Das Capital

I find it ironic that modern american christians, as a group, continually denounce becoming a part of the "kingdom of this world" and are on their guard to protect against any possible infiltration that would dirty the holy robes of mercy Jesus has bestowed upon them in his infinite mercy. Meanwhile, the great many suburban christians make a weekly pilgrimage en masse to multimillion dollar auditoriums to hear 20-piece ensembles and messages projected with state-of-the-art gear, to worship in a building where the focus is a giant television and the speaker's talk is streamed via satellite in real time to the venue (so that another thousand can be added to the attendance sheet). They leave at 10:30am or 12:30pm - by way of SUV, Lexus, Mercedes Benz, Range Rover, BMW - heading home for NFL Sunday or March Madness on the other big screen in the living room. Monday morning, it's off to trade stocks and lay off employees, off to maximize shareholder value and to be more productive, living to meet the challenges of supply and demand.

Is capitalism not the destroyer? Does it not turn small, vibrant community churches into vast, programmatic mega-mosoleums? Does it not take the inevitability of work and make slavery of it? Does it not take music and make of it an industry to be commodified, copyrighted, and mass produced? Is it not the most naked system of monetary pursuit? Capitalism is the way of life for us in the west, and increasingly in the world. Is the way of market forces not contrary to Mighty God? One cannot serve God and Dollar; there is a choice to be made for all of us. The world is no more evil than it ever was, but this "Christian Nation" has found it's Christ in capital gain. Mammon is our Messiah. But death is the eye of the needle, and our camels cannot come with us.

The corporation has single-handedly overcome all of our institutions: Education, Healthcare, Entertainment, Politics, Faith - FAITH. Regardless of religion, whatever we believe about the universe and our place in it is at the heart of our reactions to it.

...I had another four paragraphs to this and I lost them. Satan is at work! Just kidding... sort of...

Hip...Hop...Tans...mitter

Okay, I know that the subtitle of my blog is from Hip Hop to Orthodoxy, so here goes - an online freestyle:

I master the craft of casting the good spell
Which I suppose I could sell
To raise up outta the hood, hell
I would sell my soul
And work for the devil
Shoveling spit
Pedaling sickness
Staying relevant for business

I could then kick the gift
Like Solomon with his wisdom
But fortunately
I got a hand in his riches
I jacked a fist full
Of experience
Literarily
Vicariously
He spared me
From the heat
And the shovel
And the wandering pitbull
And my thought process so wishful

So rather I rescue slaves from the grave
Showing them the way
To the living deity who forgave
By living and dying in a human's place
I sing John Newton's Amazing Grace
So sweet
In the cleft of the Rock I'm safe
What a waste
It would be to turn away
From such an offer
To load up the coffers
In a world soon turned to ash
Cash is burning with it
Don't resist that
Irresistable Force
Or you will miss it.