tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44740921348447720182024-02-07T04:19:00.643-08:00musicpoliticsreligionChristian Asplundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09358294123858888559noreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4474092134844772018.post-5379318244652329482022-12-07T20:43:00.001-08:002022-12-07T20:43:08.432-08:00Liberals, Take Your Lumps<p> In response to a dear friend's discussion triggered by the response of spineless and flip-flopping republicans to various things Trump-related:</p><p>Your account is compelling, toothy, vivid and dead on. But the GOP world appears to be utterly chaotic and evil by design. I guess the question is how did elitist do nothing liberalism that started in the '90s enable and facilitate this phenomenon. The nihilistic version of the "right" was really hatched by Newt Gingrich. He never had any use for integrity which he viewed as chumpness. Winning was the thing. But I don't think we would have had a Newt without a Clinton. And the more I look at the American politics of my lifetime (the first presidential election I remember was Nixon/McGovern), the decline has hinged on a group of well off white liberals who became attached to the same material privileges their rich conservative counterparts derived from the decline of the middle class and the demonization of people of color. They became understandably obsessed with politics that shielded them from scrutiny, i.e. orthodoxies regarding terminology, microagressions, and eliminating scrutiny of libertinism. It became clear to many that presidencies and supermajorities wouldn't facilitate any of the actual policies that would restore the middle class, properly house and educate the poor, or sustantively right the wrongs of racism. The liberal elites had no intention as it turned out to change the course. They and their clients just wanted to slow the decline down a bit. I have to say, against all indications and instincts, Biden has proven to be the first president since Johnson to be willing to, and know how to do anything for non-rich people. And he didn't have any supermajorities like Clinton and Obama.</p>Christian Asplundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09358294123858888559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4474092134844772018.post-11562954512248683382022-08-14T20:17:00.000-07:002022-08-14T20:17:01.440-07:00Espionage<p> With Trump, whatever you think he might have done, it's always worse. He's clearly hoarded secret documents to sell or to ward off Kompromat. It's the most despicable, disgusting thing imaginable. But it's been clear for years that Trump is a sadist and revels in wickedness and heartlessness. He's always looking for new ways to transgress and win stress-tests of whatever systems America and humanity count on.</p><p>The Trump mob and the republicans in general have moved the goalposts many times and have done many scary and despicable things. But this flirting with demonizing the FBI and their action is maybe the most dangerous and scary of all. Without an intelligence system, we are susceptible to unthinkable levels of mischief from Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia etc. If you are a republican, please stop. Please think about this reckless act of self-destruction.</p>Christian Asplundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09358294123858888559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4474092134844772018.post-22914059662441085182022-03-10T09:25:00.004-08:002022-03-10T09:25:36.268-08:00OT<p>From a FaceBook discussion:</p><p>As arguably the oldest book in the world, I don't think it cares much what we think, nor should it. If we assume that every sentence of a miraculously preserved record sent through eons of time and space to be immediately edifying in the way that motivational/inspirational quotes are, I think we are expecting the wrong things and missing out on the amazing things. Genesis, and the OT in general, if they have an overall theme, seem to be about how the chosen people, and, ultimately the Messiah (God), have a very checkered genealogy. We are all both divine and dirty. I mean, we're made out of dust and spirit.</p>Christian Asplundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09358294123858888559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4474092134844772018.post-3159824039068085802022-02-07T09:16:00.002-08:002022-02-07T09:16:14.307-08:00George Crumb<p> Trigger warnings: Crumb critique mixed in with admiration; use of an anachronistic word that is not recommended for current use, but that is felt to be essential to the understanding of historical states of mind:</p><p>I’ll confess that as a student I kind of detested Crumb's music as sissy, precious, and corny. I loved rhythm and his music seemed to be all fermatas. I felt like notation was a sort of necessary evil and should be as efficient as possible, his scores were self-indulgent and drew attention away from the music’s deficiencies. (I had other issues I won’t go into.) Of course, my attitude softened (as I did) with time and I began to admire many things about him and his music. I particularly came to admire the fact that he did all of his highly original work while working as a music professor (at first, I believe, in group piano classes). But I also came to enjoy the way he played with the concepts of movements of various lengths (including very short) within a larger composition, something I did a lot of, possibly influenced by him. I also came to admire his exquisite sense of tonal envelope, of decay, especially regarding the piano. I think there were three post Debussy 20th century classical composers who seemed to understand the piano, and he was one of them. Principally, he understood and utilized the incredible phenomena of extended decay and sympathetic resonance that make the piano a miraculous invention. I have since come to enjoy the humor and audacity in his titles, narratives, literary/etc. references. And, in the era of computer notation, his scores are, of course, works of art in themselves. I sat directly behind him at an 8 hour Crumb marathon at Symphony Space in ’89 or ’90. I wasn’t totally over my issues with his music, but the Space was a block from my apartment and it was, like, $7 or something. The music got a little samey, and the corniness a little more evident after a few hours, but I watched Crumb the whole time and was touched by his humility, graciousness, etc. Just a very nice, modest, thoughtful person who was really enjoying the music and the people, complimenting the performers, talking with and taking interest in whoever approached him. Onward and upward, GC!</p>Christian Asplundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09358294123858888559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4474092134844772018.post-36886064359249283102021-07-21T00:26:00.002-07:002021-07-21T00:26:20.208-07:00Time to Repent<p> It has to be said. I'm sick and tired of living with the crazy.</p><p>If you are anti-vax, in addition to being a complete idiot, you are accessory to murder.</p><p>If you are republican, you are a traitor and hate democracy.</p><p>If you are libertarian, you are a racist.</p><p>If you are a Christian Conservative, you are an apostate, a heretic, and hate Jesus and love Satan.</p>Christian Asplundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09358294123858888559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4474092134844772018.post-11911445925008667352021-04-10T12:44:00.002-07:002021-04-10T12:46:27.955-07:00Notation--Is It The Devil's Work?<p>Shared by Doug Theriault:</p><p>A quote from an old interview by Victor Shonfield in 1972 with virtuoso musician and composer David Tudor:</p><p>“There is a paragraph in Busoni which speaks of notation as an evil separating musicians from music, and I feel everyone should know that this is true. I had been completely indoctrinated with the idea of faithfulness to notation in the early days and if you think of notation as being complete and you see what Busoni meant it can’t possibly be complete. Notation is an invention of the devil and when I became free of it to pieces like John Cages Fontana mix and music walk and later bussoti’s piano piece for David Tudor number 3., it really did it a lot for me.” </p><p>My response:</p><p>I love notation. I learned to read notes before I learned to read letters. It's a native language so the question is completely moot to me. But as with any other technology, it can be used for good or evil. The locus of people thinking notation = music is pretty limited, or maybe non-existent, i.e. a straw man. My whole work as an artist is in the liminal spaces between composition/improvisation and notation/aural transmission. I don't like locating the efficacy of notation in terms of class/race, despite its origins. It never works out well. Saying any kind of literacy or technology doesn't "suit" any group of people is satanic.