Author: Jim Spiegel

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Arcade Fire: The Suburbs

By Jim Spiegel

Ever since their 2004 debut, Funeral, Arcade Fire has distinguished themselves as a uniquely creative band.  They make music that is both emotionally rich and lyrically incisive—a truly rare combination, putting them on a very short list of rock artists.  So it is no surprise that their newly released third effort, The Suburbs, is being hailed by critics as a singular achievement.  Those familiar with the band knew that once they hit their stride, given the right inspiration, they could make a masterpiece.  Well, with The Suburbs they’ve done just that.

This is a concept album in the best sense of the term.   The themes of the songs all pertain in one way or another to life in modern suburbia and the besetting struggles of our time, particularly those related to technology and our frenetic pace of life.  Arcade Fire reflects on the stark contrasts between childhood innocence (the “wilderness”) and life in our technology-laden urban sprawl.  Their nostalgia for reasonably paced life is palpable in many of the songs, but never more so than in “We Used to Wait,” where Win Butler sings:  “I used to write letters.  I used to sign my name.  I used to sleep at night before the flashing light settled deep in my brain…   We used to wait for letters to arrive.  We used to wait.  Now our lives are changing fast.  I hope something pure can last.”

I never thought I’d see the day when a renowned rock band would make an anthemic song endorsing the virtue of patience.  Perhaps just as unlikely is this wise lyric:  “Never trust a millionaire quoting the sermon on the mount.  I used to think I was not like them, but I’m beginning to have my doubts” (from “City With No Children”).  Elsewhere, Regine Chassagne sings, “Living in the sprawl the dead shopping malls rise like mountain beyond mountains.  And there’s no end in sight.  I need the darkness.  Someone please cut the lights!” (“Sprawl II”)  This is straightforward cultural criticism, but made especially potent because Arcade Fire is sincere enough to be self-indicting and insightful enough to allow their critique to amount to an endorsement of traditional (or perhaps I should say “transcendent”) values.  That’s always risky territory for artists of any kind, but couched in the musical beauty surrounding these lyrics, Arcade Fire can get away with it.

In the vast sea of artists in contemporary music, there are relatively few that really have something to say.  And among these, much rarer still are those who have something important to say.  Arcade Fire is one of those rare bands, and The Suburbs is as important a statement as it is an enjoyable album.  And that is saying a lot.

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The Bankruptcy Plague Among Professional Athletes

By Jim Spiegel

With the start of another NFL season, I’ve been thinking about an alarming statistic associated with the league:  78% of  former NFL players either go bankrupt or experience severe financial distress.  This is astounding because the base salary for rookies is $310,000, and this is bumped up to $460,000 after two years.  The statistics for NBA players aren’t much cheerier: 60% go bankrupt within five years of retirement.

There are many ways in which individual athletes squander their wealth—e.g., gambling, drugs, prostitutes, bad investments, etc.  But what it always comes down to is a lack of self-control.  Managing personal finances, no matter how much one earns, demands self-discipline on a sustained level that goes far beyond what is required in the gym or on the field.   So when you consider that most NFL and NBA players are coddled and pampered from their early teens (thus handicapping them in their development of self-control), it makes this figure less surprising.  Sad and even tragic, yes.  But not surprising.

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My Summer Reading

By Jim Spiegel

This summer I spent most of my free time doing home improvement projects and spending time with the family, but I did manage to read a few books.  Here is a quick review of the ones I read.

My Descent into Death: A Second Chance at Life by Howard Storm (Doubleday) — I have an abiding interest in the pervasive phenomenon of near death experiences (NDEs), both from a scholarly standpoint and, perhaps because my own eventual death appears to be inevitable, from a personal standpoint.  Storm’s story is especially interesting because his experience occurred while he was a firmly convinced atheist.  (Today Storm pastors a church in Ohio.)  This book poignantly recounts his NDE, including a detailed conversation with Jesus and some angelic beings.  Fascinating and inspiring stuff.

Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near Death Experience by Pim van Lommel (HarperOne) —  Where Storm’s NDE account is deeply personal, this study by the renowned Dutch cardiologist is a dispassionate assessment of the evidence for the validity of NDEs.  Building upon the research of previous NDE scholars (e.g., Kenneth Ring, P.M.H. Atwater, Melvin Morse, etc.), Van Lommel shares data gathered from his own research and considers it all in light of the latest insights in brain physiology.  Along the way, Van Lommel repudiates all of the naturalistic accounts of NDEs, such as appeals to the effects of medication, hallucination, or oxygen deprivation.  Those looking for a thorough and rigorous scientific assessment NDEs should start here.

