kingdom of heaven
ok, so twice now as i’m on my way to work i’ve seen this black toyota camry driving to work with this massive biblical statment on the back of the car in vinyl letters. the text read: are you ready to die? no one can see the kingdom of heaven unless he is born again. – jesus. (sic)
now, religious ideology aside, i find it interesting (besides the fact the “quote” is wrong) that this text is in big vinyl letters on the back of a camry that is driven by one of the hottest guys i’ve ever seen. the dichotomy of the message mixed with the messenger is driving me nuts. lets be frank, it wouldn’t be wrong to expect such a message on a car driven by an older-skewing person (more than likely driving with one blinker on and wearing a hat), but a hottie, that’s kinda a shock. not that you need to be old to believe in god, but rarely does one see such a fervent display of religiosity from a guy that could easily be appearing in porn (preferably the leather/kinky sort).
i shit you not, this guy is hot… looks a bit lanky, has dark short hair cut in a pretty fashionable shape, cool sunglasses and on the two times i’ve now seen him – he’s been talkin’ into his cell phone (i’m positive he’s rockin’ the cd player pretty hard too – sepulture, perhaps?). no blinker on, no hat in sight, heck, there’s not even a jesus fish on his camry (speaking of jesus fish, i wonder what he would think of my fish-n-chips emblem – does he think that i am being sacrilegious [hope so], am I going to hell [the gay thing is already sending me there i’m sure], does he wanna do the nasty after a pint and a stack of fish-n-chips [hope so]).
i don’t have a challenge with christianity – in principle i really don’t’. i think the bible is a wonderful book of fiction with some great messages in it (yes, i’ve read it – all of it). my challenge though comes with those evangelicals who feel that need the “convert” those of us who may not share their views. come to think of it, that challenge extends to any religion that feels the need to tell me that i’m wrong or going to hell or damned just ‘cause i don’t believe what they believe. lets say for arguments sake that the christian god is the one true god – and that god did indeed create me from his image. one could argue that as such, he created me with the ability for sentient thought and as such, couldn’t possibly be angry or vengeful for my choosing to explore a different path. i can assure you, i’m quite comfortable with my chances if when i die, i have to defend myself to paul at the pearly gates to gain entrance to the kingdom of heaven.
this concept is one of the things that drove me to explore buddhism. i love that nowhere in buddhist texts does it tell me that i must save the souls of people that don’t share my view. indeed buddhism really could care less in what other people are doing/saying/fucking as long as their living a life at peace with the world around them. i celebrate my friends that are christians, jews and muslims as long as they celebrate and respect that my path has taken me on a different journey.
my frustration with this whole predilection of christianity in american culture extends all over the place. doesn’t anyone else have a challenge with the phrase “god bless america”? i mean seriously, when did americans become the chosen few (i’d be fine by the way with “god bless the whole world”)? also, the pledge of allegiance, until 1954, never had the words “under god” in it. president eisenhower approved changing the pledge on june 14, 1954 saying: “in this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in america’s heritage and future; in this we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country’s most powerful resource in peace and war.” never mind the fact that we are supposedly based on the concept of separation of church and state. and what the fuck is a spiritual weapon?
ok, off my soapbox; back to the hottie in the camry – i’m so going to try to drive the same route for the next few days with my digital camera at the ready so ya’ll can check out the quote. It’s spectacularly funny (i specifically like the bit about being ready to die).
on the subject of the kingdom of heaven – some of my favorite lines about heaven:
“you, soft and lonely, you, lost and lonely, you, just like heaven” – just like heaven / the cure
“sky fits heaven so fly it, that's what the prophet said to me” – sky fits heaven / madonna
“if i see 11, u can say it's 7, still i wish u heaven” – i wish u heaven / prince
“if you all get to heaven, say a prayer for the people, who will kill for cross and steeple” – if you all get to heaven / terrence trent d’arby
music heard while writing this post:
32 flavors / ani difranco
sign “o” the times / prince
chemistry / semisonic
condition of the heart / prince & the revolution
fascination street (live) / the cure
bubble pop electric / gwen Stefani
rocket’s tail / kate bush
midnight / yaz
games without frontiers / peter gabriel & kate bush
lucky star / basement jaxx
personal jesus / depeche mode
shake break bounce / the chemical brothers
now, religious ideology aside, i find it interesting (besides the fact the “quote” is wrong) that this text is in big vinyl letters on the back of a camry that is driven by one of the hottest guys i’ve ever seen. the dichotomy of the message mixed with the messenger is driving me nuts. lets be frank, it wouldn’t be wrong to expect such a message on a car driven by an older-skewing person (more than likely driving with one blinker on and wearing a hat), but a hottie, that’s kinda a shock. not that you need to be old to believe in god, but rarely does one see such a fervent display of religiosity from a guy that could easily be appearing in porn (preferably the leather/kinky sort).
