“I live in the Managerial Age, in a world of “Admin.” The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid “dens of crime” that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices. Hence, naturally enough, my symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or the office of a thoroughly nasty business concern.”
― C.S. Lewis, from the preface of The Screwtape Letters
Evil creep. It’s a thing. Ancient evils slither into our lives through bureaucracies and policies. The pencil pushers who just want to do their jobs are of the devil.
And sometimes that’s hilarious.
You should watch Codefellas, a short animated series about two NSA agents, one old-school, one new. The mundane creep of great evil can be pretty funny in these writers’ hands. And do watch it until the end. The entire series should take you twenty minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHz7iYMqSZQ&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PLibNZv5Zd0dwAkwoZtRHfn3tPsdOy-VuF<>
Do you think it is right/Christ like to post videos that have profanity on it and talks about sex like it is nothing?
I do, or I wouldn’t have posted it. Is your asking a rhetorical question instead of directly criticizing me your way of being more Christlike?
Oh I am sorry. Let me put it into a statement.
Ephesians 4:29
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
1 Corinthians 6:18
18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.
James 1:27
27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
To be frank I thought you may have maded a mistake. I never thought a Christian man would post such ungodly things. But am I wrong to think that? Is the Word of God wrong?
Are your last two questions one and the same?
Does it really matter? Please show me why you think it is okay to post such ungodly and sinful videos in light of the scripture.
I will not, sir. That is the point of my questions. Your comments are rhetorical cheats, not legitimate questions. I don’t have conversations with people who aren’t actually having conversations.
If you are interested in the subject, there are plenty of resources online.
Okay Clark, I’ll address your scriptural remarks.
On Ephesians: That’s not really about swearing. A swear word is not the same thing as “corrupting talk” in any real way. Corrupting talk is the act of saying things that have hateful, dishonest, or destructive intent. A swear word is simply a word that is not considered polite in most conversations. The intent is what is important, though. There are numerous places in the Bible itself where we see words like “damn” that could be considered swear words in contemporary English, but there is nothing immoral about that because they are not used in a corrupting manner. So the takeaway is that a swear word can be perfectly scripturally acceptable, and words that are not taboo on their own can be corrupting, depending on how they are used. For example, your words in this conversation have been extremely (and seemingly deliberately) hostile and judgmental. That is not a Godly attitude, and I think the way you’ve addressed this post has demonstrated corrupting language to a far greater degree than the simple use of a few swear words ever could.
On Corinthians: Talking about sex is not the same thing as committing sexually immoral actions. Again, we can find places throughout the Bible that talk about sex either directly or indirectly, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Song of Solomon in particular is a very sexually charged book of the Bible. That doesn’t make it evil or wrong, and it certainly doesn’t mean that by reading or sharing that section of scripture a person is somehow committing a sexually sinful act. Much like the use of swear words, simply talking about sex is in no way sinful. This is another situation where the context and intention is what matters. What you’re doing here, advocating obedience to the letter of the law without concern for what is in the heart, is exactly what Jesus so forcefully rebuked the Pharisees for doing. Don’t avoid talking about sex, avoid sexual corruption.
On James: Observing what is in the world is very different from allowing yourself to be polluted by the world. Jesus ventured amongst the dregs of society, and he encouraged his disciples to do the same. A good Christian should not flee from the realities of the world, he (or she) should put himself in their path and attempt to learn from them how best to help the members of this world. Do you think Jesus healed lepers or forgave prostitutes by isolating himself from unpleasantness, or do you think he waded into the muck and came out clean on the other side? If you are not capable of experiencing and learning from something because it offends your social sensibilities, and you cannot adapt to a different set of ideas than you feel comfortable with for the sake of spreading your faith, then you are not being Christlike, you are being prudish.
1 Corinthians 9: 19-23 (NIV) Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
That’s not exactly the rallying cry of somebody saying we should all hide under a box and avoid the dirty things in life. Rather, it’s Paul telling us we should be willing to get our hands dirty and expose ourselves to many different things in this world in the name of faith.
I hope that is a complete enough response to your concerns.
Wow Patrick! Thank you so much! I am so glad to get a response back. As I read through your comment I could not but think how I spoke wrong. I guess I commented without thinking it through.
I have always wondered about swear words. Who is to say what is right or wrong….(Not to be postmodern) Then I considered what the words are. None of them are clean. All of them are spoken to tear down. Or to make light of what God has made weighty, like damnation or hell. So yes, you are right it is how you use them. But let’s face it the f word cannot be used in public conversation in any positive way. If you try it will be like trying to clean a pig in it’s mud hole. The pig will get mad at you and you will get dirty.
Now as far as it goes with sex. My problem with the video is that it made jokes about sex. It treated it as nothing.
How should we as Christians take these verses?
Ephesians 5:2-4,
3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
Does this mean we should never talk about sex. (Note that is not my view.) Or should we never make jokes about it. Because, sex is to precious of a thing that represent the union of Christ and the Church. Or is there another reason? What do you think?
On getting our hands dirty for the Gospel. There is a line. Jesus ate with sinners, taxes collectors, hookers and such. But note, he never indulged in their sin.
2 Corinthians 6:17
Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you,
We are to be different from the world. Just look at Eph 4. However, the Word also proclaims in 1 Corinthians 5: 9-10, “I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.”
On one hand, we should be not like the world but on the other hand we are going to rub shoulders with it. So what is a child of God to do?
Are you really not man enough to show from scripture what you believe about this subject? If I am wrong please show me.
I found the satire and nuance of these shorts to be spot-on. I appreciated the levity in dealing with the reality of an encroaching surveillance bureaucracy. One character flaw which I think is often overlooked, but is highlighted here, is taking oneself or one’s organization too seriously.
True that. Glad you enjoyed it. I also liked the demonic twist at the end. There is something demonic about the way these organizations wield power.