For more than a feeling
For more than a cause
I'm singing Spirit take me up in arms with You
And You're raising the dead in me
Twenty four voices
With twenty four hearts
With all of my symphonies
In twenty four parts.
I'm not copping out. Not copping out. Not copping out.
"I wrote this song near the end of my 24th year on this planet. Wherever we run, wherever the sun finds us when he rises, we remain stuck with ourselves. That can be overwhelming. Sometimes I feel like my soul is polluted with politicians, each with a different point of view. With all 24 of them in disagreement, each voice is yelling to be heard. And so I am divided against myself. I feel that I am a hypocrite until I am one, when all of the yelling inside of me dies down. I've heard that the truth will set you free. That's what I'm living for: freedom of spirit. I find unity and peace in none of the diversions that this world offers. But I've seen glimpses of truth and that's where I want to run" - Jon Foreman
Today I turn 24. Also, today George Burns would have been 115. That's right, I have the same birthday as "God".
In one of my history courses at FIU we were discussing what age one truly becomes an adult in the US in the current era. It was agreed, despite how the law may read, that that age was certainly not 18. At YouthCare (where I now work) we provide services in various capacities for "Youth" the setting I work in is ages 12-17 but YouthCare provides services for older youth that accept clients from 18-21 and they can remain in program up to the age of 24. Coincidentally that's the age we agreed upon in class. Many factors go into that number. Some factors suggested were marital status, sexual activity, whether or not one had children and depending on the culture one arises from and the time period we are discussing these are all reasonable factors but then as a contently celibate woman (for now, I still need to find an attractive, intelligent Irishman to marry) in our current era, not only am I some what of a weirdo, I wouldn't qualify for adulthood.
Consider however that I haven't lived with my parents (much less within 240 miles of them) for five and a half years. I have a college degree, I now pay my own bills, my job provides my health care as well as a 401k plan and because I don't pay my own car insurance I don't drive. By the way, car insurance just got cheaper, most insurance companies drop their rates when a person turns 24, some still hold out until they turn 25. I hurt my back a few months ago and it still aches from time to time, I have a cane and a mug that reads "Sexy Grandma" I prefer hymns to contemporary music at church and like liturgy, my roommate (who is older than me) calls me "Grandma Maggie." I even broke my first bone a few weeks ago in a losing battle with a bookcase (my poor little pinkie toe) which I got x-rayed using my health plan. I make plans, appointments, and go to meetings.
Taking into account all those things...
I just thought I'd let you know that you shouldn't let all of that fool you. I have no intention whatsoever of growing up. Even if I make it to 115 and I think George Burns would have approved.
As you may or may not know, I deleted my facebook account a little over a week ago. If you didn't know you're either not on facebook, not my friend on facebook, or missed the myriad of warnings I posted.
Since leaving facebook I have developed some new hobbies:
Oil Painting: A Work In Progress inspired by my nightly walks to work
I'm also starting art classes (mostly drawing, not paint) tomorrow which is super exciting.
I've also started volunteering with the youth group at my church, I started out working with high schoolers but they need more help with the middle schoolers so I'll be working with them starting Wednesday.
Finally I'm getting to an extensive reading list of books I WANT to read, versus the school kind. You can check out that list here: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4706470
It would seem unthinkable in America to, rather than execute a man responsible for numerous terrorist or extremist actions, elect that man to public office. Those in the US might find such a concept unthinkable in the Western World, and that the only way this could be possible in ANY country is if that country were some sort of evil totalitarian regime.
So I would like to introduce you to a government the locals call Stormont. This government is led by two men with equal power, the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (The FM represents the majority population and the DFM the minority population however, as stated, they share equal power). The FM in the 80's led about 500 people in a protest that involved attacking police and police stations in its wake. During a trial involving another violent incident the judge described him as an extremist. The DFM was involved with terrorist activity at a young age having led the youth wing of a major terrorist organization. Later this man was in a major leadership role withing that organization and was arrested while possessing hundreds of pounds of explosives as well as several thousand rounds of ammunition. The difference is that these two men were, and in some ways still are, on different sides of a centuries old conflict. The difference is that because they are in Stormont they are fulfilling a part of a powersharing agreement that is bringing peace to their region.
Naturally if you know anything about me you know I'm talking about Northern Ireland but I think it deserves to be said that while that region still isn't all sunshine, puppies, happiness and rainbows it is getting better and not because the terrorists and extremists were all killed, but rather because they went into politics. Don't let the photo above of them smiling with the President fool you, they still don't get along but they know that violence won't solve anything because they've tried it. I'm not some American with head in the clouds romantic ideas of hands across the baricades rhetoric, I've spent a good deal of time learning about Irish history and simply feel that such a history, as well as such a present, has a great deal to say about the human condition.
I recently started reading Killing Rage by Eamon Collins in which Mr. Collins writes of his time in the Provisional IRA, the spirit of being caught up in this greater cause that began to feel like it may not be so great afterall. I found several quotes in his introduction striking, but this one particularly so:
(contents of brackets and change of typeface for emphasis were added by me)
"... I do not want to see another death in pursuit of this[/an] abstract concept.
I no longer believe in Utopian solutions to complicated and intractable problems. One person's Utopia usually means another person's hell.We live in a state of uncertainty, not just in Northern Ireland, but by virtue of being human. What I have tried to do over the last decade is to subject my former beliefs to ruthless scrutiny. Instead of searching for ways to confirm my beliefs, I have searched for ways to prove them false. When, after dispassionate examination, you cannot prove your beliefs false, then perhaps you are on the way to discovering some sort of truth." (pg 6)
Earlier on the page Collins comments specifically referring to the Catholic and Protestant populations of Northern Ireland though it can easily be applied in a more universal manner to simply say that
'violence separates us from those with whom we have the most in common- those with whom we are placing ourselves in direct opposition.'
Think of all those stories of people who grew up in segregated areas whether it was racial, religious, class, etc. Why is it that the seeming concern of a prejudiced parent is not that something bad might happen to their child if they mixed with the other side, the concern more frequently seems to be that their child might actually like "those people" and we just can't have that now can we? Maria Elena encountered racial and religious tension when she married Buddy Holly, Bono's parents encountered the Protestant/Catholic tension. Isn't that terrifying? What if a Cougar fan isn't all that different from a Husky fan... worse yet what if a Yankees fan has something (other than baseball) in common with a Red Sox fan? Republicans could get along with Democrats? (or... gasp! Marry one another? Heavens no, that might produce a child like me, it's highly unrecommended.) What if one who espouses a Pro-Life ideology finds out that a person who espouses Pro-Choice positions does so because they see it as a way to actually reduce abortions and despise the thought of abortion just as much as the most ardent Pro-Lifer?
