Friday, April 3, 2009

Petty Friday: Head Trades Meth for God

Two members of Korn have now gone evangelical (Fieldy and Head). In his memior, Save Me From Myself, Head says, "Immediately after church, after raising my hand to accept Christ in my life for real this time, I went home, put on a movie for Jennea, and went into my master closet, opened the safe, and grabbed the best bag of meth I had in there. I snorted a line, then sat there on the floor, a rolled-up bill in my right hand, and prayed..."

Now, in my age and wisdom I'm finding it harder and harder to be an asshole for the sake of making jokes, a change which, believe me, I welcome like a staph infection. It's this annoying tick called empathy which has the tendency to suck the life-blood from 9-out-of-10 potentially funny remarks (at least the sort that I would consider funny). What is more, I celebrate this "forbidden humor" when I hear it from others—in fact, I revel in it. Arrgh...

This familiar standoff is largely the reason for Petty Friday, which I've never explained. Petty Friday at God LLC is (supposedly) the one day a week where I trade my preferred brand of self-righteousness for the one most conducive to humor—arrogance! This week, however, I couldn't have put it better than James Parker at Slate Magazine...

Read NĂ¼ Testaments and discover the "true" end of grunge.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Need A New Heart? I Thought So...

Billy Graham Quells The Crazies

Age and wisdom can be seductive. Here is a beautiful sermon by Billy Graham at age 80. He's offering parting remarks at a 1998 TED conference (TED stands for Technology, Entertainment & Design).

Compare this with his more outspoken appearance on Woody Allen's talk show 30 years prior and see how soft, ambiguous language (and humility) is better suited for winning over an audience of assumed unbelievers.



Monday, December 29, 2008

Christianity as Utility

Does Africa need Christianity? Recovering Christian, Matthew Parris, argues that it does—with his heart, not his brain.

Read As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God, from TimesOnline.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Strange Holiday Lights Displays

As much as I dislike the Flying Spaghetti Monster, this one belongs at MoMA.
Flying Spaghetti Monster
(From Slate Magazine's "America's Weirdest Holiday Lights Displays" slideshow.)