When I was 16 I wanted to join the
Jesus People.
The
year was 1981. I chose to get baptized, and was doing my best to read
and believe the Bible the way my bearded and bonneted forbears had — which was completely at odds with everything that seemed to be
happening south of 49. Ronald Reagan was in the White House, and the
only book of the Bible he seemed to place any faith in was the
Revelation of St. John the Divine. Christians were apparently on-board,
professing themselves pro-nukes and anti-abortion, and pro-Free
Market in a big, big
way.
Life
sucked.
To
make matters worse, I was listening to Christian Rock, which also sucked. I liked my music HARD, dammit: AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, RUSH. I
mentioned this to my youth pastor. He said, “Have you heard
Resurrection Band?”
No, but the name alone did not bode well. “Give them a try anyway. They're pretty hard.”
I
took a bus downtown to the Canadian Bible Society, then trudged
upstairs to their second floor, where they had a small room devoted
to Christian records. Sure enough, behind a divider labelled “REZ
Band” were two albums — Rainbow's
End,
and Awaiting Your
Reply.
The second was larger, with a gate-fold, and looked just a tad more
promising. I bought it and took the next bus home.
And
not just the music, either. Even the lyrics were bracing: when
frontman Glenn
Kaiser
sang,
and put a little spit behind his emphasis on pigs, it gave me the shivers.
“Tell me why did you come
and why were you born
where the dogs eat dogs
and the pigs get all the corn?”
and put a little spit behind his emphasis on pigs, it gave me the shivers.
And
the album art was first-rate — edgy and counter-cultural, but
polished,
and not at all amateur. There was a mini-sermon in the corner,
addressing the sort of social ills suburban churches were keen to
ignore. All in all, a package that spoke directly to the alienation
and disaffection I felt as a pious young Menno.
Tripping the gate-fold fantastic. |
Up from the basement. |
JPUSA
is locked in legal wranglings with at least one of the alleged
victims. I haven't any thoughts about that, one way or the other.
These things get very complicated very quickly, and very ugly right
from the git-go. The only reason I mention any of this, is this week
JPUSA's legal team issued a “Cease-and-desist” letter to the film-maker who brought this story to light.
Now,
granted, I'm still working on my PhD in Stoopid. But I'll go out on a
limb, here, and declare that nothing
good is gained — ever — when a religious institution issues a
“Cease and desist” order.
JPUSA
should know that better than anyone.
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