Inappropriate Conversations: Recent Episodes
IC_Greg
Too often, political and/or religious ideologies stop open dialog. It’s time to speak freely and break down the barriers that keep people separated. Let's have an inappropriate conversation about …
"Christ is my center but ... my boundaries are permeable."
Kimberly Knight
Matthew 28:16-20 (The phrase “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” might lead to many understandings of the word “nations” for Biblical times and today, but “Go” seems absolutely unambiguous)
“If it is an error for some Christians to make relative what God has made absolute, it is equally an error to make absolute what God has left relative."
Os Guinness
John 20:1-18 (“They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him”)
"Consequences. Do we still believe in consequences? No matter; they still believe in us."
-Greg
Mark 15:25-47 (Darkness at noon, torn curtain in the temple, stone blockade)
"Often, when someone dies, we feel a combination of love and something else, and this, too, is holy. And entirely human. And they don’t cancel each other out. Love and anger. Love and disappointment. Love and emptiness. We always love imperfectly. It is the nature of human love. And it is okay. But despite all the love in the world, when it comes down to it, none of us can know the reality of another."
Nadia Bolz-Weber
John 19:1-37 (when Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished”)
"Lord, please shine a light of hope on those of us who fall behind. And when we stumble in the snow, could you help us up while there's still time?"
Stephanie Davis
Luke 23:39-43 (“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom”)
"My prosecuting room still holds a strand of her hair in evidence."
Al Stewart
Matthew 27:11-26 (warned about his wife’s dream and seeing there was nothing he else he could do, Pilate washed his hands of accountability for the fate facing Jesus)
“Yes, a man is a dangerous thing. So is a scalpel. It can wound or it can save your life. You don't make it safe by making it dull; you put it in the hands of someone who knows what he's doing.”
John Eldredge
John 18:1-11 (Jesus told Peter to put away his sword, and we should understand that having a weapon does not mandate using it … as opposed to turning the other cheek and leaving fate in God’s hands – the cup the Father has given)
"Some deny Jesus by saying they never knew him. Others deny Jesus by insisting that they are the only ones who 'really do' know him."
-Greg
Matthew 26:31-75
Mark 14:26-72
Luke 22:31-62
John 13:36-38
John 18:15-27
(perhaps denying Jesus is so significant that it appears in every Gospel)
"Imagine if every church became a place where everyone is safe, but no one is comfortable. ... We might just create sanctuary."
Rachel Held Evans
Mark 14:12-25 (we usually think a large gathering of friends or family should, by its nature, be harmonious; on the other hand, betrayals in situations like this are Biblical)
“Today I know that such memories are the key not to the past, but to the future. I know that the experiences of our lives, when we let God use them, become the mysterious and perfect preparation for the work He will give us to do.”
Corrie ten Boom
John 13:1-35 (through foot washing as an example of serving one another, Jesus tells disciples that they, and we, should do the same)
“I questioned the faithful of all communions; I particularly sought the society of clergymen, who are the depositaries of the various creeds and have a personal interest in their survival. As a practicing Catholic I was particularly close to the Catholic priests, with some of whom I soon established a certain intimacy. I expressed my astonishment and revealed my doubts to each of them; I found that they all agreed with each other except about details; all thought that the main reason for the quiet sway of religion over their country was the complete separation of church and state. I have no hesitation in stating that throughout my stay in America I met nobody, lay or cleric, who did not agree about that.”
Alexis de Tocqueville
Matthew 26:14-16 (to betray Jesus, the chief priests paid Judas 30 pieces of silver)
"If you make it impossible for people to make you happy, then people will lose interest in whether you are happy or not."
-Greg
John 21:15-19 (after breakfast, Jesus tells Peter that the way to love him is to care for the flock he described in John 10, one that included sheep Peter may not have considered to be eligible to join into one flock)
"Once I get them to tell me about the God they don't believe in, it turns out I don't believe in that God either."
Susan Russell
John 21:1-14 (after His death and resurrection, after appearing to Mary and others, Jesus surprises his fisherman followers when he stops for a seaside breakfast meeting)
"The door is only as open as the mind inside the office."
-Greg
Luke 24:13-35 (Jesus met some of his followers, probably not inner circle but believers, as they walked from Jerusalem to Emmaus; they didn’t recognize him)
“People who wish to be offended will always find some occasion for taking offense.”
John Wesley
John 20:19-31 (the demand of Thomas for proof and evidence gives us the name Doubting Thomas, along with the meme “He’s right behind me, isn’t he?”!)
"I remember the time that you told me, you said, 'Love is touching souls.' Well, surely you touched mine because part of you pours out of me in these lines from time to time."
Joni Mitchell
John 4:1-30 (despite what most evangelicals today would describe as “living in sin” when she met Jesus at a well, He sent this Samaritan woman off to share the Gospel, telling people in her town Whom she had just met … and He didn’t order her first to move out of her living arrangement or “sin no more”)
"Old James Dean Monroe hands out flowers at the Shop-N-Go, hopes for money but all he gets is fear. And the wind blows up his coat, and this he scribbles on a perfume note: 'If I'm not here, then you're not here.'"
Sheryl Crow
Matthew 28:11-15 (the right amount of bribery can hide/ignore almost anything)
"I rope-a-dope with righteous bobbin' and weavin', and let the good get even."
Chuck D. (Carlton Douglas Ridenhour)
Mark 15:16-20 (abuses of power included assault, spitting, mocking, and more)
"But though I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed, though I have seen my head [grown slightly bald] brought in upon a platter, I am no prophet -- and here's no great matter; I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker, and I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker, and in short, I was afraid."
T.S. Eliot
Matthew 14:1-14 (it’s shocking that the execution of a prophet as a prize for an impromptu dance at a birthday isn’t the most offensive thing about the fate of John the Baptist, whose head was “served” on a platter before party guests)
"Sometimes shalom is disruptive. Sometimes peace making makes people uncomfortable. Sometimes these are conversations we'd rather not have or truth we would rather not acknowledge. Speaking truth to power is rarely comfortable for anyone."
Sarah Bessey
Matthew 12:1-14 (whether by healing people or picking grain, Jesus broke the law constantly in the eyes of his legalistic critics)
"Far from saying in defeat that we should not worry about the poor, since they will always be among us, Jesus is pointing the church to her true identity—she is to live close to those who suffer."
Shane Claiborne
Matthew 26:6-13 (while arguing over the cost of perfume, the disciples seemed to miss Jesus predicting his imminent funeral)
"Are you debating whether to take a step in faith in Jesus or to wait until you can see how to do the thing yourself? Obey Him with glad reckless joy. When He says something and you begin to debate, it is because you have a conception of His honour which is not His honour. Are you loyal to Jesus or loyal to your notion of Him?"
Oswald Chambers
Matthew 14:22-33 (Peter couldn’t walk on water by himself, only through Jesus)
"Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law."
Paul of Tarsus
Romans 13:8-10 (love is the fulfilling of the law, doing no wrong to a neighbor)
"[Jason Varitek] … He caught it!"
Luke 18:15-17 (faith needs to include the awe and wonder of childhood)
"When he spoke it would raise the roof. Peter Pumpkinhead told the truth, but he made too many enemies of the people who would keep us on our knees."
Andy Partridge
Mark 2:1-12 (some religious people were unhappy at seeing miraculous healing)
“We do know that no person can be saved except through Christ. We do not know that only those who know Him can be saved by Him.”
C.S. Lewis
John 14:1-14 (when Jesus says He is the Way, He is not identifying gatekeeping rules that even He must obey as our Lord; He is telling us that He picks the Way)
"What do you think it's gonna do when I live by faith and now my work is through? It's gonna rain! … I'm so happy to say, it's gonna rain on the world today."
Gordon Gano
Genesis 6:9-7:24 (flood continued for 40 days, and waters swelled on the earth for 150 days)
"Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like water and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."
Amos of Tekoa
Amos 5:21-24 (it’s not about festivals, assemblies, songs or offerings; it’s about justice)
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
Aristotle of Stagira
Proverbs 13:13-17 (teaching of the wise is a fountain of life)
"Why were we put here? What for? We're unsure. We sure weren't put here to hate."
Nate Albert and Dicky Barrett
Matthew 7:13-23 (knowing them by their fruit, there are some who claim the name of the Lord but Jesus has said he won’t even recognize them)
"You cannot ask Jesus into your heart alone. He will ask, 'Can I bring my friends?' You will look at his friends -- the poor, the marginalized, the oppressed -- and you will hesitate. But Jesus is clear, 'Only if I can bring my friends.'"
Peter Storey
John 10:14-16 (“I have other Sheep,” Jesus said. “I must bring them also”)
"I see anger as a complex series of body changes triggered off by a sudden awareness of danger. This reaction to stress can be regarded as our survival kit, shared in some measure with all living creatures. All of us live, to some extent, in danger."
David R. Mace
Ephesians 4:26 (the old adage about not going to sleep angry is directly Biblical)
"Whether we can take 'a life for a life' is one question; whether we should is another. Cain and Abel pose an answer. Rather than taking life for life and delivering a powerful message by killing Cain, God instead banished Cain from the community. To say the least, we must not be cavalier about death penalty decisions."
-Greg
Genesis 4:13-16 (mark of Cain directly dismisses any death penalty rule)
"Honesty is not the best policy because of the pitfalls of lying; it is best because of the feeling of being deeply and genuinely known."
-Greg
Ephesians 4:25 (speak the truth because we are part of one another)
"Life's an essay test; we're obliged to give essay answers."
-Greg
Acts 17:16-34 (I proclaim to you now what you worship as Unknown)
"It's the things which aren't said that do the most damage."
Luc Longley
Acts 4:1-22 (we cannot keep from speaking about what we’ve seen and heard)
“The world is like a book that can be read in either direction. There is the power of creation, to make something of nothing. And there is the power of destruction, to make nothing from something.”
Rebbe Pinchas of Koretz
Galatians 5:13-26 (works of the flesh versus fruits of the spirit)
"I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."
Ezekiel of Jerusalem
Ezekiel 36:25-28 (a new heart and a new spirit as a baptism of sorts)
"I wasn't voted most likely to succeed. Instead, it was most likely to be found on a mountaintop in Guadalajara writing the world's most profound three-word sentence."
-Greg
Mark 9:2-13 (when they looked around, they saw no one else with them anymore)
"As we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every idle silence."
Benjamin Franklin
Luke 12:8-12 (the Spirit will tell you what to say)
"Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything; that's how the light gets in."