Keaton by Rudi Blesh (Macmillan) — I am very selective when it comes to the biographies I read.  The subjects must be either great artists or paragons of virtue (interestingly, these tend to be mutually exclusive categories), and the authors must be strong stylists or superb scholars (or both).  This first bio of Buster Keaton met these criteria and was a delight to read.  My respect for Keaton the artist grew immensely, as did my pathos for Keaton the man.  (See my August 8, 2010 post for a more extensive discussion of the “Great Stone Face.”)

The Loser Letters: A Comic Tale of Life, Death, and Atheism by Mary Eberstadt (Ignatius) — If you thought that the new atheism was a hopelessly humorless topic, its time to think again.  This cheeky satire is absolutely hysterical.  Eberstadt manages to poke fun at the new atheists while revealing many of the serious problems with their perspective, not to mention some disturbing demographics (e.g., that atheists are far more likely to be men than women—so if atheism is about intellectual enlightenment, what does this imply about women?  Hmm….sexism anyone?).  For someone who is primarily a cultural commentator, Eberstadt displays tremendous insight into religious psychology and philosophy of religion.

Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations by Alex and Brett Harris (Multnomah) — American culture is indulgent in many ways, and one of the most damaging forms this takes is the way we coddle our teenagers.  We don’t expect them to be morally serious and do significant work, so we don’t challenge them to do so.  Then when they confirm our low expectations we conclude that they’re not capable of anything more.  Alex and Brett Harris have had enough, and this rousing manifesto has brought throngs of young people, and their parents, to attention.  Way to go, guys.

Why is God Ignoring Me? by Gary Habermas (Tyndale) — Most people of faith have experienced the “dark night of the soul” when it seems that God is absent when we need him most.  In this book, Gary Habermas expounds on the critical resources that believers have to persevere through such times.  The author’s own personal trials inform this study, which is refreshingly realistic about suffering and the biblical perspective on the subject.  I also appreciate Habermas’s emphasis on the spiritual disciplines and other proactive ways of dealing with the problem of divine hiddenness.

The Complete Stories by Flannery O’Connor (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux ) — O’Connor’s fiction is often characterized as dark and grotesque, full of freaks and the bizarre.  Yet when I read her stories I find them to be both hopeful and, in a strange way, realistic (a response which prompts me, at turns, to question her readers’ interpretive sense and my own state of mental health).  In any case, O’Connor’s genius for providing insights into human nature and grace, among other things, is profound.  Her stories are consistently set in the “Christ-haunted South,” but the themes are universal.  And to my mind she succeeds where few other twentieth century fiction writers do—at inspiring virtue and a deeper devotion to the Golden Rule.

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Out of the Mouths of Babes

By Jim Spiegel

Amy and I are constantly amazed at the things that come out of our kids’ mouths.  No, I’m not referring to regurgitant (though this can be amazing in its own right) but to their words.  Here are a few recent lines from our four little philosophers:

“I am the king of potato wedges” (Andrew Spiegel, 4) — This proclamation was made by our youngest after dinner one evening during our recent family vacation.  Because of his capacity to “put away the groceries,” as we like to say (not to mention his special taste for spuds) no one thought to challenge his claim.

“I’ve decided to sell some of my cute” (Maggie Spiegel, 6) — This statement was made by our daughter after I had developed the habit of telling her she was “too cute.”  Leave it to our little girl to interpret this simple idiom as a statement of a problem to be solved.  I forgot to ask her how she planned to execute her plan.

“The state bird for hell is the vulture” (Sam Spiegel, 7) — While driving Sam to one of his baseball games this summer the conversation turned to state birds.  Always eager to integrate theology with any topic, he came out with this one.  Strangely, I found it difficult to deny its truth.

“Cussing is just an adult’s way of whining” (Bailey Spiegel, 10) — Bailey made this assertion after hearing some people using foul language.  It has since come in handy on several occasions.  And it’s an insight that reminds me that all vice is, in one way or another, childish.

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An Atheist to Pray For

By Jim Spiegel

In case you weren’t aware, one of the “four horsemen” of the new atheist movement, Christopher Hitchens, was recently diagnosed with esophageal cancer.  Despite undergoing chemotherapy for his condition, Hitchens has managed to write a superb Vanity Fair piece on the “Topic of Cancer.”

You might also want to check out Anderson Cooper’s recent CNN interview with Hitchens.  Among other things, they discuss the prospect of a potential deathbed conversion.  Not surprisingly, Hitchens rules out the very possibility of recanting on his atheism, even if his demise is imminent.

