American Theonomy

 

Photo by Michael Descharles on Unsplash

November 8th; American Theonomy

In the 1st Dream, I traveled to Japan with my brother. For the trip, we were staying with a big family that opened their home to us. Their home looked like a traditional Japanese home, except it had thick wooden sliding doors, and it was inside a skyscraper on what could have easily been the 25th floor.

Their father took off work to spend a few days with us, having planned out a few adventures during our time with them. He also prepared a delicious looking dessert, a homemade plum honey/syrup that was to be added to rice, similar in concept to mango sticky rice.

In this family were three sons, all of whom were metalheads. The three sons all bought wigs so they could headbang to their favorite songs. But when they were done, they would take them off, revealing short hair underneath the long wigs.

The 2nd Dream consisted of a conversation between two Christians wherein the statement was made, 
“Heart change, along with Christianity, can not be legislated. You can make whatever law you want, but the result would be the same, people will do whatever they want to do.” The first statement was then followed up with, “If I was president, I too would have legalized gay marriage because I am Christian." A fascinating conversation indeed.

Let's explore the logic; the prohibition era is a great example that making something illegal does not make it go away. Things are simply pushed into the shadow world of organized crime, the Black Market. We see this now with illegal drugs and prescription drugs; they are incredibly common despite those substances' legality. Regarding alcohol consumption and abuse, the solution was not found in legislation because of criminal organizations that provided illegal spirits, some of which made the equivalent of over tens of millions a year.

Let's look back to the three young men in my dream that loved metal. Nothing changed that, but they hid it so nobody would know, allowing them to practiced it behind closed doors. Rebellion comes
in degrees, it starts small and quiet before becoming something loud and in your face.

Blues and Metal are just two manifestations of that spirit of rebellion against societal norms, the Devil's music. Blues and metal both harness the tritone for their unique sound, also known as "The Devils Interval." Due to its connection with rebellion, metal music is illegal in some countries, punishable by jail time or death. Whatever the consequence, the Iranian band Arsames and Confess continued to perform anyway. Rebellion is not bound to the realm of music; it lives in the human heart, and metal is just one of its expressions. What, if any, legislation could dig it out?

But what if America was a Christian nation; are there any historical documents that we can look at to give us an idea of what a Christian nation might look like? Yes. However, before we go there, let us quickly turn to the book of Genesis chapter 2, wherein God gives mankind one rule in Eden, “Do not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil,” and we all know how that turned out. This nature of rebellion is expressed by humans throughout Israel, allowing us to sees that although they had laws from God himself, they routinely broke those laws. Legislation and consequence did little to stop it, and thus the exile occurred.

Some other examples could be the Crusades or the Spanish Inquisition that targeted Jews and Messianic Jews under Christians' leadership for centuries. This persecution was not solely aimed at Jews and other non-believers; Christians also suffered due to differences in practice/denomination and fled to America, hoping to escape persecution from the mainstream "Christian" authority. Persecution, imprisonment, and execution were not uncommon. This is what Christian nations looked like, and it's no different than non-christian nations.

So, let me ask again, what would a Christian nation look like? For this final point, let's look at the topic of gay marriage. Let's say that gay marriage is made illegal in America; what is the penalty. Are we going to charge them a fine? They pay the fine and go back to their same-sex partner, no change, then what?

Do we arrest them and suddenly fill our jails with thousands upon thousands of people. Do we do what some pastors have suggested and call on the government to enact capital punishment? Should you choose the latter, why shouldn't capital punishment be extended for cheating on your spouse, which is punishable by death as described in Leviticus 20:10? Jesus said, "whoever looks at a woman with lust has committed adultery in his heart, Matthew 5:27-28." Does this mean we should kill any man that looks at a woman and feels lust? God gives grace to us, as evidence of this grace, and love extends it to others.

John 8:1-8; He that is without sin may cast the first stone. After the accusers left Jesus says," I don't condemn you either, go and sin no more."

