Wrapping Up the Year/ Soundtrack Review

    

     So, once more I find myself standing upon the threshold of a New Year. I'm not too excited. Despite my affinity for odd numbers 2013 looks gross. I don't like the number 13. It's too orange. 2014 is green so that's better and 2015 is blue so that will be pretty, but 2013 is just ugly (that probably made absolutely no sense to anyone but me, but this is how I think about these things). That's not to say I'm not excited about things that will happen in 2013, how could I not be?  By May I will officially be halfway done with my college career. Next fall I get to take a Lord of the Rings class. The Hobbit pt. 2 comes out next December. I have an important birthday coming up (albeit an 'anti-climactic' one since I don't drink and have no intention of starting). I don't know though, 2012 felt more exciting for some reason. It's been a good year. I've had this little blogging thing for about a year now and that's been fun. Maybe I'll be better at it next year... maybe. Lots of great things came out this year: The Hobbit, Sherlock season 2, Avengers, Les Mis (which I still need to see), Life of Pi (which I also still need to see), I discovered Doctor Who, got to take a class on Narnia (NARNIA!), got a dog, etc. I've been incredibly blessed this year, it's a little sad to let go.Even my Birthday and Christmas was wonderful and unspoiled by the exam induced panic attacks! I got the Lord of the Rings extended editions (and they look pretty. I've never said that about DVD cases before...), The Faerie Queene, clothes that actually fit my Amazonian frame (hey, when you're 5'10" and skinny as a rail you'll understand the joy of having pants that don't end at your ankles and skirts that actually reach your knees. It's a novelty really). I also go to see some friends who I love and miss dearly. Ug, I don't want tomorrow to come! But I also do, because It is always fun to have a year set out before you that's a brand new clean and shiny slate. My calendar pages (my pretty fairy calendar pages) are mostly blank. Nothing's been done yet, no mistakes have been made. Beginnings always amaze me. They're my favorite part of everything. There's so much promise in a beginning, so much to be discovered and explored. All that to say I'm incredibly happy that we have opportunities like years.

    

     Now, everything I just said notwithstanding, I will now use this space to make an incredibly abrupt transition to an entirely different topic. I've been meaning for awhile to write about this, but I never did for some reason... THE HOBBIT SOUNDTRACK! I bought the day it came out and I was far from disappointed. Most people I know have and love the Lord of the Rings soundtracks, and it's generally acknowledged that Howard Shore has done a first rate job with those. There was a lot of pressure, then, for the Hobbit to be of the same quality, and I can honestly say that it was. Howard shore wove in enough of the themes from the original soundtracks into the Hobbit to make Middle Earth feel familiar and like the Hobbit belonged with the other films, but also added enough new themes to make it its own distinctive work. The result is beautiful. In there are many things that I like a great deal more about this soundtrack than I do about the others. Instrumentally I think that the Hobbit is on Par with the others, although Fellowship of the Ring might still win that contest, but what Howard Shore did here, that I thought was necessary, was include some of the lyrical songs that Tolkien had written. This is a much more lighthearted adventure than LOTR and the songs help reflect that. The song I was not expecting at all but was most delighted to hear was the song that the Dwarves sing to taunt Bilbo in his house as they clean dishes (it was pretty cool in the movie too). The Dwarve's song was also an element I felt was necessary and well done. Obviously they couldn't sing the whole song (Tolkien wrote really long songs), but they picked the verses that were most important. The song at the end of the credits, however, was my favorite. Tolkien hadn't written that one, but I almost felt like he had. It was a very Dwarvish song and I loved Neil Finn's contribution. I'm not really a musicy person, so my analysis of quality is really limited, but I would give this soundtrack a 5/5 for sure.You can listen to the credit song here.

