Original Poetry: "Ring of the Fallen"

Ring of the Fallen by Logan Dalton

Rotting gold on the cairn,

Sprinkling ashes on the ground,

Trifling glances at the grave.

Understanding faces go insane.

Vexation grows inside me.

Underneath my marble face,

Tears well inside my soul

Swallowing my body whole;

Remembering the fallen...

   I have five primary inspirations for this poem. This week I've been working on my senior thesis paper and comparing Achilles from the Iliad to Wolverine from the X-Men movies. One of Homer's trademarks in the  Iliad is the use of ring compositions which is like A happened, then B; there's a hinge, B happened then A. For example, (A) Priam prepares the wagon. (B) He gets the treasure for Hector's ransom. (C) He talks to Hecuba. The hinge is Hecuba fearing for Priam's life and hating Achilles. (C) Priam tells Hecuba he's going. (B) He loads the treasure in the wagon (A) He starts driving to the Greek camp. I decided to do a ring composition with the first letters of lines (RSTUVUTSR) as a postmodern tribute to the first great poet.

   My second inspiration was personal. Last month, I visited my grandfather's grave, who died one year ago today. We had a really good relationship. He gave me advice in hard times and went to my basketball. I enjoyed helping him paint his shed and helping him around the house when his health deteriorated. He was a very patriotic man, serving in the Korean and Vietnam wars and and the best grandfather anyone could have. The images of sorrow come from his death, and the stark white tombstones in the military cemetery.

   This week, in American history class, we watched the compelling and heartbreaking documentary Civil War by Ken Burns. For long stretches of time, there is no narration just stark images of dead, rotting bodies at battlefields from Maryland to Mississippi. Those bodies, killed, fighting their own brothers really made me angry at the violence between people from the same country, and the leaders who allowed the future leaders of tomorrow die bloody deaths charging impossible hills and fortifications     http://americancivilwar.50megs.com/Sunset%20In%20The%20West.html 

   My fourth inspiration is also from the Iliad. At the end of the poem, the Trojans burn him on a pyre high on the walls of Troy. This was a fitting end for the greatest Trojan, who stayed loyal to his city despite an unjust war fought over a woman. I can see the women of Troy scattering his ashes in the sacred temple of Pallas Athena.

   My final inspiration is a song, "The Memory Remains" by Metallica from their 1999 live album S & M with the San Francisco Symphony. This song talks about the shortness of fame, and how it corrupts. It has biting images of bloated celebrities , like gold rings on every hand and "Dance little tin goddess."

Would you like to post your poetry on Popology? Email me at lakerfakerinroanoke@gmail.com.

The Golden Goose: Why the United States Shouldn't Have Rebelled Against Britain

 A peasant and his wife had a goose that laid a golden egg every day. They thought that the goose had a huge lump of gold inside of her, so they killed the goose one day. However, the goose was just a normal goose inside, and they lost all their profit. Aesop's moral was this, "'Much wants more and loses all". If someone is greedy, it can lead to their demise.


I believe that Great Britain is the goose in this saying. She was very wealthy through trade and industry and planted the thirteen American colonies. The colonies weren't justified in throwing off the mother country because of economic, military, political, and religious regions.

Despite embargoes on tea, sugar, and wool, the colonies had no right to complain about paying too many taxes. They had to pay less tax than England proper or even India or Jamaica. At this time, Parliament was basically an oligarchy, and only a small percentage of the people voted on taxes. The colonies didn't have to pay income or property taxes, just a small duty on tea and luxury goods. This tax money actually went to the Exchequer (British treasury) to reimburse Parliament for money spent on troops in the French and Indian War which began in the colony of Pennsylvania. If anyone had a right to revolt, it was the poor of England who had to go to debtor prisons when they lost money to the government. Britain was also reasonable with taxes by repealing the Stamp Tax on paper products. A slightly inconvenient tea tax is no reason to completely secede from a country.

The US shouldn't have rebelled against Britain because she was gaining economic clout and was an asset to Britain. The number one market for American timber, manufactured goods, fish, cotton, and tobacco were the ports of England. New England provided timber for most of the ships of the Royal Navy. The US also had access to the British triangular trade in the West Indies where the islands made sugar and molasses into rum and traded it for slaves. As a colony, US could exclusively use this seemingly endless supply of labor to work the tobacco, rice, and cotton plantations of the South. By rebelling, the US would lose its biggest trade market and lose access to the slaves and sugar of the Indies and the fisheries of Newfoundland. They also had few immediate allies because American militia contributed to French defeat in the French and Indian War. Britain and US had a symbiotic relationship. The US got a tariff free market, wool, tea, slaves, sugar, and paper products from England. Britain got timber, fish, tobacco, cotton, and some manufactured goods. By rejecting this relationship, US lost its colony status and the ability to freely trade with England, Canada, and the Indies. They would have to find new allies, and even "independent" New England traded with enemy Britain in the War of 1812.

