tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9991864.post6420389532492323327..comments2023-08-10T05:24:20.775-04:00Comments on Razing the Bar: John Wayne Gacy, Jr.Andy Whitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04010130934552315074noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9991864.post-91210758288749291682007-04-04T14:22:00.000-04:002007-04-04T14:22:00.000-04:00Hey Andy,Thanks for the post. I write for my semi...Hey Andy,<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the post. I write for my seminary's school newspaper and each month I get to write about music and its intersections. I got the idea from your writing in Paste Magazine (by the way, I missed you this month). Anyway, one such song I wrote on was John Wayne Gacy, Jr. If you're interested, I've posted it as well as all the others on my blog under the category "Sweet Sound of Speculation." The blog is mybackpages.typepad.com.<BR/><BR/>Thanks again.<BR/><BR/>JeniAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9991864.post-79083143609056555302007-04-02T09:56:00.000-04:002007-04-02T09:56:00.000-04:00Erik wrote:"It's why organizations like AA have sp...Erik wrote:<BR/><BR/>"It's why organizations like AA have spoken more to me about grace than the Church, often. It used to be in the Church that you used to have to be clean-cut, stiff, proper. Now you have to be unkempt, tattooed, cool."<BR/><BR/>You know, I hope not. Organizations like AA have spoken to me, too, and I'm thankful for them. But I hope there are alternatives in the church other than "clean-cut, stiff, and proper" and "unkempt, tattooed, and cool." Honestly, I can't possibly be either of those two alternatives. My personality is too unruly and improper to fit easily into the first scenario, and the hearing aid, receding hairline, and paunch exclude me from the hipsters. But I'd still like to think that there's a third category: broken people who understand their own culpability, and who don't judge people precisely because they understand that, but who also want to encourage people to relate to one another, talk honestly and openly with one another, worship together, and engage with God in the slow process of being changed from the inside. <BR/><BR/>I understand what you're saying about the church, Erik. Sadly, your experience is far from unique. But there really are people out there who take the "bear one another's burdens" notion seriously, and who won't isolate or marginalize you, regardless of your issues, because they've been there themselves, and because they honestly try to live according to the notion that it's better to try to come alongside human beings and befriend them than blame them or point fingers at them. What a radical concept, eh? I really hope that you find that to be true within the context of the Christian church.Andy Whitmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04010130934552315074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9991864.post-55297061091928390492007-03-30T14:40:00.000-04:002007-03-30T14:40:00.000-04:00Great post, Andy.Great post, Andy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9991864.post-65732239531829946712007-03-30T13:08:00.000-04:002007-03-30T13:08:00.000-04:00Thank you for this hard-hitting post, Andy. When I...Thank you for this hard-hitting post, Andy. When I read your blog I invariably copy the text or URL and send it on to someone I think needs to read it, too. The moment you mentioned Gacy I hoped you'd quote Sufjan Stevens' song, one that never fails to raise the hair on my neck. <BR/>Today, I am digging in the vegetable garden, rooting out giant clumps of weeds. I think as I work, and today I've been thinking hard about moving away from deceit, secrets, emotional neglect, and other moral weeds that infest our lives and relationships. Needless to say, your writing resonates deeply with me. Thanks for your brave and raw outlook.Julie Zickefoosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06654698829603424649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9991864.post-92166048131420418872007-03-30T13:06:00.000-04:002007-03-30T13:06:00.000-04:00Ugh. Such horrific stories.I find it nearly imposs...Ugh. Such horrific stories.<BR/><BR/>I find it nearly impossible to allow my ugliness out into the light, in part because I'm just not convinced that those people around me that are commanded to "bear [my] burdens" just won't and I'll be isolated, marginalized.<BR/><BR/>It's why organizations like AA have spoken more to me about grace than the Church, often. It used to be in the Church that you used to have to be clean-cut, stiff, proper. Now you have to be unkempt, tattooed, cool.<BR/><BR/>Either way, you're asked to wear a mask in church, whereas in help groups you're bound together not by your mask but by the nastiness underneath.ehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13724389911456722864noreply@blogger.com