       So, this is the last day in December and this is where I would normally put a new theme for the next month, but I'm a bit stumped. I have some ideas, but I'm finding it a bit hard to choose between them. Really I'm waffling between a Sherlock theme, a Doctor Who theme, or a Disney Princess theme. Clearly I will get to all of them eventually, but which one should I do next. pbffffff. Ok, we'll do a Sherlock Holmes theme, mostly because I just finished season 2 of Sherlock, Martin Freeman was Bilbo, and I like Mr. Home's hat. Good bye Mr. Tolkien. Hello Mr. Doyle. Hello New Year.

After Christmas Christmas Post

We interrupt our regularly scheduled program to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

In a hole in the ground...

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."

The other day a friend had a birthday party, so of course we went to the midnight premier of the Hobbit. The movie was fantastic. All of the critics who didn't like it and compared it to the Phantom Menace either A. have never read anything by Tolkien, or B. are part of the snobbish elite or any combination thereof. After the movie (which was wonderful) we went to Denny's which has a special Hobbit menu. Unfortunately it was 4:00 in the morning and I was not hungry at all. I was sad about this, however, so my sister and I made a point on Monday to see the movie again (still wonderful) and go to Denny's after. I will take this moment to say that I did all the driving without any help and I am very proud of that fact because they changed to road and it was hard to figure out where to turn. The Hobbit food was delicious. It is pretty much what I imagined Hobbits eating.

I got the 'Hobbit Hole Breakfast':  which was pretty amazing, It's fried eggs in cheddar buns with bacon and bacon and cheddar hasbrowns. I thought it was delicious. They have other really good things too.

 Frodo's  Pot Roast Skillet

 Shire Sausage Skillet

 Radagast's Red Velvet Pancake Puppies (I feel like these looked better in real life)

Anyways, the food was really good, but I must admit, that was not my favorite part. My favorite part was the Hobbit trading cards I got after each meal!

So now, basically, this has made me very very hungry. It make for a really fun day though. My sister and I had a lot of fun going to see the movie and then talking over delicious Hobbit themed food. 

The Hobbit

The Hobbit is coming! The Hobbit is Coming! eeeeeeeeee! Words cannot express how incredibly exited I am about this movie. I  hardly ever get excited about anything and I am physically giddy about the release of this film. This book is in constant conflict with with Howl's Moving Castle as my favorite book of all time. I discovered in in third grade and fell in love with it immediately. It is possibly the first book I've ever obsessed over, and it's been one of the few constant companions of my existence.

I have tried several times to write about how wonderful this book is and why you should read it in this space right here. I cannot seem to do it justice. I really have nothing against this book at all. None of the complaints that I could lobby at the Lord of the Rings trilogy apply here (I have very few complaints to lobby at those books). The Hobbit is wonderful in every way possible. It has dwarves and elves and gigantic talking eagles and Gandalf, and Hobbits. It has Orcs and Dragons. Ponies. All of the characters are wonderful, and that is not something you can say of Tolkien's other books. I mean I love the Lord of the Rings, but everyone except Gandalf, and the Hobbits are incredibly flat characters. Aragorn has almost no personality and the women are just sad (which is ok, because the kind of story he's writing would be terrible if he took too much time developing characters.... those exist). But the Hobbit is a good story (which is the most important part of a book for me) combined with good and unique characters, and a gorgeous setting. Bilbo is my absolute favorite. He acts the way I imagine myself acting on an adventure. I would spend most of it miserable, whining, and thinking of my bed and wondering why I ever left. Of course, he eventually becomes useful which is fun too. Ug! I can't think of anything amazing to write about this. Nothing I say will do it justice.

Just look at these pictures. I've rambled enough for now. My love prevents me from doing this justice.

The Dwarves:

Barrels out of Bond

 

Epic Movie Poster

An Unexpected Party (A.K.A. an unwanted party)

The sets are beautiful.

Bag End

Bilbo Riding a Pony

Oh my gosh I finally get to see this tomorrow! I'm excited and terrified and I'll leave you all alone now. Happy Eve before Hobbit Eve everyone!

