the long awaited mystery guest blog.

our guest blogger is none other than the world renowned contortionist and philotheolosigian, Chad Presley. we here at whatiseikon hope you enjoy this hot-off-the-press weblog…

While Joseph tends to bottle up his thoughts and then release them in a bitingly witty way, spilling over many paragraphs in poetically creative destruction, I tend to simply say things as I think them, with not much poetry involved, but with not less passion. So, in the spirit of Paul, who did as the Romans did when in Rome, I will do my best to be as wordy, descriptive, and poetically sarcastic as possible as I guest star on my favorite rock star’s blog.

The other day I went to see Valkyrie with Christina, Joseph, and Michelle. Beyond what comes next, I thought it was a good movie. It was not too presumptuous, nor was it boring or long winded, just an open window into a story from WW2 that to my knowledge had not been told because primary sources did not want to tell it. It concerned a group of freedom fighters who were not anti-war activists or especially decent folks, but they united together to secretly plot for the good of Germany over and against Hitler’s mad schemes. Full disclosure time, and if you haven’t seen the movie, don’t worry, I will only spoil minor plot points, but the crux of the movie revolves around an assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler. Apparently, many clergy at the time were involved in attempting to assassinate the guy with the fuehrious mustache.

My favorite line in the movie one that I talked about on my blog (insert shameless plug here). It was the following exchange between tom cruise’s character and someone who he has just hired as an assistant in a government job. Before his actual job begins, tom cruise’s character, in an act of brazen and fairly reckless abandon says to the recruit, “”I am involved in high treason with all means available to me. Can I count you in?”

Can I count you in? That is the question I find myself confronted with when Jesus talks. Literally, not in my sexy spirit, but in the gospels. He is not reacting against the moral decay of western civilization, he is not trying to get us to rebel against hell itself or abortion, or gay marriage, or biblical illiteracy, or rap music, or rock music in church, or conservative politicians, or even liberal politicians. He was inviting us to stand up against Rome and the leadership of Israel, which at the time were the physical instruments and in some cases the actual embodiments of what Walter Wink calls the Domination System, what the Bible calls Satan, what we in our culture might describe as Technological, Militaristic, Therapeutic, Consumerism (according to Walter Bruggeman).

Jesus was involved in high treason against the God of this world. The powers, principalities, the anthropomorphic descriptions of the collective spirits of our institutions such as families, places of worship, governments, and entertainments that have taken a life of their own and like a computer virus unleashed by a pimple-faced, too-smart-for-his-own-good-hacker, it has spiraled out of control and now threatens the very people that created it and are now subject to it. Like Germany was to Hitler.

One particular part I liked about Valkyrie, was that in the midst of trying to wrest power from Hitler, they almost succeeded. They had a grand plan which had fingers extended into every possible power structure of Germany and once unleashed, they were able to take power fairly easily and at one point, Tom Cruise asks a compatriot how a certain front is going and he responds positively, noting that “not one bullet was fired”. Ghandi was once asked if his non-violent political action would work against Hitler. He said he didn’t know until it was tried. And that is one of the single most repeated questions I am asked when I talk about non-violence. What about Hitler? Well, I think Valkyrie gave me a window into what is possible. If a few German officers were able to almost take control of Germany in a matter of hours, given less than a year to plan, what might have been possible for others who might have followed in their footsteps? Would Hitler have ever been deposed by anything less than a violent solution? Who knows? But I believe Jesus invites us to think harder about those kind of questions, because when Jesus asks if he can count us in, violence and war are large parts of what he is involved with treason against. Jesus refused to use the enemy’s means to fight for his ends.

In a world where might makes right (yes you mr. bullhorn in downtown Fort Worth, and you mr. sit back in washington and send my friends to Iraq, and lets not forget you mr. too-big-to-fail banker who F*&%$# me in the *%^ with your business practices and when your business is heading towards bankruptcy the government gives you lots of dough which you keep to buy other banks and give large bonuses, and lastly you mr. gas-guzzler maker, who cries in their soup when america won’t buy their crappy cars anymore because the other countries can make them better, most cost effective, and export them cheaper than you can make them here, and then you ask for handouts from the taxpayers to bail you out, having flown in your ^&$^&%$%^&ing private jet to get there!), Jesus asks us to join him in high treason, not against people, but against the System.

Can we count you in?

