It's that time of year. Exams are coming up. I am blessed to have four final exams as a graduating senior. This number far exceeds the amount of exams I've had to take before, and might be the highest number I've ever had to take in a single semester. So some of my writing projects might be a little delayed. In the interest of not disappointing our readers, in the days following my final final I will finish my blog on Chris, begin and finish my blog on Lauren, and reveal my top whatevers of my Auburn experience. I will also include a tracklist for the 20 songs that helped me endure the past few years of school.
I am going to write a Part II to what might seem to be a rather depressing post a few weeks ago, as you might be expecting, but I am thinking of waiting until I get to Austin to write that one.
Incidentally, Ruth Crumplar is moving to Austin. I heard she was doing it to woo her way onto the writing staff of Cut the Chatter, Red 2. That kind of thing has happened before, but let me reaffirm our commitment to testosterone filled writing and opinions.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Friday, April 27, 2007
Stay tuned...
I'm just backing up what Pope posted on earlier. My Part III is coming soon, hopefully by tonight. Girls, read it, then live it. Peace
Thursday, April 26, 2007
He's Still Alive
Lately my inbox has been flooded with emails asking, "Did you fire Chris?," or "Chris' posts are so refreshing and stimulating, when is his next one coming?," or "Does Chris have a girlfriend? My phone number is XXX-XXX-XXXX!!!!"
I decided to take this opportunity to respond by saying that Chris is still alive and well, and is, in fact a champion goalkeeper. He has been goalkeeping (in the starting XI mind you) for RUF Aubun's now championship co-ed intramural soccer team and in the interest of being an excellent sportsman has taken a short sabbatical from posting duties. This comes with full approval from the editorial board, the board of directors, and the sponsors of Cut the Chatter Red 2.
As a bit of shameless blog promotion, I will be doing a feature-length story on Mr. Burdeshaw's activity on the field in the coming week or so.
Up after that is an exposé on Lauren Wilson. Is she hip, or not? How cool is she, really?
And I'm not sure what Chris has in store for us, but I'm sure it's going to be good.
I decided to take this opportunity to respond by saying that Chris is still alive and well, and is, in fact a champion goalkeeper. He has been goalkeeping (in the starting XI mind you) for RUF Aubun's now championship co-ed intramural soccer team and in the interest of being an excellent sportsman has taken a short sabbatical from posting duties. This comes with full approval from the editorial board, the board of directors, and the sponsors of Cut the Chatter Red 2.
As a bit of shameless blog promotion, I will be doing a feature-length story on Mr. Burdeshaw's activity on the field in the coming week or so.
Up after that is an exposé on Lauren Wilson. Is she hip, or not? How cool is she, really?
And I'm not sure what Chris has in store for us, but I'm sure it's going to be good.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Cut the Chatter Red 2 Red Alert
One of our goals here at Cut the Chatter is to provide a hall of unmanliness to show just how important it is to be manly in our modern society. Consider this video the antithesis of manliness:
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
The Virginia Tech Massacre
A few days ago, a disgruntled student walked through the Virigina Tech campus and slaughtered some thirty-odd students, professors, and staff. In the interests of selling advertising, media corporations sent armies of cameramen and reporters to the scene to document the carnage. This viewpoint may seem highly skeptical but I don't think it is necessarily wrong. I think this event should be covered, but not continuously for 3 days, which will turn into 3 weeks of heavy coverage overall. For all the rhetoric about anchors' hearts and prayers being with the families of the victims, they certainly aren't letting the VA Tech massacre victims grieve.
I don't want to seem insenstive to this terrible tragedy. But the only reason that people are so caught up in this event, which really has nothing to do with them, is that they routinely fail to see the gruesome results of the fall in everyday life. Perhaps that is part of the reason this crisis occurred. The death toll at Virginia Tech proves nothing that was not true last week, or the week before that. And for all of the statements about never forgetting, well, those are lies. I wonder how many people think about September 11th, or Pearl Harbor, or the Holocaust, or whatever, on a daily, weekly, or even yearly basis. I'm not saying that it's unimportant to remember, I'm just saying that most won't.
I don't want to commodify this massacre into a springboard for Christianity, but it is frustrating when news anchors ask people where God was at the time of this tragedy. For some reason, the talking heads never give a good answer (probably because they're not Tim Keller, or Alvin Plantinga) that upholds true Christian doctrine. Other times they give answers that make it seem like God is in mourning over the whole event. I've never seen a talking head reverend point to the Cross and say "That's where God is."
It's that problem of evil question all over again. How can a good and omnipotent God allow 33 students to pointlessly lose their lives, or for 3,000 to perish in a terrorist attack, or for 7 million to be systematically slaughtered in death camps across Europe?