Hitchens makes note of the fact that many people are praying for him.  He can certainly count me among that throng.  I am hopeful that he, too, will find the divine grace and forgiveness we all so desperately need.

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Amy’s Article in The Other Journal

By Jim Spiegel

Check out Amy’s recently published article in The Other Journal.  Some readers of this blog will recall that the rudiments of this piece appeared as a W&F post.  In this revised and expanded version, her meditations on the “Silver Linings in Dark Financial Clouds” are that much more insightful.  Sure wish I could write like that.

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Buster Keaton: Film’s Greatest Genius

By Jim Spiegel

I’m a long-time fan of Buster Keaton—the “great stone face” of the silent movie era, who churned out classic after classic film throughout the 1920s.  Because of his multifaceted brilliance as a screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, engineer, and even acrobat, I consider him to be not only the greatest talent of his time (yes, even exceeding Charlie Chaplain) but the greatest overall talent in film history.  Think that’s an overstatement?  Check out some of his films, and I expect you’ll become a fan and, if you see enough of them, perhaps even agree with my assessment.

As I have been building my personal collection of Keaton films, I’ve become increasingly interested in Keaton the man.  So this summer I read a Keaton biography:  Keaton (Macmillan, 1966) by Rudi Blesh.  This was the first Keaton bio, written by a man who knew Keaton personally and closely consulted him while writing the book.  Unlike most celebrity bios of our time, which tend to be gossipy and voyeuristic, Blesh’s account focuses on Keaton as an artist.  Another refreshing contrast is Blesh’s prose, full of human insight and sometimes deliciously poetic.  Here’s a representative excerpt describing Keaton’s unique moment in Hollywood history:

“It was a time of unabashed hero (and heroine) worship.  Babe Ruth, in fact—and even Lindbergh—got only the edges of it.  The full treatment went to the movies and to movie stars, the actors and—most particularly—the actresses.  Not merely distance but silence compounded by magic.  Hollywood was Valhalla or an Olympus, a silver-screen abode with goddesses living apart behind a wall of silence.  Their beautiful bodies were ethereal yet real, their lips framed soundless words on a wavelength we could not hear, their gestures stirred a different air, their noble remoteness called us to worship” (p. 104).

The irony is that Keaton had no interest in worship, nor even celebrity and its trappings.  In the end, he was interested in just one thing:  his art.  And his output demonstrates this.  Keaton’s film work included 34 shorts from 1917 to 1923 and 15 full-length features from 1923 to 1929.  This was the golden age of Keaton, during which he produced such classics as Our Hospitality (1923), Sherlock Jr. (1924), The Navigator (1924), and The General (1927), the latter commonly regarded as one of the finest films ever made.  Keaton rightly became an international phenomenon, and he was destined to be a lasting influence in film history, on comedic stars from Jerry Lewis to Jim Carrey.

Blesh puts it as follows:  “His technical and artistic innovations have enriched the cinema.  His native genius for physical action no one else, not even Fairbanks, has ever approached.  His pantomime places him with Chaplin alone.  The depth, irony, and mordant vision of his comedy are all but unique.  It bids fair to be timeless.  Even Chaplin had a dozen imitators, but Keaton’s characterization was so wholly his own that no one ever tried to copy it.  His was the only unsmiling mask.  The term ‘genius’ fits Buster Keaton as it fits Charles Chaplin, with no seams to take in” (p. 363).

To see a Keaton film is to immediately understand why the man had no imitators.  In short, it was too dangerous to imitate him.  Keaton routinely took physical risks in his films, even endangering his life on a few occasions, such as in the famous scene in Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) in which the two-ton façade of a building falls upon him, or rather around him, as Keaton is narrowly missed, thanks to the second story window through which he emerges in the rubble, amazingly unscathed.  Like so many scenes in Keaton films, it is breathtaking.  And, as I like to remind my kids—and now they remind me—it was all done without CGI, using only the most rudimentary special effects.

Even if you are not a film buff, you owe it to yourself to check out Keaton’s movies.  If you are a film buff and take a serious interest in film history, well, then its mandatory.  Be warned.  Keaton films are addictive, and you might find yourself, as I have, sparing no expense to build your collection (and I am not one to purchase DVDs).  But be assured—great viewing pleasure awaits you, and your thoughts about the art of film and its history will be permanently changed.

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Homosexuality, State Dogma, and the Censoring of Christians

By Jim Spiegel

A lot of attention is being given to two recent legal cases regarding Christian counseling students who are being censored because of their views on homosexuality.  Last week a federal court upheld Eastern Michigan University’s expulsion of Julea Ward, a graduate student, due to her belief that homosexuality is immoral.