 

Chad Presley is the lead pastor of the most bad-assed church plant in the world, Eikon. he lives in a state of perpetual awesomeness rivaled only by the dance moves of Rick Astley.

green team themed SLY… 353 days of thunder remain

today is “whateveriwantittobe” monday, and it’s an environmentally friendly monday, although it’s also a bit of a link-dump day, too. we get to go to california this week. i’ll get to see my LOLOLOL bff (wut) Rooms (markymark) and my funky bunch family for the first time in forever. we’ll make sure we see the blue Pacific and some mountains whilst we have the chance. and i’ll hug a redwood for anyone who wants. pictures will ensue, no doubt.

-for all of you texans who religulously follow the whatiseikon blog, i found something recently that may be a benefit of deregulation in the sneering faces of all of the bummers of deregulating the electric utility industry. it’s the site electricitytexas.com, which allows you to compare and purchase the service you want, looking at all publicly available plans. you can even sort and search through criteria like the amount of “green” energy you’d like to purchase, whether it’s wind, natural gas, etc., and even allows rich folks to purchase credits to offset the ungreenness of their own households or even the households of others. now, there is no excuse for any of you to allow coal ash to tarnish your carbon footprints without your expressed approval. yes, clean energy costs more. but isn’t it worth it?

-speaking of coal, i enjoyed the commercials during the election time that spoke glowingly of how technological advances are allowing coal to be burned cleanly these days and that we should all rush to invest in and purchase from these wonderful companies that truly have the world’s wellbeing at heart. also, i didn’t miss the disclaimer at the end of these commercials that it was paid for by the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. it takes about a 2 second look over the members of this coalition to see that we might want to add a grain of salt or two hundred to these advertisements. here’s the education part: the industry is absolutely right in touting their improved filters that help keep pollutants like sulfur dioxide and mercury from exiting smokestacks into the air directly. this still begs the question, where do the mercury and sulfur dioxide go if they’re not going into the air? the answer: in detention ponds like these pictured on the Time magazine website. go ahead and read the whole article if you’d like. this isn’t the first time i’ve pointed this out. especially noteworthy is the fact that many of these ponds are notlined in any fashion, allowing water and toxins to eventually sink into the ground, which is where we get a lot of our food, and where our water flows before it’s pumped into our homes. hmmm. out of the kettle and into the frying pan, yes? as Bryan Walsh states so succinctly, “in reality, we can’t really talk about clean coal — it doesn’t exist.” a Sierra Club director later wonders aloud if the industry could have spent some of that advertising cash on improving the disposal of the carcinogenic waste-products that are silently killing our world.

-in a typical split personality manner that we’ve come to expect from the current president and his administration, he recently catered to diametrically opposed special interest groups simultaneously. Bush had announced about 2 years ago that 3 new marine preserveswould be set aside for national protection and enjoyment. and then the government spent the next 25 or so months arguing how much protection these preserves would actually receive, in case any higher bidders came along, right? now, the administration is pushing the limits of the Clean Water Act of 1972 to see if they can again bend over backwards for the man, whoever it may be. this time, it’s a gold mining company that wants to dump waste products in a lake in the mountains of Alaska. awesome.

-in what has apparently been an underwhelming auto show in Detroit, many fuel efficient vehicles are being debuted. one has to wonder, if only 1 car company had been bold enough to have these vehicles ready to go right this minute, or perhaps last summer as gas prices hovered at $4 a gallon, how filthy rich would they be right now? and how tired would they be from laughing at the bowing and begging and sniveling  of the other companies. but still, for some crazy reason, i can’t help but feel a bit of deja vu about these fuel efficient, zero emission, electric cars before. maybe in 1891?

-finally, a recent study from the University of Michigan shows a slightly surprising link between the modern city and mental health. in the Velvetine Rabbit, the little boy gets sick and travels to the sea to get better, right? perhaps it’s not just that being in a natural or rural environment is good for you, it’s also that being in a city might be bad for you. the link between behavior patterns for children who have been diagnosed with ADHD is starkly different for the two settings. 2 takes on the story–saucy and sarcastic or more contemplative.

-news flash: humans are not as smart as we think we are. we get our grubby little fingers in the cookie pot and ruin the whole lot. proof positive here.

green team! green team. shhhhh. greeeeeeeeeen teeeeeeeeeeam.

SLY… 360 days left this year

-i know i listen when an astrophysicist makes suggestions on how to improve anything about me. shouldn’t all the airlines? cause this one has come up with a method that might reduce boarding times by five-sixths.

-Michael Guerriero got fired and made the most of it. he hopped in his SUV and criss-crossed the country looking for the best parties. now he’s written a book about it. and for all of you out therrrre looking forrrr a rrrrrrowsing good rrruckus to be a parrrrt of, there’s even a festival in Florida where a ship full of ”pirates”sails into port, takes over everything, and even gets the keys to the city from the mayorrrrr. rrrable-rowsing ensues. good times.

