"And there was a kid with a head full of doubt"

[judge not, lest....]

I was surprised a couple weeks ago when I found out a very good friend of mine did not want to tell me what she was reading because she thought I would judge her.  Not only was I surprised, I was also kind of frightened.

I certainly hope I don't have that same effect on other people.  If I do, and you're one of those people, please know that I will never judge anything you do.  In fact, if you are a close friend, chances are I trust just about everything you say and do.  So if you read/watch/listen to/do something, I automatically assume there's something worthwhile to it.  I guess what I'm trying to say is that I judge the action based on the person, not the other way around.

For instance, I remember while growing up through middle and high school Stephen King was an author that our youth group at church and friends at school didn't like.  But when I found out my Mom enjoyed reading King when she was growing up, I decided that there must be something to King and his books (instead of deciding that my mother was a heathen and going to hell).  So I picked up The Stand, read it, and loved it.

And not to sound even more ridiculous, usually if there's something that someone likes and I don't -- I think there's something wrong with me, that I'm missing something.  It's never a judgement on someone else.

Unless you like that hack Justin Bieber.  (fortunately he's nowhere to be found here in Russia!)

I know this is silly, but just to show you-- I'm going to share some of things I've read/seen/listened to that I'm not particularly boastful about:

• I have read (and watched) the Twilight series.  I read it mostly to see what the hype was about.  And I'm still trying to figure that one out.  (what has happened to vampires these days??)
• I watch Desperate Housewives with my wife.  It's not that bad.
•  I was completely moved by Brokeback Mountain, but I have to admit in some areas I had mixed emotions (but that's another post for another time).
• I think Kanye West is every bit as good as he says he is.  It's unfortunate, but I think he's incredibly talented.

These are just a few things that I probably don't mention much about myself-- not because I'm ashamed of them, but because of that fear that I will be judged if someone knows about it.  I realize the list is somewhat silly-- but many times people tend to peg you on the little things.  What are some things you fear will get you judged?  

Moderated Comments #4

I really don't know how to respond to this.  If the takeaway from this memorial is the shock that the holocaust victims are nude, something is seriously wrong.

The nudity works not only as history (the victims weren't paraded to the gas chambers in their Sunday best), but also in an artistic manner-- how can you most strip a person of their dignity?  This memorial powerfully portrays that dignity that was robbed of every victim of the despicable acts of the holocaust-- but it also does it truthfully.  And the memorial does so in a beautiful yet heartbreaking manner.  I haven't been more moved by any holocaust memorial than by this one.

An artifact being nude in and of itself does not make it "unChristian."  It's not the subject matter itself that is up for debate, but how the subject matter is treated.  We all can agree probably that if the people in the memorial were engaging in erotic sexual behavior, something would be wrong (not that sex is wrong, but broadcasting it would probably be inappropriate).  But to show these people in any other light would be historically inaccurate and disrespectful of those who lost their lives to this atrocity.

Besides, there are numerous "Christian" works of art that portray nudity-- the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo's  David, etc.  Those are all probably far less "appropriate" than this memorial (in a sense of historicity or necessity), but completely worthwhile, valuable, and good.  It's not nudity we should fear or judge, but how that nudity is portrayed.

It's fine to not like the memorial or the art portrayed as a matter of taste.  But to objectively say it's wrong to create it is just flat out, well, wrong.

"It's a double rainbow all the way!"

Every time I watch this I laugh more.

Another Montage -- Liam's First Few Weeks