Another Update

Ok, so I'm bad at doing things on a schedule. To be fair I've had a ton of papers due, like the one due at midnight that I'm not working on right now, or the one due on Tuesday in the middle of finals week... But anyways, I don't really have much to say, except that that I just realized that today is the last day of November which makes me fell obligated to do something spectacular. But it's almost finals week and I have a paper due in two hours. So, content yourself with this saccharin picture of fairy children:

Good bye faeries... you have been good to me :)

I will say that the theme thing is happening for December, but I will be taking next week off completely to study for finals. I will say, however, that in celebration of the season, December's theme will be the Hobbit (the season of the Hobbit premier .. not of Christmas...)  

Update

   Link

     So, I didn't post on Sunday but, again, I have a good excuse... It was my birthday!!!!!!! yay! So I spent the whole day with my family. It was wonderful :) Speaking of wonderful and magical things I did get a copy of Spenser's Faerie Queene as a present which was really exciting! But, enough of that and on with the themed update.

     There have been a lot of changes to my poor little poem. It is no longer rhymed, but is in blank verse. This is not because I dislike rhyme, it is merely because it is due sometime this week and blank verse takes significantly less time to write than Spenserian stanzas. But, I'm liking the plot more and more, even if I don't love the form. My only sadness comes from the fact that I simply don't have time to fit everything in that I want :/ Well, I thought I'd just do a quick update and then get back to finishing it! After this I have to edit a nine page essay due tomorrow and start working on finalizing a draft of a paper for Friday, and then this weekend I must simultaneously write an 8 page paper and study for exams... it's that time of year again 0.o In the meantime, here are two excerpts taken completely out of context.

      At this the lady Idhrenniel spoke,

“And just as I taught him, let me teach you.

I know very well this horn that you seek,                      160

And I shall tell you something of it.

You know, I’m sure, the story of the horn,

How long ago, it is said, there lived a

Beautiful Queene who was called Shusan

Who ruled your land under her elder brother,               165

Who in those days was hailed High King,

For this was a millennium ago

During the time known as your Golden Age.

Now, Shusan had in her possession

A horn of great power given to her                              170

By Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker,

Which, when blown, would always bring her aid.

One day, while hunting the magic white stag,

With her whole company did disappear!

But she left her horse and horn all behind.                    175

‘Tis said the horn was ta’en by an albatross

And hidden away for a day of great need

                And, when it’s blown, will assay all evil.
                               ****************

......You will stay here and learn all that my

Lord and I have to teach, thus armed you will              230

Return to your home and will with the words

Learned from the horn save all your land from

Evil. You will be like the mighty kings

Of old, and nothing will be impossible

If you desire it. If beasts attack                                     235

Your ships, you shall for days strive with them

And triumph by your strength. If giants do

Attack how can you fail to turn them back?

I’ll show you how to catch a falling star,

To get with child a mandrake root, to hear                   240

Mermaids singing, and what wind serves

To advance an honest mind, yes, all of

This power and more is all of yours. If only

You will stay and learn, your people will you save

For I know that for many years you have                      245

Been overrun by men of Telmair

Who persecute you strongly, but you can

Salvation be to all who live in your

                Fair country, and life will be well again. 

Faerie Poems

I thought today that it might be worth it to visit some posey from the Bard on the subject of Fairies. The first section is Mercuitio's monologue from Romeo and Juliet and the second is from a Midsummer Night's Dream, and the third is a poem that's not really about Fairies, but is still pretty. Enjoy all of the pretty imagery :) 

