To every person who hates Christians for any reason,

On behalf of my fellow believers, I would like to apologize for everything we've done wrong for the past two thousand years. We have done a fantastic job of making Christians look and become bigoted, ignorant, hypocritical, stupid and condemning. No Christian can honestly claim innocence in this regard (including myself).

More specifically: I apologize for being so uptight about our beliefs regarding the origin of the world. These stem from the refusal of many to understand that God may have created the earth in a way that agrees with science (though His role in the whole business, I am not willing to refute). We have made evolution seem like the words of Satan himself. In all honesty no Christian can claim with certainty how God made the universe, we can only claim that He did, and here we are. Our attempts to vilify those who offer theories as to how are pointless. I know I specifically am guilty of this ignorance--forgive me. I also have no intention of attacking those who believe God did create the world in seven literal days with no evolution whatsoever--I merely hope that those people do not use their beliefs as a reason to hate those who disagree.

I apologize for our actions towards those whose lifestyles and values conflict with our own. I believe that homosexuality is wrong, do not get me wrong. But I think it is just as wrong to publicly damn them, and it is just as wrong to create a website called godhatesfags.com in the name of God. I apologize for those who practice other religions (or none at all) whom we have vilified and slaughtered. We have been judgmental, condemning and arrogant--none of these are attributes of the Lord and Savior we claim to serve. I apologize for the disunity within even our own church. I can't blame anyone who calls Christians hypocritical--we want everyone to come to Christ, yet we can't agree on how we're supposed to do that, and in some cases we killed each other over these decisions!

I apologize for our political failures. So many Christians have made the Republican Party an extension of God. We've rejected liberal ideas as ungodly. Let me set the record straight: God is not a Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Socialist, Communist, or fascist. To live and believe that He has any political preference is foolishness. (Certainly there are Christians who honestly have more conservative political preferences. I find no fault there, I would merely like to acknowledge that those who think left-wing ideas are somehow sinful because they are left-wing are in the wrong.)

To make a long post short, my fellow Christians and I have tacked on so many superfluous things to the Gospel. What began as a message of hope and freedom has become one synonymous with ignorance. Christianity deserves every stereotype it has been given. So I would like to take the opportunity to try to bring it back to basics.

I believe God made the world and everything in it...somehow.

I believe God gave man the choice to serve Him or the self, and man chose the latter, bringing sin into the world. I believe that blood must be shed to pay for these sins.

I believe God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to live a perfect life and bear all the sins mankind had ever committed or will ever commit. I believe he died and rose again, defeating sin and death once and for all.

I believe that all it takes to enter heaven is to accept that the above is true. I also believe that I could never give this idea the explication it deserves.

I believe that true Christianity makes caring, charitable, kind, loving individuals. I do not believe that Christianity makes life perfect, but I do believe there's a certain peace in knowing a loving Father God is watching my back.

I do not believe that God will be standing outside the gates of heaven with a checklist, making sure all who enter are judgmental, ignorant and unloving, as the stereotypes have made Christians out to be.

Why am I writing this? Not because I'm the perfect Christian or because I have some delusion that I can undo our errors. I'm writing this to help non-Christians realize that the Christianity they rightfully hate is not Christianity at all.

I believe Christianity is both so much less and so much more than we have made it out to be.

--Mike.
(Yes, I know you know that I wrote this. But I started this like a letter, so I have to end it like one. Yes, I'm a dork.)
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Now playing: Project 86 - The Sanctuary Hum
(How appropriate! http://www.allthelyrics.com/song/1052861/)

Politics again.

How many times can I handle my own family members saying that a national healthcare system will destroy our country before I go insane?

So America was founded on the blood, sweat and tears of the individual? False. The founders were a bunch of guys who didn't want to pay taxes and maybe some beliefs in individual rights that many had preached before them.

Hard work should bring success, yes. (Obviously chance plays a role, but let's not get into that.) But that doesn't mean the government should be denied the right to lend a helping hand.

Frankly, I'd rather see a government that actively helps those who need it (and maybe those who don't deserve it) than one that insides on siding with the greedy misers that I see spouting off about the evils of healthcare.

There are plenty of intelligent arguments against the healthcare bill. But there is nothing sinful about a government helping out its people. Want to disagree? Then let's go back in time and see how you like the Great Depression without FDR's help.

Yeah, I'm kinda ticked off right now.

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Now playing: Styx - Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)

Sacrilege

Yesterday I went biking. The weather was just too good to pass it up.

I decided to break my normal routine of just doing laps around my neighborhood. I went straight out past the old high school and realized I wasn't far from my old church. So I biked around the parking lot for nostalgia's sake.

On my way home I saw three people; they could have been son, father and grandfather. The father was talking to the grandfather, and the kid was standing there. I couldn't discern his age--he could have been a very hefty thirteen-year-old or a slightly-bigger-than-normal fifteen-year old. He might have been playing basketball--there was one in his arms. But what I saw was a phone with a QWERTY keyboard. He was texting with both hands.

