While this is not a new topic for me to discuss, I felt the urge to "unleash [my] word hoard" and address the topic once more. Many of my dear friends, even though I have expressed my disillusion with dating, still ask me wether or not I date. This seems to be on account of time spent with certain parties, and it has led even myself to question the integrity of my reslove.
What is dating? Dating is derived from the concept of courtship, in which a man expresses his feelings for a young woman and gains permission to pursue her with the intent of perhaps marrying her. It was a serious thing, and set up as such. Courtship has, over the years, dissolved into the much less formal form of "dating", in which a young man asks a young woman (rather than her father) if he might spend time with that girl. From my perspective, the majority of the intentions for dating are based upon pure emotional spazms. People date because they have some sort of physical attraction to eachother. They date because they think that the either party is "hot" or "sexy".
Now I'm being rather blunt and scientific about things, but this is just the way things seem to be. Dating doesn't seem to be about commitment like courtship was. In courtship, there was a covenant formed between the two families. In dating, relationships can last as long as a few days, just as long as the two parties are enchanted with eachother. There's no sense of permanence.
Introduction aside, I'd like to address the main point. What makes dating any different from just spending time with a certain person? What if two people run in the same circles (to use a very Jane Austen-ish term) and end up spending most of their time together?
Dating is based upon the two parties consent to date eachother. For that matter, so does courtship (and anything else besides arranged marriage I suppose). Without consent, those two parties are not dating.
Being a teenager (though never in the public school system), I can say that the teen culture thrives upon dating. It is like it is a necessity for life. When I tell people that I don't date, I get either the response that "oh thats cool" or some exclamation of disbelief. There are a few of us, it seems that are fed up with the dating scene, but that is not so much the point of this duscussion.
How can one let people know that one is not dating such and such a person? Mere repition will get the point across to some degree, but that does not ultimatley solve the problem. People still look at the two people and think that even though they deny the idea that they are dating, they still are.
Oh the glorious position of being "just friends". Mere friendship rids one of any of the complications of courtship. If one is just friends with someone of the opposite sex, that does not mean that, someday, further relationship might result, but at the time being that is not the goal of the relationship. This is the relationship that has been forgotten in the teen world. The assumption is that, in order to have any feeling about a person of the opposite sex, you have to have some sort of relationship resulting in dating. I would challenge this assumption.
I don't want to date. It is, honestly, the last thing I need right now. I don't care for the drama wrapped up with dating either. I'd much rather just be friends with a girl than date her at this point.
Now a question that comes to mind which challenges my view is "what will I do once I have to court and marry?" The way I plan it, everyone will be more mature by the time I'm ready to marry. Courtship cuts out much of the drama which dating carries along with it. I will court when I am ready to marry, and I am certainly not ready to marry yet.
The fact is, I don't see why everyone has to assume that teenagers date. Perhaps thats just because of our culture which supports teen dating. I don't think there is anything beneficial about it. I am and will remain single till I am ready to marry, and I'm darn proud of it.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Thoughts on Tradition in the Church
Now, I don't really have time for a post, but this issue is bugging me so I thought that I'd get it out.
So I was in Nevada City a few weekends ago, and my uncle and aunt mentioned that there was a "mandala" exhibit at the "St. Joseph's Cultural Center". Now, for those of you who don't know what a mandala is, if you type in mandala on Miriam Webster's website, you will get "Hindu or Buddhist graphic symbol of the universe; specifically : a circle enclosing a square with a deity on each side". This was a sand drawing. The monks would take turns, bending over this 3' by 3' table, adding to this immensly intricate 2' by 2' design. It was incredible to say the least. And I can say that because I would last probably 3 minutes doing that kind of a job. But these monks had been going at it for weeks. And what would they do when they were finished? They would take it and blow it into the Yuba River. Thats buddhist philosophy for you.
Now, the issue is not how amazing this was, the issue is where it took place. They had set up camp in one of three interrelated structures. There is St. Patricks Roman Catholic Church, there is St. Mary's Parish School (which I might add has been around for over 150 years, quite impressive) and there is St. Joseph's Cultural Center. St. Joseph's Cultural Center, if I'm not mistaken, is the old church which they turned into an open venue when St. Patricks went up just across the street. What I don't get is why this Church, and so many other Churches around the country allow a religion, which is so contrary to Christianity, to come under their roof and advertise their religion. I know that we ought to be charitable, but doesn't this seem wrong? Is this just America?
