Steve Turner is a British journalist and author. He's written books on Jack Kerouac, Johnny Cash, and Sir Cliff Richard. He's partial to U2 (co-authored Rattle and Hum), which will appeal to some Cacophonites, he's a poet and he can be seriously satirical.
Creed
by Steve Turner
We believe in Marxfreudanddarwin
We believe everything is OK
as long as you don't hurt anyone
to the best of your definition of hurt,
and to the best of your knowledge.
We believe in sex before, during, and after marriage.
We believe in the therapy of sin.
We believe that adultery is fun.
We believe that sodomy’s OK.
We believe that taboos are taboo.
We believe that everything's getting better
despite evidence to the contrary.
The evidence must be investigated
And you can prove anything with evidence.
We believe there's something in horoscopes
UFO's and bent spoons.
Jesus was a good man just like Buddha,
Mohammed, and ourselves.
He was a good moral teacher though we think
His good morals were bad.
We believe that all religions are basically the same-
at least the one that we read was.
They all believe in love and goodness.
They only differ on matters of creation,
sin, heaven, hell, God, and salvation.
We believe that after death comes the Nothing
Because when you ask the dead what happens
they say nothing.
If death is not the end, if the dead have lied, then its
compulsory heaven for all
excepting perhaps
Hitler, Stalin, and Genghis Kahn
We believe in Masters and Johnson
What's selected is average.
What's average is normal.
What's normal is good.
We believe in total disarmament.
We believe there are direct links between warfare and
bloodshed.
Americans should beat their guns into tractors.
And the Russians would be sure to follow.
We believe that man is essentially good.
It's only his behavior that lets him down.
This is the fault of society.
Society is the fault of conditions.
Conditions are the fault of society.
We believe that each man must find the truth that
is right for him.
Reality will adapt accordingly.
The universe will readjust.
History will alter.
We believe that there is no absolute truth
excepting the truth
that there is no absolute truth.
We believe in the rejection of creeds,
And the flowering of individual thought.
If chance be the Father of all flesh,
disaster is his rainbow in the sky
and when you hear
State of Emergency!
Sniper Kills Ten!
Troops on Rampage!
Whites go Looting!
Bomb Blasts School!
It is but the sound of man
worshipping his maker.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
From the horse's mouth:
Steve Turner's Creed
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Top 5: Things to keep you awake at night
Sometimes I wonder if God ever meant for us to make so much of this world. I wonder if He intended us to focus on technology and human achievements to improve our standard of living and our ability to make money, rather than place our efforts in the box of character development, loving people, and becoming more like Christ.
Up until a few hundred years ago the standard of living had not changed for millenia. Oh how things are different now - I type this on a laptop connected to wifi, connected to a satellite, connected back to an ISP of some sort, connected to the rest of the world - that in itself is fairly close to a man-made miracle when you think about all the bits of plastic and metal and invisible signals that cross paths in mid air to shake hands with other bits of aforementioned stuff to make something like that happen.
So I start thinking about what we've acheived as human-kind, and how we have suddenly over the last hundred years developed so much to improve our quality of life. I think of a great Switchfoot line "we were meant to live for so much more, have we lost ourselves". I wonder where its all heading, and what does God think about all our technology that we worship - were we ever supposed to take it this far? Is a heavenly tear shed at the scientist working late each night to develop the new bit of stuff to sell to Google to make a million all the while leaving his family at home to endure the silence of dinner without dad? Or is such behaviour covered under some Ecclesiastes 3:22 action - "There is nothing better for man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?" Maybe Henry Ford or Thomas Edison were reading this passage while in their pursuit of invention. Oh Ecclesiastes, so full of dichotomy and paradox!
Anyway, so here is my top 5 of things to keep you awake at night about the earth and everything in it:
1. All the wifi, cellphone, and electronic gadgetry signals flying through the air must be doing something to my brain and body (and yours!) that will rear its ugly head in about 40 yrs in a way that cannot be imagined.
2. The end of oil will come before i get to own a classic Triumph motorcycle, therefore dashing my dreams of really being eternally happy.
3. What happens to all the computers in the world when people upgrade - eventually they must go somewhere?
4. Where does all the concrete in a big city come from, and who paid for it all? - that's a lot of concrete mixing!
5. Eventually the pressure for land for housing development will overtake all the farms, and as people get sick of the hard work of farming and move to an urban environment to design things to sell to Google, there will be no farmers left and then what will the people in the cities eat?
I love the way that some words translate from English to Spanish - "worry" translates directly to "preocupación" i.e. preoccupation, which is described as "the absorption of the attention or intellect". What am I preoccupied with, and why? I turn myself to the first theme of this post - God wanted so much more for us than earthly preoccupation; and there is the spot for the mental crowbar to be inserted and pry my thinking away from the things of Earth, towards the things of Heaven.
Friday, February 2, 2007
Label me Elmo
So... a portion of the creative genius that comprises The Cacophony Ensemble have colluded to define some broad creative parameters for the labels/categories/genres that combine to form the writings you'll find from the ensemble. Believe us, they're plenty broad.
Above all, the intention is to shed some light (however filtered, misguided or well-informed) on the noises that surround us. Sometimes as amused onlookers and reporters, sometimes as curious participants, sometimes as participants, sometimes as frustrated folk and sometimes as people with a thought for a way out of the noise.
So, the labels/categories are thus:
JESUS_is more than alright with us
RUNNING_the simplest and most efficient form of physical exercise
LEADERSHIP_without followers is merely taking a walk
REVIEWS_movies, music and literature
THE CHURCH_gentle observations and thoughts about Christ's bride.
TRIVIAL PURSUITS_random gear and curious fun
SPIRITUALITY + THEOLOGY_God in the cacophony
CULTURE_the cacophony that surrounds us
YOU'RE TOPS_there's been some fine people who've walked this earth. We pay homage.
STUFF'N'THINGS_have you seen the iPhone yet?
CULTURAL ICONS_Chuck Norris et. al.
STRENUOUS WHOLENESS_getting tidy at being a well-formed human
VENT YOUR SPLEEN_step on to the soapbox and let rip
TOP5+_FOr lovers of lists, order and clarity
PHILOSOPHY_a bunch of words to confuse, bewilder or illuminate
All of us have our different inclinations and passions. That'll be pretty obvious as we get going.
It's what we're thinking. Thoughts?