Leonard Cohen
Romans 5:1-11 (we were sinful when Christ stepped in)
From a very young age, my parents used to say that they would always know where to find me if I had a record player and a stack of albums, almost any albums. Now, as then, I have thoughts about particular songs.
I have started something this year on Substack that I call "OneSong."
Each weekday, I'm recommending one song -- just one -- in a written blog between 300-500 words each.
OneSong:
https://substack.com/@gablanchard
Playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4pnCDYnh1HGshGbpBHYLme?si=305abc50d8ea4eb2
"We do not need to be rescued from God. God is the one who rescues us from death, sin, and destruction. God is the rescuer."
Rob Bell
Luke 15:1-7 (this fellow Jesus welcomes sinners and eats with them, they said)
“People will do anything, no matter how absurd, to avoid facing their own souls.”
Carl G. Jung
2 Corinthians 13:5 (test yourself to see if you are living in the faith)
"Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect."
Peter of Bethsaida
1 Peter 3:13-17 (how to account for the hope that is in you)
“Love and the self are one and the discovery of either is the realization of both.”
Leo Buscaglia
1 John 4:7-21 (everyone who loves is born of God and knows God)
“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away."
Henry David Thoreau
Mark 9:38-41 (we saw someone casting out demons in your name)
"Men cannot see their reflections in running water, but only in still water."
Zhuang Zhou
Psalm 46:10 (be still, and know that I am God)
"There's a saviour born every day in the valley of your soul."
Sophie B. Hawkins
John 3: 13-17 (God so loved the world that Jesus didn’t come to condemn it)
"Could I really be this thirsty if there weren't something more?"
Chris Rice
John 2: 1-11 (water into wine)
I'm posting this on the Friday before a national holiday in the United States, thinking about "casual Friday" vibes. Perhaps a day like this might start with a team-building meeting, where one leader in the organization takes a turn sharing his story with everyone -- or everyone not taking vacation -- with the intent to drive commitment to our values and maybe answer questions from the room.
It's not easy being green.
Different Drummer: Colleen Camp
"Christ is my center but ... my boundaries are permeable."
Kimberly Knight
Matthew 28:16-20 (The phrase “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” might lead to many understandings of the word “nations” for Biblical times and today, but “Go” seems absolutely unambiguous)
IC 128: Proud to Know You (9/2/13)
Walk The Earth 11 (3/27/14)
IC 85: What It Means to Worship (4/2/12)
Kimberly Knight on Patheos, 2012-2017
Spotify page for Inappropriate Conversations, Walk The Earth, Film Year podcasts
“If it is an error for some Christians to make relative what God has made absolute, it is equally an error to make absolute what God has left relative."
Os Guinness
John 20:1-18 (“They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him”)
IC 72: Truth or Consequences for Christians (10/26/11)
Os Guinness - Fit Bodies, Fat Minds: Why Evangelicals Don’t Think and What to Do About It
"Consequences. Do we still believe in consequences? No matter; they still believe in us."
The Author
Mark 15:25-47 (Darkness at noon, torn curtain in the temple, stone blockade)
IC 23: Laws of Motion (8/7/10)
Sir Issac Newton
IC_Greg - "Laws Of Motion"
"Often, when someone dies, we feel a combination of love and something else, and this, too, is holy. And entirely human. And they don’t cancel each other out. Love and anger. Love and disappointment. Love and emptiness. We always love imperfectly. It is the nature of human love. And it is okay. But despite all the love in the world, when it comes down to it, none of us can know the reality of another."
Nadia Bolz-Weber
John 19:1-37 (when Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished”)
IC 227: Some Assembly Required, Chapter 5 (7/6/20)
IC 222: Displeasure (1/9/20)
Nadia Bolz-Weber - Shameless
Nadia Bolz-Weber - Accidental Saints
IC_Greg - "Nobody's Child"
IC 195: Telling Your Stories before it's too late (3/17/17)
"Lord, please shine a light of hope on those of us who fall behind. And when we stumble in the snow, could you help us up while there's still time?"
Stephanie Davis
Luke 23:39-43 (“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom”)
IC 5: The Least of These and Why Danzig's "Godless" Rocks (4/2/10)
IC 163: It Is Not Who You Know (4/14/15)
Stephanie Davis - River of No Return
Garth Brooks - No Fences
Danzig - III How the Gods Kill
"My prosecuting room still holds a strand of her hair in evidence."
Al Stewart
Matthew 27:11-26 (warned about his wife’s dream and seeing there was nothing he else he could do, Pilate washed his hands of accountability of the fate facing Jesus)
IC 203: Some History There (9/29/17)
IC 81: Singing a Song for Lovers (2/11/12)
Al Stewart - Love Chronicles
Original Cast Recording - Jesus Christ Superstar
Tim Rice & Andrew Lloyd Webber - "Pilate's Dream"
“Yes, a man is a dangerous thing. So is a scalpel. It can wound or it can save your life. You don't make it safe by making it dull; you put it in the hands of someone who knows what he's doing.”
John Eldredge
John 18:1-11 (Jesus told Peter to put away his sword, and we should understand that having a weapon does not mandate using it … as opposed to turning the other cheek and leaving fate in God’s hands – the cup the Father has given)
IC 45: Macho Weaknesses (2/3/11)
IC 106: The Violence of Denial (12/1/12)
John Eldredge - Wild At Heart
John Eldredge - Epic
"Some deny Jesus by saying they never knew him. Others deny Jesus by insisting that they are the only ones who 'really do' know him."
The Author
Matthew 26:31-75
Mark 14:26-72
Luke 22:31-62
John 13:36-38
John 18:15-27
(perhaps denying Jesus is so significant that it appears in every Gospel)
Walk The Earth 43 (12/24/16)
Walk The Earth 45 (7/25/17)
"Imagine if every church became a place where everyone is safe, but no one is comfortable. ... We might just create sanctuary."
Rachel Held Evans
Mark 14:12-25 (we usually think a large gathering of friends or family should, by its nature, be harmonious; on the other hand, betrayals in situations like this are Biblical)
Walk The Earth page
Category Index for Walk The Earth
“Today I know that such memories are the key not to the past, but to the future. I know that the experiences of our lives, when we let God use them, become the mysterious and perfect preparation for the work He will give us to do.”
Corrie ten Boom
John 13:1-35 (through foot washing as an example of serving one another, Jesus tells disciples that they, and we, should do the same)
IC 10: Happy Mother's Day and 'A Handful of Hair' (5/8/10)
Corrie ten Boom - The Hiding Place
“I questioned the faithful of all communions; I particularly sought the society of clergymen, who are the depositaries of the various creeds and have a personal interest in their survival. As a practicing Catholic I was particularly close to the Catholic priests, with some of whom I soon established a certain intimacy. I expressed my astonishment and revealed my doubts to each of them; I found that they all agreed with each other except about details; all thought that the main reason for the quiet sway of religion over their country was the complete separation of church and state. I have no hesitation in stating that throughout my stay in America I met nobody, lay or cleric, who did not agree about that.”
Alexis de Tocqueville
Matthew 26:14-16 (to betray Jesus, the chief priests paid Judas 30 pieces of silver)
IC 40: Other High Crimes (12/18/10)
"If you make it impossible for people to make you happy, then people will lose interest in whether you are happy or not."
The Author
John 21:15-19 (after breakfast, Jesus tells Peter that the way to love him is to care for the flock he described in John 10, one that included sheep Peter may not have considered to be eligible to join into one flock)
IC 192: 100 Ways (1/6/17)
Galatians 2
Acts 10:1-11:18
"Once I get them to tell me about the God they don't believe in, it turns out I don't believe in that God either."
Susan Russell
John 21:1-14 (after His death and resurrection, after appearing to Mary and others, Jesus surprises his fisherman followers when he stops for a seaside breakfast meeting)
Christianity 201: Time for Solid Food
IC 131: Christianity 301 (10/22/13)
Rob Bell - Love Wins
Rev. Susan Russell
"The door is only as open as the mind inside the office."
The Author
Luke 24:13-35 (Jesus met some of his followers, probably not inner circle but believers, as they walked from Jerusalem to Emmaus; they didn’t recognize him)
IC 92: Open Door Policy with the Boss (6/23/12)
IC 146: The Idea of Christ (7/6/14)
I honestly could describe this as a re-blogging, or re-broadcasting, of someone else's podcast.
Except for the occasional clip in compilation shows, I've never done this before. My friend Tom (The Ramble Redhead) died this month. Cancer took him quickly, and it was a shock to those who knew him and loved him. Wanting to hear his voice again and knowing his podcast was no longer available online, I went to my personal archives.
Past Ramble Redhead shows included interviews with Taylor from Pod Is My Copilot, Christina from Greetings From Nowhere, Toppie from The Smellcast, Margaret Cho, and more -- including me. The majority of this Inappropriate Conversations podcast is sharing Tom's interview with me from September 2015.
Those of us who knew Tom will never forget the redhead from Indiana who loved us all.
Different Drummer: Thomas Kiel
“People who wish to be offended will always find some occasion for taking offense.”
John Wesley
John 20:19-31 (the demand of Thomas for proof and evidence gives us the name Doubting Thomas, along with the meme “He’s right behind me, isn’t he?”!)
IC 47: Hypocrisy and Intensity (2/28/11)
"I remember the time that you told me, you said, 'Love is touching souls.' Well, surely you touched mine because part of you pours out of me in these lines from time to time."
Joni Mitchell
John 4:1-30 (despite what most evangelicals today would describe as “living in sin” when she met Jesus at a well, He sent this Samaritan woman off to share the Gospel, telling people in her town Whom she had just met … and He didn’t order her first to move out of her living arrangement or “sin no more”)
IC 113: Raised on Robbery (2/15/13)
IC 150: Opening the Scriptures (9/23/14)
Joni Mitchell - Blue
"Old James Dean Monroe hands out flowers at the Shop-N-Go, hopes for money but all he gets is fear. And the wind blows up his coat, and this he scribbles on a perfume note: 'If I'm not here, then you're not here.'"
Sheryl Crow
Matthew 28:11-15 (the right amount of bribery can hide/ignore almost anything)
IC 196: The Sound of Protest (4/23/17)
Sheryl Crow - Sheryl Crow
"I rope-a-dope with righteous bobbin' and weavin', and let the good get even."
Chuck D. (Carlton Douglas Ridenhour)
Mark 15:16-20 (abuses of power included assault, spitting, mocking, and more)
IC 17: Majority Rule and Minority Experience (6/30/10)
Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet
"But though I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed, though I have seen my head [grown slightly bald] brought in upon a platter, I am no prophet -- and here's no great matter; I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker, and I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker, and in short, I was afraid."
