The Stand-up Philosopher

What Is The Deal With The Current Cultural Obsession With Vampires?

I’m trying to figure out exactly what it is about Vampires right now. They’re everywhere. Every time I turn around, there’s a new show or movie about them.

They have long since come to my house. My wife and her sister have read all the Twilight novels. I’ve even seen the movies. I guess the best I can say is I didn’t not like them if that makes sense. I rolled my eyes a lot during the dialogue but the story wasn’t too bad. I think they seriously overplayed the “lovesick teen girl” angle though. I also have trouble comprehending why a 109 year old vampire would want to spend his immortality as a junior in high school.

I’m probably not aware of all of the movie and TV offerings dealing with vampires. I couldn’t keep track of them if I wanted to. I know there’s a show called “The Vampire Diaries” and an HBO series called “True Blood”. I tried to watch True Blood, but I can’t get into it. Like most HBO series, it seems to be based on the following premise:

Where Do We Get The Idea That People Engaged in “Spiritual Work” Are On Another Plane?

On Saturday, Seth Godin posted an entry on his blog titled “Phoning It In.” First, I want to state that I agree with his conclusion that we need passion in our work. We shouldn’t be, as they say in show business, “Phoning our lines in”.

I want to address the start of the post:

I was talking to a religious leader, someone who runs a congregation. She made it clear to me that on many days, it's just a job. A job like any other, you show up, you go through the motions, you get paid.

I guess we find this disturbing because spiritual work should be real, not faked.

I’m curious about where the misconception came from that people engaged in “Spiritual work” exist on some higher plane. I notice that even fairly well-studied believers somehow see pastors and elders and deacons as somehow holier.

Albert Mohler: Seperation of Church and Sport?

Contemporary theologian and seminary president Albert Mohler is a man I enjoy reading. I follow his blog and listen to his podcast regularly. I like him because he is a thinker. Rather than regurgitate a “party line”, Dr. Mohler thinks through issues. His work has been a real benefit (blessing?) to me in my own intellectual journey.

Dr. Mohler posted an entry on his blog recently about a sports journalist’s call for “separation of church and sport”. The column deals with complaints about athletes who are Christian and the exclusivity of the Gospel.

I’m not opposed to my own version of separation of church and sports: specifically, let’s reduce the number of sports-themed sermons. Nothing makes me want to leave the church, sit in my car, and watch somebody else’s sermon on YouTube on my iPhone like a sermon that starts out with a baseball illustration.

But then again, I also realize that it’s not about me. I’m not sure what to tell the sports journalists. I sit through the sports-sermons. They may have to live with the Christian players.

My Thoughts on The DaVinci Code

I've largely stayed out of commenting on The DaVinci Code, Dan Brown's popular book that has not yet outsold the Bible. As a Christian, I do frequent some Christian sites. I also notice that Dan Brown has caught a lot of people's attention with his story, which I have not read. I don't know if I ever will, but right now I just have other priorities.

I was reading a commentary the other day about the book, and the writer claimed that people keep asking him if there is any truth to The DaVinci Code. I will repeat and slightly paraphrase his response to that question, with appropriate emphasis, in a moment.

I find it almost humorous that many Christian websites and ministries have a feature that in one way or another resembles the following title: "The DaVinci Code: Seperating Fact From Fiction". You can't go anywhere these days without seeing it. Entire volumes of books and study guides have been written in an effort to debunk The DaVinci Code, which is going to be released as a movie this year, I believe.

OK, here is my public comment on The DaVinci Code and whether or not there is any truth at all to it whatsoever:

IT'S ON THE NEW YORK TIMES' FICTION BESTSELLER LIST! Doesn't that make it, by nature, fiction? If there were truth to it or if the book were intended as a serious theological treatise, would it not be on the NON-FICTION LIST?

Seriously, if you're going to base your views on Jesus Christ from a fictional bestseller, you have much larger problem than whether or not there is any truth to The DaVinci Code.

Labels: Bible, Misc comments