-how cool is the title “Grand Warlock,” especially Mexico’s Grand Warlock? cause he’s got some inside info that says that the US pulls out of the Middle East and instead hungrily looks at our neighbors like Kobayashi looks at a pile of Hebrew Nationals. yep, he predicts a buildup of military strength along the border as we try to grab some additional territory. for what it’s worth, he predicted that 2008 would see the deaths of Britney (you know which one) and Fidel (you also know which one) and that oil prices would be stable.

-inspired by the example of famed Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi, a few hundred good people hurled shoes at various political figures. well, at their pictures at least, which is far less illegal than tossing footwear at a dignitary. and God bless the news writers and reporters around the world who don’t have English as a first language, but the first sentence in this report alone is worth the look. what does a venting spleen truly entail?

-you’d think that maybe two or three investigations would be enough to detect fraud. maybe 5. but 8? averaging 1 every 2 years for 16 years? and they all failed?  i saw that the SEC must defend its existence, and i readily agreed, because we all know Les Miles is a douche, and that the Pac-10 is truly the conference of champions. then i realised we were talking securities and exchange, and i still readily agreed.

-i recently had a conversation with a few people i respect, asking the question of whether it’s better to be involved in multiple service initiatives or throwing one’s life into a single cause, at least one cause at a time. obviously, some things are temporary or even seasonal, hence the exception. i also was wondering aloud if there was a way to meet and help people who may be homeless or on the brink of homelessness, and that have no desire to stay that way. the single mom and kids who just couldn’t make ends meet but don’t desire to live on the street. the vet who’s checks only cover rent in a small apartment in a bad part of town, so he instead pays for food and lives at the night shelter. the 19 year old who fled an abusive home and wants to go back to school but has to work full time just to make it week to week. so, here’s a great story about a lady named Irish. she was a druggie. she was homeless. and apparently, she had gangly teeth. but through the Day Resource Center, and through programs in Fort Worth’s 10 year plan to end chronic homelessness (betcha didn’t know it existed),  she has signed the lease on an apartment last March. she works full time. she has new teeth thanks to the generosity of these programs. i consider that success. and i want in.

-4,042 homeless people were recorded in Fort Worth during the 2007 census.

-back to the 1 pursuit vs. many pursuits question. i just finished a book called “the Dip” by Seth Godin. in answer to my own question, i’ll use an analogy from his book. consider a woodpecker. he could stay busy all winter long, tapping 100 times on 2000 different trees. or he could tap 200,000 times on one tree… and get dinner. for what it’s worth, the book is truly short at Godin’s readers’ behest, and it’s sharply to the point. highly recommended.

-just to even things out, here’s a little infoon how absent the Kingdom of God is from the metroplex. and how generally stupid, hurtful, ignorant, and racist we are, also.

Filter this (2 of 2).

Welcome to part deux of my response to Filter frontman Richard Patrick’s article on religion. part one is here. let’s dive back in…

Modern organized religion just seems like a lot of hypocrisy to me. Not one religion can prove that they alone are right. Similarly none are blameless –– I mean, how many deaths have been caused by religion? Can you name one religion where people haven’t died in its name?

P6- can i name one religion in whose name no lives have been taken? certainly not. but in the same vein, i can’t think of a group of people where someone hasn’t died doing the thing that defines them to any significant extent. from a nearby angle, think of the firemen who died on 9-11. doing firemen-y things like fighting fires and rescuing people, and they died. how about teachers? back to Columbine. ok, politicians. there’s Lincoln and Garfield and McKinley and JFK in the history of our young country. hotel employees? a night auditor at the Best Western off of I-35 near the Miller brewing plant was shot this year. now… that poor chap and the presidents and anyone a victim of a school shooting or a fireman may not have done any killing personally, but you can see how the question is flawed. Christians and Muslims would be swimming in the oceans of blood of murderers and those who were murdered, in and out of war. Buddhist monks can be youtubed setting themselves on fire in protest of one thing or another. Mormons were killed and did some killing of their own, arguably in self defence… hell, Joseph Smith went down shooting in a jail riot, ending the lives of 2 men from the 3 shots that actually fired from his 6 shooter. Jehovah’s Witnesses were certainly received their share of beat downs. they are recorded as having been tarred and feathered (old school!)  early on in their existence, and one could argue that forcing members and even children to refuse life-saving medical treatment like blood transfusions ‘killed’ a JW or 200….. it seems that Patrick has high hopes and perhaps unrealistic expectations for religions. and the way that many Christians portray themselves, i’m not disappointed with his conclusions, although his assumptions would benefit some examination and fine tuning. yes, religious people can be hypocritical. yes, most religions require a measure of faith, otherwise it would simply be philosophy. proving something doesn’t mean people believe it or act on that evidence or that it benefits humanity. people know driving drunk is irresponsible and deadly, but they still do it. people know McDonald’s serves shit in butcher paper, but they still eat their way to obesity and heart disease. the moon has been proven to be made of things other than cheese, but that hasn’t stopped peop never mind that one. so, cognitive dissonance exists. and no matter the level of fervency and passion one may have in their belief systems, this doesn’t seem to immediately transform him into the religion’s ideal or goal, unless there are asteroids and kool aid involved. in the end, though, these are excuses and diversions away from his cutting points. i’m not particularly worried about the global health of one religion or another. i’m convinced that the way Jesus taught us to live and to love each other is the only true hope the world has. it alone has the power to vanquish the poverty, disease, greed, hatred, and despair that invades the corners of our souls. and yes, the minute i act in a manner that doesn’t advance this dream, i am a liar and a hypocrite.