</p>Christian Asplundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09358294123858888559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4474092134844772018.post-34631269542335865702021-02-14T10:00:00.003-08:002021-02-14T10:00:35.961-08:00Mockingbird Court Scene<p> An exchange between musicologist, Michael Lee and myself today (2/14/21). Forgive my prose which is a bit rambling (and maybe not grammatical?):</p><p>ML: I heard someone talking on the television this morning. He claimed that watching 43 Republican jurors/senators vote to acquit Trump was like the black folks in "To Kill a Mockingbird" watching powerlessly from the gallery as the all-white jury did the inevitable and convicted Tom Robinson no matter how big a wipe out the actual trial was. I get tearful every time the black minister awakens Scout: "Stand up Miss Jean Louise. Your daddy's passing." While this wasn't entirely a story about race, it was entirely a story about race. Trump's supporters were overwhelmingly white supremacists, neo-nazis, and crackers. They are the Ewells of the story, white trash to a one. But they don't win. The Ewells got shamed in public, just as the rioters are in jail or heading there. But the well-off racist jury wins in both the story and life. Shameful times in America never come or go, they just hang on and on.</p><p>CA: I don't know if there is net gain from this episode, but if there is some redemption of value, it might be the clarifying of what racism is, means, does etc. I didn't grow up here so I my American history education was scant. But it seems to me that racism is not organic, but is a strategy (conscious or systemic, maybe both) of the ruling (mostly white male) class to keep their minority rule status. Every ruling class has to come up with some kind of mythology to keep themselves there. The pigs have to come up with some way to get the dogs to do their bidding. Racism has been a very easy and obvious mythology to accomplish this. Particularly since the civil war, non-rich whites have to be prevented from finding common cause with blacks. Thus, racism, the Klan etc. Keep 'em busy hating other working people that look different from them and they won't notice you robbing them blind. I'm not sure to what extent this is common knowledge among smart white people? but they sometimes don't act like it. The demonizing of "Trump's base" as the principal cause of all of our ills (and they are, to be sure, a really unsavory, hard to love bunch) and the adherence to salvation (justification and sanctification) for smart (and mostly well off) white people from their race and class privilege through a linguistic and performative orthodoxy that they uniquely have access to, makes one wonder. It starts to look like the intellectual class (unwittingly or not?) provides a sideshow to draw attention from the baleful and unnecessary curtailments of the first right mentioned in the Declaration among the non-rich.</p>Christian Asplundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09358294123858888559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4474092134844772018.post-63062991306336642102020-12-09T14:17:00.001-08:002020-12-09T14:17:16.409-08:00Dangerous Anti-Vax BS<p>This is from a FB comment I made recently:</p><p>We're in the middle of one of the worst pandemics humanity has ever experienced. Vaccination and other kinds of innoculations have prevented millions of deaths. Americans sometimes have a difficult time understanding the very concept of public health, which is that we share most resources, especially air, water, the food supply etc. Americans are somewhat steeped in individualism, fundamentalist concepts of individual liberty which are dumb and bad. Vaccinations aren't just or even principally for the individual. They're meant to stop the spread of communicable diseases which, in human history have ravaged and even wiped out entire communities. People on the right keep on talking about herd immunity. This is exactly what vaccines are for. They create herd immunity without sacrificing literally millions of lives. 90% of the the native american population was wiped out by smallpox because there was no immunity in the population. The virus had already gone through Europe several times, so the European survivors were mostly immune. Had there been a smallpox vaccine then, millions of lives could have been saved and "herd immunity" would have resulted. Side effects are a part of everything anybody does in life to improve or accomplish anything, including, like, driving, having children, getting any medical intervention, eating food, etc. Side effects of vaccines have to be weighed against efficacy for the whole community always. We're not talking about dissent here. We're talking about very bad quacks causing some very bad things. There have always been quacks and conspiracy theories floating around, but they've never had this much sway, nor done this much damage. I beg you not to promote anything that prevents people from receiving vaccinations that will save thousands or even millions of lives. </p>Christian Asplundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09358294123858888559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4474092134844772018.post-61964149679783701302020-12-02T00:47:00.003-08:002020-12-02T00:47:26.439-08:00No Within No<p> talk talk talk talk walk walk walk walden denayoh san thrift bedevilment sanded throughout the lefted leprachaun sous-vide syropy slurp sluffle salty bramble fealty flop</p>faraigment flat fancy flop<br />filter<br />and when the drop comes top<br />we weather the flop flough<br />bitter beasts<br />feasting on festering fallow fortune<br />receive direct proportion<br />following frightful bilious blanchment<br />entrancement through leveraged advancement<br />with every step forward we advance a pattern backward<br />with every session backward we pattern a paper scamward<br />with every with any with always standard<br />reaction attrition<br />segment artifice will always requite the labeled<br />larder<br />the chelsea hotel<br />a faster typist<br />never known nor grown<br />within the context<br />of font arrest whistle<br />plastic cog rename<br />the relatable character within the context of pretext<br />pretext of context<br />precon texttext<br />restex<br />brief lex ris rye<br />wry wrestable rin-sed rascal<br />which far exceeded the rightful<br />risible ryance<br />seeble seeking trite troffure beal believe<br />feloitable brisome bob reliant gracious<br />or a portion of a phone<br />a determinist defuncter<br />demonizing the past participle<br />prerequisite to the disciple’s staple<br /><br />we watch<br />we wither<br />we wait<br />for fate<br />to dither through<br />fast function<br />foiled<br /><br />I went to Paris to discover cultural artifacts. More like artificts buried deep in the collective subconcious. Has anyone dug deep enough to really reflect some soluble salient salivary substance to bring licht to liebe<br /><br />Lying becomes the norm<br />in ten minutes reading became obsolescent<br /><br />is there a fact that has not become transcendent<br />is there fat factual fatality<br />ordering freak fight<br />believe bite<br />a blight upon all society reduced to anxiety through dire satiety<br />order over olpoon oonson<br />feast yer eyes me maties<br />we’re skating on a merry freighter<br />feeling bound for perdition not attrition<br />no suspicion of blindsiding wide abiding<br />brink of bifurcation<br />no relation<br />his song screeched <br />Scranton, Trenton<br /><br />is there a lasting lead we can lay our fears on<br />is there a fasting feed we can rate our tears from<br />doylies left<br />orange crates bound for distant lands bereft<br />of cargo made only available for fractured furniture<br />luggage baggage rites of passage<br />savage garbage sealing tonnage<br /><br />a lump of fowl fenestra <br />block the cough<br />lock the fondness off of<br />soul-destroying lopped leverage<br />drop de-frilting fryling<br />dealing lup-king jing thing sing<br />hating all the wrapped up rollers<br />seal the morels<br />roll the foilers, fuller croilers<br />soothe employers, flingers, parlors<br />of a type to re-lipe nine five three<br />suffer through long levered Howard respirators<br />sand remind deliver crying quiver<br />sealing sliver, dealing thither<br />this contempt event<br />spent salivating, waiting for a rent red dress<br />spent trusses, under busses<br />rule the flattened fleeting tumble<br /><br />I tear the testimony<br />lop the law<br />quake the ark<br />bruise the serpent<br />fake the vestment<br />bake the manna<br />eat the altar<br /><br />sweet ceremony<br />sealed eternally for awhile<br />reveal mystery<br />honesty<br />allowance