"O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies’ midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone
On the fore-finger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomies
Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep;
Her wagon-spokes made of long spinners’ legs,
The cover of the wings of grasshoppers,
The traces of the smallest spider's web,
The collars of the moonshine's wat'ry beams,
Her whip of cricket's bone; the lash of film;
Her waggoner a small grey-coated gnat,
Not half so big as a round little worm
Pricked from the lazy finger of a maid:
Her chariot is an empty hazelnut
Made by the joiner squirrel or old grub,
Time out o’ mind the fairies’ coachmakers.
And in this state she gallops night by night
Through lovers’ brains, and then they dream of love;
O’er courtiers’ knees, that dream on court'sies straight,
O’er lawyers’ fingers, who straight dream on fees,
O’er ladies' lips, who straight on kisses dream,
Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plagues,
Because their breaths with sweetmeats tainted are:
Sometime she gallops o’er a courtier's nose,
And then dreams he of smelling out a suit;
And sometime comes she with a tithe-pig's tail
Tickling a parson's nose as a’ lies asleep,
Then dreams, he of another benefice:
Sometime she driveth o’er a soldier's neck,
And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats,
Of breaches, ambuscadoes, Spanish blades,
Of healths five-fathom deep; and then anon
Drums in his ear, at which he starts and wakes,
And being thus frighted swears a prayer or two
And sleeps again. "

Enter, from opposite sides, a Fairy, and PUCK

PUCK

How now, spirit! whither wander you?

Fairy

Over hill, over dale,

Thorough bush, thorough brier,

Over park, over pale,

Thorough flood, thorough fire,

I do wander everywhere,

Swifter than the moon's sphere;

And I serve the fairy queen,

To dew her orbs upon the green.

The cowslips tall her pensioners be:

In their gold coats spots you see;

Those be rubies, fairy favours,

In those freckles live their savours:

I must go seek some dewdrops here

And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear.

Farewell, thou lob of spirits; I'll be gone:

Our queen and all our elves come here anon.

PUCK

The king doth keep his revels here to-night:

Take heed the queen come not within his sight;

For Oberon is passing fell and wrath,

Because that she as her attendant hath

A lovely boy, stolen from an Indian king;

She never had so sweet a changeling;

And jealous Oberon would have the child

Knight of his train, to trace the forests wild;

But she perforce withholds the loved boy,

Crowns him with flowers and makes him all her joy:

And now they never meet in grove or green,

By fountain clear, or spangled starlight sheen,

But, they do square, that all their elves for fear

Creep into acorn-cups and hide them there.

Fairy

Either I mistake your shape and making quite,

Or else you are that shrewd and knavish sprite

Call'd Robin Goodfellow: are not you he

That frights the maidens of the villagery;

Skim milk, and sometimes labour in the quern

And bootless make the breathless housewife churn;

And sometime make the drink to bear no barm;

Mislead night-wanderers, laughing at their harm?

Those that Hobgoblin call you and sweet Puck,

You do their work, and they shall have good luck:

Are not you he?

PUCK

Thou speak'st aright;

I am that merry wanderer of the night.

I jest to Oberon and make him smile

When I a fat and bean-fed horse beguile,

Neighing in likeness of a filly foal:

And sometime lurk I in a gossip's bowl,

In very likeness of a roasted crab,

And when she drinks, against her lips I bob

And on her wither'd dewlap pour the ale.

The wisest aunt, telling the saddest tale,

Sometime for three-foot stool mistaketh me;

Then slip I from her bum, down topples she,

And 'tailor' cries, and falls into a cough;

And then the whole quire hold their hips and laugh,

And waxen in their mirth and neeze and swear

A merrier hour was never wasted there.

The Mower to the Glow-Worms

BY ANDREW MARVELL

Ye living lamps, by whose dear light

The nightingale does sit so late,

And studying all the summer night,

Her matchless songs does meditate;

Ye country comets, that portend

No war nor prince’s funeral,

Shining unto no higher end

Than to presage the grass’s fall;

Ye glow-worms, whose officious flame

To wand’ring mowers shows the way,

That in the night have lost their aim,

And after foolish fires do stray;

Your courteous lights in vain you waste,

Since Juliana here is come,

For she my mind hath so displac’d

That I shall never find my home.

