Inappropriate Conversations

Exactly 30 years ago tonight (from the time of this posting) I was the victim of an armed robbery, staring down the barrel of a gun. I know a bit about courage, not because I demonstrated such resolve in the face of fear, but because I didn't. Nothing about that experience changed or solidified my perspective on gun control or gun violence. It did bring other changes, though, like maturity in facing my fears. Different Drummer: Joni Mitchell Behind the song: "A Case Of You"

True fidelity probably isn't about never being in a position to say "yes" to a temptation. Don't get me wrong, that's a smart way to live. Fidelity means a bit more, though, when you've summoned the strength to say "no" to such a temptation. I can speak to this from experience, and I'll refer to three specific occasions. One story I've never mentioned before on Inappropriate Conversations. Another is a follow-up to a story a partially relayed in #IC 107 "Eulogy For Homophobia." Even further back, the last story refers to characters (in every sense of the word) that I introduced in #IC 52 "First Person Comedy." There is a sense in which the words "I didn't" are just as important as the words "I do." Different Drummer: James Joyce

Should we tax adultery into oblivion or merely minister to its casualties? No, I don't really believe that using taxation as a punitive fine will stamp out infidelity in marriage, but it would stand a better chance of succeeding than other methods of "legislating morality." When I was a child, a wise man in our church taught me that the real answer to divorce is setting aside the urge to cast judgment and surrounding those dealing with the consequence of shattered relationships with the love of Christ. I wish the church today was filled with such wise people. Different Drummer: John Hughes

In challenging emotional and ethical decisions related to the end of life, we are often told that no one can make that decision.  "These matters belong to God," for example.  Regardless of your religious beliefs, there is something false in such statements.  By taking the ownership and responsibility for a life away from the person living that life, the control doesn't disappear completely; instead, it goes elsewhere and typically to those who neither know nor love the person facing the dilemma.  The answer to the "whose life is it?" question simply cannot be the government, insurance agencies, hospitals, or politically active strangers. Different Drummer: Reba McEntire

The Nativity storyline runs throughout popular culture, but we often fail to notice even at Christmas time.  Whether we don't expect it, or accept it, when it is told through rap music or in films like The Matrix, it's not hard to find examples of a chosen one entering into a dangerous and fallen world with a destiny to restore and renew.  I hope you find the hope of Christmas in unexpected places this year.  After all, "It's Christmas, Yes It Is"! Different Drummer: Phil Manzanera

With all the talk about Mayan calendars and the end of the world, it is past time to discuss Christian understandings, and misunderstandings, about end-times prophecies.  The New Testament in the Bible contains more than one.  More often than not, though, Christians fail to recognize fulfilled prophecy and presume instead that everything in a book like Revelations refers to future events.  For those living in Jerusalem, though, the world (or, more precisely, the "Jewish Age") ended centuries ago.  There can be serious consequences when we fail to acknowledge the past, including events in history when the Bible itself was still being written. Different Drummer: John (of Patmos?)

After speaking boldly about questions of sexual identity and unacceptable answers presented by the "religious right," it's important to turn the other cheek.  I do not speak as someone who has always stood up for the rights of non-heterosexuals.  No, I understand homophobia because I have experienced it.  I have felt that irrational fear; and, even though I was much younger then, it's still important to put it to rest.  I've recently seen a hashtag on Twitter -- #LeaveItIn2012.  Let's leave homophobia in 2012.  Ashes to ashes. Different Drummer: Freddie Mercury