for allegiance to seminal <br />science explained <br />not entertained<br />relatable talia<br />colored by its relatability in the context of processed, preached privation<br />it went<br />it were<br />weren’t you there<br />I thought I saw you<br />I say, you are far<br />you far-flung fantastical fop<br />fanatical fable<br />i’m able to table this label<br />if you’re stable I’ll attach this latch throughout sentient steely sarcophagi<br />got you there<br />I swear you were ‘ware of my subtle brutal deception<br />‘pon reflection, I feel defection is an option<br />the fiction that frequents this frond of insurrection<br />reminds the kinds of depletion are simulation<br />and realization breeds simplification<br />dimplement facilitators<br />not debilitators <br />fine find raspor<br />lined crimed sasparillo<br />an euphemism for factor raptor<br />a seulement real font<br />funder of disaster-blaster<br />flask of foreign matter<br />for that master<br />enrailment, details sent into the stratosphere<br />near heaven<br />believe I can achieve a modicum of method<br />I’ve been on record as a recluse<br />I’ve built recently from refuse<br />a shelter for suffus-ed colors<br />dipped in transcendent brother others<br />smothered pleasant odors folders<br />fragrant filters<br />flowers udders<br /><br />another butter to discover<br />another southern sweet-laced cover<br />leather binder<br />sealed reminder<br />crafted from remaindered finder<br /><br />fluff matters<br />fluff delivers<br />fluff gave us fuller litters<br />still deliver waiters, waters<br />all that watches sitters, squatters<br />file away the frantic fodder<br />squeal a saving prophetic letter<br />arbor, otter<br />singing harbor<br />totter, tailer<br />twiller, trawler<br /><br />I watch, release<br />the sealing grease<br />the singing phrase<br />released to cease<br /><br />a surfeit of relaying laies<br />sung santorially, phrased<br />to craze and amaze<br />sing us now a skillful phrase <br />that all might space and waste our days<br />in short order we’ll be older<br />live in order, not a hoarder<br />sketch a border to deliver<br /><br />Dispect file forect<br />dissect file forget<br />forgissimo diss’em or<br />faractissimore store floor<br />out the door<br />toward normal normative<br />store gore war<br /><br />wouldn’t wanton grapes berate<br />reptilissimo fictissimo dictus<br />fictus licked loose<br />sluice sauce fentile the boss<br />direct hot hoss phantom<br />bite think light ledger<br />the height of pleasure censure<br />the rent retirement syllabent<br />retrieved some filter feel relief<br /><br />sprientific: remember: roz’ rebels<br />they were trebles<br />they sang with admirable syllables<br />thankful that vibratory feldspar<br />abundant though they are<br />provided ample evidence of divine<br />providence, profitable for semblance<br />dissemble factual evidence<br />forever striving simi-biddance<br />souris, sourable<br />sur le table<br />mistaken frightened flake tendentious<br />tedium a need which feels fine<br /><br />Cavaliers comprenez ou gendarmes <br />je annoncait. <br />Fabriques attelages non dut peu <br />car echangent etendards jugements. <br />Je indus voyez <br />de fumee cette. <br />Son est rang sur veut avis.<br /><br />so quitting, never exiting<br />is a strategy, not a prodigy<br />a faculty, not a faulty property<br />a tendency, not a filigree<br />labels not fables<br />erasable linen, not a far-cry from building<br />substantive fragility, forgotten<br />in the midst of similitudes<br />fragile, frequent industry<br />vicissitudes, vaunted for their symbol sentence<br />code of reliance<br />rule of remembrance<br />fool of forgotten forgiveness<br />enter ritual remembrance<br />instead of single fantibulance<br /><br />I was sent spent rods of rejection and retention<br />it was within five fathoms of<br />fictitious schoolmart<br />viral vobjects<br />unifarcity, larceny<br />lobistry, lantern lacking<br />solemn silosophy bardgosophy<br />hologram, hard loss, if he<br />feels faithful lake, like life<br />hike the heft<br />left luncher<br />sift smile dice cruncher<br />torrendous sieve site-dumper<br />compure, lissure, fissure fixture<br />simpering silo trool the fooble<br />fleet flight-lance phantom<br /><br />organized by size<br />alphanumericalshapecolorsignificance<br />stoop waffling<br />fill-coughing, flocked, flocking<br />an order of magnitude notregognized<br />revising, yanny laurel<br />panning for sorrel<br />silt and floral fashion<br />flashing deploral, storeable norse-while<br />boasting breedless sky-rile<br /><br />The key-concept is <br />a number filed in forgotten<br />retention mavens<br />store this frequent stave-favors<br /><br />All things are distilled for<br />Razor-sharp entities<br />Distributed and disturbed<br />by the requisite reality of<br />Wrong-headed rifle-reason<br /><br />Reflect if you will the <br />plight of the benighted <br />broom-bomb<br />greeting the conscious<br />sentient interpretation of<br />cat on sail on fail on<br />flee on be on three on<br />three five seven to one four eight<br /><br />greatness met with<br />barriers behind the<br />wheel of weather-limbed<br />life-lob lungberry<br /><br />throughout reference remembrance<br />to outside lawn-logged reference<br />to regulance to regulation<br />station pluration<br />tool of the traditional mediated<br />state of past trait to whit<br />without reason or rationalization<br />this nation, frozen as it was<br />was new to the notion of treason<br />a season of salvation, relation to<br />never coming back to the coiled<br />swift front-mob through fight<br />and flight-sound, light loud<br />loopy lesson, is never round<br />or found to be impounded<br /><br />soon the oxygenated six strong<br />weather-beating, through three<br />things seen eating this season of seating<br />leave it to reason<br />sanitation leaves lava-bound<br />luncheon to munch on multiple<br />noodle-bound relation, belation<br />suspension, direction, repression<br />election sustain a wide-grain<br />disapproval through thousand thin<br />think-weight, believe-rate<br />sustain late <br /><br />green file is on trial<br />don’t place trust in confabulated fealty<br />the real thing is three thin fibers<br />aligned on laproscpic <br />lointain, dans l’espace<br />et dans le futur<br /><br /><br />Procuring education on consulted assurance in do. 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Rather in lasted no within no. <br />Christian Asplundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09358294123858888559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4474092134844772018.post-13624597400637901302020-09-24T10:41:00.004-07:002020-09-24T10:43:29.411-07:00Imagine A World Where Simple Goodness Matters Afresh<p><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: courier; font-size: 12pt;">Guest blogger extraordinaire, Michael Lee (OU Musicologist) shares the following:</span></p><p><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: courier; font-size: 12pt;">This morning, I woke early to deal with my dog's sense of time and entitlement. Then I made a grave mistake. I turned on the news. Within 20 minutes, the pending collapse of democracy in America revealed itself with brazen precision. What a scary time. Which is worse: the envigoration of massive racial injustice, a deadly pandemic confronted by no plan, the president promising the end of democracy, or a climate crisis threatening life on earth?</span></p><div style="font-size: 12pt;"><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: courier;">Maybe all four could be fused into a single story about capitalism as a really big mistake. As we discussed, the Soviets and particularly Stalin did the worst disservice to the human race by discrediting an alternative to capitalism so thoroughly as to make all future alternatives far less viable. Maybe we're living through the moment when Donald Trump will so thoroughly discredit capitalism as to make the search for an alterntive vital again. Whatever is going on, it doesn't look like a happy ending is pending unless our side changes tactics. </span></div><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: courier;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: black; background: var(--white); color: white; font-family: courier; font-size: 12pt;">A hopeful friend, Jake Johnson, led me in a subsequent discussion of the above to a conclusion worth sharing. As we now find ourselves as human beings half emptied by the current circumstances, we may need to abandon any effort to address capitalism's remaining guardians (the venal, the timid, and the ignorant) with the reason and facts we so cherish. They have abandoned truth, and reason is entirely relative to them. As tools of persuasion, the facts have passed their expiration date with tens of millions of our friends, neighbors, and family members. </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: black; background: var(--white); color: white; font-family: courier; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: courier;"><span style="background: var(--white); font-size: 12pt;">Armed with this knowledge, we may need to reply with fantasies larger and more compelling than those Trump and the greedy monsters who make him possible are presenting. Here the arts and the artists may be at an advantage. The time to dream a better world is now more than ever. Lie more compellingly, artists who love truth. What is a lie but another name for a dream in this fact-free world? Please, artists, present a world where simple goodness matters afresh, and mean braggarts are pitied rather than followed.