All around him spring was lighting up the sky, heralding winter's defeat. And I, the kid who spends the vast majority of his life indoors, was outside, engaging in an activity that I've loved for a good decade. (To be fair, I was listening to my iPod, and I would take occasional breaks to text Diana.)

There was something almost sacrilegious about this scene.

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Now playing: Styx - The Grand Illusion

One of those band-related posts.

Yes, I know some of you readers aren't in marching band...try to bear with me.

So today was one of those long days. Drumline from 7:15-4:45 or so. It was a pretty good show; first place, our score went up, and the judges had only good things to say about the basses. But it was the conversation afterwards that got me thinking.

I mentioned to Perry (our drumline director, for you uninformed souls) that I was going to the University of Maryland (with every passing day I feel more certain of that) and joining its 275-member marching band. And then he told me a story of a former Mirage (aka Souderton's drumline, for you uninformed) member who took everything in band really seriously. And he hated college band (oddly enough, at Syracuse, one of my top schools)--it was too lax, nobody bothered to learn warmups, etc. etc. I've heard that story before...I've just thought that I'd be able to adjust and appreciate college band for what it is--a good time with a bunch of kids playing really loud. There's no real alternative--I'm a sax player mostly, and drum corps (basically marching band on steroids--unofficially, "Major League Marching Band") don't accept woodwinds. And I don't have the chops (skills...gosh, people, LEARN MY MARCHING BAND LINGO) to play drums in corps...

Perry thinks otherwise. Yeah, I wouldn't be marching a major corps (for you band geeks, do I REALLY look like I could march for Phantom Regiment or Blue Devils? Yeah...no.) But I could be in a small corps.

That was a bit of a shock. I'm realizing that my life is just missing something without marching band or drumline, despite all the trials and tribulations that come with them. And if college band is really all that bad...

Part of the reason I want to go to Maryland so badly is for the band--I'd eliminate schools from my search solely because they lacked marching bands. But what if college marching band is really all that terrible? Could I really live without marching band? Doubt it.

Suddenly, marching corps is sounding like a better and better idea. And I've always liked playing drums more than sax anyway. Yeah, there's the money thing (it's EXPENSIVE), but honestly...band and drumline channel my focus and energy like nothing else in my life. And I'm a competitive person--it doesn't get much more competitive than drum corps. I know I can't cut it in the music industry, but performing music for a crowd is thrilling. So I'll consider marching a corps.

I never thought I'd see the day that I could seriously consider that.

Sorry for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about.
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Now playing: Living Sacrifice - Nietzsche's Madness

Moments

So I was listening to Tourniquet on my way home from school today. (Shuffle is a great thing.) And a song came up I haven't listened to a year (according to my Last Played column in iTunes.) And it was totally awesome. Early in the song, I was remembering how cool the one part that came towards the end was. And when that moment hit, I was still as amazed as always.

See, I've held the belief for a while that music is all about moments--those split seconds where an earth-shattering revelation hits you (if the band has a really good lyricist) or every note just falls perfectly into place. So why not blog about it? These are some of the best moments I know to exist in music. We're not necessarily talking the best overall songs (though there is a loose correlation)--just the best parts, no more than ten seconds.

Tourniquet--The Skeezix Dilemma, Pt. 2 (The Improbable Testimony of the Pipsisewah
Yes, the title is obscenely wordy. (It's supposed to be an allegory for war between God and Satan...I think.) But the song is remarkably epic. It's one second short of ten minutes long, but you can't forget the beautiful, somber cello intro that starts it. Especially when at 7:43, that melody returns, this time soaring triumphantly on Aaron Guerra's guitar in double-time. I LOVE when bands incorporate previously used melodies like that, and in the context of the song, this is the best instance of that phenomenon.

Underoath--Too Bright to See, Too Loud to Hear
More than three minutes of ominous buildup and group chanting. Then it all cuts away but the chants and drums...then Aaron Gillespie wails "Still get us home!" and everything comes back in a maelstrom of musical perfection. It sends chills down my spine.

Anberlin--The Haunting
Again, about two minutes of acoustic buildup before the whole band erupts with one of the greatest stanzas Anberlin's ever created.

And Then There Were None--Reinventing Robert Cohn
Unlike any of the previous three bands, I can't consider ATTWN a personal favorite (though they certainly have potential). And unlike the previous three songs, this song is low on climactic drama--it's a dance track with some heavy guitars laid in. But when the singer's last repetition of "It just isn't there" fades away and your speakers nearly collapse from the following chorus, it's hard not to get drawn in.

Boston--Foreplay/Long Time
The acoustic guitar riff from the chorus is already catchy enough. And then they have to go and make it electric and throw the rest of the band in. Listen to that and try to convince me that Boston's not one of the best classic rock bands of all time.

The Classic Crime--The Beginning (A Simple Seed)
This song has TWO priceless moments. First: in the middle of an insanely catchy verse, Matt MacDonald pulls out a ridiculously corny but perfect line: "I've found the cure for my landlocked blues, it's coming home to you!" with just the right amount of passion. Then later he outdoes himself: after repeating "I let her go!" over and over, he fades away and lets a simple piano part take prominence in the midst of a raucous jam session. Awesome.

