God Lives Underwater

Taking one of my occasional forays into "alternative or underground" music which often seems to lead to some weird confluence or insight on life atonal or "extra-tonal," some harmonious convergence or commentary on Life in the So-Called Space Age emerges.

Today the agency for that is from a group that called itself "God Lives Underwater."



Sadly, the group no longer exists though a fan site can be found here.

The Wikipedia entry/epitaph states:

God Lives Underwater was an industrial rock band from rural Perkiomenville, Pennsylvania (near Philadelphia), formed in 1993 by band members David Reilly and Jeff Turzo. God Lives Underwater was originally signed to American Recordings after being discovered by Rick Rubin, who subsequently produced the band's first two albums. Prior to the band's breakup, there were two other members, Andrew McGee and Scott Garret, and one ex-member, Adam Kary.

The band produced an Extended Play (EP) in 1995. Later that year, they released their first studio album, Empty. In 1998, they released another studio album, Life in the So-Called Space Age. It was their first and only album to ever chart, peaking #6 on Heatseekers, and #137 on the Billboard 200. Later that year, the released their second EP, Rearrange. In 2004, God Lives Underwater released their last album, Up Off The Floor. One year later, lead singer David Reilly died in his sleep, after the band's breakup.

God bless.

When the famous quit religion

Anne Rice (famous author of vampire and other novels) has quit Christianity.

Silence.

For those who don't know or care, here's the chronology from her Facebook page
(according to Wikipedia):

On July 29, 2010, Rice publicly renounced her dedication to her Roman Catholic
faith, yet remaining committed to Christ, on her Facebook page stating:

"For those who care, and I understand if you don't: Today I quit being a
Christian. I'm out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being
"Christian" or to being part of Christianity. It's simply impossible for me to
"belong" to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous
group. For ten years, I've tried. I've failed. I'm an outsider. My conscience
will allow nothing else."

---following the post a few hours after with:

"As I said below, I quit being a Christian. I'm out. In the name of Christ,
I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be
anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be
anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In
the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen."

She reaffirmed her faith in Christ with stance of non-adherence to organized
Christianity an hour or so later with the following post:

"My faith in Christ is central to my life. My conversion from a pessimistic
atheist lost in a world I didn't understand, to an optimistic believer in a
universe created and sustained by a loving God is crucial to me. But following
Christ does not mean following His followers. Christ is infinitely more
important than Christianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is,
has been, or might become."

Anne further clarified her statements as follows:

My commitment to Christ remains at the heart and center of my life.
Transformation in Him is radical and ongoing. That I feel now that I am called
to be an outsider for Him, to step away from the words, "Christian" and
"Christianity" is something that my conscience demands of me. I feel that my
faith in Him demands this of me. I know of no other way to express how I must
remove myself from those things which seek to separate me from Him.

In an August 7, 2010 interview with the Los Angeles Times, she elaborated on her
view regarding being a member of a Christian church: "I feel much more morally
comfortable walking away from organized religion. I respect that there are all
kinds of denominations and all kinds of churches, but it's the entire
controversy, the entire conversation that I need to walk away from right
now." In response to the question, "[H]ow do you follow Christ without a
church?" Rice replied: "I think the basic ritual is simply prayer. It's talking
to God, putting things in the hands of God, trusting that you're living in God's
world and praying for God's guidance. And being absolutely faithful to the core
principles of Jesus' teachings.

Sometimes, it seems to me, the famous simply talk too much and/or we listen to or read them too often without context or more sober perspective.

Anyway, here is Anne Rice talking with apologist Bishop of Durham, N.T. Wright about writing, religion, her gay son, etc., at a Grace Cathedral forum dated May 14, 2006.

Vampires (and those who love them), please consider these St. Paul words to the
Corinthians:

"And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?
I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily."
~1 Corinthians15:31

Of course one cannot be anti son or daughter or even anti-death.

But - BEING - anti-God?

Happens more within organized religion than even the greatest "organizers" care
to admit or say - everyday.