An American grievance toward England was the quartering of soldiers. The 1775 Quartering Act was a major cause of the Revolution. however, this was the common practice of armies in the 18th century. Because there were no barracks in the colonies, soldiers needed somewhere to eat, rest, and polish their weapons. The colonists' hospitality acted as a sort of payment for the colonial defense. During the American Revolution, French soldiers stayed in private homes in Virginia and Rhode Island and weren't hated. The thirteen colonies needed a military presence in case French fur traders incited the Indians to raid the frontier. The colonists needed the British regulars' protection. In the French and Indian War, militiamen couldn't defend the American frontier from Halifax to Savannah by themselves, leading to the fall of Louisbourg and Ft. Duquesne. British regulars led by James Wolfe conquered Quebec and claimed Canada for England. They effectively wiped France off the North American map and gave the thirteen colonies a huge buffer between them and Spanish Louisiana. A British army defeated a large Indian alliance led by Pontiac and  halted his raid before it affected the coastal colonies. Without the British regulars, the colonies would be vulnerable to Indian attacks or a Franco Spanish resurgence. There would be no professional soldiers to protect the frontier.

US could have also become an independent nation through peaceful means. The Whig Liberals in Parliaments wanted to increase democracy by allowing the US a seat in Parliament. The Americans also had assemblies, like the House of Burgesses in Virginia, which provided for some self government. Former British colonies like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have become first world nations without bloody revolts but through the gradual increase in home rule as Parliament became more liberal after the 1867 Reform Act. If US had followed the example of Canada, they would avoid things like the costly War of 1812 and possible wars with Napoleon. The US could have been less imperialistic (E.g. Manifest Destiny) and more assistive, helping Britain, Canada, and Australia with their struggles.           

Finally, Romans 13:1 forbids rebellion against government. God institutes rulers for protection and to be obeyed. Rules can be disobeyed if they force one to sin. Paying a tea tax and hosting soldiers in one's home is not sinful. Jesus told the Pharisees to pay taxes and his disciples to love their neighbors. When St. Peter writes about submitting to government (1 Peter 2:13), he was a subject of Nero, an insane autocrat, who killed his mother Agrippina and may have burned Rome. Britain had begun to give the US some home rule and was not an absolute monarchy. In addition to political and economic reasons, the US shouldn't have rebelled because it was unbiblical.

Is God and His Providence Machiavellian?

What does the Bible say about providence? Providence is like God's invisible hand, making sure that He is glorified. Matthew 10:29-31 paints a great picture of the doctrine of providence. “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear, you are more valuable than many sparrows.                      If God cares about the death of two tiny birds, how much more does He care about the lives of those who He created in His own image? In our fallen self-centered minds, having our life already planned out for us makes us seem like robots. However, it is comforting to know that God will make everything right for those who trust Him. (Romans 8:28; Revelation 3:21)

This was my original view of providence, taken from my blog “Popology.” I used the example of Blaise Pascal and J.R.R. Tolkien, by way of Peter Jackson, to back up my view. But by studying Bible Doctrine, my view of providence has been challenged and has expanded, especially in regards to evil in the world.

For example, God’s providence is for everyone, not just believers. This brings up a paradox. If God is the ultimate cause of everything in this world, is he the ultimate cause of evil? For example, God told Pharaoh, “I will harden his heart (Exodus 4:21). But God didn’t directly do evil through Pharaoh. He used Pharaoh’s evil of slavery to bring a greater good: the liberation of the Israelites from slavery. Joseph clearly states this in Genesis 50:20, “You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good.” Joseph was wrongfully sold into captivity by his brothers and lived a gloomy existence in an Egyptian prison after he was yet again wrongfully accused of adultery. Even his friend, Pharaoh’s butler, didn’t vouch for his release. However, in the end, Joseph became one of the most powerful men in Egypt and saved his brother from Egypt.

However, taken at face value, God seems Machiavellian. In his pamphlet The Prince (which is sandwiched between John MacArthur and C.J. Mahaney’s Humility on my bookshelf), Niccolo Machiavelli wrote about the ends justifying the means. He used the example of corrupt Italian cardinal Cesar Borgia, who used the church treasury to carve out an empire in North Italy for his father Alexander VI. Despite the actions of those who claim to be Christians, God doesn’t operate by these principles.