So I was in Nevada City a few weekends ago, and my uncle and aunt mentioned that there was a "mandala" exhibit at the "St. Joseph's Cultural Center". Now, for those of you who don't know what a mandala is, if you type in mandala on Miriam Webster's website, you will get "Hindu or Buddhist graphic symbol of the universe; specifically : a circle enclosing a square with a deity on each side". This was a sand drawing. The monks would take turns, bending over this 3' by 3' table, adding to this immensly intricate 2' by 2' design. It was incredible to say the least. And I can say that because I would last probably 3 minutes doing that kind of a job. But these monks had been going at it for weeks. And what would they do when they were finished? They would take it and blow it into the Yuba River. Thats buddhist philosophy for you.
Now, the issue is not how amazing this was, the issue is where it took place. They had set up camp in one of three interrelated structures. There is St. Patricks Roman Catholic Church, there is St. Mary's Parish School (which I might add has been around for over 150 years, quite impressive) and there is St. Joseph's Cultural Center. St. Joseph's Cultural Center, if I'm not mistaken, is the old church which they turned into an open venue when St. Patricks went up just across the street. What I don't get is why this Church, and so many other Churches around the country allow a religion, which is so contrary to Christianity, to come under their roof and advertise their religion. I know that we ought to be charitable, but doesn't this seem wrong? Is this just America?
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Chop Suey!: Lyrical questions.
Well, I thought that I might do something different here. I am always interested to know the meaning of the songs which I listen to. Sometimes they are quite simple, I even listen to a few songs in which I am sure they are using nonsense words. But there are a few bands which actually have something to say. I end up liking those bands the best. One particular song that I have been confused about is "Chop Suey" by System of a Down. (By the way, a system of a down is a system which does not function properly anymore.) Here are the lyrics to that song (taken from their website).
Wake up,
Grab a brush and put a little (makeup),
Grab a brush and put a little,
Hide the scars to fade away the (shakeup)
Hide the scars to fade away the,
Why'd you leave the keys upon the table?
Here you go create another fable
You wanted to,
Grab a brush and put a little makeup,
You wanted to,
Hide the scars to fade away the shakeup,
You wanted to,
Why'd you leave the keys upon the table,
You wanted to,
I don't think you trust,
In, my, self righteous suicide,
I, cry, when angels deserve to die, Die,
Wake up,
Grab a brush and put a little (makeup),
Grab a brush and put a little,
Hide the scars to fade away the (shakeup)
Hide the scars to fade away the,
Why'd you leave the keys upon the table?
Here you go create another fable
You wanted to,
Grab a brush and put a little makeup,
You wanted to,
Hide the scars to fade away the shakeup,
You wanted to,
Why'd you leave the keys upon the table,
You wanted to,
I don't think you trust,
In, my, self righteous suicide,
I, cry, when angels deserve to die
In my, self righteous suicide,
I, cry, when angels deserve to die
Father, Father, Father, Father,
Father/ Into your hands/I/commend my spirit,
Father, into your hands,
Why have you forsaken me,
In your eyes forsaken me,
In your thoughts forsaken me,
In your heart forsaken, me oh,
Trust in my self righteous suicide,
I, cry, when angels deserve to die,
In my self righteous suicide,
I, cry, when angels deserve to die.
It looks awkward as it is, but the song actually flows fairly smoothly. If you go to my myspace account at http://www.myspace.com/forlackofaname you should be able to listen to it.
What always had me curious (and I'm sure you too), was the fact that he quoted Christ during the last half of the song. System of a Down isn't a Christian band (or at least they don't seem to be... at all), and many accounts say that they aren't religious at all. The "Father, why have you forsaken me?" could simply be a desperate depressed outlook on life, but thats not exactly System of a Down's outlook. They put a lot of emphasis on coruption in government, but they don't seem to get explicitly desperate at all.
Another phrase which interested me was "self righteous suicide". Most people seem to have heard the word "suicide" and automatically think they're talking about killing themselves. But "self righteous suicide" isn't quite simple. If one is righteous, then he is "in accord with divine or moral law" and "free from guilt or sin" (Miriam-Webster). So if one is self righteous, one would know "in his heart" that he is guiltless and in the right. Correct? So a self righteous suicide would be if one knew he was right but threw it all away. Please inform me if I'm missing any logic, I really am having a hard time with this one. It does not, however, seem to be so bad a thing. It sounds almost like sacrifice.