</span><br /></span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: black; background: var(--white); color: white; font-family: courier; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: black; background: var(--white); color: white; font-family: courier; font-size: 12pt;">We need a wildly attractive and wholly fabricated evangel of the beauty of everything Trump, his angry mob, and the cravens who enable him hate. Trump is piloting the Republic one of two places: oblivion or change. Let's rouse ourselves from our bad-news-induced torpor and use our imaginations to tilt the scale toward change using the tool our times value: fantasy.</span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: black; background: var(--white); color: white; font-family: courier; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: courier;">--Mike</span></div>Christian Asplundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09358294123858888559noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4474092134844772018.post-40500496838004057002020-08-22T12:08:00.002-07:002020-08-22T12:14:59.382-07:00Never Watch Fox News Again<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">I'm sick of the damage this hideous scourge of political pornography, this electronic lobotomy known as Fox News has wrought on the country I love, the only planet I've known, and many of my loved ones. It's become clear that watching it is kind of like a fetish or an addiction that poisons the mind. It's not possible to think critically or empathetically while watching it. I don't think we can solve our problems in any meaningful way while it exists as it presently does. Here's my plea:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> I don’t have all the facts its genesis, but it’s becoming more and more clear that Fox News is the great villain that’s led to the mess we’re in. Great masses of the populace, many that are loved ones of mine and other sane people that I know, have been essentially lobotomized and completely immune to the civic virtues that were the foundation of our society not long ago. Fox News never should have been allowed to exist. I know that Reagan eliminated the Fairness Doctrine which would have made Fox News impossible to operate as it does. I also know that when I first watched a few minutes of it (I can barely stand to watch it even for a few seconds), I immediately recognized the tone as essentially the same as the professional wrestling I watched as a kid, the TV preachers of the ‘80s and the anti-Mormon propaganda I was attacked with constantly on my mission in Central California. It’s really awful stuff, crappy entertainment, but incredibly toxic if it’s believed. The truly apocalyptic challenges we face now are directly traceable to people injecting themselves with this electronic excrement and being simply unable to think or decide or distinguish right from wrong or good from evil or to even be able to make the most basic observations of what is around them. It has seriously challenged the cherished notion of free speech to my mind. There are certainly abridgements of freedom of expression, such as the fairness doctrine, or those employed in the U.K. to disallow demonization of one's opponents that would seem to make sense. Many of the evils that seem to be threatening to engulf us presently would make our extreme form of freedom of expression obsolete anyway.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">If anyone reading this spends any of their precious time on this earth and their precious senses of hearing, and sight and their mind on Fox News, I implore you to turn it off and never tune in again as long as you live and spend your life counteracting the damage it has done. It is political pornography of the most vile sort, much more damaging to you and to society than conventional pornography. I know Fox News has taught you to doubt and hate all other media (mainstream media, lamestream media), but you are quite safe listening to and watching pretty much any established media. The pre-Fox News news landscape in the U.S. was the envy of the world and of history. Quibbling about mistakes and bias does nothing to the fact that the networks, the major newspapers, CNN and MSNBC, etc. basically adhere to traditional press norms that have protected our information for decades, and made America a bastion of civic involvement and informedness. (We are, post-Fox News, now viewed as kind of the opposite.)<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Christian Asplundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09358294123858888559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4474092134844772018.post-26245452651369887352020-06-13T15:05:00.001-07:002020-06-13T15:06:24.031-07:00Abolish/Defund: It's a Trap!In my 40+ years of watching politics pretty closely, I've noticed that<br />
a. the institutional republican party (that counts as members some lovely people) is evil and want to make the rich richer, and they've got lots of ways to do it and are constantly cooking up new ones<br />
b. they can't win elections fairly so they play dirty<br />
c. every presidential election cycle they form an alliance with unwitting young/well off highly educated/privileged urban lefties to promote a cause that sounds really bad and no one really wants that can serve as their main talking point to scare people out of voting for democrats.<br />
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In 2016, it was unisex bathrooms. I am not alone in saying, this was one of the worst things handed to the right on a silver platter.<br />
It's looking like this year it's abolish the police.<br />
If you ask an abolisher/defunder what they mean, it turns out, like "anarchy", that the words are meant to be provocative and the actual intent is more a kind of much-needed probing reform of an undeniably dysfunctional and often dangerous institution, than actual abolishing or defunding. I know it's fun for you young 'uns to be provocative and I know there's a lot of peer pressure. But you may not be aware of the hideous consequences of these traps has been over the decades. Many of us can remember a time when the the middle class was much larger and included people who worked with their hands. We remember when there was general agreement in polite company nobody should live on the street and that trade unions were forces of good and picket lines shouldn't be crossed. The right has thousands of cold-blooded analysts figuring out ways to utilize anything they can get their hands on to divide the public and scare people who don't have graduate degrees. This doesn't mean self-censoring. It means mass communication that facilitates and encourages dialogue and teaching. It means being bold with ideas and slogans that are real winners, that are absolutely true and clear and necessary. Black Lives Matter is, of course, an excellent example. Medicare for all is another. These slogans can't help but provoke deep moral thought and shame in those who oppose them. Abolish the Police can't help but divide and confuse. It's a shibboleth. If you know the "principles" behind it, you get it. But to a majority of people, this sounds scary and menacing. And if it's something that has to be "youngsplained", that makes matters worse. I know "Reform the Police", "Demilitarize the Police", "Fund Social Workers", etc. don't sound as cool, but maybe there's something along these lines that will be almost as snappy and true and inspiring as Black Lives Matter or Medicare for All.Christian Asplundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09358294123858888559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4474092134844772018.post-16894099039423308482020-05-10T10:56:00.003-07:002020-05-10T10:58:31.925-07:00The Poetic Book of Mormon (sorry, not chloroform in print)<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
