March 03, 2005
Dancing Naked (or Bearing Down on Bigfoot)
1 Chronicles 15 talks about the story of David and Israel bringing the Ark of the Covenant up to Jerusalem. 1st and 2nd Chronicles are kind of the historical facts are facts version of many stories that 1st and 2nd Samuel tells from a more personal (coming from a prophet) perspective (if I remember my Bible history). I prefer the 2 Samuel 6 version, because verse 20 makes the reference that David "uncovered himself," and thus giving my old past-its-prime punk band the "license" to write a song called "Dancing Naked." The other versions (and even parts of 2 Samuel 6) bring up the minor detail that he wore a linen ephod under his garments.
Remember those days when Christian bands would have Bible verse references in their lyric sheets with their albums? I had to whip out a copy of Dancing Naked to make sure 2 Samuel 6 was the chapter I was referencing, because reading that chapter and the 1 Chronicles chapter in the version (NIV) I was reading was confusing me, cuz they both referenced that dang linen ephod. A lot of people miss those days of biblical referenced lyric sheets, but a good student of the Bible will be able to spot the allegories and inspiration him or herself. So I don't necessarily equate a lower number of such album art/text as being of reprobate or rebellious direction.
Speaking of differing viewpoints, what do you guys and gals think of the back page comic on the latest issue of HM? I've been having a dialog with some very disappointed readers about that comic (which I think is an absolutely wonderful and inspring story).
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at March 3, 2005 08:53 AM"my old past-its-prime punk band " ?????
or, what goes around comes around -- we heard the original "Four Lads" sing in 1955 and they were on PBS TV this week -- 50 years later. They all have gray hair now but they sang their old songs with the same gusto.
Maybe you have a chance.
Posted by: solomon at March 3, 2005 10:34 AMWell, as a former school teacher, the whole thought of a public school student stabbed and bleeding to death just isn't that appealing. And I've also been to countries where persecution like that is real, and so it seems kind of a little trite to place that in an American setting. But none of that means that it shouldn't be printed, and I can see by the copyright that it is an older cartoon that wasn't made by hm.
Also, being a writer, I have to look at the story. Anybody could write something in blood as they are dying. It really doesn't prove anything. The story starts off like it is going to be a "here's something that proves God exists" story. But then it just ends up being a "here's a kid that's really determined to get his message across." If you thought the boy was wrong at the begining, then you would still think he's wrong at the end. He just got the last word in. There was also no explanation to the other boys calling him "Cat'lic", other than it could be a slang of some insult like "cat lick", or a slang of "Catholic." Either way, it doesn't make sense, unless it's some kind of commentary on descrimination against Catholics, which can be a little heavy in Protestant circles.
But maybe I just missed the whole point entirely. Was this based on a true story or something? Maybe the meaning has just lost something in the last 22 years? I read over it several times trying to figure out hat the message was, and all I came up was "this boy got killed for thinking God is real, and he did the only thing that he could when he died to let others know he hadn't changed his mind just because he got beat up." That's a nice thought, but you would expect something radical when you see the graphic imagery of the comic. Maybe like a hand appears and writes the message, and the other boys pee in their pants when they see it?
Cat lick? Where did I get that?
Posted by: Matt at March 3, 2005 12:49 PMI thought it was in-your-face but I wondered if anyone of us would be willing (yes, willing) to go thru that. I think we need to see that kinda stuff. Living for God is not all bunny rabbits and butterflies.
YOU ROCK, DOUG!
Jason
Posted by: Jason Irvin at March 3, 2005 01:07 PM