Have You Seen "The Hangover?"

I can't count how many times I've been asked if I've seen the movie, The Hangover. More specifically, I can't count how many Christians have asked me this question. Here is my short answer: No, I haven't seen The Hangover, and I don't want to.

How about my long answer? To learn what the movie is about search IMDB or just Google the movie if you don't want to take my word for it, but really, you can. Here's the condensed version.

Some friends jet off to Vegas for a 'traditional' bachelor party as one of the friends is days away from his wedding day—after some of the guys have to lie to their future wives about their destination, that is. While there they drink too much, use drugs, pass out, marry strippers, and lose the husband-to-be.

Get it? Hilarity ensues! Why do people with working moral compasses find this praiseworthy? I have an idea for a sequel. "The Stickup" The fun-loving lads can rob a local convenience store and shoot the store owners in the faces. Then we can follow them around as they, hilariously of course, try to cover up what they've done in time to get home for dinner.

How about a trilogy? I'm torn, which would be more funny of a theme for a final followup? "The Night of Adultery," "The Gangrape," or "The Child Abuse."

Yeah yeah, these all sound cruel and unfunny, but that's just details. These aren't real people after all. I mean, if drug use, alcohol abuse, the objectification of women and premarital sex can be funny, they why not the others?

Seriously, though. Aren't Christians supposed to hate all sin? Wouldn't it go without saying that we should not find amusement in it?

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Cars, The Internet & Total Depravity

I was at a red light today, a handful of cars from the front, and about 50-100 yards from my planned left turn. Once the light changed and traffic began to flow, Lucy (my almost 9 month old daughter) and me began zipping forward at a rather ordinary pace. (Though this is by choice, safe driving, I am not free to choose otherwise, not in my old 4-cylander stick shift anyway.) I didn't accelerate any slower than the surrounding traffic, though, most of which did have the choice to go faster. This is pretty much standard daily driving.

What was slightly less standard was the black Lexus running right up my metaphorical rear end trying to coax me into going faster. (As I already pointed out, 0-60 in 5 seconds is not possible, but were it, I had a left turn to make in only a few feet.) We turned into the turn-lane as we arrived only to have the aggressive black car slam their accelerator to pass us. The last thing we (Lucy and I) saw was an otherwise nice looking woman in her ~mid 50s scowl at us with a courtesy middle finger. (Actually, only I saw this. Lucy was trying to chew into her new favorite toy—an empty water bottle.)

This got me thinking. I spend roughly 10-12 hours a week driving, and I see no small shortage of very angry, very hostile drivings with no care or concern for anyone but themselves. This strikes me as solid evidence that the Christian claim of humanity being broken, or depraved, is a valid claim. Let me explain.Driving in traffic is, more or less, waiting in a line with a large group of people. We do this daily at the grocery store, Target, gas stations, wherever. When was the last time someone cut off your shopping cart and gave you the bird? For me, never. Even in the most crowded of grocery isles it's rare that I, while likely disoriented and looking for something not in my isle, have someone shove past me or even give a frustrated sigh. Usually, someone will say, "Oh, excuse me," or "Could I scoot past you?"

I have a theory why grocery store traffic tends to me more cordial than highway. Two reasons: One, in grocery stores the person you're rude to can sock you in the face, and Two, similarly, groups of people tend to vocalize dissent with an unruly person. But in a car, these social obstacles are removed and people can, and do, whatever they wish. To the point, people when freed of societal pressures, are not, as one of my early college professors claimed, generally good. In fact, it seems clear to me that people, left to their own ends, are generally wicked and mean.

To make the case stronger, let's look at the way people treat each other when nearly all potential social repercussions are removed and a person can act freely with total anonymity. I present you with man's greatest accomplishment: online discussion forums! Or, any online location where anonymous users can post.

Really, look around. I did some very brief digging and quickly came up with a plethora of comments, from even the most benign of articles, that I'd rather not even link here. If you've actually managed to find this obscure blog, then I'm certain that you're savvy enough to have been at least to one news site or the like, and this case is one that makes itself.

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O Christmas Carol

I absolutely adore Christmas carols. I always have. Though there is something I see now that I did not always see, and it's found in the message contained within. It's really easy to mouth the oh-so-familiar words of songs we've heard our whole lives and to gloss over the substance in the words.

(Rabbit trail alert! — We have the remarkable ability to do gloss over the substance is most forms of entertainment, too, be it movies, tv, music, etc.)

But really, how often do we really look at what the message is in the songs we sing?

(Exhibit A: There is a car that I see almost daily at work. The person's car has a series of bumper stickers on the rear—most of them Christian in nature. There is a pro-life sticker, some Jesus slogans and, oh yes, a John Lennon's Imagine bumper sticker. I'll leave it to my discerning reader(s?) to see if they can spot the problem.)


The point I want to make is simply this. I'll quote a note in a lecture I heard by Greg Koukl regarding Christmas carols. "I have sung these my whole life and never understood!" And so have I. Let me quote a couple, and I encourage all of you to consider the songs you'll likely sing this season.

from O Holy Night

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
'Til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

Fall on your knees! O, hear the angels' voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born

from God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

God rest ye merry, gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember, Christ, our Saviour
Was born on Christmas day
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray
O tidings of comfort and joy,

…

From God our Heavenly Father
A blessed Angel came;
And unto certain Shepherds
Brought tidings of the same:
How that in Bethlehem was born
The Son of God by Name.

from O Come All Ye Faithful

O Come All Ye Faithful
Joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him,
Born the King of Angels;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

from Hark The Herald Angels Sing

Hark the herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled"
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
"Christ is born in Bethlehem"
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

from O Little Town of Bethlehem

O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight!

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