I have been setting to music parts of the Book of Mormon that appear to be or have been in verse in the original languages. I am aware that the Book of Mormon has been maligned by many, Mormon and not, for its stilted language and lack of poetic qualities. Setting texts reveals their poetic qualities in ways that no other activity can. I have found many of these texts to have delightful and evocative poetic qualities that I hadn’t noticed before, qualities that are quite musical. The Hebraic parallelisms are, of course, striking. They are not native to English language writing and have thus been annoying to many English speakers who have been taught to value economy and shun redundancy. But I have also been noticing turns of phrase which have unique delights of sound and sense in their English manifestation. There are abundant if subtle alliterations, in particular, as well as similes, synecdoches, etc. I’ve listed a few here from the “Psalm of Nephi”, 2 Nephi 4, <a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=1uxAYVDDMPfMgo7GDD7c95csEhDOuGfPm" target="_blank">which I am in the midst of setting:</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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behold, my soul<o:p></o:p></div>
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the great goodness<o:p></o:p></div>
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causing them to quake<o:p></o:p></div>
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my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.<o:p></o:p></div>
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why should my heart weep and my soul linger<o:p></o:p></div>
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droop in sin<o:p></o:p></div>
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robe of thy righteousness<o:p></o:p></div>
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I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh;<o:p></o:p></div>
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rock of my righteousness<o:p></o:p></div>
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my voice shall forever ascend<o:p></o:p></div>
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Christian Asplundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09358294123858888559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4474092134844772018.post-126228077124558252019-12-23T09:55:00.002-08:002019-12-23T09:55:26.418-08:00It's Our Church<span style="background-color: #f2f3f5; color: #1c1e21; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;">"if it be called in the name of a man then it be the church of a man..." (3 Ne. 27:8). It's The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, i.e. Jesus's and the latter-day saints', i.e. it doesn't belong to any particular man, woman, or group thereof, it belongs to Jesus and the entire body of the Church. "We have learned by sad experience...", i.e. those who have particular callings in the church are always going to have the urge to advance themselves as being above everyone else, and many Latter-day Saints are willing to promote or go along with that. I'd like it if mormons got rid of the "they/them" pronouns when referring to The Church. Like, who is being referenced exactly by these pronouns? It's our church. Some of us take turns doing different tasks in the church, and we try to support one another, but that should not turn into a hierarchy. And definitely we should get rid of us/them. There's not supposed to be a clergy/laity binary. That's half of what we were supposed to root out. Everybody's clergy. </span>Christian Asplundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09358294123858888559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4474092134844772018.post-82682616398618188382019-12-11T20:17:00.002-08:002019-12-11T20:17:44.837-08:00The HearingsThe Hearings<br />
Watching the hearings has been an alternately sickening and heartening experience (only heartening in that democrats are finally, at long last, showing some spine and recognizing what's been actually going on for decades, and willing to speak of it). I can't describe it without using religious language and the language of mental disorders and relationship based abuse. I have never witnessed people lie so much and with so many layers. But it all sounds the same. Whenever a republican lawmaker speaks, it has the familiar sound of an abuser (projection, gaslighting), which is, itself the familiar voice of the Father of Lies. When people lie there is a certain sickening ring of familiarity. The special kind of lies that the republicans use are so insidious because they are designed to make communication and even logical thought all but impossible. This kind of behavior always comes about in massively disproportionate efforts to protect the powerful and well-placed, by the cowardly/lazy in hopes of advancing to unearned positions of power and wealth. It's all beautifully and succinctly described in the Book of Mormon. I'm not sure what's going to happen to this country, or, indeed the world, but I sincerely hope the ghastly republican party ceases to exist. It's sickening combination of cruelty, greed, avarice, priestcraft, and lust and ability to fool and degrade otherwise decent people must qualify it as at least part of the Great and Abominable Church.Christian Asplundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09358294123858888559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4474092134844772018.post-17533984199624905442019-08-08T11:37:00.001-07:002019-08-08T14:54:58.327-07:00Just Layin' it Out-Guns are just plain bad. Of course if you hunt, blah blah blah. Military weapons should not be owned by civilians. I can't believe I'm even writing this. What the hell?!? They shouldn't exist at all. They're pushbuttons designed to kill lots of human beings. Just bad bad bad. Necessary maybe for countries to defend their citizens, but I believe in the swords into ploughshares thing. I've got friends and relatives with them, but I detest them (i.e. the guns). Those who have promoted gun ownership will rot in hell, I'm sure of it.<br />
-Toxic masculinity is the great cause of most of America's problems (and those of many other societies). But toxic masculinity is not organic. It's promoted by the rich and powerful to manipulate the weak for the sake of increasing and consolidating wealth and power. It's why there is violence, environmental destruction, crime, rape, income inequality, you name it. It all traces back to male insecurity and desperate attempts to soothe it by incredibly destructive means.<br />
-Racism is likewise not organic. Children don't naturally hate other people because of their skin color or facial features. It's taught and learned and promoted by the rich and powerful to divide the weak and thus make it easier to control, defraud, subjugate and generally rip them off.<br />
-The "left" in this country all but disappeared, starting with Dukakis (who famously shunned the word "liberal") and finishing with Clinton. The democratic party has not been the left flank of American politics for a long time. "Liberalism" has come to mean gradualism/incrementalism, which, in the face of the rapid destruction of the social contract by the right, actually has merely meant a somewhat slower degradation of the non-rich.<br />
-Moreover, the democratic party has come under the control of rich people who have been hyper-focused on the loud promotion of personal liberties, but completely tone deaf to the needs of the non-rich, and especially of the poor. This while simultaneously obsessed with somehow appeasing, or pleasing, or "compromising" with a force of evil that has no interest in facilitating any kind of success for them in the form of "compromise" or anything else.<br />
-"Progressive" has come to be the only way to describe politicians who believe in the principles that guided American social policy from FDR to LBJ, and that facilitated the rapidly improving standard of living and opportunities our parents and grandparents enjoyed.<br />
-Libertarianism is an idiotic, adolescent, evil (and literally Satanic) force that has infected our society at almost all levels.<br />
-The republican part is a secret combination, likely the secret combination described in the end of the Book of Mormon. One of the main messages of the Book of Mormon is that societies often move from idealism and egalitarianism to where greedy men create secret combinations to horde and to "grind upon the face of the poor", and protect one another. The current republican party is hardly anything but this. And it is controlled by the former KGB director and current dictator of Russia.<br />
-The KGB has long used racial division to try to subvert America and thus weaken it. Trump has simply been a Russian asset for a long time. This was as clear as day during the presidential campaign and every day since. Our lack of spine to just point this out and get rid of this bastard is an absolutely breathtaking act of cowardice, especially to those of us who lived through (and thought we had won) the Cold War.<br />