T.S. Eliot
Matthew 14:1-14 (it’s shocking that the execution of a prophet as a prize for an impromptu dance at a birthday isn’t the most offensive thing about the fate of John the Baptist, whose head was “served” on a platter before party guests)
IC 75: Reason, but No Rhyme, to Poetry (12/3/11)
93: Poetry Providing Perspective (7/1/12)
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
The Waste Land and Other Poems
"Sometimes shalom is disruptive. Sometimes peace making makes people uncomfortable. Sometimes these are conversations we'd rather not have or truth we would rather not acknowledge. Speaking truth to power is rarely comfortable for anyone."
Sarah Bessey
Matthew 12:1-14 (whether by healing people or picking grain, Jesus broke the law constantly in the eyes of his legalistic critics)
IC 223: Torment as Tactic (1/29/20)
Walk The Earth 44 (6/24/17)
Jesus Feminist
Field Notes for the Wilderness
Walk The Earth #6 (12/9/13)
IC 134: Gender Segregation (12/14/13)
"Far from saying in defeat that we should not worry about the poor, since they will always be among us, Jesus is pointing the church to her true identity—she is to live close to those who suffer."
Shane Claiborne
Matthew 26:6-13 (while arguing over the cost of perfume, the disciples seemed to miss Jesus predicting his imminent funeral)
IC 94: The Missionary 'Position' is Local (7/8/12)
IC 143: Verticality of Time (5/13/14)
The Irresistible Revolution
Palm Sunday
"Are you debating whether to take a step in faith in Jesus or to wait until you can see how to do the thing yourself? Obey Him with glad reckless joy. When He says something and you begin to debate, it is because you have a conception of His honour which is not His honour. Are you loyal to Jesus or loyal to your notion of Him?"
Oswald Chambers
Matthew 14:22-33 (Peter couldn’t walk on water by himself, only through Jesus)
IC 146: The Idea of Christ (7/6/14)
My Utmost for His Highest
"Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law."
Paul of Tarsus
Romans 13:8-10 (love is the fulfilling of the law, doing no wrong to a neighbor)
IC 13: Companionship Marriage (5/31/10)
IC 150: Opening the Scriptures (9/23/14)
"[Jason Varitek] … He caught it!" Luke 18:15-17 (faith needs to include the awe and wonder of childhood) #IC 66: Child's Play and Imagination (8/24/11) #IC 67: Making the World Safe for Kids? (8/30/11)
"When he spoke it would raise the roof. Peter Pumpkinhead told the truth, but he made too many enemies of the people who would keep us on our knees."Andy Partridge Mark 2:1-12 (some religious people were unhappy at seeing miraculous healing) #IC 53: Secular Visions of Divinity (4/17/11) #IC 29: My Prayer for a Football Game (9/23/10) #IC 30: Establishment of Religion (9/30/10) XTC - Nonsuch
“We do know that no person can be saved except through Christ. We do not know that only those who know Him can be saved by Him.”
C.S. Lewis
John 14:1-14 (when Jesus says He is the Way, He is not identifying gatekeeping rules that even He must obey as our Lord; He is telling us that He picks the Way)
IC 20: Reading 'Chapter and Verse' on What I Don't Believe (7/20/10)
IC 61: Impermanence of Time (6/27/11)
Mere Christianity
"What do you think it's gonna do when I live by faith and now my work is through? It's gonna rain! … I'm so happy to say, it's gonna rain on the world today."
Gordon Gano
Genesis 6:9-7:24 (flood continued for 40 days, and waters swelled on the earth for 150 days)
IC 3: Light and Shadow (3/19/10)
Violent Femmes - Hallowed Ground
"Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like water and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."
Amos of Tekoa
Amos 5:21-24 (it’s not about festivals, assemblies, songs or offerings; it’s about justice)
IC 157: Letting Justice Roll (1/19/15)
IC 231: Letting Justice Roll 2 (7/29/20)
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."Aristotle of Stagira Proverbs 13:13-17 (teaching of the wise is a fountain of life) #IC 60: Ten Areas of Agreement about Abortion - part 2 (6/15/11) A Return of Sorts – 10 Areas of Agreement (10/8/23) #IC 55: A Better Way to Debate (5/8/11)
"Why were we put here? What for? We're unsure. We sure weren't put here to hate."
Nate Albert and Dicky Barrett
Matthew 7:13-23 (knowing them by their fruit, there are some who claim the name of the Lord but Jesus has said he won’t even recognize them)
IC 180: Jesus Quote Bubble (2/10/16)
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Let's Face It
"You cannot ask Jesus into your heart alone. He will ask, 'Can I bring my friends?' You will look at his friends -- the poor, the marginalized, the oppressed -- and you will hesitate. But Jesus is clear, 'Only if I can bring my friends.'"
Peter Storey
John 10:14-16 (“I have other Sheep,” Jesus said. “I must bring them also”)
IC 150: Opening the Scriptures (9/23/14)
Walk The Earth 29 (8/22/15)
Walk The Earth 30 (9/1/15)
IC 172: Proud To Know You 2 (9/14/15)
With God in the Crucible: Preaching Costly Discipleship
Peter Storey
"I see anger as a complex series of body changes triggered off by a sudden awareness of danger. This reaction to stress can be regarded as our survival kit, shared in some measure with all living creatures. All of us live, to some extent, in danger."
David R. Mace
Ephesians 4:26 (the old adage about not going to sleep angry is directly Biblical)
IC 8: Christian Response to the Sexual Revolution … Or Not (4/24/10)
IC 13 Companionship Marriage (5/31/10)
IC 9: Overview of the Decades (5/3/10)
David R. Mace
"Whether we can take 'a life for a life' is one question; whether we should is another. Cain and Abel pose an answer. Rather than taking life for life and delivering a powerful message by killing Cain, God instead banished Cain from the community. To say the least, we must not be cavalier about death penalty decisions."The Author Genesis 4:13-16 (mark of Cain directly dismisses any death penalty rule) #IC 62: Protecting Society With, and From, Capital Punishment (7/14/11)
"Honesty is not the best policy because of the pitfalls of lying; it is best because of the feeling of being deeply and genuinely known."
The Author
Ephesians 4:25 (speak the truth because we are part of one another)
IC 167: Speaking Truth to Power (6/18/15)
IC 217: Right Reasons
"Life's an essay test; we're obliged to give essay answers."
The Author
Acts 17:16-34 (I proclaim to you now what you worship as Unknown)
IC 1: Introduction to Inappropriate Conversations (3/7/10)
IC 150: Opening the Scriptures (9/23/14)
IC 97: Any One Being Ashamed (8/8/12)
"It's the things which aren't said that do the most damage."
Luc Longley
Acts 4:1-22 (we cannot keep from speaking about what we’ve seen and heard)
IC 80: Revelation Weekend (2/5/12)
Walk The Earth 48 (11/18/17)
Lucien James Longley
“The world is like a book that can be read in either direction. There is the power of creation, to make something of nothing. And there is the power of destruction, to make nothing from something.”
Rebbe Pinchas of Koretz
Galatians 5:13-26 (works of the flesh versus fruits of the spirit)
IC 21: Permanent Things I Believe (7/27/10)
Larry Crabb - The Silence of Adam
Rebbe Pinchas of Koretz
"I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."
Ezekiel of Jerusalem
Ezekiel 36:25-28 (a new heart and a new spirit as a baptism of sorts)
IC 189: Apocalyptic Visions (9/20/16)
IC 21: Permanent Things I Believe (7/27/10)
Walk The Earth 7 (12/26/13)
"I wasn't voted most likely to succeed. Instead, it was most likely to be found on a mountaintop in Guadalajara writing the world's most profound three-word sentence."
The Author
Mark 9:2-13 (when they looked around, they saw no one else with them anymore)
IC 79: A Farewell Address from the Mountaintop (1/29/12)
IC 90: Moments of Epiphany (5/23/12)
IC 80: Revelation Weekend (2/5/12)
"As we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every idle silence."
Benjamin Franklin
Luke 12:8-12 (the Spirit will tell you what to say)
IC 21: Permanent Things I Believe (7/27/10)
90 Moments of Epiphany (5/23/12)
Benjamin Franklin
"Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything; that's how the light gets in."
Leonard Cohen
Romans 5:1-11 (we were sinful when Christ stepped in)
IC 201: The Sound of Sustainability (6/14/17)
Leonard Cohen - The Future
"We do not need to be rescued from God. God is the one who rescues us from death, sin, and destruction. God is the rescuer."
Rob Bell
Luke 15:1-7 (this fellow Jesus welcomes sinners and eats with them, they said)
IC 131: Christianity 301 (10/22/13)
Rob Bell - Love Wins
“People will do anything, no matter how absurd, to avoid facing their own souls.”
Carl G. Jung
2 Corinthians 13:5 (test yourself to see if you are living in the faith)
IC 44: Sacred Friendship (1/27/11)
IC 227: Some Assembly Required, Chapter 5 (7/6/20)
C. G. Jung - Psychology and Alchemy
"Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect."
Peter of Bethsaida
1 Peter 3:13-17 (how to account for the hope that is in you)
IC 136: Converse or Convert (1/1/14)
IC 131: Christianity 301 (10/22/13)
“Love and the self are one and the discovery of either is the realization of both.”
Leo Buscaglia
1 John 4:7-21 (everyone who loves is born of God and knows God)
IC 120: Making Contact (5/15/13)
Leo Buscaglia - Love (special edition)
“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away."
Henry David Thoreau
Mark 9:38-41 (we saw someone casting out demons in your name)
IC 2: The Author and Different Drummer (3/14/10)
Henry David Thoreau - Walden
"Men cannot see their reflections in running water, but only in still water."
Zhuang Zhou
Psalm 46:10 (be still, and know that I am God)
IC 44: Sacred Friendship (1/27/11)
Zhuang Zhou - Zhuangzi
"There's a saviour born every day in the valley of your soul."
Sophie B. Hawkins
John 3: 13-17 (God so loved the world that Jesus didn’t come to condemn it)
IC 81: Singing a Song for Lovers (2/11/12)
Sophie B. Hawkins - Tongues and Tails
"Could I really be this thirsty if there weren't something more?"
