Road to ruin

I've long admired (abstractly, from afar) the kind of piety and devotion described in Brother Lawrence's The Practice of the Presence of God (the full text is online here) or the idea of Frank Laubach's "game with minutes" as described in his Letters by a Modern Mystic. Such efforts to find the holy in the mundane and to seek an attitude of love and prayer for everyone we encounter seem saintly in the best sense.*

God knows as well that I'm never further from sainthood then when I'm driving in traffic. Loving prayer is not my first response to the guy tailgating me, or the guy doing 50 in the left lane, or the SUV-drivers who don't use turn signals when changing lanes. So the idea of treating an Interstate as something holy -- a place where, in Laubach's words, I am "as wide open to people and their need as I am toward God" -- seems to me like it could be a Good Thing.

But this is something else entirely: "Christians Movement Calls I-35 a 'Highway of Holiness.'" (Thanks to Andrew B. for the tip.):

People drive on it every day, sometimes cursing along the way, but thousands of people consider Interstate 35 to be a holy road.

The highway that stretches from Laredo to Duluth, Minn., has grabbed the attention of Christians across the country, including those in Austin. Members of Christian groups along the I-35 corridor said the highway was mentioned in the Bible, and in order to fulfill a prophecy, it needs a little saving first.

According to Light the Highway, the worldwide movement is driving thousands to prayer on the interstate. Christians said the Old Testament's book of Isaiah prophesizes I-35 will be the United States' "Highway of Holiness."

Isaiah 35:8 reads: "And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it."

"Everything we do, we want to make sure scripture is backing us up," said Austin's PromiseLand Church Pastor Charlie Lujan. "I-35 being Isaiah 35, it just matched."

OK, so maybe this is just a bit of whimsical wordplay. Maybe this I-35 = Isaiah 35 notion is just a playful way of finding a hook for a renewed emphasis on prayer. I mean, it's just not possible that this guy really thinks that the English titles, modern chapter divisions, and the naming conventions of the interstate highway system should be considered as inspired holy writ.

Or maybe it is. Reading on, it doesn't seem like Lujan and his Light the Highway effort are a terribly whimsical or playful bunch. Isaiah 35 is a joyous expression of millennial hope** but, like our friends LaHaye and Jenkins, these folks don't seem interested in such promises of future restoration and healing. They're all about the judgment and the purifying fire. They seem to like Isaiah 35:8 only because of its condemnation of "wicked fools" and "the unclean," by which they don't mean the invading armies of Babylon but -- what else? -- the gay menace:

Lujan conducted a five-week 24-hour prayer vigil and organized what he called a "purity siege" along Austin's famed Sixth Street. The sieges are part of the I-35 project, a nationwide movement to save those at bars, gay clubs and abortion clinics in cities along the interstate.

"If you just draw a line right down the middle of the nation, and go to these strategic cities along the way and just cry out holiness and purity, we believe there's going to be a referendum, a change, a radical change in our nation," Lujan said.

What, you may be wondering, is a "purity siege"? It's helpfully defined here as:

A spiritual demonstration. In much the same way people protest against governmental or business aspects of society, youth across the nation will “siege” sites of impurity in their city, by doing on-location prayer. They will be protesting the machinations of evil, such as pornography, injustice, abortion and other strongholds. They will stand outside of spiritual strongholds and visually demonstrate their opposition thereof, while doing warfare in heavenly realm.

Light the Highway (read that not as "illuminate" but as "incinerate") recounts a recent "siege," conducted in September in Dallas:

Fifty or so young people have gathered on Oak Lawn Avenue, positioning themselves on the sidewalk outside of JR’s Bar and Grill, one of many nightclubs found in this neighborhood, which is well-known for its large population of homosexuals. The group stays in a tight circle, praying and singing worship songs and asking God for holiness. They are there to confront the spirit of perversion and siege unholiness. ...