Picture Link

Exerpt

   
 So, for today's update I thought I'd share a bit of the poem I'm working on for my British Literature class. It's still a bit rough, writing in rhyme and meter had always been a bit difficult for me, and the stanza form is freaking hard. I usually write poetry in unmetered quatrians :/ Still, here are the first three stanzas from my as of yet untitled work! 

1

Upon a road a lonely figure walked,

And a strange person he seemed to be,

Y’caldd in plain dress, he was of no rich stock.

Unarmed, he had only one small donkey

The which his few possessions carried.

His stature did betray his earthen blood,

And of the mountains had his mother been,

But his father was of mankind most bold

And his son, though small, was like the heroes of old.

    2

Compelled was he to travel down this road,

So having been commanded in a dream;

His mind burdened with a heavy load

To seek an object hidden in a stream.

Of his search this object was the theme

That had slipped from history to legend:

The mighty horn of Shusan Queene

Which, when blown, is said for to send

The greatest heroes, who truth and life defend.

     3

And when this unexpected dream was gone,

He did not dare to refuse the command

Given by the strange and lovely vision.

That very day he set forth from his land,

Though t’were not easy to take such a stand,

For life was good and he had many friends,

But he steeled his heart and set out from the land.

His heart to home no more could love he send,

                And when he left he knew he’d ne’er return again.

Image Credit

The Damnation of the Fey Folk

     So, I did miss Sunday's update, but I have a good excuse! I woke up at 6:00 and drove to Austin for a concert there (called Spirit Fest - Switchfoot, David Crowder, Mercy Me, etc.) and didn't get home until 1:15... the next morning.... So! It is Wednesday and I am updating now! On another interesting note Louie Giglio is my convo speaker today so yay! 

      Today's topic of conversation is that of the Faerie! Mostly when the average modern thinks of the Fairy they think of sweet little creatures with butterfly wings, like this:

 

but I am here to tell you that this modern conception is completely false... and insipid. The modern fairy, while pretty, can hardly be called a fairy at all. In tradition Fairies are shape-shifting troublemakers known for causing mischief and being particularly dangerous. Most treatment of the subject of fairies in antiquity deals with how to protect one's self  from their malice. Fairies were known for anything from leading travelers astray on their journeys, creating any sort of unexplained mischief, and even kidnapping children. They weren't particularly nice sorts of creatures, in fact the name Fairy - or Fair Folk - is a sort of platitude meant to keep the recipient of the title in a good mood. Fairies weren't even exceptionally pretty (except when they wanted to be) and their shapes could  range from ethereal humanish beings, to small little troll looking things. It was really the Victorian Age that killed the real fairy. Tinkerbell can be seen as the last vestige of an old tradition. 

     But, then, why does this even matter? Well, I think it matters because in modern times we don't have monsters anymore, at least not in our stories. Well, who cares, and  isn't that a good thing? I would argue that it's actually a disturbing trend in literature. We take creatures like Fairies and render them utterly impotent. We've seen this done with other creatures too - Vampires are now the boyfriend every thirteen year old idiot girl wants because he's dangerous and sparkles, werewolves are sympathetic creatures who have no control over what they do, an ogre can be a hero, and even witches and wizards can be merely misunderstood people who were never given love and affection as children. Now, don't get me wrong,there is some kind of human appeal in stories like this (except Twilight, I will never understand the appeal of Twilight). It's always nice to root for the underdog or explore some aspect of goodness in a creature that's typically evil, but stories like this come at a cost. When you redeem monsters you have no choice other than to make human beings the villains, or at least make real humanity irrelevant.

