Only the Good Die Young
Ham o' Bone patiently refutes those on the IMDB (movie database) message board who call him a nutcase for believing in the Jesus of the Scriptures. He says refuting them feels like using a thimble to empty an ocean of ignorance but he's doing his part, taking them seriously, and God love him for that. The bible says if you seek Him you will find Him and he relayed the message, the rest being up to God and the hearer. Do conversion stories ever really begin, "I was on this message board and this Christian told me I was an idiot and I began to see the light..."?
I'm fascinated by when to hold your powder dry and when to let go. Back in the early 1800s Southerners were more amenable to the idea slavery was wrong than in the 1840s, partially because Abolitionists had basically called them anti-christs and, by offending them, helped cause them to retreat to the ridiculous position that slavery was a positive good. In an email Steven Riddle writes that "refutation is futile once the virus has taken hold", a nice turn of phrase that contains much truth. He said that is one reason why he wished the Da Vinci controversy would lead people to the solid realization that the time to fight this is before it becomes a matter of urgency - through ongoing adult education and encouraging adults to explore and understand their faith more.
Ignoring slights and bigots have the benefit of 1) not giving the slight or bigot more publicity and 2) presenting yourself in a positive image by being unlike other groups who whine and complain and play the victim. But it seems as though the very time the American Catholic Church least defended itself - the 60s & 70s - was also the time when it began semi-collapsing. (No cause/effect suggested though.) The first time I recall Church leaders speaking out against a pop cultural criticism was when Billy Joel hit the charts with "Only the Good Die Young". Did it help? Did it hurt? Neither?
No comments:
Post a Comment