Inappropriate Conversations

We may hesitate to conclude that it's an act of violence to deny that someone exists or that he or she is real.  So much damage has been done, though, by denying that people are who they say they are and their rights can be compromised as a result.  This may be a quiet violence, but it cuts to the very core of what "human" even means in the context of human rights.  Evangelical Christianity has been increasingly guilty of this during the past five decades, and I call out a podcast that I've praised in the past as a frustrating example. Different Drummer: Harvey Milk Human Sexuality Is Complicated

Charges of liberal bias in the mainstream media fail to take into account the power of publishers as an authority that is likely to be more conservative than writers and editors.  At the same time, the rise of politically conservative and evangelical-Christian alternatives for "the press" have led many people to turn away from large media conglomerates altogether.  More and more citizens who aren't obsessed with ideology are getting their news and commentary online from blogs and podcasts, and it is making America surprisingly more like our colonial model than we would have expected. Different Drummer: Lee Strobel Many partisan-conservatives believe the media never ask hard questions of pro-choice candidates during debates and on the campaign trail.  It isn't because those questions are difficult to answer.  The second half of the show provides an off-the-cuff example.

Lore of the United States' "founding fathers" is that they were brave, creative thinkers who were not afraid to discuss ideas and both learn from and break with the past to create a new vision of the future.  So why are our current leaders so frightened?  At election time, both Republican and Democrat candidates seem to be fearful about the future, their past, and anything resembling "truth."  Above all, they are afraid of independent political thought and 3rd parties -- meaning, non-RepubliCrats. Different Drummer: Pier Paulo Pasolini

As a genre, "thriller" is different from horror or other suspense films, but that distinction is in grave danger of being lost forever.  Before the most common forms of scary cinema became slashers or demonic possession, when serial killer movies were crime-dramas rather than gorefests, the thriller was the TV equivalent of the midnight movie.  Now, with Halloween approaching, you are more likely to see Friday The Umpteenth than any of the classics starring Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, or Vincent Price.  Film fans have lost more than we realize. Different Drummer: Jakob Rehlinger Arachnidisc's videos including Moonwood and Babel

Alcohol is a controlled substance -- a "drug" -- and it's the only one that I use. As a rule, I won't drink when I am angry or depressed. I also tend to invest more in the flavor than the feeling. More likely than not, this is another way that I don't quite fit in with most of society. My approach also doesn't work for fundamentalists. C.S. Lewis has rightly said that Christianity is not a teetotaler religion, but too many Christian legalists have found a way of compartmentalizing this fact without bothering to present a counter-argument. It's a dishonesty that I find infuriating ... but I diligently avoid getting angry or depressed.

Different Drummer: John Osbourne

"Pour Me A Vacation" by The Great Divide

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The notion of "authorial intent" has been used to challenge literary and film criticism for as long as humanity has discussed art.  Is the writer's vision the only point of view that matters?  What if a critic or a number of readers find valid alternative subtexts?  The dividing line may be revealed by separating the role of the author.  From an artistic perspective, he or she is another reader with an equally valid view.  I know that this marginalizes the influence of the creators on interpretations of their work.  On the other hand, the external intent of those same creators must not be ignored or diminished.  So, if you make an incendiary hate film in an attempt to start a global war, everything about your motivations and intentions are subject to scrutiny; meaning, you cannot hide behind any freedom of speech as freedom from scrutiny. Different Drummer: Maxim Vengerov