-Back to the democrats. In the presidential sphere, we have seen a parade of corporate lackeys vying for and winning the democratic nomination. Before Sanders, the only exception was Edwards, who was literally the only candidate to even mention the poor. Sanders was a genuinely transformative candidate. Scrupulously honest, razor sharp focus on the screaming economic inequities that have been ignored by other dems, fearless, outwardly rough and not tv-ready, yet incredibly popular among swing and conservative voters, as well as intermittent voters. Incredibly well-informed, courageous and ironically amazing at working with some of the most conservative lawmakers. The democratic establishment made a terrible, terrible mistake in thumbing the scales for an unelectable technocrat who happened to be a woman, thus enabling the election of an unthinkably bad human specimen who is wholly owned by Russia, and who took the country out of the most important climate change initiative, and the most important peace initiative of the last decade. These are actions which, in themselves will have baleful effects for decades.<br />
-The "center", the "democratic establishment" has failed miserably, not just in the '16 election, but over the past 25 years since the '94 election. They have consistently squandered majorities and super-majorities. They have reneged on promises. They have continually shown favor toward corporations and the rich with the justification that at least they're not criminal/racist right-wingers, i.e. slightly better than the republicans.<br />
-They have been enablers. Those who have been in abusive relationships, or even been bullied in the playground know what an enabler is. They make the bully worse by trying to negotiate or compromise with them, rather than standing up to them or holding them accountable (as Gandhi/MLK did). The big/strong playmate who you think will protect you from the bully, but who ends up sucking up to him instead.<br />
-The "centrists" will tell us that if we'd been better at supporting they're crappy candidate in '16, we would have won, when in reality, we gave more than they did to help. We're actually a lot better and scrappier in a fight. And we have infinitely more at stake. But we knew that their crappy candidate would likely do very little for us and likely continue to enable and facilitate the continued consolidation of the plutocracy. It's very hard for us to comprehend the gall of "centrists" to blame us for their hideous and selfish blunder and to actually blame us in advance for their incomprehensible drive to nominate a doomed, greasy, dumb, fumbling, unelectable, usury-loving 80-year old, when there are so many incredibly inspiring, appealing, sincere fighters who could actually bring an end to the spectacular income inequality, climate change, and warmongering.Christian Asplundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09358294123858888559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4474092134844772018.post-13357159806445624252019-07-15T15:46:00.002-07:002019-07-15T15:47:01.018-07:00FaceBook and PoliticsGonna take a possibly permanent break from discussing/posting political stuff. Most who know me know how I feel. And I think most can see what's going on, even if the future is hard to predict. I continue to hope and pray for humanity and a country that I believe Providence smiled on at one time, and that brought immeasurable good to the world (and some bad). Our destiny is in the hands of a motley collection of highly compromised cowards who were never the cream of the crop to begin with. Those of us who made it through the cold war have a hard time giving up the idea that we are all stronger and happier because of shared values and resources in the midst of gorgeous diversity; that unwritten norms are often all that prevents us from oblivion; that safety nets, a few rules, and collective infrastructure of all kinds facilitate the glorious entrepreneurial spirit that has brought us unparalleled creativity, beauty, and fun.<br />
I was a late adopter of FaceBook. I couldn't figure out the point of it at first. I soon found it to be the most useful tool imaginable for an indy musician. I built up an artistic practice that depended on FaceBook. In the process I reconnected with people I never thought I'd hear from. I made many new and interesting friends and met my amazing wife. It enabled me to book gigs in places I'd never been and to host musicians for performances that would never have otherwise happened. FaceBook is, of course, a deeply flawed platform and 2016 has soured many on it. There are also some weird generational things, like that Instagram is cool, not FB so much, etc. (a sentiment which my teens (who appear to be reappropriating FB) say is so "millenial" and thus uncool). It's kind of like saying Chrysler is so much cooler than Dodge. Anyway, I'm gonna stay on FB in a restrained way and let others do the political stuff. Thanks y'all for your beautiful spirits and keep groovin'.Christian Asplundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09358294123858888559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4474092134844772018.post-28008275598107447092018-07-16T16:58:00.000-07:002018-07-16T16:58:06.848-07:00To senators re: Putin/Trump in Helsinki<span style="background-color: white; color: #544e3f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I sent the following to my two senators today, following the disastrous Trump/Putin summit:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #544e3f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">"If you continue to support this treasonous traitor of a president and do not pursue impeachment, your are yourself a traitor to your country, a country that won a cold war against this totalitarian state. You will also have to answer to God, humanity, posterity, and history for your complicity. You must give up your insane "loyalty" to a political party that has gone completely off the rails and choose loyalty to country and humanity instead. It's time to do the right thing. God help us if you and your colleagues don't."</span>Christian Asplundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09358294123858888559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4474092134844772018.post-90967747667460264382018-06-25T18:24:00.002-07:002018-06-25T18:28:21.702-07:00Kings: Bad Idea<style type="text/css">
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Last week in Gospel Doctrine class we were talking about the transition from judges to kings in the Old Testament.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>There was a lot of humming and hawing about how maybe this was necessary, etc., the judges weren’t that great, etc.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>My comment was something along the lines that, taken as a whole, in addition to being a lineage of the Messiah, a secondary overriding theme is how utterly terrible kings and tribes are. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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Yesterday while waiting for stake conference to start I looked through every chapter heading from 1 Samuel to 2 Kings.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It’s just a series of absolute disasters caused by these kings.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And the first three were carefully hand picked, but even they turned out really bad and caused unspeakable suffering.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I know God sanctioned, selected and had these guys anointed, but I imagine it somewhat in the character of providing I.V. drug users with clean needles.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>“If you’re going to do this really awful, dumb thing, then at least make sure that…” etc.</div>
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Kings and tribes are unmitigated disasters.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And why wouldn’t they be?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>If we are children of a perfect and loving god, tribalism, racism, and nationalism have to be viewed as wicked.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Moreover, lifting up one man and his descendants as above the law, better than everyone else, able to boss people around and steal from, enslave, kidnap, and rape them at a whim are likewise wicked.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And yet we have this human tendency to want kings, strongmen, and celebrities.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We are also incredibly susceptible to believing in tribes, races, and nationalities.</div>
