A very well recognized Contemporary Christian Music band has written an anti-Bush, "war protest" song.
The popular band "Jars of Clay" has in storage a song entitled "Hero43". The lyrics speak of using faith to support an unnecessary war in Iraq, and draw a correlation to the days of the Crusades. The title is a simple metaphor for the person of George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States.
I spoke with band representative Dan Haseltine today, as we pressed him on the bands creation of "Hero43", and why they felt threatened to pull it from their most recent CD released called "Good Monsters". Other than the fact that the band members say they aren't entirely ready with the creative presentation of the song, Haseltine is also offering 'fear of retribution' from the Christian community as a reason for its absence on their latest work.
In my conversation with band member Dan Haseltine, in preparation for my discussion tonight on the radio, He stated that being Christian today means you must be tied to being a 'patriot' for the war effort in Iraq, and a staunch conservative supporter for this administration's Republican ideals.
Haseltine recently told the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, "If you rock the boat too much, your records won't appear in certain Christian record stores anymore." In reference to political opinions He stated, "Watching our current government, we joke about it saying that they're going to usher in the apocalypse."
I'm airing the exclusive 25-minute interview tonight. You can listen to it via the affiliate radio station audio streams by visiting www.kfax.com or www.kfia.com and the toll free number is available for your comments. The show airs from 5-8PM (Pacific), Monday through Friday. (I will try to provide a transcript of the conversation on this site at a later date.)
As the war continues to be a major cultural discussion, in and outside of the church community - what happens when a respected (and I really respect these guys) band the likes of Jars of Clay make overtures that the government is 'using faith' to go to war, and the results mimic the return of the Crusades?
How will the church respond to Jars of Clay and their open, honest and brazen opinions surrounding the war effort? Better yet, how will we respond with our voices, attitudes, wallets and citizenship together in Graceland?
Know this, if we don't allow for differing views to be expressed inside of Graceland, we then accept (allow) the 'power broker gate keepers' to control the content of the presentation of Jesus' 'Gang of Followers' to the culture, and to speak for all of us.
I vote for tolerance, grace and allowing 'iron to sharpen iron'. These guys love Jesus, and they have some God given challenges for all of us to consider.
Comments: erichogueshow@hotmail.com
