Man Arrow- we really gotta stop this... (sorry, I really do enjoy the debating thing- just hope we don't get kicked off here)- I think America minus slavery was about the closest to what a nation should be (America until the 20th century that is, when it totally started turning its back on all the right values it was started on).
As far as Christians killing people, I think history has been tainted by ignorance. People CALLING themselves Christians (Spanish Inquisition/Nazis/Racists/KKK) have killed people, but true Christians are into turning the other cheek (that is what Jesus told His followers right?)
And an interesting take on the term open-minded: in the Bible when the early Christians were spreading the gospel (good news: that not only they the Jews but Gentiles also could know God), it says that many people would not listen to them, but those who were open-minded would listen and search the scriptures to see if they were telling the truth.
Anyways, I think if you were to wind the clock back to maybe even the '50s (again, minus the racial discrimination and the communist witch hunts)and look at the place God had in our society and the family unit, patriotism, etc., it was a pretty wonderful thing. (I'm 32, so I'm only going by stuff I've checked out) We didn't have the rampant violence/perversion/drug use/broken families/crime (white collar and otherwise) and much more that we have today.
And a lot of that law and order was due to I believe, responsible censorship. Sometimes it went overboard (Elvis couldn't be seen from the waist down on Ed Sullivan I think) but for the most part it was done in good conscience/common sense.
I know people are all about freedom of speech but I wonder how far they would go. Are you going to let some guy (an artist) paint your teenage daughter naked, or maybe have some webcam sex with her as a form of performance art? Maybe he'll broadcast it all over the www. And if it's not about sexual stimulus in nude art, would you have a painting of your naked mother? Or would you paint your mother nude and admire her beauty?
Like I said, nudity is a great thing (God did make our bodies right?) I hope to see a WHOLE lot of it if I get married. But outside of marriage I got no business looking at a naked chick who isn't my wife, and I sure don't want someone looking at the woman I'm gonna marry and I sure ain't gonna let someone paint my daughter naked as long as she lives under my roof. And if some punk boyfriend comes to my house claiming to be an 'artist' into nudes, he ain't gonna be welcomed in my house for long.
You gotta think about consequences to your actions. Nothing we do goes without an effect.
I used to be into all that kinda of art (before I became a Christian). And even after I was a Christian I was still into it but something that got my attention was this: I drew this picture of a slashed wrist and a suicide note "Thank you mom and dad for killing me." It was an anti-suicide picture, any artist could have figured that out. But so many people didn't get it and it ticked me off.
But the thing that got my attention was when an unattractive overweight girl came up to my booth and wanted to buy that picture. I swear I saw suicide written all over that girl's face, and thank God she didn't have enough money to buy it. But from that day on I realized my art had impact, power to kill or give life, as all art does. I couldn't have imagined what it would have been like to know that someone used my art to be their suicide note to their parents.
Alright, I'm done. Thanks for listening.
Alan
