Whatever the Artist Does
“The purpose is not to give the audience pleasure, but to assault them with a ‘decentering’ experience. Art becomes defined as ‘whatever an artist does.’ As a result, the work of art becomes less important than the artist, a view which encourages posturing, egotism, and self-indulgence instead of artistic excellence. These new assumptions about art …
You Can Run But You Can’t Hide
“Christians might think that the confusions in the art world are no concern to them, simply another example of the vanity of this world. The arts, though, are important. We cannot escape them. They permeate our lives and our culture. The décor of our surroundings; the music we listen to; the entertainment we enjoy in …
Inane Classicism
“During the sixties, a number of important cultural transactions took place. The classical musical tradition (that is, new music being composed in the tradition of Beethoven and Mozart) finally collapsed under the weight of its own inanity. The fact that John Cage and Karl Heinz Stockhausen were at all taken seriously was a sign that …
Musical Four-wheeling
“Music, quite simply, has to go somewhere. It is organized in time. If there is no reason why one note should follow another, there is no way of organizing that time in any coherent fashion. Atonality meant a freedom analogous to taking down all signs and abolishing all roads.” [E. Michael Jones, Dionysos Rising (San …
Happy Birthday Dear Blog
So today is my blog’s second birthday. For all the intoleristas who are following my doings most assiduously, this means that I am just now entering my terrible twos. And right now I have my eye on that interesting Vase of Diversity on the Coffee Table of Mutual Affirmation. Seriously, I am very grateful to …
Sali Forth
For those Idaho residents interested in the upcoming primary election, I would encourage you to check out Bill Sali’s web site here. Bill is an old friend, and it is good to see him out there giving liberals heartburn. Bill would be my nominee for “Least Likely to Go Native If He Makes It to …
Don’t You Love Them Madly?
“To jump ahead roughly one hundred years: Jim Morrison described his band The Doors as ‘erotic politicians’. ‘We’re interested in everything about revolt, disorder, and all activity that appears to have no meaning.’ It is difficult to imagine what Nietzsche would have thought of the music, but it is hard to imagine him withholding his …
Around This Table
Our gracious heavenly Father, we thank You for this Lord’s Day. We thank You for the fellowship we share around this table, and for the arrival here of good friends. We praise Your name for the gift of wine, and the salvation it represents. We thank You for the food, and for the diligent and …
Playing The Cult Card
One of the things that liberals did successfully for quite some time was play the race card. One of the things that conservatives (eventually) did in response was name the practice, calling it something like “playing the race card.” Little tricks of illusion and distraction in politics operate much the same way that tricks of …