Chris Rice
John 2: 1-11 (water into wine)
IC 118: Where Would I Be Without God? (4/8/13)
Chris Rice - Past the Edges
Inappropriate Conversations website
Lost in Translation,
The Return (Vozvrashchenie),
Memories of Murder,
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King,
Dogville,
among others.
The apparently upcoming demise of a former employer has led me to thoughts about topics I've sidestepped in the past on Inappropriate Conversations, keeping work and personal life separate. Perhaps it makes no sense to protect an organization that no longer exists, and I don't think the stories I could tell are really that embarrassing. I consider them to be more revealing about the gap between what a group says it values compared to the culture it actually creates.
If that's an Inappropriate Conversations show update, then the update for Walk The Earth is about a plan for daily "devotional" podcasts during Lent, starting on "Fat Tuesday" and ending on the Monday after Easter.
Lent Roll.
The inspiration for such short 2- or 3-minute shows came from the Different Drummer this week, someone I don't even know by name.
Different Drummer: (j)ula of soundwavesoffwax
The Incredibles,
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,
Downfall,
Brothers,
among others.
Our Hospitality
Safety Last!
The Grub-Stake
A Woman of Paris: A Drama of Fate
The Street
among others
Stranger Than Fiction,
After The Wedding,
The Lives Of Others,
Children Of Men,
among others.
Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler,
Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror,
Nanook of the North,
Haxan, among others.
Whether Christians should reject atonement because it is unfair to all who lived and died in the distant past without being washed in the blood of the Lamb?
The Kid, The Phantom Carriage, Destiny, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, among others.
I suspect we know few, if any, people who have directly caused inflation. When it comes to pushing the button that raises prices in hundreds of stores, though, I am that exception. Whether economic pundits on talk shows want to acknowledge it or not, my reasons were simple and obvious. It was crucial to update prices in stores to cover the cost of tariffs, the kind of "across the board" tariffs that one presidential candidate is proposing to impose (again). Just because something is regrettable doesn't mean it wasn't necessary.
Different Drummer: Joseph R. Biden
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The Mark of Zorro, Way Down East, The Scarecrow, among others.
The next podcast I post will be a new short-form considering movies by year. I'm not replacing Inappropriate Conversations or Walk The Earth, just adding something new. The starting point will be Film Year 2009.
Different Drummer: Charles Tashiro
Note: the first half of this episode raises questions about the consequences of a recent Supreme Court decision, and I don't know the answer for how this will impact governing in the United States. By my reckoning, things certainly could get very ugly. Consequences are not bound by our lack of accountability.
Whether reaching out in love to LGBTQ+ people is following Christ?
Past episode: Walk The Earth 54
Is "Shut up and kick" the correct response to recent statements by Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker? Was that the correct response in recent years to USA soccer star Megan Rapino?
That, and the "Shut up and dribble" replies to Lebron James, were just as wrong regardless the type of questions or comments being spoken into microphones.
Having said that, it is completely unacceptable to suggest that counter arguments to ideas raised in a public speech are out of line. If a celebrity like an athlete wants to start a conversation, then shutting down that conversation as contrarian push-back is, at the very least, hypocrisy. Only one instance of free speech is being defended in that situation.
Granting that commencement addresses are among the worst forms of public speech, let's have an inappropriate conversation about ironic notions like "staying in your lane" and extend it a bit. I'll bet we can take Butker's commitment to boldly challenging false assumptions in a direction where his supporters would surely insist that "You shouldn't be allowed to say that!"
Such is freedom of speech.
Different Drummer: Steven Stapleton
Nurse With Wound list of musicians and influences
NWW - Terms and Conditions Apply
NWW - The Sylvie and Babs Hi-Fi Companion
Feeling challenged in more than one way, I'm recommending the 2022 movie Close as one of the best films in years. It directly reminded me of a past Inappropriate Conversations podcast with Mark Greene as the Different Drummer. His work, and the director of Close, directly refer to this episode's Different Drummer, too.
I was reminded of my childhood, at the same age as the central characters in the film, and a sense of disconnection that came from a change in school districts.
I also was challenged by how our defense mechanisms seem to presume something inappropriate (directly or indirectly incestuous) might make an unwanted appearance in the plot of a film like this. I don't blame the filmmakers. It's more the way our society is driven to sexualize, seemingly, everything, even when nothing of the sort is going on.
Different Drummer: Niobi Way
The Project for the Advancement of our Common Humanity
"Each juror who is seated in the jury box will be asked to answer the following 42 questions." Well, what would you do if called to answer these questions? That can be answered. What I don't know is whether my answers would have kept me in the jury pool or not.
Different Drummer: S. Epatha Merkerson
IC 113: Raised On Robbery
In 1986, I wrote an essay in a letter exchange with a friend. I haven't shared it here. Reasons why aren't important. I called it "Love and Contemporary Inter-Sexual Friendship" and many of the concepts noted in this podcast -- and, to be fair, other past podcasts -- reflect the same ideas as that essay written almost four decades ago. These thoughts are both conscious and subconscious, which will be obvious from this dream scenario.
I do not view friendship as a give-to-get concept. I don't keep score, or I try not to. My beliefs are focused on creating better relationships, a better sense of community, and perhaps a better world.
I saw a quote by the poster of an online video about the different drummer this week that sums this up quite well: "She heals things she didn't break" (Aranez). We need more of that, in the midst of far too many people who are cynical about it.
Different Drummer: Taylor Swift
Perhaps without thinking it through, the Alabama supreme court has taken conservative pro-life arguments about "personhood" to a logical extreme. The initial result was banning all in vitro fertilization procedures in the state, their jurisdiction. The Alabama legislature may believe they have "saved the day" by quickly passing a law to shield those using IVF from prosecution or consequences, but they've done so by deciding which "children" in their state can be killed with impunity. If the hastily passed legislation doesn't sound sufficiently pro-life, that's because it is not.
All of this ignores the core question the Alabama justices got wrong: do we really believe frozen embryos should be viewed the same as children with full personhood, etc.? This past Walk The Earth question is worded more directly:
Whether you would let a dozen people die to save a thousand frozen embryos?
As a journalism student in 1983, I already knew that I had no interest in television news. I could see the direction cable "24 hour news" networks were going, and I didn't like it. Perhaps there were signs I wasn't happy with a newspaper career path either. It wasn't clear to me then, though, how much truth gets revealed through fiction.
Surrealism or Dadaism can be as simple as having a strange dream and writing it down, or close to it.
Apologies, pun intended, if "Make Up" is merely that simple. I won't try to make it something more with compromise or cosmetics.
"Sounds Like a Serious Offense" has not come up before in poetry-focused episodes of Inappropriate Conversations, and that's mainly due to the use of rape as a literary comparison. It's uncomfortable, and I would never want to dilute the meaning of such a heinous crime. Having said that, I've had conversations with people of both genders who have been used, manipulated, and socially shunned. This is how they feel.
Accepting the notion of Eternal Now from Boethius and others, we have known the people we love most deeply for much longer than we acknowledge or understand.
"A Belated Happy Birthday"
How we read a poem and how we read a hymn are very different things. Mixing that up intentionally can produce interesting, or taxing, results.
"Tithe"
In perhaps an equal and opposite reaction to Valentine's Day as a concept, the poem "Unrequited Love" is -- whether romantic or not -- deeply sad, in my opinion. It's open to interpretation, of course. One interpretation is the death of a friendship.
I believe the out-of-place feeling between leaving school and being established in a vocation is universal and remains relevant, if not more than just relatable, today. The same cannot be said for postal concepts like "six to eight weeks for delivery."
A few weeks ago, I posted one of the longest pieces of fiction I've written. This is one of the shortest, composed in the simplest way possible, using only simple sentences.
Some Assembly Required (A NeoSurrealist Forsaking a Habit for Lent) was completed on April 1, 1994.
It's nonfiction title was Temptations from the Wilderness II, a second Lenten writing experiment. This one was a jumble of 40 different writing styles during Lent of that year, including traditional omniscient narration of plot-driven action, a recipe, sermon, poetry, drum music, and more.
Three years ago, these eight chapters were shared in a serialized form of sorts through seven Inappropriate Conversations episodes -- each with its own Different Drummer, etc. This file pulls the entire novella, such as it is, together.
I've long believed that something more personal and profound is identified within Isaac Newton's laws of motion. This three-stanza poem looks inwardly at each theory.
Inappropriate Conversations #23
Especially on a holiday weekend, I suspect a scene like this plays out all across the world. A baby sleeping in mother's arms is gently taken by a father (in this case) to bed, gently and quietly to not interrupt the slumber. In my family, that simple transfer from one parent to another was often more delicate than it sounds -- a disentaglement of sorts.
I don't like it when podcasts I enjoy disappear. Even if they gracefully pod-fade, I've been known to wait weeks or months before finishing the last episode. It's worse when things stop abruptly.
One thing I'm thankful for each Christmas are the parts of lost shows I've been able to save via a clip show. I'll link to that "best of" episode below. And I don't want to name any part of that retrospective of a lost network as "best of the best" either. But Christmas doesn't seem complete without this story from the long-gone Crimes Against Food podcast.
Inappropriate Conversations #178
Here is a short, sweet origin story for the most important relationship of my life, including a key tie-in to Christmas Eve.
While this neo-surrealist, and formalist, short story dates back to 1986, it was World Storytelling Day 2016 that led me to read it out loud.
IC 181
The concept of "reunion" can generate a very specific type of anxiety. For me, it has always been an underlying sense of wanting to be there and wanting to be invisible at the same time. That paradox has inspired essays, some short fiction, and this poem.
"Disappear Here" (1989)
122: 'Past Tenths' of 'Disappear Here'
For this perspective on how modern horror movies have squeezed out traditional thrillers, I've called the selection a 6-pack while sneaking in a few extras within the anthology film entry. The essay was written in 1999 and shared on an Inappropriate Conversations podcast in 2012.
The films:
A Cold Night's Death
Carnival of Souls
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
The Scarlet Claw
The Other
Asylum
The House That Dripped Blood
Trilogy of Terror
IC 103: The Thriller Is Gone
Solomon's Song Of Songs
Man: Greg
Woman: Karen
Friends: Laura
https://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/81-singing-a-song-for-lovers/
As I've noted in the (old, but) most recent Inappropriate Conversations podcasts, work-life balance and other issues have led to a pause in postings. Work-life balance has shifted again, recently. I can't say yet whether or when this will lead to new episodes of Inappropriate Conversations or Walk The Earth, but I do now that content will be starting to flow again.
Starting today, I'm planning to post at regular intervals.
