We are forever painting our heroes as fearless crusaders who never doubted themselves or their mission. We like our heroes who take stands against tyrannical popes and despotic kings. We like our heroes who declare, "Here I stand... so help me God!" Truth was, no such heroes exist. So we recreate ourselves into micro-heroes planting flags on the moon and declaring our place in the blogosphere. Everything we say is footnoted by endless quotations from "the authorities" and is thus unquestionable and near-inerrant. We forget the reluctance of Luther when deciding to nail the 95 Theses on the Wittenberg Castle Church Door. We forget that here was a man who'd wish more than anything to preserve the intensely private nature of religion rather than to be called to take sides or make stands. We forget his shaking knees and sweaty palms when he was confronted by the church authorities and he had to say softly (not declare proudly - as popular caricatures would have us believe) that : "I cannot and will not retract". But then we live in the world where strongmen have all died and weak-idiots have risen to the stand - declaring that whoever does not stand with us is supporting terrorism. We live in uncertain times where people prefer to "choose a side" and retain their identity than to be fluid and exult in the parts (fuck the whole, who knows it anyway?). Perhaps the real reason I do not choose a side is because I'm not smart enough to choose a side? I cannot see the whole - only the parts, always. And I exult in that. Perhaps I do not choose a side because (sneaky devil that I am), I'm really smarter (at least more honest, if you'll allow me that) than all those pretenders who do choose sides and take stands. Perhaps I'm trying desperately to be consistent with my Creed-of-Inconsistency ("Consistency Is The Hobgoblin Of Little Minds")? Or perhaps I just want to be left alone (at least for the time being) to sort out my life, my finances, my fucked-up family life, my time-management, my career, my further studies, my sanity, my struggle to find some cheer in these gloomy times?One more time: If you're uncomfortable with the denizens of Jeremiah Blues and our lack of a *position*, well, the simple message is this: NOBODY ASKED YOU TO COME.