America prides itself on being a nation that promotes freedom; well, freedom to do what? Freedom to convert or die, or the freedom to choose Christ or not. Are we a nation that promotes liberty and justice for all or liberty and justice for some? America does not need to be a Christian Nation to be a Nation of Christians. 

Regarding this post, Romo, I have called upon thee, and thy knowledge from the center of the blackest, foulest pits of metal, wherein strings of intestines are strummed, and the screams of tortured souls soothe sinners to sleep. My friend, thank you for responding and granting me a portion of your knowledge of all things metal! That's for you, Matt, lol.

Citation: Prohibition

History.com Editors. “Al Capone.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 14 Oct. 2009, www.history.com/topics/crime/al-capone.

Kelly, Martin. “Prohibition Era Timeline.” ThoughtCo, Thoughtco.com, 29 Aug. 2020, www.thoughtco.com/prohibition-era-timeline-104844.

Roos, Dave. “How Prohibition Put the 'Organized' in Organized Crime.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 14 Jan. 2019, www.history.com/news/prohibition-organized-crime-al-capone.

Citation: Music

Bricker, Aidan. “History of The Blues Part I: Slavery, Rebellion & Emancipation.” Happy Bluesman, Happy Bluesman, 31 Oct. 2018, happybluesman.com/history-blues-slavery-rebellion/.

Eleftheriou-Smith, Loulla-Mae. “Metal Band Confess Have Reportedly Been Jailed in Iran on Blasphemy Charges.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 17 Feb. 2016, www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/metal-band-confess-reportedly-jailed-and-facing-execution-blasphemy-iran-a6879466.html.

Hadusek, Jon. “Iranian Metal Band Arsames Face 15 Years in Prison for Playing ‘Satanic’ Music.” Consequenceofsound.net, Consequence of Sound, 3 Aug. 2020, consequenceofsound.net/2020/08/iranian-metal-band-arsames-face-prison/?utm_expid=.I2OkZS06Riahk3U0vrA5rQ.0.

Langerholc, Emily. “The Devil's Notes: Tritone Interval in Black Sabbath's ‘Black Sabbath.’” Rebel Music Teacher, Rebel Music Teacher, 11 Aug. 2016, www.rebelmusicteacher.com/blog/2016/8/11/tritone-interval-in-black-sabbaths-black-sabbath.

Tremlett, Giles. “Moroccan Judge Jails Metalheads.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 11 Mar. 2003, 5:19, www.theguardian.com/world/2003/mar/11/arts.artsnews.

Yablon, Elise. “Countries Where Metal Music Is ‘Illegal‘Metal Insider.” Metal Insider, Metal Insider, 12 Dec. 2019, www.metalinsider.net/lists/countries-where-metal-music-is-illegal.

Citation: Christian Dictation

21stcenturycicero. “I. America as a Religious Refuge:” Friends of the American Revolution, 21st Century Cicero, 22 July 2008, 10:24 am, 21stcenturycicero.wordpress.com/faith/religion-and-the-founding-of-the-american-republic/i-america-as-a-religious-refuge/.

Davis, Kenneth C. “America's True History of Religious Tolerance.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, Oct. 2010, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/americas-true-history-of-religious-tolerance-61312684/.

Fletcher, Richard. “Interview - Converting By the Sword: Christian History Magazine.” Christian History Institute, Christian History Institute, 10 Nov. 2020, christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/interview-converting-by-the-sword.

Jews for Jesus. “Why Many Jewish People Think Christianity Is Anti-Semitic.” Jews for Jesus, Jews for Jesus, 3 June 2020, jewsforjesus.org/blog/why-many-jewish-people-think-christianity-is-anti-semitic.

Sloyan, Gerard S. “Christian Persecution of Jews over the Centuries.” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 10 Nov. 2020, www.ushmm.org/research/about-the-mandel-center/initiatives/ethics-religion-holocaust/articles-and-resources/christian-persecution-of-jews-over-the-centuries/christian-persecution-of-jews-over-the-centuries.