tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5222839876578062342.post4177523813671719609..comments2024-03-16T02:58:07.351-04:00Comments on Me Me Me Me Me: Does My Advocacy Mean That I “Hate Christians”?MSWallackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04025607935715642114noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5222839876578062342.post-73582023960315882942015-10-09T10:18:23.021-04:002015-10-09T10:18:23.021-04:00Thanks for responding, Charles. I hear what you...Thanks for responding, Charles. I hear what you're saying about my criticism of school choir performances, but I guess I view it as a handful of tweets three or four times a year. I'd make a more concerted effort to try to get real change at the school in a direct fashion, but my teenage daughter is adamant that I not do so because she is afraid that if I make waves (well, beyond Twitter and my blog) she will be relegated to the back of the worst choir.<br /><br />Choirs at our school tend to do lots of very interesting arrangements of all sorts of songs, including many songs in other languages and other cultures. They also make efforts to include modern songs as well. I understand and don't really object to the inclusion of a religious song here and there, especially if the inclusion is because of particularly interesting or challenging music elements, but that doesn't usually seem to be the determining factor in the choice of songs (at least from my perspective).<br /><br />As to droning on, yeah, I know I can be long-winded. I guess that I don't worry about self-editing for brevity on the blog because, as much as anything else, it's my opportunity to vent, to work through my thoughts on an issue (often the writing process helps me really think through issues I've often not delved deeply into), and to have a place to sort of empty my brain of ideas that have been piling up. Obviously, I have to be much more brief on Twitter. So, I know that I lose people with length sometimes, but I guess that doesn't bother me too much as long as I'm happy with the content that I've posted.<br /><br />Finally, as to the movie discussion you mentioned, if I recall correctly, I was trying to be funny. If I failed in that effort or if I gave offense, I apologize. And if my memory is faulty and I was being more direct and simply saying "you're wrong" in a serious way without leaving room for discussion, then that was poor behavior on my part and, again, I apologize. But I'm sure that you were wrong about whatever we were discussing.MSWallackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04025607935715642114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5222839876578062342.post-6162102044239418122015-10-08T18:41:55.316-04:002015-10-08T18:41:55.316-04:00As to the "hating Christians" part, no, ...As to the "hating Christians" part, no, I don't think you do. I shared an apartment with you and never found the need to bolt my bedroom door when I went to sleep. Or at least not because of you. :)<br /><br />As to the Christian music in the schools, it is a little boring that you criticize it during every concert. I too questioned (to my wife, if no one else) the inclusion of religious music during public school concerts, or at least I questioned the fact that no one had sued over it. But I also acknowledge that a whole lot of the music specifically written for choirs over the years has been religious in nature. Special choral arrangements of popular songs get really old, too, and, one could argue, don't do as much to showcase the choir's particular talents. Perhaps the compositions are being included despite the fact that they're religious, not because of it.<br /><br />As to your more general questions about your online presence, if I think you're droning on, I stop reading, just like I do with any other online article or blog. The only time I was put off by your online attitude was what I thought would be a dialogue on Facebook last summer about a movie you enjoyed and I didn't. I thought we were going to have a dialogue, and all I got from you (two or three times) was "You're wrong." That was a bit off-putting. Other than that, like I said, I read what I find interesting, and don't read the rest.Charleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16980839541732980078noreply@blogger.com