And down in Georgia, school officials at Augusta State University have informed counseling graduate student Jennifer Keeton that she must complete a remediation program to change her views about homosexuality or else she will be dismissed.  Keeton has decided to sue ASU.

Now a few observations.  Notice that the issue in both cases is the students’ beliefs about homosexuality, not their conduct.  This is, as one of the attorneys in the Ward case said, “scary stuff,” and I would add that it is just the sort of thing that John Stuart Mill warned us about in his classic On Liberty.  The State has no business controlling or attempting to control people’s consciences.  And to shut down freedom of opinion on such a crucial issue as sexual immorality is especially frightening.

The district court judge, George Steeh, declared that the university was justified in “requiring students to counsel clients without imposing their personal values.”  And EMU is not imposing its values on Ward by insisting that she change her views?  Clearly there are values at stake in this case, but it is not just Ward’s personal, or Christian, values.  EMU’s values, specifically that homosexuality is morally appropriate, are involved too.  To insinuate that EMU is value neutral here is ethically naïve or, worse, disingenuous.  The truth is that EMU, Augusta State, and no doubt most other state universities, have an ethically dogmatic position on the homosexuality issue, no less dogmatic than that of Ward, Keeton, and other conservative Christians.

Also, consider the irony that the EMU and ASU officials aim to change these students’ beliefs when it is also presumably the view of these university officials that homosexuals cannot change.  The notion that homosexual orientation is somehow fixed and immutable is, after all, the most popular argument in defense of its moral legitimacy.  The irony here is that between the two, beliefs and conduct, the latter is far more susceptible to voluntary change.  In fact, many philosophers would argue that one’s beliefs are not at all under one’s control.  (Try changing your belief about even a trivial matter, and you’ll see this is so.  And even the prospect of long-term intentional change of one’s beliefs is a controversial matter.)  But one’s sexual conduct is under one’s control.  The decision to have sex is a choice (except in cases of rape, of course, but that’s beside the point).  Human beings have free will, and that applies in the sexual sphere as well as anywhere else.  To deny this and insist that those with homosexual attraction (even if it is innate, though there is little evidence to suggest it is) “cannot help themselves” is to affirm hard determinism, a radical and morally deadly view in itself.

Yet, despite these problems, moral permissivism about homosexuality is becoming a dogma in our culture, including the academy and the legal sphere.  This is bad news—not just for religious freedom in America but for the state of our public discourse.

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News Miscellany

By Jim Spiegel

I am a strong believer in small government, and here is one illustration why.  Also on the political front, check out Charles Krauthammer’s disturbing prognostications about potentially radical legislation coming this Fall.

Rick Warren recently injured his eyes while gardening.  He’s going to be okay.  In a Tweet Warren expressed his desire that God would be glorified through his pain, which surprisingly (or perhaps not so surprisingly, given our therapeutic culture) has sparked some controversy.  See the comment string in this CT piece.

I’ve been reading a bit of Christopher Hitchens’ new horribly titled but brilliantly written memoir, Hitch-22.  Here is a small taste.  Like a lot of his writing, the book is droll, insightful, and self-absorbed.  In this case, the latter quality is appropriate—it is a memoir after all.

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The Thrill of Destruction

By Jim Spiegel

Why do we love to watch things blow up?  I’ve been pondering that question recently, especially since the July 4th fireworks in my hometown of Fairmount, Indiana.  As my kids and I marveled at the spectacular pyrotechnics, I reflected on how satisfying it is to see and hear explosions.  Even when the result is not as colorful and symmetrical as firework displays, we (or a lot of us) love it.  It is thrilling to see an object obliterated—from building demolitions to cars crushed by monster trucks to exploding watermelons.  Why?

fireworksMy theory is that it has something to do with the natural human interest in transformation.  We love to see dramatic change.  The changes we appreciate most, of course, are positive or constructive changes, such as the erecting of a building, the creation of an artwork, or the growth of a plant, animal, or person.  Often we are amazed at how much a friend or family member has grown.  All our lives we witness people maturing into adults, but we are endlessly fascinated by it.  (“Wow, I remember when you were just this tall!”) Such transformations take a lot of time, and those that we are able to achieve ourselves, such as through arts or crafts, involve hard work and careful planning.  In other words, radical transformations—at least the kinds we appreciate most—require a lot of effort.

In contrast, various forms of destruction do not require much effort.  With explosives we can create radical change that is instantaneous and relatively inexpensive.  So we get the thrill of total transformation with minimal effort.  So I suppose that is one reason why we’re attracted to fireworks such as those we enjoy on July 4th, in addition to celebrating our nation’s independence, of course.