i shit you not, this guy is hot… looks a bit lanky, has dark short hair cut in a pretty fashionable shape, cool sunglasses and on the two times i’ve now seen him – he’s been talkin’ into his cell phone (i’m positive he’s rockin’ the cd player pretty hard too – sepulture, perhaps?). no blinker on, no hat in sight, heck, there’s not even a jesus fish on his camry (speaking of jesus fish, i wonder what he would think of my fish-n-chips emblem – does he think that i am being sacrilegious [hope so], am I going to hell [the gay thing is already sending me there i’m sure], does he wanna do the nasty after a pint and a stack of fish-n-chips [hope so]).
i don’t have a challenge with christianity – in principle i really don’t’. i think the bible is a wonderful book of fiction with some great messages in it (yes, i’ve read it – all of it). my challenge though comes with those evangelicals who feel that need the “convert” those of us who may not share their views. come to think of it, that challenge extends to any religion that feels the need to tell me that i’m wrong or going to hell or damned just ‘cause i don’t believe what they believe. lets say for arguments sake that the christian god is the one true god – and that god did indeed create me from his image. one could argue that as such, he created me with the ability for sentient thought and as such, couldn’t possibly be angry or vengeful for my choosing to explore a different path. i can assure you, i’m quite comfortable with my chances if when i die, i have to defend myself to paul at the pearly gates to gain entrance to the kingdom of heaven.
this concept is one of the things that drove me to explore buddhism. i love that nowhere in buddhist texts does it tell me that i must save the souls of people that don’t share my view. indeed buddhism really could care less in what other people are doing/saying/fucking as long as their living a life at peace with the world around them. i celebrate my friends that are christians, jews and muslims as long as they celebrate and respect that my path has taken me on a different journey.
my frustration with this whole predilection of christianity in american culture extends all over the place. doesn’t anyone else have a challenge with the phrase “god bless america”? i mean seriously, when did americans become the chosen few (i’d be fine by the way with “god bless the whole world”)? also, the pledge of allegiance, until 1954, never had the words “under god” in it. president eisenhower approved changing the pledge on june 14, 1954 saying: “in this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in america’s heritage and future; in this we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country’s most powerful resource in peace and war.” never mind the fact that we are supposedly based on the concept of separation of church and state. and what the fuck is a spiritual weapon?
ok, off my soapbox; back to the hottie in the camry – i’m so going to try to drive the same route for the next few days with my digital camera at the ready so ya’ll can check out the quote. It’s spectacularly funny (i specifically like the bit about being ready to die).
on the subject of the kingdom of heaven – some of my favorite lines about heaven:
“you, soft and lonely, you, lost and lonely, you, just like heaven” – just like heaven / the cure
“sky fits heaven so fly it, that's what the prophet said to me” – sky fits heaven / madonna
“if i see 11, u can say it's 7, still i wish u heaven” – i wish u heaven / prince
“if you all get to heaven, say a prayer for the people, who will kill for cross and steeple” – if you all get to heaven / terrence trent d’arby
music heard while writing this post:
32 flavors / ani difranco
sign “o” the times / prince
chemistry / semisonic
condition of the heart / prince & the revolution
fascination street (live) / the cure
bubble pop electric / gwen Stefani
rocket’s tail / kate bush
midnight / yaz
games without frontiers / peter gabriel & kate bush
lucky star / basement jaxx
personal jesus / depeche mode
shake break bounce / the chemical brothers
3 comments:
O...k... a) I love how you were listening to "Personal Jesus" while writing this. Seems apropos.
b) Welcome Mr. Blogger.
c) kate bush - LOVE HER
d) I summarize my faith this way. There's an old Indian saying: Many paths through the forest lead to the other side. I have amended it -- All paths through the forest lead to the other side. The truth is the truth. No matter what any of us believe individually ain't gonna change the truth one bit. And I believe that when we die, sooner if not later, the truth will be made evident to us that we are all one big soul that individuates to come to this life experience as part of our journey.
i can totally dig that... good to see you pokin' around here - we still need to discuss that book you sent me once...
talk soon.
Yeah - Sign of the times is appropriate for this too. Nice piece in the New Yorker about Hollywood and Christians....I digress.
I think it is wrong to expect how anyone would look based on their professing a particular stance. Afterall, you complain about people shirking you because you have so many tattoos.
Could we imagine some straight guy looking at you in line at the movies thinking -- "...you know, he looks like a butch dude but he's so gay...that bothers me because I'd otherwise think he's a cool.".
Bet it happens all the time.
It seems to me much of the conservative backlash that is occurring now has happened because people's faith was attacked and ridiculed, not discussed. Stereotyping has not help the dialog of faith in this country as it hasn't helped people understand what it means to be gay. Just people reacting.
Faith is an incredibly powerful force. It is complex, involves human emotion and has done incredible and horrible things to our world.
And I think it is much more than just a bumper sticker with hot guy in the front seat. Yeah, so he didn't get the translation correct. As it turns out, the bible you read probably wasn't all that correct either.
Next time, how about just asking him out? Make a sign and paste it in your window:)
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