The news anchors that dare to ask these questions don't understand that they're sitting in God's lap to slap him in the face, as Cornelius van Til made the point. I wonder how many of them are atheists. Atheists like to beat up Christians with the problem of evil. But Christians should beat up atheists with the problem of good. Christianity makes a distinction between the two, and founds this disctintion on the nature of God and his Truth revealed in his Word. But atheists have nothing to go on. "Morality" at its best is founded on evolution, which is by definition random. Even if morality comes from evolution, it is still arbitrary and pointless. In fact, it might be the next stage in evolution to give ethics a pass altogether. If true, evolution is a law, not a lawgiver. And even if morality is based on something like a feeling, as Ravi Zacharias points out, in some cultures they love their neighbors and in some they love to eat them. Their certainly must be more to morality than the presence or lack of a rumble in the belly if it is to mean anything.
And that's why Christians truly call this event evil. They see the goodness of God and see that this is something antithetical to his lovingkindness. But even if Christians are the only people who can really define good and evil, the question remains. Why did this happen? Where was God?
And this is why Christianity must be taken not only for its ethics, but also for its Truth about God. It seems trite to say that "his ways are not our ways." Certainly there is no healing in that verse. It seems like a mockery of tragedy. But Scripture isn't just a story, it is a history of redemption, and the events that it records are real. Where was God? God was watching his Son die on the Cross. Jesus is aware of the suffering humans inflict upon themselves; he suffered for even that. And after atoning for sin, he rose and ascended, promising to return one day to bring the kingdom in full, where tragedy will only be spoken of in the past tense.
It is foolish to put hope in gun control laws, an increased police presence, counselling, or community building. These things are all good and perhaps even necessary, but they will only address symptoms of human misery and not the causes. Christ addresses our root evil and can give us a taste of goodness even in our own lives. But we cannot hope in our fallen bodies and minds. Christ promises to return and bring people into glory. It is in this promise that we should hope, not in the promises of politicians. And it is from this truth and what it means for us today that we should start to address the social issues of our day, and trust in God's Word instead of political or media rhetoric. They can't do anything for Virginia Tech. The returning Christ can.
I don't want to seem insenstive to this terrible tragedy. But the only reason that people are so caught up in this event, which really has nothing to do with them, is that they routinely fail to see the gruesome results of the fall in everyday life. Perhaps that is part of the reason this crisis occurred. The death toll at Virginia Tech proves nothing that was not true last week, or the week before that. And for all of the statements about never forgetting, well, those are lies. I wonder how many people think about September 11th, or Pearl Harbor, or the Holocaust, or whatever, on a daily, weekly, or even yearly basis. I'm not saying that it's unimportant to remember, I'm just saying that most won't.
I don't want to commodify this massacre into a springboard for Christianity, but it is frustrating when news anchors ask people where God was at the time of this tragedy. For some reason, the talking heads never give a good answer (probably because they're not Tim Keller, or Alvin Plantinga) that upholds true Christian doctrine. Other times they give answers that make it seem like God is in mourning over the whole event. I've never seen a talking head reverend point to the Cross and say "That's where God is."
It's that problem of evil question all over again. How can a good and omnipotent God allow 33 students to pointlessly lose their lives, or for 3,000 to perish in a terrorist attack, or for 7 million to be systematically slaughtered in death camps across Europe?
The news anchors that dare to ask these questions don't understand that they're sitting in God's lap to slap him in the face, as Cornelius van Til made the point. I wonder how many of them are atheists. Atheists like to beat up Christians with the problem of evil. But Christians should beat up atheists with the problem of good. Christianity makes a distinction between the two, and founds this disctintion on the nature of God and his Truth revealed in his Word. But atheists have nothing to go on. "Morality" at its best is founded on evolution, which is by definition random. Even if morality comes from evolution, it is still arbitrary and pointless. In fact, it might be the next stage in evolution to give ethics a pass altogether. If true, evolution is a law, not a lawgiver. And even if morality is based on something like a feeling, as Ravi Zacharias points out, in some cultures they love their neighbors and in some they love to eat them. Their certainly must be more to morality than the presence or lack of a rumble in the belly if it is to mean anything.
And that's why Christians truly call this event evil. They see the goodness of God and see that this is something antithetical to his lovingkindness. But even if Christians are the only people who can really define good and evil, the question remains. Why did this happen? Where was God?
And this is why Christianity must be taken not only for its ethics, but also for its Truth about God. It seems trite to say that "his ways are not our ways." Certainly there is no healing in that verse. It seems like a mockery of tragedy. But Scripture isn't just a story, it is a history of redemption, and the events that it records are real. Where was God? God was watching his Son die on the Cross. Jesus is aware of the suffering humans inflict upon themselves; he suffered for even that. And after atoning for sin, he rose and ascended, promising to return one day to bring the kingdom in full, where tragedy will only be spoken of in the past tense.