Mr. Serj Talakian (the lead singer of System of a Down) says that he cries "when angels deserve to die". This seems like more of a religious question. One might automatically say (and many have) "what does he mean? angels can't die". It seems to be more of a symbolic phrase. An angel who deserves to die might be a person who you think is such a grand creature, but has commited an atrocity. It definatley has an emotional background.
Theres a great ammount of emotion in this song to begin with. A song can have emotion but it needs to have something more there so that it doesn't just fall apart. I'm not entirely sure what it means so I'm not entirely sure if the song holds together. The general idea of the song seems to denote betrayal. Such as a wife having an affair. The affair part justifies the "I cry when angels deserve to die" phrase. The "Father why have you forsaken me?" phrase denotes the pain that is inflicted in that kind of situation. Theres a theory, and it looks like it fits.
Wake up,
Grab a brush and put a little (makeup),
Grab a brush and put a little,
Hide the scars to fade away the (shakeup)
Hide the scars to fade away the,
Why'd you leave the keys upon the table?
Here you go create another fable
You wanted to,
Grab a brush and put a little makeup,
You wanted to,
Hide the scars to fade away the shakeup,
You wanted to,
Why'd you leave the keys upon the table,
You wanted to,
I don't think you trust,
In, my, self righteous suicide,
I, cry, when angels deserve to die, Die,
Wake up,
Grab a brush and put a little (makeup),
Grab a brush and put a little,
Hide the scars to fade away the (shakeup)
Hide the scars to fade away the,
Why'd you leave the keys upon the table?
Here you go create another fable
You wanted to,
Grab a brush and put a little makeup,
You wanted to,
Hide the scars to fade away the shakeup,
You wanted to,
Why'd you leave the keys upon the table,
You wanted to,
I don't think you trust,
In, my, self righteous suicide,
I, cry, when angels deserve to die
In my, self righteous suicide,
I, cry, when angels deserve to die
Father, Father, Father, Father,
Father/ Into your hands/I/commend my spirit,
Father, into your hands,
Why have you forsaken me,
In your eyes forsaken me,
In your thoughts forsaken me,
In your heart forsaken, me oh,
Trust in my self righteous suicide,
I, cry, when angels deserve to die,
In my self righteous suicide,
I, cry, when angels deserve to die.
It looks awkward as it is, but the song actually flows fairly smoothly. If you go to my myspace account at http://www.myspace.com/forlackofaname you should be able to listen to it.
What always had me curious (and I'm sure you too), was the fact that he quoted Christ during the last half of the song. System of a Down isn't a Christian band (or at least they don't seem to be... at all), and many accounts say that they aren't religious at all. The "Father, why have you forsaken me?" could simply be a desperate depressed outlook on life, but thats not exactly System of a Down's outlook. They put a lot of emphasis on coruption in government, but they don't seem to get explicitly desperate at all.
Another phrase which interested me was "self righteous suicide". Most people seem to have heard the word "suicide" and automatically think they're talking about killing themselves. But "self righteous suicide" isn't quite simple. If one is righteous, then he is "in accord with divine or moral law" and "free from guilt or sin" (Miriam-Webster). So if one is self righteous, one would know "in his heart" that he is guiltless and in the right. Correct? So a self righteous suicide would be if one knew he was right but threw it all away. Please inform me if I'm missing any logic, I really am having a hard time with this one. It does not, however, seem to be so bad a thing. It sounds almost like sacrifice.
Mr. Serj Talakian (the lead singer of System of a Down) says that he cries "when angels deserve to die". This seems like more of a religious question. One might automatically say (and many have) "what does he mean? angels can't die". It seems to be more of a symbolic phrase. An angel who deserves to die might be a person who you think is such a grand creature, but has commited an atrocity. It definatley has an emotional background.
Theres a great ammount of emotion in this song to begin with. A song can have emotion but it needs to have something more there so that it doesn't just fall apart. I'm not entirely sure what it means so I'm not entirely sure if the song holds together. The general idea of the song seems to denote betrayal. Such as a wife having an affair. The affair part justifies the "I cry when angels deserve to die" phrase. The "Father why have you forsaken me?" phrase denotes the pain that is inflicted in that kind of situation. Theres a theory, and it looks like it fits.
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