During what turned out to be a hiatus, I pulled the plug on promotional clips of past podcasts on SoundCloud. The IC_Greg account there is gone. That experience did lead me to create stand-alone files for some work, including speeches, poetry, and prose.
I'll begin with "10 Areas of Agreement about Abortion" as a consolidation of a two-part podcast topic from 2011. Because our national dialog has not progressed much on the issue since the 1970s, the argument still seems somewhat fresh in spite of ignoring a decade of recent current events.
Thanks for listening!
It's a sinking feeling to realize your actions would be the same if you were trying to undermine your values, that just doing what you've always done fits a narrative you would reject if given a chance. Sometimes the matter can be as small as "has my show pod-faded without me realizing?". Sometimes it's a matter of life and death where thoughtless actions line up with death, even unintentionally. Slight differences in choices or behavior can change things for the better. Failing to take such action, whether bold or benign, should lead us to a crucial question: how would I have behaved differently if I'd intended to do such harm?
Different Drummer: David Hayward
About NakedPastor Walk The Earth podcast page Pride48 live streaming 2022 event
The politics of abortion has long been a game of state legislatures passing laws they know are unconstitutional. It's a bit like asking a question over and over again when you already know the answer. The situation has now devolved into something worse, an abuse of concepts like "standing" and "damages" in civil litigation. And the current U.S. Supreme Court seems to be aiding and abetting Texas in what could be called, at best, a foolish mistake.
Different Drummer: George Carlin
Your questions about Texas' new abortion law, answered
One reason to share this early episode of Inappropriate Conversations is the way the Different Drummer segment relates part of a story I've revisited in multiple ways -- my testimony, so to speak. I intend to "TalkBack" to other episodes in upcoming months that tell the story more directly. Another reason is the topic itself: types and forms of knowledge. Along those lines, new introductory material looks at opposition to vaccination from a perspective that, frankly, presumes hypocrisy. Many of the same people who were enthusiastic about following the ex-president quickly through Operation Warp Speed are the ones who seem more interested in undermining the new administrative branch than saving their own lives. It's almost as if this is more about who is president than about the positive impact of vaccination during a pandemic.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/48-four-things-i-know/
It's always a risk to post a TalkBack episode from almost 9 years ago without reviewing it first. For Pride this year, I'm taking that risk. Since #IC #107 focused on moments in my past I'm not proud of, interacting with gays without recognizing and checking my ingrained homophobia, I figure this one would have embarrassing elements either way. It is a direct follow-up to the previous TalkBack episode. These two Inappropriate Conversations were intentionally released in the same week originally. There is a connection, along with a follow-up to one story in an episode that would follow a month later.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/107-eulogy-for-homophobia/ http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/112-saying-no-to-myself/
My plan is to observe Pride this year with TalkBack episodes that address homophobia pretty directly. This one is my rejection of someone I've named a Different Drummer in the past. His podcast hesitantly, but I also would say proudly, proclaimed some highly misinformed views about human biology, scripture, and more. I believe the result, if not the intent, could be very harmful to a broad range of LGBTQIA* people. So, as an ally, I spoke up. It wouldn't be the last time, either.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/106-the-violence-of-denial/
In 2021 for most American Christians, Christmas will be celebrated on December 25th. No surprise there. For those with good recent memory, Easter was celebrated on April 4th. Not as easy to recall as 12/25, but a simple date to find on any secular calendar. This upcoming Sunday, May 23rd, is Pentecost. I'd bet that very few Americans know that, including politically-active Christians who are outspoken about perceived attacks like "cancel culture" as a form of marginalization. I'd argue that the Holy Spirit is far more marginalized than any church group, often by church groups.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/walk-the-earth-26/
There is a certain laziness in summing up an entire decade to a simple phrase, like "the Me Generation" for example. At the same time, we sometimes miss the connections in how one sub-generation reacts to what they see from the group before them, too old to be peers and too young to be elders.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/9-overview-of-the-decades/ Don't Discount Evangelicalism as a Factor in the Racist Murder of Asian Spa Workers in Georgia this year
I have a sense that I have maintained a fairly consistent worldview despite knowing that I've continued to grow and evolve. New information, encountering different people, and challenging assumptions will do that. One way to consider the scale of any shifting perspectives is this TalkBack series. What did I have to say on a topic like this in 2010? And if my position has remained fairly consistent, then what does that say about how American Christianity has shifted from where it was a decade ago, or in 1970?
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/8-christian-response-to-the-sexual-revolution-%e2%80%a6-or-not/
Considering whether Easter is the most important day on the church calendar, I lay some groundwork on the difference between a disciple having a Good Friday worldview versus an Easter worldview. Even this comparison feels too narrow, not quite a false dichotomy but insufficiently broad in perspective. The answer to which day on the church calendar I find to be the most significant probably explains why.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/walk-the-earth-25/
It's too easy within the church and among politically-active Christians to find examples of people preaching that children should be "seen and not heard" rather than smiling and saying "let the children come" as Jesus did. Then again, these are many of the same people who want to make it a crime (in Georgia, for one example) to give free water or snacks to anyone stuck in an hours-long line on election day. Make me think they have no idea what Jesus said about feeding hungry people or giving the thirsty something to drink ... or what Jesus warned he would do, as Lord and judge of all, to those who refused to offer such grace. I wonder what Jesus would do to those who presume to make it a crime to extend his love in tangible forms like food and water?
This early Inappropriate Conversations episode gently suggests that we don't value imagination sufficiently in a world where entertainment is as pre-packaged as it is today. We take our fun seriously, as Jello Biafra once sang for Dead Kennedys. Perhaps the introduction to this TalkBack episode implies that too many adults are waiting for directions, hesitant to hold elected officials accountable or literally following marching orders to "take back your country" by putting up a "fight" at the U.S. Capitol. The fine line here is somewhere between too much misguided imagination and not enough genuine inspiration.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/66-child%e2%80%99s-play-and-imagination/
Next up on Inappropriate Conversations and Walk The Earth: pandemic lockdown in perspective, and some TalkBack episodes.
Some Assembly Required (A Neosurrealist Forsaking a Habit for Lent)
Ten Areas of Agreement about Abortion, Part 2
Or,
both parts edited together for SoundCloud
Ten Areas of Agreement about Abortion, Part 1
Or,
both parts edited together for SoundCloud
How to summarize everything related to the 2020 presidential election in the United States? So much happened from before November 3rd until today, January 20th, and yet so little seemed certain along the way. One thing is certain: 11,780 additional votes in Georgia wouldn't have accomplished anything for the former president, and the fraud he was pushing certainly wasn't worth the risk of criminal charges. Reasons should be obvious, but I cover some anyway.
Different Drummer: Stacey Abrams
ALL IN: The Fight for Democracy
As they were in December 2013, this episode of Inappropriate Conversations and the previous Walk The Earth post are back-to-back within a few days for a reason. The experiment then was looking at ways women have been walled off from leadership in the church from both a religious perspective (#wte) and this more open-ended #IC approach. I had not yet envisioned the long-form Opening The Scriptures episode, but this is clearly a precursor. It's worth noting that the subsequent 3.5-hour podcast looking at the Bible has been broken into six more manageable parts, available on the feed at Spotify and elsewhere from January 2019.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/134-gender-segregation/
Ignoring the spiritual gifts of women is a mistake I do not tolerate. While this wasn't foremost in our minds when my family left one congregation, and denomination, to find a new church home. As this early Walk The Earth episode documents, it quickly became impossible to ignore -- sometimes from first impressions, but often from more lasting ones.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/walk-the-earth-6/
Finding things to be thankful for will be a challenge for many in 2020. It has been a difficult year. An argument can be made that the trend over several years has been challenging. This TalkBack episode returns to the first May of Inappropriate Conversation, including what I am most thankful for.
Authorial Intent (A Neosurrealist Revising a Will from His Death Bed)
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/13-companionship-marriage/
I never took a class in debate or participated in a club when I was in school. I've also never seen it as some sort of sport. To me, matters worth debating should be taken more seriously than that, and we ought to commit to higher standards than anything we've seen on television in decades. I'm not only referring to the presidential election cycle. No, my complaint covers punditry today in its entirety.
Introductory material includes perspectives on this and the previous presidential election, recorded on the official election day in 2020 with important references to past Inappropriate Conversations podcasts.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/55-a-better-way-to-debate/
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/190-dear-family-member/
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/195-telling-your-stories-before-its-too-late/
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/24-elections-are-not-horse-races/
We have become so accustomed to the twist ending that some film critics seem to dismiss films from recommendation for no other reason. I consider this a "sixth sense" effect, referring to M. Night Shyamalan. Done properly, though, stories of this sort can deliver two good movies, even great ones, from different genre within the same film. This Halloween-themed episode from 2014 celebrates one of the best.
Introductory material encourages voting in 2020, even from registered voters who despair for one reason or another. Vote, perhaps as the ultimate patriotic act of defiance to some who seem obsessed with stopping people from participating in the 2020 election. Vote, even if you believe you already know how your state will lean in the presidential election. It may matter more than just the tally itself.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/152-anticipating-the-bang/
I grew up in the Central Time Zone in the United States. The late news was at 10 p.m. On Friday nights, one of the local stations would start a movie at 10:30, and it was often quite thrilling to a kid my age. Some themes were supernatural, others science fiction. Endings weren't always as happy as the Disney and Pink Panther movies my parents preferred for a family outing to the cinema. Halloween in particular was peak season for this "late night" Friday movie of the week.
Cases in point:
A Cold Night's Death Carnival of Souls Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) Sherlock Holmes and The Scarlet Claw The Other (1972) Asylum (Amicus) The House that Dripped Blood Trilogy of Terror
When Inappropriate Conversations #42 was released in January 2011, I named it "The Morning After for Classic Made-For-TV Movies" and that title still works based on the flow of the show. I wanted this TalkBack episode to also note a relatively recent Facebook venture, a public group called Made For TV Program Direction. The idea is to accumulate what will be a long list of citations, nostalgic memories of past television program -- some seemingly forgotten. Feel free to join in if this podcast memory strikes some other memories.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/42-the-morning-after-for-classic-made-for-tv-movies/
I'm probably less sure now than I was 7 years ago about whether the Sunday School hour in most Christian churches is the best type of small group. It was the type I was most familiar with then. Now, I'd say the main requirement isn't location or time of meeting, but the ability to speak very freely about a challenging range of topics. Today, that range would include double-standards and miscarriages of justice from the halls of Congress to local district attorneys offices. Any small group that cannot handle conversations like that fails to achieve its mission. And any notion that conversations like that have no place within the church fundamentally misrepresents what "church" should be.
