Ramones

The Ramones were, like Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, a rock music band of enormous musical influence but extremely limited commercial success. (At the Ramones first major concert, ten people showed up.) To be clear, there is nothing Christian about either band but they are reflections of the worldview of many millions of people. 

The music of the Ramones is minimalist to almost absurd levels. Their songs often use only a few chords, a hard driving beat, and almost all the songs check in at under three minutes in length. The songs are very fast and very short. Many of their concerts lasted only seventeen minutes. Who were these guys?

The band was begun in 1974 by four totally unrelated men who all took the surname Ramone, wore long black straight hair with long bangs, black leather jackets, and usually wore sunglasses regardless of the weather or time of day. They basically acted as if they were nihilistic and were bored out of their minds.  As band members cane and went, they too, all became Ramones. Even women who married the band members became Ramones. Rolling Stone Magazine lists the Ramones as number 26 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time." The VH1 music television network names the Ramones as number 17 in their list  of the "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock." The original four members (Johnny Ramone, Dee Dee Ramone, Joey Ramone, and Tommy Ramone) and later drummer, Marky Ramone, have all been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Much of this was a stage persona. Some of the band members were progressive in their views while others were much more conservative. The band was in constant inner turmoil with arguments, jealousies, resignations, firings, and hostilities which occasionally erupted into violence. Some of the disputes resulted in legal actions.

All of the original four founding members of the Ramones are now dead so we may never know for certain whether or not they were consciously satirizing the modern relativist culture or were merely reflecting that they were part of it.  Or both.

Their music perfectly reflects the vapid meaninglessness of modern relativistic society. The songs take vicious jabs at the facades and hypocrisy of many elements of modern western culture, exhibiting a total lack of respect for any forms of authority or societal norms, including the family. An example is the song, We're A Happy Family.

"We're a happy family

We're a happy family

We're a happy family

Me mom and daddy

Siting here in Queens

Eating refried beans

We're in all the magazines

Gulping down thorazines

We ain't got no friends

Our troubles never end

No Christmas cards to send

Daddy likes men

Daddy's telling lies

Baby's eating flies

Mommy's on pills

Baby's got the chills

I'm friends with the President

I'm friends with the Pope

We're all making a fortune

Selling Daddy's dope"

Other songs reflect the cultural acceptance of violence which can result from the dehumanizing effects of relativism. To me, Beat on the Brat With a Baseball Bat brings to mind the horrors of child abuse and the casual murders committed by the for profit abortion industry.

"Beat on the brat 
Beat on the brat 
Beat on the brat with a baseball bat
Oh yeah, oh yeah, uh-oh

Beat on the brat 
Beat on the brat 
Beat on the brat with a baseball bat
Oh yeah, oh yeah, uh-oh 
Oh yeah, oh yeah, uh-oh

What can you do? 
What can you do?
With a brat like that always on your back 
What can you (lose?)

What can you do? 
What can you do?
With a brat like that always on your back 
What can you (lose?) lose?"

One response to the utter anti-intellectual emptiness produced by the relativist philosophy is to become totally passive and uninvolved, as in I Want To Be Sedated.

"Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go I wanna be sedated

Nothin' to do and no where to go-o-oh I wanna be sedated

Just get me to the airport put me on a plane

Hurry hurry hurry before I go insane

I can't control my fingers I can't control my brain

Oh no no no no no

Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go....

Just put me in a wheelchair, get me on a plane

Hurry hurry hurry before I go insane

I can't control my fingers I can't control my brain

Oh no no no no no

Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go I wanna be sedated

Nothin' to do and no where to go-o-o I wanna be sedated

Just put me in a wheelchair get me to the show

Hurry hurry hurry before I go loco

I can't control my fingers I can't control my toes

Oh no no no no no

Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go...

Just put me in a wheelchair...

Ba-ba-bamp-ba ba-ba-ba-bamp-ba I wanna be sedated

Ba-ba-bamp-ba ba-ba-ba-bamp-ba I wanna be sedated

Ba-ba-bamp-ba ba-ba-ba-bamp-ba I wanna be sedated

Ba-ba-bamp-ba ba-ba-ba-bamp-ba I wanna be sedated"

Another response seen in modern culture is boredom and the inability to form meaningful relationships. People drift from situation to situation, from person to person, and from one drug of abuse to another. Other people are seen as useful to relieve the pain. The anomy and emptiness can often devolve into lawlessness and violence.  I Just Want To Have Something To Do!

"Hanging out of Second Avenue

Eating chicken vindaloo

I just want to be with you

I just want to have something to do

Tonight, tonight, tonight,tonight,tonight,tonight

Well allright.

