Reflections Before Lunch - I know. . . "The 5 Year Rule"
I have a minute or two before lunch so I thought I would ramble a bit about Christmas Eve. All in all I and my children had a wonderful holiday. I am very blessed with many friends, a good family, a job, a car, food and warm clothes. I frankly, need nothing. Why then do I find myself errked at Christmas?
I'll tell you why. The PC police have invaded my church, yes church. Many of the hymns I grew up with in the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, I now stumble over in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America's Hymnal. Why you ask? Well, "Good Christian Men Rejoice" is now, "Good Christians All Rejoice." I realize that is in vogue, when writing, to abstain from gender references, but COME ON! These are carols that have been sung for a hundred years or more. They are played on radios, sung at secular concerts, and whose first verses are know by young and old alike, from memory. Never once have I heard any woman say that she is truly hacked off because she feel lefts out, when the church sings, "Good Christian Men Rejoice." Nobody, and I mean, nobody gives a fat rat's behind! Frankly, if they do, they have far more problems than the words of a hymn.
I guess it all boils down to, me not being able to accept change. If it shouldn't mean anything the old way, then it shouldn't bother me the new way, right? Then do I fit into the group with far more problems than the words of a hymn. I'd like to think not, but maybe I should take it under advisement. Then again, what ever happened to "Live and let Live?" Maybe the country that used to be "the land of the free, and the home of the brave," is now the land of the greedy, and the home of the intolerant?" I thought that this country was a melting pot, and that we all embraced diversity. If that is the case then why are we so worried about hurting others feelings that may not even be hurt in the first place?
Case in point, Tom Clancy wrote "Sum of all Fears," the story he wrote had Middle Eastern Terrorist playing the bad guys. However, the movie industry change it to Neo Nazis because it was to close to the 9/11 incident and they didn't want people to think we were making fun of them. Hey, if they stop flying jet liners into our office and government buildings, then we won't have cause to think of them as bad guys. Furthermore, the book was written many years before all of this happened.
It's lunch, I'm hungry, and this crap really isn't worth me harping on.
I'll tell you why. The PC police have invaded my church, yes church. Many of the hymns I grew up with in the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, I now stumble over in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America's Hymnal. Why you ask? Well, "Good Christian Men Rejoice" is now, "Good Christians All Rejoice." I realize that is in vogue, when writing, to abstain from gender references, but COME ON! These are carols that have been sung for a hundred years or more. They are played on radios, sung at secular concerts, and whose first verses are know by young and old alike, from memory. Never once have I heard any woman say that she is truly hacked off because she feel lefts out, when the church sings, "Good Christian Men Rejoice." Nobody, and I mean, nobody gives a fat rat's behind! Frankly, if they do, they have far more problems than the words of a hymn.
I guess it all boils down to, me not being able to accept change. If it shouldn't mean anything the old way, then it shouldn't bother me the new way, right? Then do I fit into the group with far more problems than the words of a hymn. I'd like to think not, but maybe I should take it under advisement. Then again, what ever happened to "Live and let Live?" Maybe the country that used to be "the land of the free, and the home of the brave," is now the land of the greedy, and the home of the intolerant?" I thought that this country was a melting pot, and that we all embraced diversity. If that is the case then why are we so worried about hurting others feelings that may not even be hurt in the first place?
Case in point, Tom Clancy wrote "Sum of all Fears," the story he wrote had Middle Eastern Terrorist playing the bad guys. However, the movie industry change it to Neo Nazis because it was to close to the 9/11 incident and they didn't want people to think we were making fun of them. Hey, if they stop flying jet liners into our office and government buildings, then we won't have cause to think of them as bad guys. Furthermore, the book was written many years before all of this happened.
It's lunch, I'm hungry, and this crap really isn't worth me harping on.
Written by Im A Foto Nut at 12/29/2004 09:07:00 am
1 Comments:
First, I think the word is "irked." :-) Secondly, you have some damn high-quality problems, brother...kind of like spilling champagne on a silk shirt.
Trust me, I was singing along with "Good Christian Men Rejoice" when you were in diapers...so I understand the value of the history and tradition of the song, and I'm with you when you say that the way you learned it "sounds" best. I get that.
But I had exactly the opposite experience visiting a church here and hearing the hymn "Rise Up, O Men of God" (as opposed to "..O Saints of God"). The 3rd verse is perhaps the most telling:
"Rise up, O men of God!
The Church for you doth wait,
her strength unequal to her task;
rise up, and make her great!"
"Her strength" isn't enough to do what is needed in God's work...evidently the female personification of the church needs a man to become what God intended, eh? (*You* and *I* don't hear that kind of message precisely *because* we aren't the ones being portrayed as weak.)
That kind of inference annoys me much more than the slap at my tradition, to be honest. As I've been around the blogosphere, and in my experience at seminary, I've encountered dozens of strong women of mighty faith, who have been shunted aside because of the ingrained assumption that "God's work is men's work." I'm irked for *them* - people of great faith who really *do* have to work twice as hard as a man to get into ministry.
Anyway, I'm just sharing what the other side sounds like. And I'd suggest that you ask some women - including the music minister, & Julie A (the bell director), and others how *they* feel about it. I think you'll be surprised at the reaction, just lurking under the surface.
All that said, given the fact that our shared "home" congregation didn't wash out to sea last week, this is probably pretty small potatoes in the galactic scheme of things...Have a pleasant New Year, and remember to stay out of the way of the wanna-be's on Amateur Night!
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