In the process of considering whether the message, or a worship service itself, was fundamentally different inside a sanctuary or some other form of cathedral versus a more ordinary room, my family ended up encountering a church that didn't have a building at all. No sanctuary. No roof over their heads at all, so to speak. And that's where we ended up, too.
TalkBack episodes in podcast form exist largely due to Spotify. That's also among the places the new Harmony Springs Gives Voice podcast can be found.
Whether racism is more prevalent and toxic within, rather than outside, the church?
Robert P. Jones of PRRI
Preview for White Savior: Racism in the American Church
A significant number of Americans, most from the political and religious right, still owe Barack Obama an apology. When you understand the persecution a group thinks they will suffer, whether based on rational conclusions or not, it provides great insight into what they would do if given ultimate and absolute power. We are wise to be wary. The people who predicted Obama would "round up" both Christians and guns might just pose a similar dire threat to their perceived political enemies. We haven't done a sufficient job of denouncing false prophecies in recent years, and now we must deal with the consequences.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/191-false-political-prophecies/
Consider this the background material for the previous Inappropriate Conversations (#IC #231). Things have not improved in the past five years, and an argument can be made that the standards for law enforcement have gotten worse. I say this with as much sadness as anger, although I'm sure the anger cuts through. It's painful enough to bring even a mildly empathetic person to his knees, at a time in American where that gesture is inexplicably controversial.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/157-letting-justice-roll/
More than five years ago, Inappropriate Conversations #157 was released as an unedited nearly two-hour rant about that state of law enforcement and race relations in America at the end of 2014. Clearly, things have not improved. We ought to be ashamed of ourselves for not taking these issues more seriously. It is, after all, clearly a matter a life and death.
Different Drummer: Dave Chappelle
More than a dozen years ago, it wasn't unusual for Christian leaders to provide political advice to one another that sounded like this: "Don’t equate the biblical kingdom of God with any human political party or nation" (Andrew Jackson). Many were already violating guidelines like this, but the trespasses would only multiply during the Obama administration. Recent years have been even worse. I have yet to hear a sufficient denunciation of this misbehavior from the same Christian leaders who published original guidelines like this one. Truly, it's a "Get behind me, Satan" moment, reflecting not God's concerns at all (Matthew 16:23). Yet, for the most part, the Church remains silent.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/82-pandering-from-a-political-pulpit/
Pride was the focus for TalkBack episodes released in June this year. (Some of those files were mistakenly deleted and restored in July, despite being originally released in June.) I ended the series with a 2015 episode looking at the "T" of LGBTQ* and my perspective on how simple it is to address people in the manner they prefer.
I was pretty young when my family went to an out-of-town wedding, an older cousin getting married. I must have asked an annoying question that morning because I recall getting a lecture on manners. We had only just met Jim the night before, but I read the wedding announcement which introduced him as James. "The parents of James ..." is typical verbiage. Conversation on the way the church stopped like a needle scratching across a vinyl record. It was a "listen, young man" moment from my mother to me: under no circumstances was I to address the new member of our family as James. He had told us politely and clearly that he prefers to be called Jim "and that is how we will address him from now on," I was told.
Simple to understand. It is, if nothing else, very bad manners to call someone a name, when they have asked for different treatment. Seems simple enough. It would be churlish not to comply, perhaps even provocative or confrontational. I was taught that "good people" call people by the names they have chosen and use "sir" or "ma'am" (not to mention "him" and "her") as instructed.
I do not directly cover this story within this callback to #IC #177. I have no doubt I mentioned it in a later episode touching on the same topic. It doesn't seem that hard to grasp, though, even if concepts like trans/cis can, for some of us, be hard to grasp.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/177-transitional-terminology/
Before traveling to Las Vegas a couple years after this TalkBack recording and later making similar trips to New Orleans for Pride48 podcasting expositions, I made a commitment to myself to participate. I called that episode Proud To Know You. From a TalkBack perspective, it's really Proud To Know You 1.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/128-proud-to-know-you/
Some Assembly Required (A NeoSurrealist Forsaking a Habit for Lent)
Chapter 8
Editor's Note
"Darkness Sets In"
Life's an Essay Test; We're Obliged To Give Essay Answers
Making the Grade
"The false assumption most of them make is that Truth is somehow distant, elusive, and concealed. Their Truth must be tracked down, captured, and unveiled."
Different Drummer: Boethius of Rome
Some Assembly Required (A NeoSurrealist Forsaking a Habit for Lent)
Chapter 7
Mad Scientist
Editorial Board meeting: March 24, 1994
Coming Up Next
How Am I Supposed To Live Without?
"They'll Know We Are Christians"
The Least Of These
"Are we not, in fact, blaming the Godless for their very Godlessness?"
Different Drummer: Art Eddy
Being active in a church, really active, often involves a spoken or unspoken expectation of very steady attendance. Learning what other churches and denominations are doing can be challenging, if not impossible, in such circumstances. The initial phase of "walking the earth" was eye-opening for this reason. Even the definition of "sermon" raised immediate questions. The first two episodes in Walk The Earth covered what I considered to be easy questions. This question was the first that led me to think I ought to record my answers.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/walk-the-earth-3/
Some Assembly Required (A NeoSurrealist Forsaking a Habit for Lent)
Chapter 6
Just Say No, Nancy
You're On the Air
"Para-Double-Diddle"
Cover Version
Tell Us What You Think
"By bringing the hallucinatory powers of your own brain to bear upon your experiment, you will be able to easily retrace your steps."
Different Drummer: Brook Berringer
Some Assembly Required (A NeoSurrealist Forsaking a Habit for Lent)
Chapter 5
Twenty-something
Sexual Revolutionary Critic
On Your Way Home
Assignment: Aion
Noteworthy
The Readers' Reply (Letters over 300 words may be edited for length and clarity)
"We're going to be jumping around for the next couple of days. Let me have some undivided attention, and I'll give you a feel for what we're referencing."
Different Drummer: Nadia Bolz-Weber
My first experience at Pride48 was last week's TalkBack episode (Walk The Earth #30). It was soon followed by my first event recap show. #IC #172, Proud To Know You 2, covered my thoughts on the trip upon returning. I also mention a corresponding interview on the Ramble Redhead podcast on the same topic. Next on Pride48 is the June 2020 live streaming event, Friday the 26th through Sunday the 28th. I'll be listening, and chatting whenever possible.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/172-proud-to-know-you-2/
My first of more public commitments to being an ally was the weekend of August 28, 2015, in Las Vegas. Walk The Earth 30 is a recording of a live podcast at Pride48 that year. For me, this moment was historic.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/walk-the-earth-30/
Have you ever been unexpectedly stuck staring down the barrel of a gun being held by someone who clearly states he has no qualms about shooting you if you don't cooperate?
Outside of military-style preparation or perhaps police academy work, I believe it's impossible to predict how anyone would respond in such circumstances. I also found it challenging to assess how I responded for weeks, if not months, afterward. Simple answers rarely suffice.
When I tell the story now, I usually present the situation for laughs. Why not? If you can't find the humor, then you don't fully understand it. My understanding exceeds the platitudes and soundbites of your average person protesting for their "rights."
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/113-raised-on-robbery/
Also: here is a recent panel discussion on the This Week In Gay podcast, covering different topics. Pleased to participate!
The first venture into TalkBack podcast episodes was thematic, Christmas shows in November-December 2018. It isn't hard to find running themes in past episodes of Inappropriate Conversations. A focus on the impact of gun usage starts here, revisiting October 2015, and will continue later in the month with a story that was 30+ years old in February 2013.
I tend to tire very quickly over gun control debates. The conversation always seems to devolve to extremes. Worse, what should be an open discussion on the relationship between rights and responsibilities never starts.
If you make it impossible for people to make you happy, people will lose interest in whether you are happy or not. No, I'm not interested in the happiness of people who love objects and use people. It's true regardless of where such people stand on any political spectrum. Some things, once broken, cannot be restored.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/173-seeing-spot-run/
Some Assembly Required (A NeoSurrealist Forsaking a Habit for Lent)
Chapter 4
Did You Hear the One about V-8 Nate?
Prior Restraint
Premarital Skydiving
"Characters don't always say what writers want them to say, and it's ignorant to presume otherwise."
Different Drummer: Jackie Speier
As the old saying goes: the church is not a building; the church is the people. Well, I've been interacting with some of those people in new/old ways lately. The early episode of Walk The Earth was about walking away from one congregation. We had not yet found a new one yet. Now, years later, the church I've since joined is planning to start a podcast. Some of our sessions have been planning, others recording. I'll share links to Harmony Springs Gives Voice when podcasts are posted, probably on TalkBacks like this one. I've also recently joined a panel discussion on the podcast This Week In Gay with religious freedom/liberty among the topics. I'll share that the same way at the appropriate time.
For now, I did need to define "church" if I wanted to talk about walking away from one, either permanently or on the way to something better.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/walk-the-earth-2/
Some Assembly Required (A NeoSurrealist Forsaking a Habit for Lent)
Chapter 3
"Gone, But Not Forgotten"
Timed Test
Hostile Takeover Bid
Fine Tuning
Replay
"If you cannot address the concerns of one increasingly irate customer, then those concerns ultimately may cost you the business of other customers as well."
Different Drummer: Bob Walkenhorst
The Rainmakers in Norway
When a new member of a church pledges to join a congregation, the public statement is often about supporting the church with prayers, presence, gifts, and service. At the point of deciding to leave a particular church, though, that pledge gets called into question. For some, leaving a congregation can reflect an abandonment of everything, all of that plus belief itself. For my family, though, the tension was more about whether the commitment was to a particular local church or something different, something more.
This episode, #wte 001, started the series of questions in a spinoff podcast of Inappropriate Conversations simply called Walk The Earth.
Some Assembly Required (A NeoSurrealist Forsaking a Habit for Lent)
Note: explicit language throughout
Chapter 1
What the Anti-Formalists Thought
Bennie's Got It
Pop Quiz
Homegrown
My Brunch with Nicole
"You always do this to me. First, you bring up something offensive. Then, you tell me to stop you before you go too far. But how can I?"
Chapter 2
R.S.V.P.
Cat Burglar
Diary of a College Graduate
Backroads
Telemarketed
"Film Break"
"Whether the goal is to become a member of the Christian Community, or the cat-killing community, or simply the campus community, there is a compelling degree of comfort to be found in membership."