       By making monsters more human or stripping them of their ugliness you lose the opportunity for effective moral stories. You can make moral points of good triumphing over evil using only human characters, but the effect is much more horrifying. If, however, the evil is wrapped up in some inhuman creature you can fully support the actions of the hero. Of course Dorothy melts the witch, of course, of course Harker and Quincey destroy Count Dracula, of course Aslan destroys Jadis. The old monsters, the old mythical creatures were created to serve as tools for human morality. You do them a disservice by lessening their malice, and you do the human race a disservice too. Having a sweet and pretty butterfly fairy strips it of all of its power and renders it only useful for drawings and paintings. But if you have malicious fairies, fairies that are spiteful and dark, and mysterious, then you have a story. If you have vampires that sparkle then you have Twilight, but if you have Count Dracula then you have allegory and moral meaning. Human beings are storytelling creatures, we only do ourselves a disservice when we take away the potential for a moral story away by giving monsters humanity. The only way we can save creatures like fairies, then, from the fate of becoming completely impotent is by damning them. It is only by damning monsters to a fate of wickedness that they become safe for human beings. The real danger lies not in their evil, but in allowing them to be saved. When the monsters are blessed we have no other choice than the damn ourselves.

I do apologize for the garbled nature of this post, it was written as a stream of consciousnesses sort of thing.   

Writing Project

      

     It is November. Can you smell the fresh sent of slightly cooler, but not really weather? Can you hear the sound of dead brown leaves starting to blanket the earth? Can you see the sun through the cold wet rain clouds? Can you taste the Thanksgiving food and birthday cake? Can you feel the ominous and ever present weight of deadlines crushing down upon your soul? Yes, it's that wonderful time of year once more! Speaking of deadlines that prey upon your subconscious slowly eating away your sanity it's also NaNoWriMo! Unfortunately I am not able (due to time constraints) to participate in the full thing, but I am using school as an excuse to spiritually participate in the NaNo fun. For one of my classes we have the option of, instead of writing a boring term paper, to write a small portion of an epic poem! So of course I'm doing that! I'll be sharing bits of what I'm working on as the month progresses. Who knows, I may even turn it into an even larger project some day!

     I'm pretty excited about this project. I got the idea while I was siting in my Narnia class, when we were discussing Prince Caspian. At one point in the book Doctor Cornelius mentions that when he was much younger he went on a quest to discover the Horn of Queen Susan that Caspian would then use to call back the Pevensies. Clearly this needed to be completely divorced from its original context and made into a religious allegory. Anyways, I think it will be fun. The hardest part is that the story has to be rhymed and metered which is never fun. It also has to sound archaic. Still, the premise of the whole thing is that it follows Cornelius as he begins his journey to find the magic horn of Susan, having been commanded in a dream to do so. Along the way he seeks refuge from a storm in a castle with a bad host and finds a beautiful woman trapped there. He must save her (or does she save him?) and together they will resume the quest for the horn. There's much more to the story than that, but that's all I think I'll have room for within the confines of the paper. I'm using Cornelius as an allegorical representation for faith and his journey as the search for the good true object of faith (the horn). Along the way he's guided by human reason (named Idhrennial) who is his proper companion right until the end when he must make the rest of the journey alone in order to discover the horn kept by Divine Wisdom (Theonoe). Once he finds it he must take it and keep it until it can be passed down to one who will be able to use it (Caspian).

     It's been pretty fun to write my own fairy story. It was definitely inspired by the Faerie Queene (in addition to Lewis). Allegory is always fun to write, though. Poetry has never been my specialty, but I'll post snippets on here occasionally throughout the month. I believe that the fact that it was inspired by the Faerie Queene fits the theme for this month ;) but anyways, I'm pretty stoked. Happy November everyone!

Election Soapbox

     

     I know that I said I was going to be going with a theme here, and I am, but please allow this brief insertion  of a non related subject. Theme posts will be updated on Wednesdays and Saturdays (or was it Sundays?).

   So, today is the 6th of November, A.K.A. voting day - possibly the most infuriating and irritating day of the year. All of the political obnoxiousness on both sides of the spectrum has been building for this day. Facebook is a nightmare. I hate election years, and I hate politics. "But Mariah, as Christians it's up to us to try and reform society through politics in order to bolster the church and reform America! I still have faith in America!" Garbage like that makes me want to claw my eyes out. Do you know how horrible it is to have to hear stuff like that for MONTHS leading up to the election.

