Enough already!
Before I even post this, I want to say "I KNOW!". I know what some are going to say. I'm flying off the cuff. I'm an alarmist. I'm a crazy fundamentalist. Blah blah blah. Either way, this is crazy-go-nuts.
My best friend is working in Korea, and has been for a year now. We've often talked about how gender roles are super confused in Korean culture, with boys trying their best to be effeminate...wearing lipstick, pink tight shirts, etc. No kidding.
And, I've been involved off and on in debates and conversations about gender issues over here, including doing some writing regarding the current "ordination of women" debate in the Mennonite Brethren circles.
Anyway, my friend and I were recently talking and he sent me a link to a youtube site, which was a video be a Korean artist named "Ha RiSu". I watched it and thought it was just another K-pop girl dancing around and singing and whatnot. Here's the link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=jy3nt2nOOiU&search=harisu
After I watched a bit, he told me that the "she" is a "he". Excuse me? But yes, that's a "him"...a "him" who's had a sex change, but a "him" none the less. So we kept talking and I realized that Korea has a growing fascination with 'transgendered' pop stars. Now, Korea has a growing 'transgendered' pop scene. There's a group called "Lady" that is cutting tunes over there. Here's a link to a news story from last March:
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200503/200503270008.html
And here's a link to their blog:
http://blogpage.com/UserPage/Lady/index.asp
It's, uh, something. I'm not going to say that Canada is headed for that level of gender confusion...(the kids in my friend's hogwan think it's 'cool' and such...*sigh*), but it's interesting...albeit quite sad. I may do some research into Korean history sometime to see how 'traditional' male/female roles have been so completely overturned and lost. Anyway, just some thoughts. What are your thoughts? Until Next Time,
The Armchair Theologian
posted by The Armchair Geek at 8:56 PM
9 Comments:
interesting thoughts. i would reckon that there is truly nothing new under the sun when it comes to evils.
trends in extremist behaviours and acceptance fluctuate from conservative to nasty and back again. they rarely return right back though. therefore, i would say that exposure to the evils committed to be accepted continues.
evil continues, whether right in our faces or not. extremist behaviour makes way for more of the same behaviour after acceptance is encouraged for long enough. though it is a process and not just a straight line.
Mark once defined evil as a twisting of good. As far as our view is swayed from what is good, what isn't good looks less and less evil. Even though evil is evil, we become accustomed. i.e. the boiling frog
1:09 PM
Okay...I'm apparently completely out of touch with our culture. I turned on CBC today and saw the American equivalent of "lady". They're called "The Kinsey Sicks" and they're a 'Dragapella' group...cross dressers who sing accapella.
Oh my word. What in the world?!
Yeah...so I'm officially a schmo. North America isn't far behind Korea at all...DOH!
8:27 PM
Here's an idea....don't judge people that you don't even know. If someone in Korea makes a choice in their life that makes them truly happy and comfortable with themselves then who are you to deem them 'evil' from a story you heard or blog that you read.
People from minority groups such as transgendered, homosexual, etc. face challenges everyday and are perhaps some of the bravest and strongest people in our world because of it....they are not making the world go from "bad to worse". It is those who live with biases and intolerance in their hearts who make the world a hostile place.
I completely understand that everyone has a right to their own views and opinions...I only wish that people would think about how their words may affect others.
8:27 PM
1. Here's a quote from our resident anonymous poster:
"Here's an idea....don't judge people that you don't even know."
Does this mean we've met? (see the third point for further explanation)
2. I didn't deem anyone 'evil', and I don't believe that Kirk did either. Behaviours can be 'righteous' and 'sinful', and I didn't call anyone 'evil', though people who commit 'evil deeds' are 'evil people'...just like people who steal are called 'thieves' and people who eat way too much are called 'gluttons'.
How can I judge the morality of a deed? Well, I cannot. GOD can, and he's given me a little moral measuring stick in the Bible. If God says something is wicked or evil, then it's wicked or evil.
"Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." - 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
God puts homosexual offenders in the same pot as other 'wicked' people...so I'm simply playing parrot. God said it so I'm repeating it.
3. I love your comment when you say:
"It is those who live with biases and intolerance in their hearts who make the world a hostile place."
So, does your bias and intolerance against my Christian worldview lump you in with those who make the world a hostile place? Are we both making the world worse with our intolerance, or does that standard ONLY apply to my stinky Christian worldview?
Fire away!
1:48 AM
All I am saying is that all people deserve respect for the choices that they make. If I offended you and your views then I apologize as that was not my intention. I respect your Christian views and am not telling you to change them. I simply wanted to make the point that I do not believe that people should go out of their way to insult those who have done no harm. Homosexuals are not "offenders" they are people. Until an individual harms another they have not committed an offence. All I am saying is think about who your words affect because you never know who might be homosexual, transgendered, etc. I may not completely agree with your world views but I will not call you 'sinful' for them.
10:17 AM
I was going to give you a bunch of questions, Mr/Mrs/Ms Anonymous, but I only have two. I'm interested in your answers.
1. Which choice demands respect?
2. Do ALL choices demand respect, even horrific ones like murder, or is respect demanded ONLY of choices that don't immediately and directly physically injure someone?
9:44 PM
I said "demands" but I meant "deserves"...doh.
11:46 PM
I really don't think continuing this conversation/debate is worthwhile. Judging from the rest of your posts and others people's comments this will just keep going in circles.
I'm not trying to change your views - I just wish Christians could learn a little acceptance.
1:24 PM
I try to love people who are caught in sin. I have friends who are gay/lesbian/transgendered and I still invite them over for barbeques. I don't call them "fags" and I don't tell them to "turn or burn". I try to treat them with respect and dignity, and I tell them the same jokes that I tell everyone else.
I don't pretend that sin isn't sin though; my gay friends and I have conversations from time to time, and I don't hide the fact that they live in sin. I ALSO don't pretend that I'm any better than them; we both have sin in our lives that needs to be dealt with, but IF either one of us doesn't deal with sin:
"The wages of sin is death" - Romans 6:23.
If I wallow in sin like a pig in the mud, basking in my pride, engulfed in my lust, enjoying my idolatry, and so on, I will reap the wages that are due me. God will give me what's coming to me; eternal seperation from him and eternal suffering in hell. God won't "send" me to hell; I'll choose it.
And it's only in the creditting of Christ's righteousness to be applied AGAINST the infinite debt of my sin that I have any hope at all. I'm not perfect and I'm NOT sinless. I would never claim to be, nor should any Chrisian. Jesus was perfect and he was sinless, and:
"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." - 2 Corinthians 5:21.
It's the same for myself as it is for any other sinner, whether that sin be murder, lying, theft, adultery, idolatry, covetousness, rebellion, pride, anger, violence, drunkeness, OR homosexuality.
Homosexuality IS sin like any other; the Bible is crystal clear on that. Between 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 and Leviticus 18:22 (the straighforward declaration passages) or any of the other passages that talk about homosexuality and homosexual acts being wicked (Romans 1:26-32, Leviticus 18-19), the Bible makes it's position on homosexuality clearly known.
And sin needs to be dealt with, not accepted. Sinners, on the other hand, need to be loved and encouraged to repent, but they neither need to be accepted. To accept them and pretend like everything is fine is to condone their sin, communicating that it's 'all good'. If I did that I'd be showing them that I actually hate them, for I'd be showing that I don't care about them enough to try to avert them from the horribly dangerous path they're on.
8:27 AM
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