Music

I don’t think witness should be about conversion.  I think effective witness shares what brings us joy, challenge, healing, and transformation and is characterized by a life of meeting people where they are, loving them hard, understanding them as well as we can, and forgiving shortcomings while resisting abuse and oppression of all kinds in a way that aims toward breaking down hierarchy wherever it exists in the world (including internally).  I suppose this is a theological statement of sorts, in that it is derived from what I think is paramount in the text and tradition.  In fact, these words look very much like my witness when people ask me why I am religious or what God means to me (generally these questions are rooted in a very limited experience of Christianity/clergy).  If I can continue with my music metaphors, I think I want to “evangelize” my faith the way that I would my favorite music.  I don’t want my witness to be about suggesting that my favorite song should be your favorite song or that my favorite part of the song should be your favorite part... and at the end of the day, if you don’t even like that song, that’s okay, as long as my love of the music and singing and dancing is appreciated in its own right, as is yours.  There are types of music that don’t appeal to me, but that doesn’t mean they’re wrong for other people to like.  I can appreciate thematic similarities in our music choices, even if they are executed in very different ways. That said, if the content of your music is harmful or degrading to some people, we'll have another conversation.