As the Siege continues, the power of God falls, and the young people start evangelizing, talking to, and praying for people including homosexuals, transgender and transvestites. They share with them how God loves them, and through the power of Jesus Christ, they can be set free from their sinful lifestyle. The purpose of the Siege was not to communicate a message of hate or exclusion, but rather, a message of love, forgiveness, acceptance and freedom.

Because, you know, nothing says "love, forgiveness, acceptance and freedom" like a siege and a "tight circle ... asking God for holiness."

The response is overwhelming as people begin to fall on the ground under the power of the Holy Spirit.

I'm not sure who I feel worse for here -- the patrons of JR's harassed by the everything-but-snake-handling prayer meeting on their sidewalk, or the "young people" corralled into this awkwardly aggressive form of "radical evangelism." The youth leader who organized this expedition, in my opinion, has a millstone-necklace with his name on it.

My own church youth group never laid siege to a gay bar, but I still wince when I recall some of our forays into "radical" evangelism. We did "boardwalk evangelism" down the shore. I personally handed a gospel tract to Madame Marie herself. Unlike the many mission trips our youth group also did, that wasn't something I enjoyed at the time or felt proud about afterward.

This is the dynamic at work in so much of what fundamentalist and evangelical churches think of as "youth ministry." Tell a bunch of good church kids what God expects of them and they will do their best to comply. Tell them God wants them to pass out tracts to strangers and they'll go along. Tell them God wants them to lay siege to a nightclub and they'll get on the van. They will go along because their conscience will be telling them that if this is what God would have them do, then it is what they ought to do. But their conscience will also be telling them that this seems not just awkward or intimidating, but wrong. "Be bold and courageous for God," the youth minister will tell them, but they're not balking out of fear, they're hesitating out of guilt. That will, in turn, provoke another crisis of conscience as they wonder what's wrong with them that makes them feel like right is wrong.

You can only stretch that rubber band so many times before it snaps and one of two things will happen. They may decide that their conscience cannot be trusted and thus will stop listening to it, becoming the sort of people who will one day grow up to lead another generation of young people in another round of purity sieges. Or their conscience will win out and they will have their Huckleberry Finn moment:

It was a close place. I took it up, and held it in my hand. I was a-trembling, because I'd got to decide, forever, betwixt two things, and I knowed it. I studied a minute, sort of holding my breath, and then says to myself:

"All right, then, I'll go to Hell" -- and tore it up.

It was awful thoughts and awful words, but they was said. And I let them stay said; and never thought no more about reforming. ... And for a starter I would go to work and steal Jim out of slavery again; and if I could think up anything worse, I would do that, too; because as long as I was in, and in for good, I might as well go the whole hog.

Some few of those who snap in the latter direction may eventually come to realize that what God wants is not necessarily the same as what God's alleged spokesmen say it is, and thus they may wind up rejecting only the advice of the spokesmen, and not rejecting God entirely. But many won't make that distinction.

This happens all the time. It's happening, right now, for many of those poor kids from that Dallas youth group that laid siege to JR's. If you find yourself driving on I-35, say a prayer for them.

- - - - - - - - - -

* And not in the sense of one of my favorite old jokes: What is a saint? A person who always, always, always does the Right Thing. What is a martyr? A person who has to live with a saint.

** As such it's also the inspiration for one of my favorite Wesleyan hymns, "O for a Thousand Tongues To Sing": Hear Him, ye deaf; His praise ye dumb, / Your loosened tongues employ; / Ye blind, behold your Savior come, / And leap, ye lame, for joy.