So how to avoid being organized personally and collectively without losing our soul?

Rejoice in the Lord . . . and "die" daily.

De Tocqueville's France

I find it odd that after all these years there is still a controversy or lack of full clarity on some of Alexis de Tocqueville's actual words to his countrymen as regards America. Scan the web as I have (below) and even read a real book or two (Democracy in America perhaps?) and see if you might understand my meaning.

Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville

Par exemple:

"America is great because America is good."

Bartleby has this excerpt from Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations (1989).

AUTHOR: Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–59)
QUOTATION: I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her
commodious harbors and her ample rivers—and it was not there … in her
fertile fields and boundless forests—and it was not there … in her
rich mines and her vast world commerce—and it was not there … in her
democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution—and it was not
there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her
pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her
genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America
ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.
ATTRIBUTION: Attributed to ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE by Dwight D.
Eisenhower in his final campaign address in Boston, Massachusetts,
November 3, 1952. Unverified.

The last two sentences are attributed to de Tocqueville’s Democracy
in America by Sherwood Eddy, The Kingdom of God and the American
Dream, chapter 1, p. 6 (1941). This appears with minor variations in A
Third Treasury of the Familiar, ed. Ralph L. Woods, p. 347 (1970), as
"attributed to de Tocqueville but not found in his works."

Leaving some to conclude that it might be Eisenhower or one of his
speechwriters who coined the phrase often quoted in sermons and
speeches within the last century (and to this day).

However, this page from the The Big Apple blog by OED contributor and consultant Barry Popick  is a pretty good compilation regarding the facts of the matter.

And Barry notes a possible source for subsequent newspaper and other citations,
especially Eisenhower's usage of the phrase in that campaign address just noted.

6 September 1922, The Herald and Presbyter,
"A Presbyterian Family Paper" pg. 8, col. 3:
NEW YORK LETTER.
BY REV. CLARENCE G. REYNOLDS, D.D.
As most of the pastors had not returned from their vacations, there were
very few Labor Day sermons preached last Sabbath. All of the daily papers
had a message from Rev. John McDowell, D.D., one of the secretaries of our
Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, in which he plead for the spirit of
Christ in modern industry, both on the part of employers and employes. Dr.
McDowell says that industry has a right to look to the Church for moral
guidance on economic matters. Dr, McDowell says that the spirit of Christ is
the spirit of cooperation, justice and fair dealing, brotherhood and
humanity, service and sacrifice. Dr, McDowell closed his message with the
quotation from Alexis de Tocqueville, as follows:

"I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors
and her ample rivers, and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and genius of
America in her fertile fields and boundless forests, and it was not there. I
sought for the greatness and genius of America in her rich mines and her
vast world commerce, and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and
genius of America in her public school system and her institutions of
learning, and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and genius of
America in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution, and it
was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her
pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius
and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever
ceases to be good America will cease to be great."

From the text of the book, Empty Pews, Selections from Other Sermons on Timely
Topics, Madison Clinton Peters; Zeising, 1886, p. 35  we are left with a very different quote:

Some years ago, De Tochneville [sic], the distinguished
French statesman, was commissioned by his country for
the purpose of studying the genius of our institutions.

In reporting to the French Senate, he said:

"I went at your bidding, and passed along their thoroughfares of
trade. I ascended their mountains and went down their
valleys. I visited their manufactories[sic], their commercial
markets, and emporiums of trade. I entered their judicial
courts and legislative halls. But I sought everywhere in
vain for the secret of their success, until I entered the
church. It was there, as I listened to the soul-equaliz-
ing and soul-elevating principles of the Gospel of Christ,
as they fell from Sabbath to Sabbath upon the masses of
the people, that I learned why America was great and
free, and why France was a slave."

Additionally:

De Montalembert, another French statesman, said:

"Without a Sabbath, no worship, without worship, no
religion, and without religion, no permanent freedom."
Here we have the corner-stone of American liberties.
There can be no permanent freedom without religion,
and there can be no religion without Worship, and there
can be no worship without the Sabbath. Therefore,
without the Sabbath there can be no permanent freedom.
I believe that the security or disaster of American insti-
tutions depends upon the issue of the Sabbatic contest."

