Monday, December 18, 2006

Moby is at it again...

Moby is at it again...
/...the religious right need to sit down and look at what they're doing.
christians in the 21st century should be humbly tending to the poor and needy, not opposing stem-cell research, banning harry potter books, getting upset about homosexuality, and defending christmas from the pagan infidels.../
G'on yersel wee man!

Makes sense to me. Read his full post here

U*P*D*A*T*E
/...We need to be sensible about what we do and don't speak out about, but we can't just fade into the background.
Chris
/...The public expression of Christianity has become too politicised. As long as well-meaning Christians sell their souls to any secular political expression there will be compromise and a job half done. The Salt will lose its savour.
J

Chaps... thank you for your contribution and the variety of opinions expressed in the comments (thanks to Andy too). I would like our shared faith to be about what we do and not about what we don't... about what we celebrate and encourage... instead of what we condemn and decry.

The world thinks we are haters... when we speak out... we speak out against something... be it trivial like Harry Potter or serious like stem cell research... When was the last time we spoke out for something? Probably the Manchester Passion?! We need to pick and choose our battles carefully...

Moby is probably too political for his own good here... but at least he is presenting an alternative to the Christian haters out there... he isn't fading into the background! Who else is out there, as high profile as Moby, presenting an alternative view of the Christian faith?

My God is the God of love... the God who gave us a chance through the birth of a baby boy... maybe if we expressed ourselves with this same kind of love... instead of the judgmental, self-righteous way in which we pick our fights... then more people would get it and we could actually make a difference.
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why:

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.'

"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'
Matthew 25:34-40 (The Message)

For me... its all about the poor... the despised... the forgotten... Maybe we should say less... and do more?

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9 comments:

Unknown said...

Makes sense to me, too. Well said Moby!!

Anonymous said...

Is that it? We're just a religious social-work department?

I do agree that we need to pick our battles better, but we still need to fight some. Stem-cell research is one close to my own heart... I'm not convinced it's acceptable in the eyes of God to create embryos purely to "harvest" stem-cells.

We need to be sensible about what we do and don't speak out about, but we can't just fade into the background.

Anonymous said...

Moby shouldn't be lauded for his comments. All he's succeeded in doing is repeat the folly of the quote-unquote "religious right" by swapping the pet projects of the right with the favoured issues of the left. You cannot address the impoverished underclass as long as viable embryos are valued only for their stem cells. All the sex education will not address the plague of STDs as long as there is not an understanding that any expression of sexuality outwith a man-woman marriage commitment. The "right" has its silly little issues, but the left can't be excused from frivolity - political correctness anyone?

The public expression of Christianity has become too politicised. As long as well-meaning Christians sell their souls to any secular political expression there will be compromise and a job half done. The Salt will lose its savour.

J

Anonymous said...

Moby's the MAN! he should run for president! My favorite musician/musical artist in the whole wide world! He says it like it is and should keep doing so!!!!!!!!! Adele/EP

John said...

Thomas, I can see where Moby is coming from but I tend to agree with Chris and J, and I am also concious of '..a little leaven, leavens a lot..'

Any Christian worth their salt knows what to do in Christ regarding the obvious, but it is the hidden agenda of 'good deeds' that concerns me.

We need to stick to the trusted values that Christ taught, and not be sidetrcked with 'Ideas' that sound good in the so called 'modernist generation.'

Before I became a Christian, I hated the celebration of Christmas, because of the pain in hurt that accompanied it, whilst growing up in Glasgow. But now I love it, I love the trees (reminds me of His crucifixion,) and the lights (reminds me of the light of the world,) and of course the music and the giving of gifts, the nativity, and all the other trimmings that cause real Christians to be joyful at this time, whether its the right date or not.

As you have said before Thomas, its all about Him at this time, praise His wonderful and mighty name!

Be encouraged.
GBYAY

Anonymous said...

aYeah, and Courtney Love is NOT a muppet. ahem. sorry, you brought up Moby and it triggered a recent blogpost memory...

Chris & J have it right, although the religious right is mostly wrong in its presentation of a political gospel, Christians do not need to be silent on cultural issues, and Jesus was not just about feeding the poor and doing simple works of kindness. Jesus was a dangerous guy, in the best sense of the word.

Anonymous said...

"I would like our shared faith to be about what we do and not about what we don't... about what we celebrate and encourage... instead of what we condemn and decry."

Absolutely! We need to celebrate and enourage a whole lot more, but we still have a duty to be God's voice to society. If there's something going on that God hates, we need to point that out. Otherwise we're only "salt" in that we're making the world "taste" better, but not in the way that we're stopping society from rotting.

It sounds more like the problem is attitude rather than action. We need to speak out in God's name, but if we do it whilst foaming at the mouth people will just think we're nutters. We need to build up a credibility-bank by showing God's love in practical ways, choosing our battles carefully and, when we do speak out, doing so in a way that won't automatically turn people off to what we're trying to say.

Paula said...

I find the best way for me to combat something like...say...abortion is not to picket or bomb a clinic, but to love my friend who has a difficult choice to make, to counsel her wisely, to love her no matter what her decision...and to keep doing this, one friend at a time.

I am firmly in the "say less, do more" camp. When groups attempt to legislate morality, morality becomes a duty and a law as opposed to a response of love. Do you really think that if you made it illegal to *insert cause of choice here*, that people's hearts would be changed at all by following that law? You can make people obey on the outside, but God is concerned with their heart.

Anonymous said...

Two points then I'll have said my piece:

To be blunt, I don't care what the world thinks of the Church. We are not called to generate favourable PR but make disciples. Even though I could point readers to a dozen positive press releases from Christian ministries, it's largely irrelevant: our success metric is the sound of rejoicing in heaven, not column inches. We can't control the mass media, so let them set the agenda while we exercise our Commission.

"For me... its all about the poor... the despised... the forgotten...". Who are the Poor? Have we forgotten the spiritually impoverished in their three bedroom semi-detached house? Who are the despised? Are we ignoring the captains of industry when we vilify them for running sweatshops and polluting the environment? Who are the forgotten? Who reaches out to the workaholic, living to work, sitting alone at home after a ten hour day?

Social action has its place in the ministry of the Church - after all didn't the apostles appoint deacons to look after the needy within the church - but social action is subordinate to the Gospel. After all (and I paraphrase!) "What does it profit a man to be elevated above the poverty line if he loses his soul?"

J

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