Before I get to the point, let me remind you that I have a *NEW, SHINY POLL!* and I would covet your giggly responses to my utterly impertinent silliness.
Now, I have a little more to say on this thing. Or this guy does. I would love to be one of those people who is morally outraged by the whole thing. Frankly, I'd love to be "saddened" by the whole thing, and have you believe me. Because I believe God is, insofar as it makes sense to say that. But I'm not, at least not entirely. Because the plain fact is, I've been part of the problem, and so have you. I don't know your sins, and I may not know you, depending on who is reading this. But I know mine. I am a double-minded man. We all are. If we weren't, Hugh Hefner would be a penniless wretch, begging for a priest.
You know how people we call "liberals" like to catch the "family values" army in a transgression? You know how they say the most "anti-gay" ranter is in the closet? Have you noticed they're often right? Our culture is a culture of pretense, vainly pretending that moral outrage will hide the secrets we all carry. We create "respectable" public space often out of the defensiveness of knowing what we know about ourselves.
I need you to know that any shock and horror I express in this or any other thing is anger at myself. I have been to the sorts of places in my soul where a gyrating young girl prostituting herself before millions of people is no big deal. I understand it. I know what they mean when they call us "prudes" and "fascists" and everything else. It's not moralism if the first person you excoriate is yourself. So if I say, "This should not be happening, and should never have happened," it's not from a very high horse. If that makes you uncomfortable, I don't care. I've seen too much to pull punches.
Let's extend our hands, our prayers, and any grace we can to Miley and all the hurting. Because we've hurt ourselves and been hurt. We're just like all of them. The good news is, we have the breath and the grace to do better.
Now, I have a little more to say on this thing. Or this guy does. I would love to be one of those people who is morally outraged by the whole thing. Frankly, I'd love to be "saddened" by the whole thing, and have you believe me. Because I believe God is, insofar as it makes sense to say that. But I'm not, at least not entirely. Because the plain fact is, I've been part of the problem, and so have you. I don't know your sins, and I may not know you, depending on who is reading this. But I know mine. I am a double-minded man. We all are. If we weren't, Hugh Hefner would be a penniless wretch, begging for a priest.
You know how people we call "liberals" like to catch the "family values" army in a transgression? You know how they say the most "anti-gay" ranter is in the closet? Have you noticed they're often right? Our culture is a culture of pretense, vainly pretending that moral outrage will hide the secrets we all carry. We create "respectable" public space often out of the defensiveness of knowing what we know about ourselves.
I need you to know that any shock and horror I express in this or any other thing is anger at myself. I have been to the sorts of places in my soul where a gyrating young girl prostituting herself before millions of people is no big deal. I understand it. I know what they mean when they call us "prudes" and "fascists" and everything else. It's not moralism if the first person you excoriate is yourself. So if I say, "This should not be happening, and should never have happened," it's not from a very high horse. If that makes you uncomfortable, I don't care. I've seen too much to pull punches.
Let's extend our hands, our prayers, and any grace we can to Miley and all the hurting. Because we've hurt ourselves and been hurt. We're just like all of them. The good news is, we have the breath and the grace to do better.
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