http://www.beretta-online.com/wordpress/index.php/episode-025-stop-being-a-christian-and-start-being-a-person/#comments
This is just my two-bit reflection on the latest episode of "Say Hello to my Little Friend: The Berettacast" by Dr. Glenn Peoples.
To Summarize, if you're too lazy or don't have 45 Minutes to to go the website and listen, this Provocatively titled Podcast episode is about how Christians need to stop picking label over quality.
And I (strongly) agree with him.
Too often I've seen Christians pick some really crappy stuff over the stuff that's truly excellent, simply because it has a Christian label on it. Sometimes the Non-Christian stuff is of better quality than the stuff with the 'Christian' label on it (I'll note here for those who didn't listen to the podcast that Dr. Peoples also uses some interesting examples to show this... it's the first time I've ever encountered someone comparing the lyrics to a Skillet song to the lyrics of a Megadeth song). Now, I'm not saying that all Christian stuff is of a lesser or poor quality (and neither does Dr. Peoples for that matter), but I don't think that it can't be ignored that Christians in general have the tendency to throw "Is it Good?" out the window when it comes to picking Christian stuff over Non-Christian, whether it be Art or Argumentation (yes, Non-Christians can put forth arguments of a higher quality than Christians. It doesn't necessarily mean their arguments are true, however).
Now, of course, I'm going to apply this idea elsewhere and say that this sort of partisan hackery isn't just exclusive to Christian/Non-Christian labels. I've seen it in Politics ("Is it Conservative/Liberal/Indep
The biggest danger of partisan hackery like this is that it tends to lower the bar for quality expectations. People won't try to present good argumentation or produce excellent music if they know that it's going to be a Best Seller simply because they are claiming to have a particular affiliation.
To Finish bluntly, I think this sort of thing needs to stop. People are missing out on things of excellent quality (and lowering the bar for future generations) simply because it doesn't have a particular label on it. Just because someone or something doesn't share the same ideas or views as you doesn't mean that their work is of poor quality. So if you're reading this, I encourage you to try something (and so does Dr. Peoples, IIRC):
Ignore the Labels for a change; tear them off (figuratively of course) and instead ask yourself, "Is it Good?"
You will probably be surprised as to what you find...
[By the by, if you're reading this for whatever reason, Doc, I sincerely hope I didn't misinterpret anything you said. If I did, correct me on it and I'll gladly change it.]