Different Drummer: Ze Frank
Dear Kitten ads
Whether a mission statement is necessary, and what role does it play in the mission itself?
July 2010 on Inappropriate Conversations
A conversation from before Inappropriate Conversations existed
Now that I've committed to TalkBack episodes being part of the structure going forward, along with new episodes of both Inappropriate Conversations and Walk The Earth, it's a good time to note that no past podcast I've ever recorded seemed quite as set for a reprise as this one, #IC #138. I am surprised that six years have gone by since I was slightly shaken by the news that someone from my high school graduating class had died. Hillary wasn't the first, there have been others since 2014, and inevitably more to come. It seems that Hillary took the chance to tell her story, though, on stage, a year earlier. We are blessed to live in an era where missing that event, and missing the actual events even at school, isn't the last word. To some degree, podcasts and YouTube videos are preserving a record. For now.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/138-missing-someone-i-never-knew/
Seems to me, our society collectively complains about how the quality of our discourse has devolved while also avoiding even talking about potential solutions. Some seem just as legalistically obsessed with the First Amendment being a hard-stop to even common-sense standards of decency as they, or perhaps others, are about the Second Amendment. Just as you can't yell "fire" in a crowded theater where there is no fire or danger, you also cannot threaten to attack someone merely to silence their opinion or prevent them from raising their voice. Here we are, though, living in a society where harassment is accepted with a shrug and bullying is almost praised when it is an effective tactic. The situation is deplorable, but we have learned in recent years that using that particular term to denounce horrible misbehavior doesn't seem generate appropriate attention toward the problem.
I would humbly suggest that we have the tools, the technology, to address this issue. Despite our discomfort about law enforcement overreach and spying on citizens, it is possible to identify the people chasing families off their phones and out of their homes. The time is coming when such investigations may be crucial, if it is not already too late. I recommend prison time and heavy fines for the offenders, too. Unfortunately, it's hard to find better, more nuanced answers at this time. We are, after all, at the start of a national election year in the United States. Safe to say this situation is going to get worse before it gets better.
Different Drummer: Sarah Bessey
With the second Senate impeachment trial of my lifetime scheduled to start any day now, I've chosen to schedule this TalkBack episode in advance for future release. That's a risky move. Who knows what might happen between now and then? To me, that's one of the challenges of dealing with current events on a podcast intended to be more evergreen than the news of the day. And the impeachment covered in this podcast is more than 20 years old now!
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/40-other-high-crimes/
From an endgame perspective, the so-called "war on drugs" was never intended to generate the equivalent of permanent prisoners of war in the form of mass incarceration, but that is probably the true face of the political strategy that seemed to directly target my generation. The focus came after the Summer Of Love crowd, hitting instead the younger brothers, sisters, and cousins. It's hard to cite any wins because "Just Say No" as a campaign was far more about the image than the results, pure style over substance. Perhaps it was only about winning electoral strategies. I say this because I first had to resist this facile nonsense before I could commit myself to truly resisting any temptations to "experiment" with drugs.
Yes, "temptations" is plural. This issue was never so simple that "just say no" was credible advice. And that was just part of the problem that persists today. Other parts include the false equivocation about the relative dangers of different substances, and whether keeping people alive long enough to get the help they truly need was ever among the goals (hint: evidence suggests it was not).
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/15-declaring-war-on-%e2%80%98just-say-no%e2%80%99/
To our shame, our society still tends to teach women to separate themselves from their sexuality, treating pleasure as something regrettable while looking the other way with a "boys will be boys" shrug about men pursuing pleasure. Even within committed relationships, this has unfortunate and unnecessary consequences. Wise women have spoken against this, and their counsel is well worth considering.
Different Drummer: Ruth K. Westheimer
Considering how prominent sex is on the logo for Inappropriate Conversations, I haven't touched that topic as often as I could. I may explore some reasons why in the next Inappropriate Conversations recording for #IC #222. We'll see. In the meantime, this past episode from 2010 provides valuable background information, recalling a time when the church taking sex education seriously did not have anything to do with protesting, banning, or undermining it.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/14-sex-education-the-protestant-way-then-not-now/
Happy 2020!
Whether spirituality has become a private matter because churches are using spirituality to attack and exclude?
The previous TalkBack episode included the beginning of an essay called "Should Amendment Stand a Prayer of Success?" It was written in 2000 and shared on this podcast in 2010. Inappropriate Conversations #30 is the rest of that argument.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/30-establishment-of-religion/
As far as I can tell, Inappropriate Conversations #29 is the most downloaded episode in the history of this podcast. I'm not sure why a wide-ranging perspective on the concept of school prayer would get such a response, but I'm pleased to share it here. This episode also qualifies under the heading of topics too large for one recording, so I'll share #IC 30 next, soon, to complete the thought. I describe myself as a radical moderate, using terminology very loosely, and this topic provides a pretty good example. This first episode in particular shares a counterpoint to my position, and most of the 2-part arc is me providing information and criticism to what might be considered my own camp. I believe I have credentials as a Christian to share what Jesus taught to other Christians, for example. And this was just the beginning of the podcast, from the first year in 2010.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/29-my-prayer-for-a-football-game/
When Inappropriate Conversations #38 was recorded 10 years ago, the annual Paper Football Classic in my family was still a nearly annual event, with 31 consecutive years of record keeping and bragging rights. I was not anticipating a long hiatus, but life as a parent has included high school and college graduations, young adults buying and moving into first homes, marriages, etc. In my mind, the TPFC is still a thing and may resume once again.
Happy Thanksgiving with a TalkBack episode to this holiday season, both now and in years past!
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/38-thanksgiving-paper-football-classics/
Inappropriate Conversations and Walk The Earth podcasts are now available on Spotify. It's a transition that will include reintroducing some of the oldest episodes of each, over time, in a process I've called TalkBacks.
Different Drummer: Johann Sebastian Bach
What if I go low instead of high? The named Different Drummers might be people like:
Mitch McConnell
Rick Wiles
Franklin Graham
Candice Keller
As opposed to the real answer this time. Different Drummer: Michelle Obama
For two consecutive years now, the Pride48 podcasting expo in New Orleans has been a landmark in summertime vacation plans. Each year has been a combination of seeing old friends again and meeting new ones. These are conversations I intend to continue.
Different Drummer: Bernie Taupin
"He's my brother. Let us live in peace." (Taupin)
Spoiler alert regarding Avengers and Marvel Cinematic Universe. One of the Life In Hell strips Matt Groening wrote years ago featured his criticism of film critics. One-liners included newspaper critics writing tight capsule reviews and more serious magazine critics wearing sweaters and giving away endings. I don't often wear sweaters, but I do struggle with how to openly discuss subtext without spoilers. For the movie The Sixth Sense, I ended up writing two reviews, one for before you've seen the film and one for after. That seemed to work. At the #p48EXPO #p48NOLA #p48LIVE event this year, I didn't have the time to offer such a dual perspective. If you are behind (as I was until this summer) on Infinity War and Endgame, you've been warned.
The primary focus of this episode was looking more deeply at what draws us into the popular art we consume. With movies, for example, the impetus seems to be different for comedy, horror, documentary, etc. What occurred to me about the draw of characters, regardless the actor or director, seemed most significant within the superhero genre. The tie-in with the Different Drummer seemed obvious.
As a live show, the format of this one is appropriately different. We dive right in, for one thing, with introduction and theme music coming along the way. For another, I've bookended this file with interstitials from the podcasting suite. Since it takes a few minutes to move one podcast off-stage and another one on, these interstitials tend to focus the audience toward something other than headphones being plugged in and drinks-of-choice being poured. The opener is the intro to Inappropriate Conversations this year, and the closer is one from the next day when I was invited to participate. There is more after the #IC live outro music.
Thanks to Taylor and Taffy from Pod Is My Copilot. Bookends, indeed.
Different Drummer: Stan Lee
"Life's an essay test; we're obliged to give essay answers." (The Author)
Whether "ghosting" is an appropriate alternative to an exit interview when severing ties?
Pride48 2019 NOLA Schedule
The fear that dearest friends would not be close to us anymore is real. So is the burden.
Different Drummer: Alan Parker
Odds and ends include: * How to interpret the role of Congress with Mueller Report. * Whether Missouri leaders are conspiring to commit sexual assault. * If Fred Rogers isn't my all-time favorite "Fred" ... who is? * "Third Person" from Manifestos Of Neosurrealism.
Different Drummer: Vincent Kompany
Whether understanding the meaning of words in their time is key to seeking the mind of God?
Christianity 201: Time for Solid Food
The concept of parental control, even censorship, was clearly a part of my upbringing. I could cite numerous examples of inconsistencies, though: Three's Company, Soap, American Graffiti, National Lampoon's Animal House, Queen, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Harold Robbins (The Betsy), Xaviera Hollander (The Happy Hooker), Hermann Hesse (Siddhartha), Alex Comfort (The Joy of Sex, More Joy of Sex), Bari Wood & Jack Geasland (Twins).
Different Drummer: Dolly Parton
George In Atlanta #52
Whether progressive emphasis on affirming churches is even sufficient?
Welcoming, Accepting, Affirming - Don't Get Stuck
Concluding a long TalkBack series to start the year, I'm giving the last word to the Sermon On The Mount. Intentionally, I've done this in the most common English translations I can find, preferring an easily understood paraphrase to any version that makes it sound like Jesus was speaking to some gathering of experts rather than a crowd.
Next month, Walk The Earth will resume with new episodes and Inappropriate Conversations after that.
It is not possible for me to look back to February 2012 and Inappropriate Conversations #81 and not think of community. It's particularly true this year. This recording would not have been possible without a strong, supportive online community, one that now seems to be gone. At the same time, another online community, Pride48, is providing deeply meaningful support for its participants at the news that one of our podcasters has died, too young and suddenly. This is the right time for the voices of old friends to be ringing in my ears.
RIP, Matthew Ulmen
The TalkBack series in January focused on scripture, theology, and religion with slices of Inappropriate Conversations #150. February will finish this set of callbacks with episodes that function as an Appendix of sorts, supporting material consistent with Opening The Scriptures and taking the Bible seriously. Inappropriate Conversations #131 has a New Testament focus, primarily the story of Peter in the Acts of the Apostles. That, and a strangely controversial Different Drummer.
When Inappropriate Conversations #150 was first posted in September 2014, the best solution I had for liner notes was simply a list of all the quoted texts, which alone was quite extensive. Now, wrapping up this look-back to that long podcast, I'll use the last of these 6 parts with a link to the original post. It has the full set of scriptures and the name of the Different Drummer, and that segment closes out the episode.
