Marty
I am going to reply to your post because what you have said demonstrates the deleterious effects of your association with the George Geftakys assemblies upon your own thinking. You have made it very clear that you reason legalistically.
You said:
"See, I can’t control what others do but I can control what I do. I can’t stop George. I can’t stop the assemblies. I can’t stop the Mormons, the JW’s, the Masons, the Divine Light Mission, the abortionists, the democrats, the Dutch, etc, etc. Shame on me that my outrage doesn’t include mocking that which I, and my brethren use to glorify the God of creation.
Using hymns that have been used to worship the One true God and His Son by millions of Christians over the centuries for your satire, in my opinion, is inappropriate. Maybe this particular hymn was sung in the assembly. Does that now make it fodder for pigs? Does butchering what honors God justify that action because we don’t like what others are doing? Is there no other means by which you can get your point across other than this method?
If this bb is to be considered “Christian” it will only be so if the content of it honors Christ. Anything else is secular and worldly. For us unassuming blokes please be clear on your purpose. From my observations I don’t see where you are any better than those you criticize"
1. You may not be able to control what others do, but you are attempting to make an argument for your belief that it is wrong to use the tune to a hymn in a parody. You have demanded that the post be deleted, meaning that you wish to control what other readers of the board can read. Having failed to achieve that goal, you have now begun to insinuate that anyone who does not follow your laws of conduct is acting in an "unchristian" manner.
2. In order to convince me, Marty, you need to do two things: a. State what the law actually is. b. Provide support for its validity. In other words, tell us how you know that this law actually
is a law. You have done neither.
Your law seems to be something like, "You shall not parody anyone's behavior using a tune that is used in a song Christians have sung while worshipping."
I would be most intrested to know just how you discovered this law. I do not recall having ever read it in my Bible. That is why I said you "reason legalistically." The essence of legalism is setting up a non-biblical standard of behavior and demanding that others conform to it. It also usually includes judging or criticizing those who do not conform.
3. Another aspect of legalistic reasoning is that matters of mere personal taste are elevated to the status of divine law. I did not find the parody enjoyable, and Mark has said that he did not care for it either. But my likes and dislikes are not equal to the law of God.
You seem to feel that yours are! You said:
Using hymns that have been used to worship the One true God and His Son by millions of Christians over the centuries for your satire, in my opinion, is inappropriate.
I have no argument with this. I am inclinded to agree. But you have gone much farther than this. You have also said:
If this bb is to be considered “Christian” it will only be so if the content of it honors Christ.
"Inappropriate" and "dishonoring to Christ" do not mean the same thing. Belching in public is inappropriate, which is why we say "excuse me" when we accidentally do so. Dishonoring Christ is much more serious. However, you have not told us exactly why the parody dishonors Christ, and how you know this to be true.
What you have done instead is to elevate your personal tastes to the status of divine law, and have proceeded to judge your brethren on the basis of your own law. You have become the Lawgiver and the Judge!
You might think of this behavior as "honoring to Christ". I think many will agree that it is simply
idolatry, in that you are placing yourself on a par with God.
4. I have enountered this argument about the use of hymns on one other occassion. Many years ago I made up a humorous ditty about coffee drinking. It was to the tune of a hymn, and ended with the phrase, "earth has no sorrow that coffee cannot cure." A prominent brother heard it, and said to me, "Well brother, at least it wasn't a worship hymn."
His name was George Geftakys.
Blessings,
Thomas Maddux