     Now, I know that the election is important for the country, but what really irritates me is the Christian perspective on politics. For Christians it is possibly the most unimportant event of the entire year, and let me tell you why. It is 100% impossible for Christians to reform the country through politics. In fact, the goal of Christians should not be to reform America. We are not bounded by political lines and geography. We are not even called to reform the world! We're called to interact with people and to save human lives, not countries. Let me try and structure this a bit more intelligently.

     I think that much of the problem with the American Christian's interest in politics comes from a very arrogant place. We, as Americans, tend to conceive of our Country as the "City on a Hilltop" the Light to the Free world, the most important country in the world and as the Last Hope for all mankind. We are a very patriotic people, and perhaps rightly so (although I would contend that), but I think that our nationalistic conception of ourselves betrays an underlying and very dangerous arrogance. "Well, is it wrong to have national pride. We're a great country, we've done great and amazing things!" In answer to that I'd say no, it's not a bad thing to have national pride - as long as your boasting is directed in the correct direction. As Christians we should believe that any successes or triumphs that our nation has had are blessings from God. The danger comes from believing that we have been a great nation to being proud of ourselves from having been born there, and many Americans cross that line (many Christian Americans too). Nationalistic pride is a foolish thing to have ultimately. You could no more have chosen where you were born than what eye color you have. And, in the end, America won't matter one little bit. The only country that really matters (according to Christian belief) is Israel. So, I certainly hope that America is not the world's last chance for a good society, since we will cease to matter very much before the end (much like Assyria or Rome [who matter in terms of cultural contributions, but are not real players in the political game anymore]).

   I also find the notion of "Having Faith in America" to be wildly disturbing. Any person who has faith in their country is misplacing that faith indeed. Especially in a liberal democracy, to say you have faith in your country amounts to saying that you have faith in your fellow citizens. I don't know about other people, but I personally have very little faith in my fellow man. Human beings are notorious for making terrible political decisions. In fact, almost always we make horrible decisions - why? Because we're a fallen people. The American government is made up of people who have the potential to be as tyrannical as the worst third-world leader. We have a system that keeps people like that in check - but so did the Romans. (let it be noted that I am NOT saying that some politician will rise up and dominate the American government. I'm merely making the point that terrible people live in America too). Should we then have any kind of faith in our country? Absolutely not. We should have faith in our God, who is not the American God, or the Republican God, but is the God of the whole world. Kingdoms come and go, but our God remains.

     And as for the idea that it is up to Christians to be actively involved in politics in order to reform our country - while commendable - is, I believe, ultimately false. There are some things we should fight for, but there also needs to be a realization that laws and legislation have never made man moral. They can control his behavior to some extent, but they can't control his mind and beliefs. Politics are divisive, you can appeal to one set of people using political methods, but you completely alienate another side. Instead of politics people need to be focusing on the culture and positively changing the world around them through their interactions with people and through positive contributions to the culture. What we've done is we've created a purely Christian sub-culture that is incapable of interacting on a meaningful level with the rest of the country. What we need is not more Christians books or music or movies, but books that are written by Christians. What I mean is we need more Tolkiens - people who are Christians and who create art that's not explicitly Christian but that their faith bleeds through.

     Now, I'm not saying that people shouldn't be interested or aware of what's going on around them politically. I'm just saying that the American Christian needs to be careful how much of his hope is tied to the political state of his country. Republican or Democrat, no matter who wins, God is still on his throne. Christianity was never made to pick sides in a political debate. To do so limits the power of the Gospel. We are meant to be at war the world, not to make peace with it through political avenues. Christians need to be engaged in life (that does include politics) we just always need to remember that the hope for our future does not rest in the victory of any political candidate or party. So do go out and vote toady, participate in the system of government that you were born into, but remember that no matter what happens our future is secure (in an eternal sense... life could very well suck here).