Comments

[A Texan in Bavaria]

Like Fred, Geds and others, I'm still shuddering at some of the stuff I did and believed as a Southern Baptist youth. Our youth choir went on a missions tour of Utah, Wyoming, Idaho and Colorado when I was in middle school. We were ostensibly there to sing for recently "planted" Baptist/non-denominational churches and to help run a Vacation Bible School at one of them. We ended up going around the neighborhood, knocking on doors and distributing literature. Ugh. I think we felt it was fair game, as this region has most of America's Mormons. It's been said that Mormon missions are not so much for the sake of winning converts but for strengthening the faith and identity of young men (and some young women) in the face of all the inevitable rejection. The same thing might have been one of the objects for us - of course, no one told us anything like that!

Result? I'm now a fairly liberal Episcopalian. My mother admits that my semi-conversion has taught her a lesson and made her see that a Catholic joining their church is not a 100% joyful occasion for all involved. She told me that she was a bit hurt about my changing churches for awhile, but now is just glad that I still believe and have a "church family".

Preparing myself to drive on the (un-)Holy Highway next week. German Autobahns really spoil a gal...

[Dash]

mmack: I believe the law would require sinners to cover their autos in sackcloth and attach bells to the fenders. In addition, a speaker would be attached to the roof that constantly blared "Unclean! Unclean!"

With the right drum backup, you should be able to get a pretty good beat going with "Unclean! Unclean!" I see potential for a rising entrepreneur there: sackcloth in a variety of in-your-face colors and patterns with some Not Safe For RTC (TM) slogans and downloadable "Unclean! Unclean!" mp3s in reggae, rap, metal and, for the senior sinners, polka.

[Retrogrouch]

Man, this is really fun.

Isaiah 63:5 standing in for I-635, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Freeway in Dallas:

I looked, but there was no one to help,
I was appalled that no one gave support;
so my own arm worked salvation for me,
and my own wrath sustained me.

If it only said "finger" insterad of "arm" it would be perfection!

[Retrogrouch]

Keep them coming people! After we collect enough, it'll be our opportunity to start one of those wild viral emails!

[A Texan in Bavaria]

Retrogrouch: And I'll let you guys know when it makes it back to me through one of my dear but undiscerning relatives or family friends.

[McJulie]

I-5: Where can you still be struck if you will be disloyal still? Your head is covered with sores, your body diseased;

Clearly a reference to... um... faultlines and voting for Democrats.

Speaking of which, at the beginning of 2006, Pat Robertson made the prediction: "If I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms ... there well may be something as bad as a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest."

Can we now say, finally, definitively, that whatever that little voice in Pat Robertson's head is, it isn't God?

I-9-0: For there is no escape for an oppressed people.

Hmm, I think that describes all Interstates that run through big cities.

[pepperjackcandy]

Unfortunately, the 4th chapter of Isaiah doesn't have 10 chapters.

Should I make Isaiah 4:1 stand in?

In that case:

In that day seven women
will take hold of one man
and say, "We will eat our own food
and provide our own clothes;
only let us be called by your name.
Take away our disgrace!"

Does that say "We need a hazardous materials route. I know! Let's put the hazardous materials route on Loop 410. That's just going to be construction hell until sometime in the 22nd century!" Sounds safe to me.

[practicallyevil]

At least this provides a rad Black Templars Crusade name: Purity Siege

FOR THE EMPEROR!

[Froborr]

Aw. =( None of the Interstates associated with DC (95, 395, 495, and 66) have any interesting Isaiah verses attached.

[Bruce in South Florida]

... and here I was thinking "Road to ruin" was going to be another Ipod songlist...

[Geds]

Geds, since I-88 passes through it, that will serve as conclusive proof to the citizens of Naperville that they are in "Heaven on Earth".

Gah. Naperville. My sister and bro-in-law were contemplating a move up to Madison, WI and I asked why she would want to live there. She said, "It's like Naperville, but without all the stuck-up people."

When you can be unfairly compared to Madison, Wisconsin you can't possibly live in Heaven on Earth.

Also, mmack, have you spent much time on 355 since they put in the extension? I only ask because I'm trying to figure out if the additional feeling of clogged traffic from Lake St. south is a figment of my imagination or not.