The 19 hijackers on 9/11 read something in the Koran, declared Jihad and decided that Americans should die. Their religion was the catalyst for them to do something insane. When a right-to-lifer blows up an abortion clinic, they do it in the name of God. Save a life by taking lives? In the name of religion? Hitler killed the Jews (and other people who weren’t like him, for that matter), and Christians killed people who were Christian –– but weren’t the right kind –– during the Spanish Inquisition. I think religion is clouding everyone’s thinking. When George W. Bush started saying, “God has spoken to me,” and used this belief as an excuse to go to war with Iraq, many Christians in this country were nodding their heads and saying, “YES!”

P7- i’m quite sure that the assumptions about the hijackers of 9-11 infamy had a more complicated and intricate journey to the Twin towers than described here. at some point, the people responsible for teaching Islam distorted what is by most accounts a peaceful religion. to the best of my knowledge, there’s nothing that promotes or allows the wholesale slaughter of innocents, let alone suicide as a path to martyrdom. this claim, of course, begs the question of how much i know of the Koran and of Islam, and i readily admit: not much at all. however, i have heard and read enough from scholars and theologians to accept that the radicals who idolize martyrdom and death are of the minority, and of unorthodox beliefs. sidebar: i think it’s interesting how Christians don’t suicide bomb themselves. granted, bombing abortion clinics are a bit passe’ but Patrick brings it up. suicide is viewed as an unforgivable sin, and i think that idea is Catholic in its heritage. but it’s probably not a drive for righteousness that makes them balk at strapping C4 to their beer bellies–i think “Christians” are scared of the commitment required to blow oneself to chunks. anyway, George W is an easy target, and Patrick speaks with the advantage of hindsight here. the movie Lions for Lambs, which i saw last night, has a pretty brilliant dialogue about the war on terror from intelligently defended positions on both sides. on September 12, 2001, the American dream wasn’t a house with high walls… the American dream in those moments was to survive. it was to not be at the next national monument that would be targeted. it was to avoid Disneyland and the mall because they symbolized American greed and imperialism. and based on this paralyzing fear and confusion, we lashed out and started shooting back as best as we could, and no one… NO ONE had any better ideas. at that moment, no one had moral qualms about going to war. and it was a mistake. there was a better way to respond as a nation. perhaps it wouldn’t allay our fears because we could rest easy knowing we had shot and droned and missiled and bombed the enemy. it wouldn’t have changed our condition as a victim on the global stage. but it would have been a right thing to do. and to echo Patrick’s thoughts, those of you Christians who bobbleheaded at the President’s words that God was speaking to W, you should be weeping and wailing and tearing your clothes in mourning for the violence that followed.

If someone I knew said that God told him to pick a fight with someone, I would smack him in the face to snap him out of it. That’s the same reason why I wouldn’t make big decisions based on the advice of someone who uses an Ouija board or who believes in astrology, because it’s dangerous.

P8- i don’t think this is supposed to be ironic, but the guy who’s bashing violent responses would respond violently to something he didn’t agree with or believe in. smacks are more painful than rolling eyes. hypocrite. (kidding. mostly.)

I have a religious Christian friend who says the world is 6000 years old, and carbon dating is fake and unreliable –– faked by thousands of scientists and universities all over the world. He chooses to ignore the geological proof of evolution and the fact that this planet is billions of years old, scientifically speaking, because it’s so overwhelmingly against the Christian version of the story. This friend of mine says that God created man out of sand in seven days… and this is coming from a 26-year-old man.