If God was an earthly king, Machiavelli would love Him because he is a ruler that is both feared and loved (52). Proverbs 1:7 says that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” This kind of fear is not cowering before a merciless tyrant, like Nero, who killed his wife and mother. Fearing God is willingly submitting to His will and leaning on Him for guidance in daily life. God is our father (Galatians 1:4), but He is also Lord of the universe who has power over both the hills and plains, unlike the weak deities of Israel’s Syrian neighbors (I Kings 20:28).

But tyrants can be fathers too. Julius Caesar adopted his nephew Octavian to succeed him after his death and be his son. But Octavian had merits; he was a descendant of the Julii, one of the most prestigious families in Rome. When God adopted us as sons and daughters, we had no merits (Romans 3:23; Isaiah 64:6). Paul writes, “ For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps even for a good man someone would even dare to die” (Romans 5:7). A lot of people would die for their family or friends but not for a stranger without a hint of charisma.

However, God’s love is called agape in Greek. There are three words for love in Koine Greek. Eros means lustful desire and comes from the name of the son of Aphrodite, goddess of love and sex. Adelphos means brotherly love. This is love for a family member or someone close to you. Agape love is unconditional and is exemplified in 1 John 4:10, “ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” We have to power to make choices that have real consequences (Romans 1:27; 6:23), but God calls us to be saved because we have a sinful nature (Romans 3:10). “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20). This verse shows that election wasn’t an invention of Paul because God initiates the saving process by “knocking.”

God doesn’t use evil ends to bring about good means. He can’t sin or tempt anyone (James 1:13). But he gives humans free will to do both good and evil after Adam and Eve ate the fruit in the garden (Genesis 3:7; Isaiah 66:3). This free will is under God’s providence, which controls even “chance events”, like rolling a die (Proverbs 16:33). When we sin, it’s our faults, not God’s, and we have to confess our sins and ask for his forgiveness (1 John 1:9).

In conclusion, there can be no crystal clear explanation for why there is evil in the world. But if we had a God that could be placed in a box and explained away, would He really be God? We must trust in God’s sovereignty and wisdom because “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Freedom to Fail Response: Learning to Pick Ourselves Up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJLCbv5K0WU&feature=related

At the beginning of the 2005 film Batman Begins, young Bruce Wayne falls into a deep pit full of and breaks his arm. His father, Dr. Thomas Wayne, pulls Bruce out of the pit and tells him, “And why do we fall, Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.” When Bruce’s parents die, this quote becomes his motivation to become a symbol of terror for criminals, Batman. Bruce goes into exile and loses his company to bureaucrats, but he picks himself up, saves Gotham from the Legion of Shadow and returns Wayne Enterprises to its former glory.

                If Bruce Wayne didn’t have the freedom to fail, he would probably continue to live off his parent’s trust fund and live the life of a typical billionaire playboy. His failure to avenge his parents’ death leads him on a personal quest to find out that justice must be tempered with compassion.

                Failure is a pivotal part of the human experience. We touch the stove and find out that it’s hot. Thomas Edison attempted to create the light bulb 10,000 times and failed 10,000 different ways before inventing and patenting the incandescent light bulb. Like Mr. Goodwin said, a lack of failure signals the end of scientific and artistic advances.

                In American public schools, failure has been removed to keep up graduation rates for government funding. For example, Virginia public schools do not have complete A/B/C/D/F grades until junior high.  The grade ‘F’ is no longer describing as “failing” but merely “unsatisfactory.” 

                The purpose of grades is to show a student his or her weak points in a subject, and how he or she can remedy these weaknesses. But by caring more about self esteem than academic ability, public schools are doing a poor job of preparing students for college or the work force. In college, professors don’t chase students and beg for late assignments; they fail them. At a fast food restaurant, like McDonalds or Chick Fil A, if an employee shows up late for work or cannot handle the speed of the work, they are fired. I worked at Chick Fil A for three days because I couldn’t keep with the fast pace of the restaurant’s kitchen. My employer didn’t care about my self esteem, just making a certain amount of breaded chicken at a certain pace.

                To better prepare students for the “real world”, they must be forced to repeat a class they fail or take a comparable class in the summer. By taking some of their “break” away, students will find out that failure has consequences, but they can learn from failure to work harder and strive for excellence. Teachers must remember that teenagers make mistakes and need to teach them not just for Advanced Placement tests and SOL but to learn from their mistakes.  To solve any kind of problem, paint a great painting, write a great book, or make breakthroughs in science, one must be prepared to fail many times. Public schools must allow their students to fall and pick themselves up. That is the essence of he American dream.