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).     

The Faerie Queene

     

     Well, it seemed appropriate for the first post of the month to be a commentary on the object that inspired the theme! The Faerie Queene is an early Renaissance work written by Edmund Spencer. Spencer was an incredibly ambitious poet. His goal in writing The Faerie Queene was to become what Homer had been for Greece, Virgil for Rome, and Dante for Italy. He pretty much wanted to be remembered as the greatest English poet in the whole history of Englishdom, and he would have succeeded too, if it hadn't been for Milton and his Paradise Lost (who, coincidentally, was inspired by Spencer). The Faerie Queene was his magnum opus. It served several purposes, a tribute to the English language, an homage to Queen Elizabeth, an allegorical account of virtue and faith, and as the victory anthem of English Protestantism. Interestingly enough, Spencer was far more enthused about Protestantism and far more vitriolic towards the Catholic church than Queen Elizabeth was, which was a bit of a downer since he was trying to win her patronism with the work. The Faerie Queene, while stunningly beautiful still, is unfinished. Spencer died before he could finish the work. It was meant to be composed of seven books, we only have five completed works, with bits of a sixth book. Even still, it stands as a momentousness testament to Spencer's brilliance and is one of the great works (in my opinion) of the Faith (the only downside being that it is so hateful to Catholicism, which I find truly unfortunate even if understandable for the time in which it was being written).

      The First book of Faerie Queene is what I'll be focusing on in this post, and only briefly at that. I mentioned before that this work is an allegory, and boy is it ever. I'm willing to throw out there that it's more allegorically dense than Dante. It serves as an allegory of the victory of Protestantism over Catholicism, an allegory of the creation of Britain, a more contemporary historical allegory, and as a basic Christian allegory. It's depth is beautiful, but its surface is just as beautiful. The Faerie Queene takes readers to a work of Knights and enchanted streams, of dragons and evil wizards, of good and wicked women, and a place where pagan myth and Christian truth mix together to create an exotically beautiful fantasy. The first book follows the journey of the Red Cross Knight as he travels with his lady - Una - to her kingdom in order to fight the dragon that has captured her mother and father and all of her people. It's wonderful, and has quickly become one of my favorite things to read. You always figure out some new aspect of it every time you pick it up, which is always wonderful. Also, and possibly the most important thing, is that professional bindings of it are incredibly beautiful. A beautiful book deserves a beautiful cover, also it has been very well illustrated over the years. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys allegory and beautiful things. Because of what it is it can be incredibly difficult to understand. The Norton Critical edition is always good to have since its notes explain some of the symbolism, but even that is woefully lacking in some aspects. It's not an easy read by any means (especially since Spencer wanted to mimic Chaucer's style and wrote it in Middle English) but is an incredibly rewarding one.

     I guess the reason that I chose this to be the theme is because I'm kind of obsessed right now with the idea of religious enchantment, and it seemed liked a good thing to make posts about. Plus I'm also writing an 'epic' for a class term paper and I can post bit on here with this theme. So, yay for the first post of the month! Hopefully this will improve my own skill a bit and provide something interesting for other people to look at!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone!

Idea

     So, for the longest time now I've been having a lot of trouble coming up with posts for this blog. Sometimes it's because I have waaaaaaaaay too much to say, and sometimes because I have nothing to say at all. So, since I mostly made this for myself anyways I've my discipline is somewhat lacking, like right now, I'm supposed to be working on another paper, but I'm doing this instead #irony? So, I guess it would be neat to give myself writing deadline goals that don't have grades attached to them if I fail (plus also they'll be fun!). So! Now to the challenge. Every month I'll give myself a theme (usually a literary one), and will attempt to post at least twice a week with that theme. Since October ends on Wednesday I guess I'll start with November. I can post on anything really as long as its in that theme and is of a reasonable length. My theme for the month of November will be......

Edmund Spencer's Faerie Queene (one of my most favoriteist books ever) Look for it in the month of November!

I don't have time for this

  

   But that's never stopped me before! I keep meaning to post something on here, but I really have nothing interesting in my life at the moment. Midterms will be over tomorrow, but I don't get to breath yet because I have a five page paper due Thursday and a 10 page research paper due Friday. After this week things will get a little better I guess, this weekend I'm going to a symphony and next Tuesday I'm going to an Opera... for free... that's cool I guess. Also, I did read Silver Chair this weekend, I haven't read that one in a long time. Still not my favorite... The rest of my papers won't be due until the end of November, and then there's finals... but after that CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!! I'll tell you what I am ready for a little holiday cheer. Not that I'll get to relax much over the break either though.... Children, being a chronic procrastinator doesn't make your life better. Even if you can do it, doesn't mean you should. Take it from someone who knows. #notworthit.

     Ethics is not as fun of a class as I expected it to be. Because of that I have amended my expectations for next semester and have no illusions about the interestingness of Epistomology (although I still have Hope for Metaphysics). I love my major, but I mostly love electives. In fact, I've arranged my senior year so that I will take nothing but electives. Electives are the classes you actually care about. Like, next fall I will be in a Lord of the Rings class. MY SCHOOL IS OFFERING A LORD OF THE RINGS CLASS!!!! So, on that note I will now mindlessly transition into a geekfest about the new Hobbit trilogy. THEY'RE BRINGING IN THE APPENDICES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH IS THE VOICE OF SMAUG AND THE NECROMANCER AND MARTIN FREEMAN IS BILBO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHH! IAN IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I CAN"T WAIT FOR THE 14THHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. So yeah, that Hobbit thing... it'll be pretty cool, I guess... If you're into that sort of thing.