Tonight, tonight, tonight,tonight,tonight,tonight

Wait-Now

Wait-Now

Hanging out all by myself

Cause I don't want to be with anybody else

I just want to be with you 

I just want to have something to do

Tonight"


The answer is the total rejection of the relativist ideology. There are NOT many different relative truths. Truth is NOT determined by societal consensus. There is such a thing as absolute truth and it is, to an extent, knowable and intelligible to the human intellect. We could not have found this absolute truth on our own but we were created in such a way that we are completely capable of perceiving it. the unknowable has been made knowable.

The unknowable God has made Himself knowable to us by first preparing us through His progressive revelation of His nature to the Jewish people. He is one. He is our creator. He is all-powerful and all-knowing. He knows each of us as individuals. He is holy and expects us to be holy. He is not impressed by our political power, our wealth, or our knowledge.  He expects us to understand that we belong only to Him. He intends to bless the entire world.

After this preparation through the Jewish people, God's final perfect revelation of Himself came through the Messiah, Jesus of nazareth, who was, is, and always will be fully human and fully divine. We are to become conformed to Him.

Dog is Good

Modern culture seems to have absolutely lost the understanding that words and concepts have meaning.  I believe that this is a result of the relativism which is rapidly becoming the prevalent world view.

I recently saw a bumper sticker on a car.  The bumper sticker had a cartoon of a dog wearing a halo and the caption “Dog is Good.”  While I definitely agree with the sentiment, something about this bothered me greatly.

The halo is an almost universally recognized symbol for sainthood.  The phrase “Dog is Good” is an English language play (*) on the words “God is Good.”  The sainthood reference made me itchy.  The “good” reference concerned me greatly.  While I am absolutely convinced that there is no intent here to do so, the “good” reference could be viewed as sacrilegious.  This is a word that people, in their obsession to not offend anyone, shy away from now, but it is still pertinent.  People in the modern Church seem to have lost their understanding of the Holiness of God.

Jesus responded very quickly when He was called “good” by a loving follower.

“And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.”  Mark 10:17-18

“Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:16 (This references Leviticus 11:44)

………………………………………..

(*) :  For non-English speaking readers of this blog:  In English, the words G_O_D and D_O_G contain the same letters and at a quick glance, can appear to be the same word.

Messianic Prophecies from the Bible: Jesus is the Light of the World

 This may or may not be a messianic prophecy.  My feeling is that it is not, because that could imply that Jesus is a created being. That would be inconsistent with the many other biblical references which teach that Jesus is pre-existent.

Some people feel that the first use of a word in the Bible establishes that word's meaning for the rest of the Bible.  This is highly doubtful and is an unfounded assumption.  Interpretations of words and phrases in the Bible must be derived from the surrounding textual and historical context, from the most usual usage of the word, and from their consistency with the rest of the biblical revelation.

Examples abound of people making unfounded assumptions about biblical words and phrases and, as a result, going off in heretical directions.

Old Testament:

”And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that [it was] good: and God divided the light from the darkness.”

Genesis 1:3-4

New Testament:

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12


exchristian.net

     Exchristian.net is a website dedicated to "encouraging de-converting and former Christians."  To the practicing observant Christian this will seem to be a collection of hateful and intellectually arrogant individuals spewing venom at something which they obviously do not understand.

     In a post by Brendon Rexford, God is referred to as a "fictitious sky phantom."  He says, "I found fundamental extremist Christianity the most hateful, narrow minded, controlling, and contradictory thing I have ever laid eyes upon."  As a Christian, I apologize to Mr. Rexford for what an extremist church may have done to him.  Every thinking well-meaning Christian knows that there are hateful churches like that, arrogant in their ignorance of the true meaning of Christianity and dismissive of anyone not sharing their narrow views.

     In the reader comments following the article a debate arose between several atheists and at least one traditional Christian (possibly more; everyone is using pseudonyms).  The atheists come across as increasingly dismissive, insulting, and abusive, resorting to "aha!" and "gotcha!" statements in response to what they see as unsupported or contradictory arguments.  Everyone, both atheists and Christians, seems to be repeating the same arguments over and over.

     The argument is pointless.  Do not argue with atheists, it merely drives them further into their intellectual do-loops, spinning around repeating their humanistic prideful self-congratulations.  It is not the duty of the christian to convince atheists that they are in error.

The duty of the Christian is to be able to provide a capable and rational explanation for their faith.

"...be ready always to give an answer of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear."  1 Peter 3:1

     We really are different from them and they really don't understand.

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned ... but we have the mind of Christ." 1 Corinthians 2:14, 16.

     The Christian should calmly present the truth and then step back.  There is no need to "win." Victory for the Christian is found in obedience to the Lord.  Let the Word of God do the work.

"... no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." 1 Corinthians  12: 3b.

"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Romans 10:17.