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I keep coming back the the lyric of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbJQVUE1qSI" target="_blank">reggae classic from Carlton and the Shoes</a>:</div>
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“God made man and He gave them all</div>
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An equal share of blessings.</div>
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Some men want to take it all and</div>
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Keep the rest of the world in</div>
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Bondage and oppression.”</div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbJQVUE1qSI" target="_blank">The song</a> ends with a hopeful note though:</div>
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“But the Father, He’s not sleeping.</div>
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He’ll set his people free.</div>
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Better days are coming,</div>
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Better days for you and for me.”</div>
<br />Christian Asplundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09358294123858888559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4474092134844772018.post-42076405766333522822018-06-24T15:10:00.003-07:002018-06-24T15:11:49.690-07:00Demagogue
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "System Font Regular"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So the fact that there is a word for this,
demagogue, and that vile strongmen throughout recorded history have taught and
preyed on fear of the other to divide the majority or plurality and thus gain
power and control; does the fact that history is replete with this ugly
phenomenon and that despite our living in the information age, and thus having
super easy access to all this history and information, does any of that matter?
I guess we really have to look at root causes. About 50 percent of any society are
susceptible to fear, easily manipulated, and generally not super smart or able
to think independently/critically. This is just simply a given. And these
people do amazing and beautiful things in most circumstances. About 35% of
people in any society are both smart and have a social conscience. About 15%
are smart and are douchebags, and just want wealth or power, at whatever
expense. Sometimes the 15% (or a subset of them) get so greedy that they are
willing to create/promote hatred to squeeze a little bit more, mostly out of
the 50% (getting them to act against their consciences and their own
interests). It's really all up to the 35%, and I think we've failed. We failed
to educate. We failed in the political process. We promoted a doctrine of moral
relativism at the very wrong time in history. We sucked up to mass media and
popular culture also at the very wrong time in history. We allowed "wedge
issues", tailor made by the 15%, to cause us to succumb to dislike of the
50%. We also failed to shame the 15%, but that is only possible when we
sufficiently educate the 50% such that we have shared values with which to
shame the 15%. </span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Christian Asplundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09358294123858888559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4474092134844772018.post-51949698443703509922018-06-03T14:22:00.001-07:002018-06-03T15:12:37.731-07:00Avant Vespers<style type="text/css">
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I shared the following on FaceBook today regarding a new series that takes over somewhat where the Locust Salon and Avant GaRAWge left off:</div>
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For many years I have been experimenting with different ways to structure time in music.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I’m very excited to present a piece tonight that does this in ways that I’ve imagined but never quite realized.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>No Within No is also an exploration of liminality, the space within the supposed borders.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This is something I’ve been fascinated with for years, but I feel like I’m getting further into that groove.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The borders that become continua are those between speech and music, composed and improvised text, intelligible words and phonemes, humor and profundity, heterophony and polyphony, and a few others.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I’m so glad to have two of my favorite vocalist/performers joining me, Hannah McLaughlin and Stuart Wheeler.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And also very grateful to be surrounded with other fascinating music being made by Mr. Wheeler, Gavin Ryan, Devin Maxwell, and the music of Pauline Oliveros, Alvin Lucier, and Phil Niblock, composers rarely heard in these parts.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Incidentally, I share a regard for Sunday as a sacred time and consider this event, in a beautiful and intimate church, a wonderful opportunity for meditation and the celebration of the divine gift of sound, whatever your beliefs or life practices are.</div>
<br />Christian Asplundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09358294123858888559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4474092134844772018.post-3431524853174772312017-10-22T11:28:00.003-07:002017-10-22T11:29:59.930-07:00Too FastListening to Bach's sublime A minor violin concerto. The tempos are so ludicrously fast that it forces one to ask many questions. It's no wonder the esteem of classical music has suffered so much. Why the obsession with rushing through this incredibly complex sublime music? It evinces a kind of contempt for the music, its composer, its significance, its import. Bach's music is about as fancy as music gets from the fanciest era of music. It was the era of the doctrine of the affections. It can't possibly work at these tempos. Please, players of baroque music, stop trying to "get through" this or any music. If playing it is such an unpleasant chore (like disposing of a dead animal, or something similar that is done quickly), then maybe do something else that you actually enjoy. But please don't destroy this music for the rest of us.Christian Asplundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09358294123858888559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4474092134844772018.post-66444104293699792072017-10-16T12:18:00.002-07:002017-10-16T12:18:43.495-07:00The Anointed One--Program Notes<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
Here are program notes for The Anointed One, a song cycle to be performed Tuesday night, 10/17/17, Madsen Recital Hall, Provo, Utah.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Anointed
One<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Bach’s Passions have been among my favorite works
of art since I was quite young, the only drawback being that they end with the
burial and don’t include anything about the resurrection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I always aspired to write something like them
but have realized over the years that there is little scope in my own situation
for pieces of that scale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2015 I
decided to compose a “micropassion”, a stripped down piece using only the
account from the shortest gospel, that included the resurrection account.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The passion portion was performed on Good
Friday evening and the resurrection portion on Easter Sunday morning, both in
my home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2017 I arranged another
performance, but this time added hymns from the L.D.S. canon and reflective
songs that I have assembled into a cycle. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The poems below are preceded by scriptural
texts that accompanied them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Jesus, the Anointed One<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to
anoint my body to the burying. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">(Mark 14:8)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Jesus, the Anointed One<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">You need not my anointing<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Yet how I wish I could touch you<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">To kiss you and bathe your feet with my tears<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">As I cannot touch you now<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">May I anoint you with my life, my love<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">As I anoint your other brothers and sisters<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">May I anoint the poor in spirit, the poor in substance, the poor in
