A Revision of Love

Well, I must admit that the previous post was a rather strange one. I wrote it in one of the strangest moods I’ve ever been in…and I’ve been in a lot of strange moods. (Side note: 2coopers, I’m reminded of my rendition of “spontaneous mood change” boy we captured on camera our freshmen year). It’s interesting in re-reading it because I had so many conflicting emotions and had no idea how to say them. What came out was a bizarre mixture of irony, sarcasm, and honesty…traits which, of course, are not all that unusual for me but sometimes their combination creates an interesting offspring. Hence, the “my answer of hate.” Well, here’s my attempt at breaking it down a bit.

I am slowly but surely re-entering the world of academic thought. I have been accepted to Vanderbilt University’s Divinity School for this fall on a 70% scholarship (which, according to dante, is the next highest below a full). So, needless to say, I feel quite honored (and I’m expecting free drinks over the next week from all of you – I also get dibs on the jukebox). Now, it’s not 100% that I’m going (simply b/c nothing is 100% for me) even though I’ve officially accepted but all intentions are to do so. Re-entering the world of academic thought requires leaving a world of relative comfort and apathy. So, there’s that. Then there was watching the Boston Legal episode and the V for Vendetta movie and then my mind was set on a crash course for induced schizophrenia. And I’m not even sure what that means.

My reaction to the two examples I gave in the post was that of great frustration and anger. I got really pissed off. Then I realized that this stuff had been going on for a while and I became more pissed off because I hadn’t been pissed off sooner. Then I realized no one else seemed pissed off so I got more pissed off. So I wrote a post trying to piss people off…which was only marginally successful (although my debate with shamuboo has apparently indulged my cravings).

What was originally intended to be a purely ironic post turned into irony mixed with sincerity. My answer of hate was intended to be a critique of what love has come to be in some (rather outspoken) circles. In other words, if that’s love (and their interpretation of those sayings from the Sermon on the Mount) then I’m all about the hate. If our reaction to those sayings had managed to produce such things as an unqualified patriotic idolatry and a group of homophobic shitbags that protest at military funerals, then, to put it mildly, we’ve got something to think about. If our rendition of the love spoken about in Scripture produces what is in reality an overt or covert hatred, then I’m gonna take the opposite road. So, to answer your confusion, no, I haven’t given up on love by any stretch, just their perversion of it.

Now, where it gets confusing is my piqued interest in the pragmatic possibilities of “hate” (a misnomer actually – I just used it earlier to rhyme and provoke – “violence” or “anger” might be more appropriate). There is something to be said here. I’m just trying to figure out how it’s best said. I’m working on a version of it in the novel I’m writing. Another version was in V for Vendetta, which I found quite compelling. When apathy, comfort, and idolatry reign, sometimes a trigger speaks louder than an olive branch. Again, I’m still working through all of this so try not to be too demanding for me to flesh it out with precision. It’s a work in progress. But I thought it would be wise to further clarify my last post.

I sincerely appreciate all of your responses to the last post and I have some things to say to them (which I will probably do under that thread). I am glad you reacted as if it were purely sincere rather than also ironic because it was more enlightening.

Oh, and yes…I pinch…