     Thank you for indulging in my procrastination. I think it was a successful attempt to waste time until lunch so that I could eat, and then have to pack my school things which will take the remainder of my time before I have to leave for class so I don't have to work on my paper which I should be doing right now, but am not. Fish.

Beautiful Numbers

      link

      I will freely admit that math is not my favorite subject (I hate it) and that I'm a bit rusty at it (I can't multiply anymore). But recently I've discovered a new form of math, and I'm a bit obsessed. This discovery has caused me to realize that it's not math that I object to so much as the fact that it's taught in a completely abstract and simultaneously (and a bit paradoxically) practical way. It's boring. And Gross. And makes me want to curl up and die.

      But children there's hope! There is another way to learn mathy things that is infinitely more satisfying. It is abstract and concrete at the same time, but without the mundane attachment of the practical. Yes my friends, they're called Fractals. Fractals are a geometric pattern that is repeated (iterated) at ever smaller (or larger) scales to produce (self similar) irregular shapes and surfaces that cannot be represented by classical (Euclidian) geometry. Basically, they're irregular geometric patterns that repeat at varying scales into infinity. Alternately they're the graphical representations of non-linear functions. 

      Fractals take the abstract form of an equation and give it a visual representation. It's like looking at math. And the best part is that these complex equations can be turned into..... ART!!!!!!!!! They lend themselves very well to a sort of abstract expressionism that can be quite beautiful. Fractal artists use computer programs to insert equations and overlay color patterns to, in some cases, create quite masterful works of art.  

     This is especially neat in the ramifications it has for understanding, well everything. In modern society we've tended to separate all of the individual disciplines from one another and this has had a very curious (detrimental) effect on all of them. Basically each discipline has become specialized and narrowed to such a degree that it no longer has any concept of its purpose or place in the world (but that's a whole different subject). It's actually a pity that math has been separated from everything else. Math isn't just abstract equations and stuff. It turns out that all the numbers and equal signs actually mean something!(?) And it also turns out that, eventually, all of the technical disciplines devolve into pure mathematics at some point, and even the whole of the natural world. It was once said to me that Biology is Chemistry, Chemistry is actually Physics, and Physics is actually Mathematics, and this is pretty much true. Nature can be broken down into mathematics. Beauty too can be understood in this way. Music is math. Art - math. Poetry - Math. Boom. So, as it turns out, math is a perfectly wondrous medium for creating art (not even always abstract art. sea shells and plants can represented with relative ease in fractals). And now, for your viewing pleasure Fractal Art:


 Lucid-light's Fly Beautiful, one of my favorites

 by Jeddaka This one looks like the White Tree of Gondor

  by lindeloske Math in nature

 By rsidwell This is my favorite one!

 By rosshilbert This one had a super complicated description and all I can contribute is "This is pretty" :D

There you go. This is my new favorite art form that I only half-way want to do. It honestly represents the order and beauty of God's creation. Everything in creation can be represented by math (or at least that's what many mathematician's claim), and Fractal Art is one way to transform abstract concepts into a concrete visual representation that is filled with beauty and grace. #josephgordinloveitt

Insert Witty Title Here

     

     Do you smell that? It's the smell of achievement. Last year I made a bunch of random doodles that all seemed to cohere into a quirky cast of characters. I taped them to my wall (because what else would you do with such doodles?) which, of course, allowed my sundry of roommates to view them. One of them suggested the crazy idea that I turn them into a sort of strange children's story. Ridiculous right? Of course not. I live to do things like this. And so, an idea was born. But, the question remained: How to turn a bunch of doodles into a compelling and magical story?

     Subsequent weeks were spent drafting characters and world dimensions. I made preliminary plot charts, more plot charts, character sheets, drawings. I wrote the laws of the Universe, and made maps. Finally, I was all set, I was going to go for it in June's Camp NaNOWriMo. I wrote about 2,000 words and realized something dreadful. My plot had one huge, gaping hole which made it impossible to move forward. Why were my villains doing what they were doing, and what were my heroes trying to save everyone from? Of course it would be my villains giving me trouble, although I will admit I've never had this kind of trouble writing before! Usually my plots come perfectly gift-wrapped in a false veneer of completeness that I can sort of wrangle into coherenceness as I go. I've been stuck all Summer. I just couldn't figure out where I wanted to go with my story. What do you do with a genre that's been overdone (Teen Supernatural Fiction) to make a story that's new and engaging? Why you borrow heavily from an old source of course! And not just any source, but The Source.

  

      It couldn't be anything other than the Word of God that saved my story from wallowing in the pis of lame plotness. But yes, several days, in a sudden fever of inspiration I was able to fill in all plot holes, find a solid direction for my book, and two more besides! I would like to take this time to thank the author of Daniel (Daniel) for writing down his mysterious visions replete with so many details and crazy neat things that happen. I won't tell you what it's about (for now), until I get a bit of real work done on the story. These things have a nasty habit of changing themselves along the way, so we'll see :).

On another pleasing note (although probably unimportant) I've passed 1,000 pageviews, so yay! 

Coming Up Next: For real, Fractals will be next.....