A Poem, a Blasphemer, and a Defense of the Ugly in Art

Ok, so here are two things of interest for today:
On Beauty: Axiom #4: Your Job is Not to Make Pretty is an interesting post by an Arts Pastor which argues that part of the believing artist's mandate for Truth is to tell the Truth about the "Good stuff, Mundane stuff, and Fallen stuff." While I agree with him, I would have to suggest one concern, and that is that the artist must keep the commandment to "love thy neighbor" or else any of these "stuffs", but particularly the "Fallen stuff" can become a stumbling block for others. Other than that qualification, I agree with his argument. The essay is brief and a good read for Christian artists.

The second article comes from ABC News and is a write up about the work of "The Rational Response Squad" and their "Blasphemy Challenge," wherein people call in to their internet radio show and publically blasphemy the Holy Spirit to show their atheism and support of atheists. By itself, this group would just seem like a bunch of pathetic attention seekers in a culture which loves to be shocked; however, as the article points out, this is really just another part of a new movement in atheism which seeks to actively attack Christianity as a dangerous idea. This new movement reminds me of Schaeffer's analysis of why the Romans could not tolerate the Christians and persecuted them while allowing most other religious to co-exists with their society: Christianity provides a basis to judge the actions of a government and its people, and while most religions then and now do not deny the validity of other beliefs and religions, Christianity claims to be the only truth, and absolute truth is a dangerous idea.