Skip to main content

Jefferson Bethke's poem

Jefferson Bethke
Since I have spent A LOT of time in Homeless World Sacramento where most of the homeless guys have a family background that is Christian, and where most of the guys, themselves, too, say they are Christian, I thought I would embed this poem that has, I understand, gone viral on the Internet.

I found it via elephant journal, a mostly Buddhist online publication, that does its thing in Boulder, Colorado, a famously Buddhist (and liberal) city -- home of Naropa University. [I consider myself to be a Skyhooks Buddhist -- someone who is a secular Western Buddhist who believes we aren't 'just' pushed up from the muck, but somehow "pulled up," a product of spirit or consciousness, or some damn as-of-now-mysterious-and-unexplained thing, too.]

I am, myself, ambivalent about Bethke's poem.  I think it nice that he wrote it and filmed it, but I don't think he is precise about his message.  He is "trapped" in a meter-and-rhyme scheme that requires quick lines of text -- which has him saying some things that are clever at the price of logic or completeness.  Nonetheless, WAY TO GO, Jefferson.  Quite an accomplishment, particularly for someone as young as yourself [22 years old; didn't know you were THAT new to the planet].

Anyway, Readers, listen to "Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus" and let me know what you think in the comment section.  In a few days, I'll put up a follow-up post.  <-- UPDATE:  The follow-up post, Part II, is now online.

Comments

Steve said…
I look forward to your follow-up post. As for me, rather than go through his rap line by line, I'll just say that I think it was pretty clever and well done overall and that it conveys the vital message that a Christianity worthy of the name plumbs much deeper than attending church on Sunday and the rote spouting of Bible verses.

Of course, my biggest problem with what he says is that I don't believe in the freaky Jesus who is the foundation of his appeal and of Christianity as I know it. So, his message, while eloquent, ultimately rings hollow to me, and a Christianity "worthy of the name" ultimately seems unworthy of devotion.
January 26, 2012 at 3:57 PM
Unknown said…
Thanks for your recommendations, Steve.

I've been lax in keeping up with responsibilities I've put on my to-do list, but I do want to understand Bethke's message -- even as I am far from expert on Christ and Christianity issues.

But, like Bethke seems to be, my interest is more New Testament, understanding Jesus, than Old Testament or dogma.

But the rap/poem is a curious blend of dazzling statements in a stew of some confusion. His central message is awesome, interesting and appealing -- but he pushes things too far, perhaps.

Anyway, I will listen a few more times to the viddie and post a follow-up soon.

Perhaps you will blog something??
January 26, 2012 at 8:07 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Loaves & Fishes implicates Buddhism and Jack Kornfield in its June Donations Plea.

The Sukhothai Traimit Golden Buddha was found in a clay-and-plaster overlaid buddha statue in 1959, after laying in wait for 500 years. It's huge and heavy: just under 10 feet tall and weighs 5 1/2 tons. At the beginning of their June newsletter , Loaves and Fishes relates a story, taken from the beginning of renowned Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield's 2008 book The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology . The first part and first chapter in Kornfield's book is "Part I: Who are you really?" and chapter 1 is called "Nobility: Our Original Goodness," which ought to serve as a clue to what the beginning of the book is about, not that that sentiment isn't strewn through-out the chapter, section and book such that what Kornfield is telling us should be crystal clear. Somehow, the not-ready-for-primetime management at Loaves & Fishes have managed to use Kornfield's wise and kindly words in a way that mangles th...
8 comments
Read more

In an act of Collective Punishment, Loaves & Fishes closes its park in the morning on New Year’s Day

Calvin [a "green hat" in Unfriendly Park] makes the argument for continued incompetent management. Hobbes represents me — only, in real life, I don't have that good a coat . In an act of Collective Punishment, Loaves & Fishes closes its park in the morning on New Year’s Day In one respect — and only one — that I can think of, Loaves & Fishes is NOT hypocritical: The management hates the way America is run and wants to turn it into a backward communist country . Consistent with that, Loaves & Fishes’ management runs its facility like a backward communist country. The People’s Republic of Loaves & Fishes. A seemingly minor thing happened on New Year’s Day. A couple of people smoked a joint in Loaves & Fishes’ Friendship Park and one of the park directors, or both of them, determined, at about 10am, that, in retribution, they would punish all the homeless there by closing the park for the day. This is something the managers of the park do all the ...
7 comments
Read more

Common ground on safe ground. Common sense, not communism.

Mayor Kevin Johnson at Safe Ground campground. [ twitpic : share photos on Twitter] For the second week in a row, I attended the Tuesday meeting of the SHOC Homeless Leadership Project effort to achieve safe ground , at the Delaney Center at the Loaves & Fishes facility. [ Here , my account of the prior week's mtg, which provides much the same news that was today's Top Story in the Bee .] I was reluctant to attend. Though I endorse core objectives of the group – support for a currently existant encampment of homeless people, called Safe Ground; and the mayor's effort, with Stepping Stone, to create a legal homeless encampment in Sacramento – the group evidences a lot of troubling Leftist attitudes and practices. Nonetheless, I was encouraged to attend and it became known to me that people were fully aware I was a blogger. [Both the prior week and today I introduced myself as being with Sacramento Homeless blog. Today, Paula Lomazzi of SHOC commended my article " A...
2 comments
Read more