P9- i don’t know that carbon dating is fake, although if you look at the reliability of it in the most basic scientific terms, there are certainly many factors that can contribute to discrepancies and readings that are skewed for very simple reasons. i don’t subscribe to any conspiracy theories, generally speaking, and i’m unconvinced scientists do their work and research to disprove Christianity. evolution doesn’t disprove Christianity or God, although let it be well known that the last few papers i’ve researched on the creation/evolution debate hardly are resounding victories from macro-evolutionary biologists, geologists, and and other -ists. it’s too bad Christians can’t intelligently converse about things they fervently believe, and i hope that i’m never found to be “that guy.”

Religion blinds to the point of irrationality. It also conveniently dehumanizes. In California, we have a bill on the ballot known as Proposition 8, which deals with whether or not gay people can marry. I get calls daily from different people who have different opinions on the subject. The religious people seem to have a problem with homosexuality –– same-sex people in love –– though Jesus supposedly preached love above all else. Just because some people interpret a book to say that it’s wrong for two same-sex people to be in love, our government tries to deny those people’s fundamental rights to live peacefully and equally.

P10- i think this paragraph is a bit of a rant, as it alternately blames the government and Christians for inequality for LGBT folks. this is a fascinating subject and, coming soon, we’ll be honored with a guest blogger on the issue of marriage, government, and the Church. Patrick also blends “being in love” with “marriage” which creates all sorts of problems for someone coming from his angle. i also wouldn’t allow Patrick to have his cake and eat it simultaneously–either he completely discounts Jesus because of the religion he started and is associated with or he allows Jesus, which essentially negates his primary reason for writing. no one is denying ability to live peacably. the inability to marry as one pleases hasn’t caused any crimes or violence that i’m aware of. and the government isn’t denying equality… the people are. and they’re doing it in a legal manner, although it remains to be seen how long it stands. and so, i’m not sure that the “irrational” jab will stand here either, at least based on this argument.

And then we have a religious book, the Koran, that says women should be treated like second-class citizens. They should have to cover themselves from head to toe with burkas. They should only be wives and mothers. They can’t drive a car. They can’t vote. In most Arab countries, they have no voice at all. It’s like they don’t exist. All in the name of religion. The same religion that inspires the Jihadists to bring down big, bad America.

P11- this is a fine example of hasty generalization after hasty generalization… i’ll read the Koran when Richard Patrick reads it, but i’m quite sure cars and voting are conspicuously absent from the Koran. regardless, several Islamic countries do not allow women to vote (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE., there may be others). several do (Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon). burkas may be an example of conservative religious values, but quickly read the entry on wikipedia and see how fashionable they’ve become. ok, kidding. but it’s interesting that the uber-conservative branches of Islam (like in areas run by our good friends at the Taliban) that require specific clothing demand modest clothing for men and women. at least it’s not a double standard. and unlike Borat, i’m pretty sure these dudes aren’t itching to break out the speedos and mesh tank tops. as far as women driving cars goes, i’m actually with the Muslims here… i mean, i’ve ridden shotgun with Michelle before and seriously, it’s not pretty. again, kidding.

I mean, what is all of this saying to our youth? I have a daughter. I want her to grow up knowing she can be who she is — whoever she turns out to be — and can do whatever she wants to do in life. Can’t we put these religious texts in CONTEXT?

At times, I find myself on my knees, begging for something good to happen but wondering whom to beg. I would be really happy if there was a paradise after we die, but I don’t think any of us should have to wait. My family, my friends, my planet, this should be our paradise NOW. This ain’t the dress rehearsal people. This is the SHOW! We need to stop waiting for the man in the sky to take care of everything, let’s do it OURSELVES. Let’s do it NOW!

P12 & 13- it’s funny how similarly we feel here. Richard Patrick seems to know the Bible as well as most American Christians i know… and it’s not very well. i’ve chatted with pastors who know Mark Driscoll better than the epistles of Peter and John Piper better than Jesus. so yes, alongside him i ask, can’t we look at the context of these writings? can’t we determine what the authors’ messages to the audiences were rather than butchering unrelated verses so i can eisegete to oblivion and piss on the intended ideas and motifs? and Patrick is not far from the Kingdom of Heaven… he doesn’t want the typical religion of death that American Christianity has devolved into… he wants to see what life abuntantly can look like. and it’s a crying shame that the Church hasn’t shown him.

Richard Patrick is the frontman for the rock band Filter. Their latest album, Anthems for the Damned, which features the single “Soldiers of Misfortune,” is in stores now. A download-only collection of Anthems tracks re-worked, titled Remixes for the Damned, will be available online from November 4. The band are currently on tour. Click HERE for more info.

joseph brandley is a relative nobody.