body, the poor in time…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">With my food, my shelter, my clothing, my touch, my words, my prayers,
my tears, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">May the perfume of this anointing ascend to your nostrils as the sweet
savor of primeval offerings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">May I remember the woman, the women who anoint and bathe your feet with
tears.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">naked<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And they all forsook him, and fled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And there followed him a certain young
man, having a linen cloth cast about <span class="clarity-word"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">his</span></span> naked <span class="clarity-word"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">body;</span></span> and the young men laid hold on him:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he left the linen cloth, and fled from
them naked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">(Mark
14:50-52)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">naked came i hither<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">and naked i go forth<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">sin and death, your enemies<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>strip me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">as naked without the covering<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">of your presence, of your forgiveness<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">i flee, not knowing where to go<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">may i be one of those who overcome<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">may i be clothed in white raiment<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">as a bride<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">that I may join you<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">eternally<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">tears</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice.” And
when he thought thereon, he wept.</span></i><span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> (Mark
14:72)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">would that my tears could<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">signify<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">my deepest desire<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">and not betray<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">my animal fear<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">would that i could<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">rest in thy safety<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">and not wander<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">far<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">would that i could<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">speak my witness<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">boldly<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">not regarding the outcome<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">instead i curse,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">fearful,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">glimpsing (guiltily) from a safe distance<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">doubt<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had
been seen of her, believed not. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">(Mark 16:11)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">never will i<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">ignore your witnesses<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">on earth<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">when you left<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">i refused to be comforted<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">when i heard you had returned<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">i believed not for joy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">how i longed to hear your word<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">to feel your embrace<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">but i wouldn’t listen<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">ineffable<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">They trembled and were amazed: neither said
they any thing to any <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">man.</span></span></i><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;"> (</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Mark 16:8)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">i’m trembling with fear<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">with love<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">with light<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">i’m amazed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">i cannot speak<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">when i think on the despair i felt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">before i knew you lived<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">when i realized my life<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">would never be the same<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">i couldn’t find words<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">how can i speak<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">what can i say<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">is it really possible<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">are you really alive<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">i dare not imagine<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">an end to my sadness<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">i dare not imagine <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">to see your face again<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">yet trembling and speechless<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">i look up<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">filled with hope<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">that i will see you again<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Christian Asplundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09358294123858888559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4474092134844772018.post-24453124647351957472017-10-04T11:42:00.002-07:002017-10-04T11:50:18.547-07:00Death Drive<div class="p1">
-The Book of Mormon describes two civilizations in two different time periods becoming possessed with hatred and obsessed with weapons, death, and killing, ultimately resulting in genocide in one case, and mutual destruction in the other.</div>
<div class="p1">
-Freud talks about a Death Drive, the instinct to kill and destroy.</div>
<div class="p1">
-The Book of Mormon talks about the natural man (sometimes called the carnal man), in opposition to the divine within.</div>
<div class="p1">
-The Book of Mormon also proposes that its detailed accounts of wanton hatred and violence are included to be instructive to people of our era.</div>
<div class="p1">
-The Bible and Book of Mormon repeatedly talk about beating swords into ploughshares.</div>
<div class="p1">
-At it’s darkest, I see our society as one obsessed (in its fantasy world (media), its preaching and pronouncements, its politics) with violence and death.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I see an ever accelerating addiction to button-actuated weapons, essentially killing with remote controls.</div>
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-The completely unreasoned, bizarre, drunken resistance to any kind of limitations on remote killing devices can only be explained with the Death Drive, or the natural man, coupled with the Mahan principle, also of ancient origin, described by Hugh Nibley as the ease with which one can “get gain” by exploiting human suffering and death.</div>
Christian Asplundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09358294123858888559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4474092134844772018.post-77809988734827957892017-08-29T08:11:00.002-07:002017-08-29T08:13:37.726-07:00PoisonIf we can't collectively see Harvey, and the crumbling of everything built and fought for us in the 20th century as the direct failure of conservatism...I dunno, I just don't know.Christian Asplundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09358294123858888559noreply@blogger.com0