IC #150
Few figures in this history of Christianity are as controversial as Paul. Really, it's important to look at the story of the Apostle Paul as both a history of Saul and Paul. That is true whether you view "history" here as historical fact or the internal back-story of a fictional narrative. Either way, Paul's influence is quite real, and I wouldn't call him the hero of his own story.
Having passed the half-way point in sharing Inappropriate Conversations #150 with the 3rd part, the excerpts will be shorter from this point on. Part 4 starts with the question of whether everyone the circles of family and friend were on board with Jesus and his ministry. Far from it.
Following up more quickly with Part 3 of the TalkBack to Inappropriate Conversations #150, in part because the way this portion of that long podcast ties into the section before. Did Jesus ever address sexual orientation during his ministry? No. Or, maybe, by saying nothing at all.
Following the introduction in the first part of this look-back to Inappropriate Conversations #150, it's time to dive in to both the Word and the past episode, at length.
As planned, much shorter introductions now that the next TalkBack posts are, essentially, mid-episode.
After spending the holidays sharing TalkBack podcasts related to Christmas, I want to start the new year with a series of TalkBack posts on the longest Inappropriate Conversations podcast released so far. It will take a 3+ hour episode into 6 parts. The original #IC #150 was intentionally long, making the point of quoting scripture at length and in context while trying, as stated right up from, to free Christ from the closet of Christian homophobia.
Also, in the introduction I try to answer the question: exactly how big is a billion?
Wrapping up the TalkBack series for November-December, I'm putting the 12 Days Of Christmas podcast on Christmas Day, which is when that concept actually starts. Only part, a large part, of the Christian world celebrates the holiday in December. The rest have 12 days to go. The wise men have yet to deliver their gifts, after all. Only shepherds have appeared on the scene at this stage.
I plan to continue TalkBack with a new series in January, but it will feature only one prior podcast -- delivered again in parts.
November and December of 2014 included an intense focus on Christmas as a holiday for Inappropriate Conversations, and in many ways this year's TalkBack series is an echo of that time. As I did at the beginning of these look-backs, I'm going to inverse the order of two shows posted back then. A few weeks ago, I did that based on the start of Advent. This time, I'm going to do it based on the combination of Boxing Day, December 26th, and the true beginning of the "12 days of Christmas" starting after the holiday itself. Neither show relies heavily on the calendar date, but it's nice to mix things up.
I've noticed that the Different Drummers throughout this series were all musicians. That will change with the next TalkBack post. This one, though, focuses very heavily on the Different Drummer and his music and lyrics.
After several TalkBack episodes from Inappropriate Conversations, this is a Walk The Earth episode that focused on Christmas, with a new intro that I find even more insightful. The words, shared from a different source, are a bit spoilery about Santa.
December 14th as the release date for this TalkBack of Inappropriate Conversations is not a coincidence. Looking back to December 2012, I wanted to speak broadly about secular visions of Nativity, but a mass murder at an elementary school could not be ignored. The episode is segregated, with the sadness and anger at the end. Now, 6 years later, it seems like we've had countless aftershocks to that mass-murder earthquake, and it's fair to ask if we've become numb -- some willingly, valuing possessions over people, and some as a psychological defense mechanism.
I also referred to circumstances in the same Connecticut crime a couple of months later, talking about my first experience staring down the barrel of criminal's gun.
All the same, Merry Christmas from Inappropriate Conversations and Walk The Earth!
AMC is televising "Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey" for the 2018 holiday season, with (sometimes very early) morning broadcasts on December 12th, 21st, and 24th. It isn't a Rankin-Bass classic, but it is worth the time to look back at the 1977 half-hour special. So far, the only commentaries of this sort I've done have been for Rudolph and Nestor. Make of that what you will.
On Saturday, December 8, 2018, CBS will broadcast "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" for the second time this year. It's a perfect time to look back on an Inappropriate Conversations audio commentary soundtrack for the holiday classic.
Whether gatherings like Thanksgiving are, or should be, a sacrament of shared food and drink?
Looking back at the 2018 Pride48 Podcast Expo in New Orleans with great memories of how the event went, looking forward to next time. Also, an attempt to take recent SCOTUS nominee testimony before the U.S. Senate judiciary committee seriously, and where that ultimately leads.
Different Drummer: Yvette Nicole Brown
The JV Club #25
For science in particular, great leaps forward sometimes happen primarily because a person with means chooses to leave a very different legacy than a name on a building. The birth control pill is one example, a particularly relevant one still today.
Different Drummer: Katharine McCormick
World Contraception Day
Kavanaugh confusion
Rethinking the Abortion Conversation
The Protectors (1972)
Live from Pride48 New Orleans Podcasting Expo 2018:
Allies
Intersections
Different Drummer(s)
Loving someone as they are, and hiding who they are
Rogers' message: you are not a mistake
Peaceful Neighbor
Understanding the quiet gay activism of Mister Rogers
Vanity Fair interview with Francois Clemmons
Different Drummer: Francois Clemmons and Fred Rogers
Special thanks to Nicole Villacres from Greetings From Nowhere and Pride48.
Whether answering insincere questions has value, in the moment, much later, or ever?
Answers to 40 insincere questions
I have questions about immigration and the current state of our policies as a nation. I don't profess to have a lot of answers, but I will admit that some of the possibilities seem both obvious and disturbing. For example, what have we become?
Different Drummer: Peter Falk
One question I don't ask directly: Am I becoming increasingly self-referential? Allow me to answer with links.
188: Constitutional Crisis
152: Anticipating the Bang
42: "The Morning After" for classic Made-for-TV Movies
103: The Thriller Is Gone
187: Television Debut (1972-73)
105: Press Coverage
15: Declaring War on "Just Say No"
195: Telling Your Stories (Before It's Too Late)
59: Ten Areas of Agreement about Abortion - part 1
60: Ten Areas of Agreement about Abortion - part 2
Inappropriate Conversations on Facebook
References:
Pride 48: New Orleans Podcasting Expo 2018
Pride 48: June 2018 Live Streaming Weekend
The Smellcast
Ramble Redhead
Vera Speaks ... For Real
Simply Syndicated: Simply Everything
The Tech Support Rich Show
Big Fatty Online
Nerd Hurdles
Books You Should Read
Greetings From Nowhere
The Satyrsphere
Movies You Should See
Hooked
Different Drummer: Claude Monet
Far too often, discussions about politics and religion (or even popular culture) are being compromised if not thwarted by blind devotion to entrenched positions. We are becoming more segregated than at any point in my lifetime, not just along arbitrary divisions of race. It's two kinds of news, or even in the minds of some people two kinds of bakeries. Tragically, we are watching an "us versus them" siege play out before our eyes and ears. I've no doubt that I have been impacted, too. Potential listeners of Inappropriate Conversations have, for want of a better phrase, weeded themselves out on shaky religious grounds. And, perhaps, my personal policies like never "un-friending" anyone might make those suspicions seem legitimate. If we can't remain in dialogue, though, then how will we have any real conversations -- inappropriate or otherwise?
Different Drummer: Mel Blanc
Who could resist the combination of April Fool's Day and Easter Sunday? Not me. "A Simple Yes Or No" was originally published in The Juke Joint Journal, 1986.
Different Drummer: Animal
Highlights, poetry/prose, essays, and Different Drummers from the first 8 years of Inappropriate Conversations, which started on March 7, 2010.
Different Drummer: Derek Jarman
Highlights
41: Gone But Not Forgotten
44: Sacred Friendship
106: The Violence of Denial
113: Raised on Robbery
150: Opening the Scriptures
172: Proud to Know You 2
182: Murdering Friendship
195: Telling Your Stories (Before It's Too Late)
Poetry and Prose
23: Laws Of Motion
52: First Person Comedy
93: Poetry Providing Perspective
Words Per Minute
Stop The Bleeding
122: Disappear Here
144: The Death of The Author
181: Part Time
Essays
29: My Prayer for a Football Game
30: Establishment of Religion
59: 10 Areas of Agreement about Abortion, part 1
60: 10 Areas of Agreement about Abortion, part 2
97: Any One Being Ashamed
112: Saying No to Myself
146: The Idea of Christ
165: Memorial Music
188: Constitutional Crisis
192: 100 Ways
Different Drummers
22: Art and the Strange Bedfellows
50: The Most Significant Art Form
87: Used Record Stores and a Healthy Aquarium
134: Gender Segregation
149: Truly Respecting Elders
164: Vinyl Box Sets
180: Jesus Quote Bubble
202: Ladies First
Also:
Walk The Earth
Inappropriate Conversations
Your points and questions #6 covers a couple of years of feedback, with nods to Nancy, Nicole, Shane, Chris, and others.
Different Drummer: Maria McKee
We are all God's children.
An out-the-door look at one specific laserdisc collection probably says more about the collector than the technology, just like any playlist or mix-tape. Consider this a time capsule about a format intended to make movies more timeless.
Different Drummer: Hoyt Curtin
Jonny Quest documentary
If we don't speak up now, raising our voices in dissent, then when will we? An argument could be made that the powers-that-be are striving to stifle the means by which those voices may be heard. Now is the time to speak in favor of Net Neutrality. Now is the time to note that we will never be able to return to this moment in history. Now is the time to insist the our leaders put nation ahead of party, the intent of our so-called "founding fathers" above self-interest. Now is the time for all good people to come to the aid of their country.
Reds (1981)
Different Drummer: Diane Keaton
Whether people who want answers ask questions?
Supporting material:
Sacred Friendship
A Farewell Address from the Mountaintop
Revelation Weekend
Moments of Epiphany
Originating Ideas
Where Would I Be without God?
There is a danger in not knowing the history of our history.
Different Drummer: Al Stewart
Confederate Monuments Chart
Robert E. Lee's perspective
Respecting the family's wishes
Not all Confederate generals are revered equally
Smithsonian point of view
In American amateur sports, women have been making the biggest impact for a decade now. There are multiple reasons. One of the most interesting, though, is an example of the great things that happen for society as a whole when principles of equality are put into place. It’s more than just a game. Our entire economy may be experiencing the same benefit of full empowerment and participation.
Different Drummer: Pat Summitt
Before and After Title IX
Whether Jesus is the answer to disarming the violent, largely political divisions in our society?
Dan Carlin Common Sense
Key Teachings of Jesus
Whether people menacing female Christian authors with rape- and death-threats are Christians (if they identified themselves)?