###########

Again, here is the newer, more common (Sherwood Eddy / Eisenhower) quote from the "New York Letter" dated September 6, 1922 within "Herald and Presbyter, Volume 93" from Rev. John McDowell:

"I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her democratic Congress
and her matchless Constitution, and it was not there. Not until I went into
the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I
understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because
America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good America will cease to
be great."

So the key to the puzzle seems to lie somewhere between the time of Dr. Madison
Clinton Peters' writing (1886) and Rev. John McDowell's writing (1922).

The 1908 copy of The Methodist Review in which de Toqueville was quoted as
saying:

"It was there, as I listened to the soul-equalizing and soul-elevating
principles of the Gospel of Christ as they fell from Sabbath to Sabbath upon
the masses of the people, that I learned why America is great and free, and
why France is a slave."

--Seem not to be [all] de Tocqueville’s words either. [Guess which ones]

Somewhere between the various "Sabbatic contests" - and letters from ministers
to their own Methodist Review(s) or Herald and Presbyter(s) - as De Montalembert may
have written it, the "security or disaster of [American] institutions" and
the nation's very soul was inspired, declared or simply made elegant,
wise [?] slogan for the Ages:

"America [or any nation] is great 

because [when] America [or any nation] is good."

Time and the actions of men and women - under God - will continue to tell.

Is a nation that attracts, produces and encourages great people, great?

In the meantime, more clues to De Tocqueville's France lie here.

Human rights idealism - lost forever?

An interesting piece of commentary was posted yesterday on the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty website.

  Joan Baez and Bob Dylan at The March on Washington (August 28, 1963)

You can read it here.

While I agree that "faith in [certain] nonviolent human rights ideals among the young is essential and perhaps that "older Helsinki watchers [should or must] rededicate . . . to the very basics -- freedom of the media and freedom of association," something is clearly missing in this attempt at parallel.

As Ms. Fitzpatrick notes:

"Today, a young Canadian endorses the anarchists’ rampage at the G20 summit in Toronto and meets my expression of concern about violence with a sneer -- "That Joan Baez stuff doesn't work anymore." A young Kazakh public relations expert can reply to my protest about the closure of newspapers with a cynical shrug that "plurality breeds confusion."

First, I think the young Canadian was confused to equate Joan Baez (and that era, presumably) with current human rights realities and struggles in Central Asia or (more than likely) anywhere else.
[One could blame Neil Young, I suppose.]

Moreover, the anti-war movement of 1960s America was just that: Anti-war. Rising during the era of the Vietnam War (1965 to 1973), it was "the largest and most successful antiwar movement in U.S. history." It became the "war at home," rooted in early student radicalism protesting political repression on college campuses and considered to be a direct outgrowth of the Free Speech Movement.

Human rights lies in a broader, often nebulous arena known quintessentially, worldwide today, as: The United Nations. The OSCE with Kazakhstan at its head currently is mere sideshow to that main attraction.
The "spirit" of Helsinki has served its purpose (encouraging and supporting the death of communism) and now also fades in the face of such current, chaotic and challenging realities.

Why are the young not inspired to get involved individually and/or collectively?
I think the answer is certainly that "human rights groups are victims of their own success," in the sense noted, but the solution offered, albeit reflexively (or even reflectively), "Joan Baez stuff" is no solution at all.

In any case, I applaud Ms. Fitzpatrick for her peaceful "protest" in regards to the closure of newspapers and also in highlighting the Zhovtis case. Plurality of voices (via media) are essential for not only developing personal and public clarity, but for freedom and democracy. The young Kazakh public relations expert needs to get a grip as does his government.

Open and continuous dialogue (free press and association, too) serve as the internal and external preconditions for diminishing violence, improving government AND institutional response. It is not the limitations of new technologies that should be our concern, but the quantity, and more essentially, the quality of the message that gets conveyed.