It is foolish to put hope in gun control laws, an increased police presence, counselling, or community building. These things are all good and perhaps even necessary, but they will only address symptoms of human misery and not the causes. Christ addresses our root evil and can give us a taste of goodness even in our own lives. But we cannot hope in our fallen bodies and minds. Christ promises to return and bring people into glory. It is in this promise that we should hope, not in the promises of politicians. And it is from this truth and what it means for us today that we should start to address the social issues of our day, and trust in God's Word instead of political or media rhetoric. They can't do anything for Virginia Tech. The returning Christ can.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Part I: Magic
Tim's voice singing Ryan Adams lingers in my ears. It's a shame bars don't allow smoking anymore. Oh, I know the arguments, and on my communist days I support them and on my libertarian days, I argue against them. It really takes away from the whole experience. I'm happy that people take smoke breaks, so that when they walk in you can catch a whiff of the tobacco smoke and feel like you're truly at a bar.
Tonight was Kurt's 21st birthday. We fulfilled a promise we made a couple years ago to have a beer before I graduated. Tim, Alex, and Price played a mix of original and cover songs. The three of us sat alone, while the bartender talked to two patrons at the bar. Later, another group of people came in and populated the tables next to us, but we didn't know who they were. One girl was pretty cute.
That promise is funny, really. Two years ago it seemed like it would never come, as if there was an infinite distance of time and space in between the two points. We lightly mourned the fact that we wouldn't get to go out to the Ale House too often before I left for good. The summer break would turn into a permanent chasm that willl only be bridged a few more times. It is particularly ironic in that we've waited, looking forward to that moment for quite some time. Now that it's here, I wish it had never come. Satisfaction's only child is disatisfaction.
It's a shame that not many people know Sartre's quote about eternity. He advocated, like other existentialists, living a life aware of your own death so that every moment may be lived to the fullest. But then he says that without eternity, everything is meaningless. I bet that doesn't make people comfortable. I bet it freaks them out. But they scare me, because I feel like they aren't being honest. People go about their daily lives and pretend like their experiences have meaing. That frustrates me. Just because you pretend your life has meaning and that your everyday activities are worthwhile doesn't mean that somehow they actually are.
Carson Pittman interned at Georgia Southern. Fletcher and I visited some friends there last summer and I got to meet Carson. He's a pretty cool guy. He wrote once that leaving a community is like a little death. I think he's right too. Somehow leaving reminds us of our own mortality, of the mortality of our friends, and of the futility of it all. I've spent four years in Auburn cultivating friendships that will be abruptly ended with a slip of paper to hang on my wall and prove it. And isn't it bitter that in your last months in an area you make more friends?
I think Sartre's quote is pretty spot on. I think Carson's is too. I also think I am fairly logical, and the conclusion is particularly nasty. This last four years of themselves hold no meaning for me. In looking back on formerly fond memories there is neither joy nor hope. The past exists and stands against us, mocking us in the present, prophesying that in the future we will only find more occasions for disappointment, misery, loss, and despair.
The Preacher tells us that all is vanity. The word for vanity actually means vapor. That is what the past, the friendships, and the memories are. That is what now is. That is what the future will be.
Tonight was Kurt's 21st birthday. We fulfilled a promise we made a couple years ago to have a beer before I graduated. Tim, Alex, and Price played a mix of original and cover songs. The three of us sat alone, while the bartender talked to two patrons at the bar. Later, another group of people came in and populated the tables next to us, but we didn't know who they were. One girl was pretty cute.
That promise is funny, really. Two years ago it seemed like it would never come, as if there was an infinite distance of time and space in between the two points. We lightly mourned the fact that we wouldn't get to go out to the Ale House too often before I left for good. The summer break would turn into a permanent chasm that willl only be bridged a few more times. It is particularly ironic in that we've waited, looking forward to that moment for quite some time. Now that it's here, I wish it had never come. Satisfaction's only child is disatisfaction.
It's a shame that not many people know Sartre's quote about eternity. He advocated, like other existentialists, living a life aware of your own death so that every moment may be lived to the fullest. But then he says that without eternity, everything is meaningless. I bet that doesn't make people comfortable. I bet it freaks them out. But they scare me, because I feel like they aren't being honest. People go about their daily lives and pretend like their experiences have meaing. That frustrates me. Just because you pretend your life has meaning and that your everyday activities are worthwhile doesn't mean that somehow they actually are.
Carson Pittman interned at Georgia Southern. Fletcher and I visited some friends there last summer and I got to meet Carson. He's a pretty cool guy. He wrote once that leaving a community is like a little death. I think he's right too. Somehow leaving reminds us of our own mortality, of the mortality of our friends, and of the futility of it all. I've spent four years in Auburn cultivating friendships that will be abruptly ended with a slip of paper to hang on my wall and prove it. And isn't it bitter that in your last months in an area you make more friends?
I think Sartre's quote is pretty spot on. I think Carson's is too. I also think I am fairly logical, and the conclusion is particularly nasty. This last four years of themselves hold no meaning for me. In looking back on formerly fond memories there is neither joy nor hope. The past exists and stands against us, mocking us in the present, prophesying that in the future we will only find more occasions for disappointment, misery, loss, and despair.
The Preacher tells us that all is vanity. The word for vanity actually means vapor. That is what the past, the friendships, and the memories are. That is what now is. That is what the future will be.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
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