The Shaggs

Do you really see some elemental talent in their music, or were you just making that up? I ask because apparently Kurt Cobain listed their album in his top 100 favorites. He too may have been saying that for comic effect. I think they're pretty bad, but my ear for music is not well trained.

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Based on my reading of the Shagg's website and their song list, I'd guess they were fairly fundamentalist Christians. Their #3 -- "don't throw stones" -- is related to Jesus' "Judge not or you too will be judged," as well as the story in John 8:1-11 of the woman accused of adultery. Jesus challenges those who would stone her that he without sin should be the first to throw a stone. They all walk away, of course, leaving the woman and Jesus.

Two notes about all this:

• That passage in John 8:1-11 is famous for several things, one of which is the intriguing little detail about Jesus stooping down and writing something in the dirt with his finger. My man R.C. was recounting this story and speculated on what Jesus wrote in the dirt -- though fully admitting we can't know because it isn't offered in Scripture. Sproul said he imagined Jesus stooping down, looking from man to man, knowing what was in each man's heart, and writing things like "theft," "lust," "lying," "false witness." I like that bit of speculation. It's a powerful image.
• One of the most frequently ignored aspects of that story comes at the very end. Many people are fond of pointing out that Jesus forgave the adultress. Few read on to where Jesus commands her to "go now, and leave your life of sin."

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Regarding the different levels of guilt ... I think it's a learned thing at the conscious level. Deep inside it's a God-given thing, but at our conscious-awareness level it's a learned thing. I think that over the past 20 or so years the notion of "guilt" has been diminished considerably. Nobody is "at fault" or "guilty" of anything. Now, that does not mean they don't "feel" guilt somewhere deep inside, but it's less likely they'd recognize it as such and know what to do with it.

Again, R.C. Sproul was lecturing on this and he was making the point that the question "What do you do with your guilt" is one that surely will stop people in their tracks. I completely disagree -- I imagine most would say something along the lines of "What are you talking about?" or "I don't feel guilty about anything."

A society that has no sense of guilt or shame is a society that has no boundaries on behavior.

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In the business world we're told to sing our praises because that's supposedly what managers use to differentiate the productive from the unproductive. Unfortunately, as you point out, some falsely claim excellence, where others fail to cite true excellence. If I were to boil it down, it all comes down to insecurity and fear. Some fear their own failure and will do anything to deny it; others fear being caught out as a liar and understate their achievements.

I fall into the latter camp.

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It is a beautiful day in San Francisco today. Sunny, clear and warm but not hot. I wish you were here.