Dead Poetic--Glass in the Trees
I'm sure some of you know this. Brandon Rike laments his dead friend: "I took a vow to never forget you/ if you're still here then we'll wait for you to come back home!" Few singers can deliver that with such believable passion.

He is Legend--Either They Decorated for Christmas Early or They're All Dead
This whole song is just about perfect--but I'm just going to highlight the bridge that comes in after the last somber verse. Kicking the tempo up to double-time gets me EVERY TIME.

So on and so forth. I just realized now that this list is almost too long to be effective. But anyway: if you don't know these songs, FIX THAT.

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Now playing: Flobots - Cracks In the Surface
via FoxyTunes
(YES I HAVE IT.)

Daylight savings time. Argh.

Daylight Savings Time. Why?

Is it really important that we have one more hour of sun? (Why is DST in effect in June when there's already a ridiculous amount of sun, and the night is the best part of the day?)

All I know is that it deprived me of an hour of sleep on a night where I could have used a lot more of it. Darn you, DST. (Also, darn you, irony. See my last post.)

I vote in favor of a system that constantly 'falls back' an hour every six months. That way, we are periodically rewarded with a glorious hour of sleep...without having to pay it back in the spring! And how cool would it be to wake up in the middle of the afternoon and come back from school and IT'S MIDNIGHT-ISH OUTSIDE...

I think our heads would explode. And scientists would flip out at all the lost time. But still. It'd be fantastic.

Happy Pi Day, all.

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Now playing: Gorillaz - Three Hearts, Seven Seas, Twelve Moons
via FoxyTunes

(Just got it from Carter. Not sure what I think about it yet. I also got Constellations by August Burns Red--FINALLY.)

The Evils of Coffee...and band names!

I hate coffee. It tastes like liquid dirt. (Yes, that would be mud.)

I also think that natural selection will have erased this trait of mine from existence in 100 years or less. (I know that's abnormally fast. I'm making a point.)

I probably SHOULD enjoy coffee. Well, I do enjoy coffee from Starbucks where there's more dairy products than cacao beans. But otherwise, it tastes so bad that I can't drink enough to let the caffeine do anything. This is a problem. I'm an AP student which means I've got another semester of late nights staring at an online Calc textbook written in a language that only vaguely resembles English. And college will, doubtless, bring at least four more years of this self-induced sleep deprivation.

Here I must confess: my definition of "sleep deprivation" is six hours or less. When I grew up, staying up late was never a big deal to me--I went to bed as soon as I was tired. Only in the past two years or so did that really start to change. (Well, I still go to bed when I'm tired...and when my Calc and Lit homework is done.)

So maybe I'm not as good as running on four hours of sleep as the rest of my peers. (Honestly, how do you DO that?!) But I find myself with a strange thought.

Sleep is a cruel master.

Think about it. It only exists for us when we do nothing else, and it's one of the best parts of a long day. But thinking about how much/little sleep you're going to get at the end of the day only frustrates and disappoints and makes sleep more elusive. The more you think about sleep, the less likely you are to fall asleep. And with each passing year I sleep less (even this past summer was filled with early rising to go to colleges).

So either natural selection will make it easier for us to sleep, or we'll be able to function on less...I feel like those who can use more of the day to get work done will earn more money and rise to the top in a 21st-century version of natural selection. (Or maybe the sleepers just won't get any food and die off. In that case, I'm really screwed. Also, I'm totally addicted to parenthetical statements. Sorry.)

Just some thoughts for you.

Here are some less serious thoughts. I've been keeping a running list of things I've said in everyday conversation or things that just popped into my head that I think would make great band names (not that I plan on starting a band or anything...it just seems cool.) So go ahead, comment away on the ones you like, or start your own list of what you'd potentially name a band. (By the way, these are my Top 10. The rejects included less serious names, like A Sudden Craving for Mutton. I have no idea how that came up in my head.)

1. This Night Surrounds Me (sounds kinda emo, but I like it a lot. Indirectly inspired by Emery's song "Dear Death, Part 1" which has the line "Esta' noche sera' mia" which translates to "This night will be mine," but 'sera'' sounds like 'surround'...it makes sense to me.

2. The Victory Sporadic (Inspired by another band named A Constant Sporadic...I'm jealous of how cool that name is.)

3. Silver Thunder (What I name all my Rock Band/ Guitar Hero bands.)

4. Constant Chapter (Origin unknown. It's right next to "Constant Crash" in my original list.)

5. The Chorus of Failure (What I used to label the sound of multiple people losing The Game at once.)

6. In Hopeless Protest (Not sure where I got that.)

7. Afterhand (Why is there 'beforehand' but no 'afterhand'?)

8. Red Dawn (One of the longest-running candidates for a band name, [yes, I've been making up imaginary bands in my head for years], up there with Graysong and Paranoia 5. Where that last one came from, I have no clue.)

9. Thoughtspace (Just a cool word.)

10. The Albatross Company (Sounds like an indie band, no?)

...Yeah, I'm really weird.



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Now playing: Passenger - Table For One
via FoxyTunes