Scattered thoughts

My mind has been going a million different places for the past twenty-four hours. I missed taking my metformin, kelp, and B vitamins for a couple of days (combination of forgetfulness, running out, skipping meals, etc..) and now that I'm back on them I think my mind is enjoying revving its engine. I didn't go to bed till 3 this morning and even then I wasn't tired. I was surfing the web, writing long political emails, running over music for church, and other random things.

I've been using youtube a lot recently just as a music player. I'm really picky in my music video taste, but as long as it has the music playing I can just minimize it and work on something else. Of course, you can't do anything like playlists, but until I get some more music on my computer, this will have to do.

We talked about Marx's theories of alienation arising from the industrilization and bureacratization of society today in public policy. We've also talked about the concepts of bureaucracy and alienation a lot in social systems and problems, but more in context of C. Wright Mill's theories. So, anyway, it's been going through my mind a lot. As I was driving home today DC Talk's song Jesus Freak came on the radio. That song really got me thinking about the alienation in a Christian context. Alienation means the feeling of being an alien, of not belonging, of being separate from your society. One line stood out particularly from Jesus Freaks today. "People call me strange--does that make me a stranger?" Truly, we are alienated from the world. We don't belong. We dont' fit. We are strangers. They don't understand us so they label us freaks at best, kill us at worst. In Matthew 10 Jesus says that the servant is not above the master. They did it to Jesus, what do you think they're going to do to us? (Anna's paraphrase)

And then my mind started wandering a little further to the social perceptions of Christians that describe themselves as Jesus Freaks and more general perceptions of the song. I think people that are not Christians think we're just being rebellious or weird, or trying to find a way to express our fears and dissatisfaction with society (If I was a gambling woman, I would bet a sizable amount that that is exactly the explanation Dr. Newcomb would offer) Maybe they jump to Mill's concept of alienation. Christians obviously think very differently. Within the Christian community I think it's come to be a symbol of our alienation and persecution. Persecution may not terribly obvious in the song (except for the verse about John the Baptist), but when you watch the music video of the band singing in a jail with projections of churches burning and consider the books that have arisen from the song, the song has obviously become a symbol of (Kingdom principle here) the ideal of persecution.

OK, I have a mid term in social systems and problems tomorrow, so I'd better get studying. This stuff all relates (kinda), but it probably won't be one of the essay questions Dr. Newcomb wrote.