The following is a beautiful poem written by Liberty University student Bryan Rice for TWO. For those who don’t know, Liberty U. is the school that the late Rev. Jerry Falwell had founded.
Truth Wins Out
The truth is wrath, my dear friends
For all the world to see.
Tis hate you teach, you preach, you fools
In unjust bigotry.
Your boasting — full of untruth
Of vain hypocrisy
You pride your nature above mine
You fear of me to — be.
Truth wins out, and time will tell
On the morn of eternity
The hate you love — like all things else
Is simple irony.
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This poem makes a solid case for moral relativism.
Comment by Emily K — January 28, 2009 @ 5:19 pm
Simply Beautiful!
Comment by Jamie — January 28, 2009 @ 6:52 pm
[Comment deleted at moderator's discretion. I welcome constructive criticism of contributions; vague putdowns serve no useful purpose. -- Mike A.]
Comment by Keith — January 28, 2009 @ 10:38 pm
You can almost see Bryan Rice twittling his fingers in front of your face, and shouting: “JESUS!! BOOGAH-BOOGAH-BOOGAH!!! BE AFRAID!!”
There once was a preacher named Jerry Falwell
Now the gluttonous pig is roasting in hell.
Comment by Scott — January 29, 2009 @ 1:05 am
Wow. Talk about denial. He just insulted us with poetry. If I ever needs proof that homophobes make the Hugest closet cases…
Comment by Eric — January 29, 2009 @ 2:27 am
I don’t see any insults, homophobia, or closetry in the poem. I read the poem as a repudiation of hypocritical religious judgmentalism.
Comment by Michael Airhart — January 29, 2009 @ 3:59 pm
Eric,
Michael is right :-)
Comment by Bryan R. — January 30, 2009 @ 12:39 am
I’m sorry, jet lag and poor attention to prepositions (and imagined sarcasm I suppose) clouded my judgement. My god, that was such a masterful emulation of rhetoric it filtered right where it wasn’t supposed to go. I like to think of myself as a careful reader, and yet, bravo, my dear, bravo!
Comment by Eric — January 30, 2009 @ 9:33 am
“This poem makes a solid case for moral relativism.”
How so?
Comment by Eshto — January 30, 2009 @ 9:56 pm
What was it that prompted the poem besides the obvious?
Comment by Charlene Hios — January 30, 2009 @ 10:05 pm
To show that I do have functioning brain cells ;-) If I may speak for Emily, I believe it demonstrates moral relativism in the extent that it very cleverly uses hyper-christian rhetorical speaking for the very opposite purpose most “true christian” speech is intended for. It illustrates how a bunch of biblical sounding words and themes could be used to persecute or defend anything. And most importantly of all it demonstrates that just because they wave around a bible, their way of speaking demonstrates no evidence of piety or justice, and least of all truth.
Did I get that right Emily?
Comment by Eric — January 30, 2009 @ 11:46 pm
yeh, pretty much. But I chose mine b/c it had more brevity and I’m lazy.
Comment by Emily K — January 31, 2009 @ 12:55 pm
Eric,
While it is true that I use biblical rhetoric, I do not agree with the statement that it is the “opposite purpose of most ‘true christians.’” The reason that this is important is that “true Christianity” has been hijacked by what we have inevitably come to accept as Christianity in its most valid form. Literalism is anti-Christian; fundamentalism is as anti-Christian as Satan himself; and hate is as well. Unfortunately, GLTBQ have thought of themselves as “at war” with religious zeal; rather than that, we ought to recognize that in fact there is no condemnation on the basis of sexual orientation in “true Christianity.” Now, this might help convince you further of moral relativism, or it might help you to see the lies that have been propagated into being accepted and forced out by the vicious church. Martin Luther has reformed us once, but we are in dire need of a cleansing of idealogical falsehoods which have so clearly manufactured their way into the name of “christian.” We are in dire need of another revolution!
“I like your Christ. I do not like your christians. Your christians are so unlike your Christ.” ~~ Ghandi
Best wishes,
Bryan R
Comment by Bryan R. — January 31, 2009 @ 6:59 pm
Maybe this time it can be a reformer that doesn’t call for the universal burning of synagogues. Yeah, I’d like that.
Comment by Emily K — February 1, 2009 @ 4:25 am
Um, I think that goes without saying…
Comment by Bryan R. — February 1, 2009 @ 3:15 pm
While I’m very grateful that you clarified that, I guess I should have been more clear in the extent that I put “true christianity” in quotation marks for that very purpose. :-) I myself am a gay christian, and in spite of being raised Southern baptist, the beast modern christianity has evolved into both astounds and frightens me. There are many wonderful debates as to the true nature of christianity, however I’m certain the philosophy assumed by many congregations is simply not it (I recall even as far into the early 90′s when I was a child, race was still some what of a hot button issue) In any case, your absolutely right, I don’t believe human secularism and moral relativism should be predetermined fates of potentially religious gays, I’ve done modest study on the foundations of prejudice towards the LGBT and it all comes from a potent mixture of a lack of understanding, myths, fear, xenophobia, and good old fashioned bull Sh*t and therefore, I believe that we must take back our church that belongs to us as much as anyone else. Oh yeah, and keep the synagogues, I like my jewish friends :-)
Comment by Eric — February 2, 2009 @ 5:33 am
Eric,
Alas, it seems we both have managed to misread one-another. Oh, the ironic ambiguity in human communication! I apologize :-)
Comment by Bryan R. — February 2, 2009 @ 2:09 pm
Well it just goes to show the limitations of human interaction on the world wide web. I suspect that this would not have occurred in a real life conversation. However I think we can both be proud of the fact that we have both demonstrated that there is no ignorance in mistakes and misunderstandings. Only in the refusal to admit them…. *cough*hack*exodus*hork*sputter.
Comment by Eric — February 4, 2009 @ 7:33 pm