[jamoche]

Ah, I-35. I remember it well - the stretch between DFW and Waco, where students from all the Southwest Conference schools from Baylor south would come together, spot each other's university parking stickers, and extend their school rivalries onto the road. I had a 77 Grand Prix - grey, boring family looking car with a nice big V-8 engine...

(OK, I only got caught up in that *once*. The thing about knowing you have power is you rarely feel the need to demonstrate it. But when that little red VW bug hovered right next to me for *five miles* doing the "rev the engine and pull half a car length forward, then drop back" thing, well, I floored it. Mostly because I don't like having someone *right* next to me - I like having a clear space in case I need to move unexpectedly. Didn't see him again for another 10 minutes, when he was *much* better behaved.)

Speaking of Fred Phelps: Warren Ellis on a video put out by Fred Phelps & co:

The Westboro Baptist Church (that “God Hates Fags” crew from the heart of Jesusland USA) presents their cover “We Are the World,” rewritten and retitled as “God Hates the World.” The following spectacle managed to be both surreal and fleshcrawlingly creepy at the same time. I’m fairly sure all the people on screen are related to each other. If you can stomach it, the last twenty seconds are as close to pure evil as I’ve seen today.

[cjmr's husband]

... and here I was thinking "Road to ruin" was going to be another Ipod songlist...

I was going to be a smartass and post my Road to Ruin list, but I don't HAVE any songs in that range!!!!

[Ecks]

Actually, the underlying psychology and social programming of fundamentalist Christianity is fascinating. I could probably write a book about it...

Oh oh oh. Can I write it with you? You can do the story part, I can do the psychology part. Awesomeness :)

I believe the law would require sinners to cover their autos in sackcloth and attach bells to the fenders.

And little pink triangular headlights for the gays, no?

He's still failing the "Are you saved?!? Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior?!?" drills

I have to confess I'm glad nobody is asking me that, or I'd be saying things like "Well I tried, but he said I haven't sinned enough yet to need saving. But it does sound good though. Do you think beer bong hits would be enough, or do we have to go skinny dipping in the pool?"

It's been said that Mormon missions are not so much for the sake of winning converts but for strengthening the faith and identity of young men (and some young women) in the face of all the inevitable rejection.

Yah, I've thought about that before when teaching persuasion theory (cog dissonance -> self persuasion). We have church groups who come to campus and rant from the "speakers circle" at passers by, often about how their immodest dress makes them whores who are going to hell. The only effect I've seen it actually have is to make the religious passer byes cringe in embarrassment. I wonder what effect it would have on visiting mormons to invite them in for a cup of tea, quietly listen to their pitch, ask how many people they have persuaded so far, then explain dissonance to them. Would it bounce off them outright? Would the wheels fall off then and there? Or would it quietly haunt them in future salt lake city winter nights?

Ah, probably the former.

[Geds]

Oh oh oh. Can I write it with you? You can do the story part, I can do the psychology part. Awesomeness :)

Actually, I was thinking about you when I wrote that, Ecks...

I'm enough of a student of human behavior to know where the good stuff is and how to apply the psych and sociology classes I've taken to come up with a good construct, but I totally could not write anything technical without assistance. In fact, I'd probably get started and realize that what I just wrote is a massive understatement. Because, really, the last thing I want to do is become the anti-Fundamentalism version of Ken Ham or Fred Stoecker...

[Ecks]

I-9-0: For there is no escape for an oppressed people.

How do you get that? Our local is I 70, but I stops at 66 or so, and there isn't a verse 0 in I-7.

and here I was thinking "Road to ruin" was going to be another Ipod songlist...

It's actually a movie from circa the 50's. We have a copy. Nice young girl lets a boy give her a ride home, then she goes out dancing with her loose friend (who has a divorced mother!!1!), then she accepts a smoke of a cigarette and a drink of gin, and picks up a creepy boyfriend, and wouldn't you know it she ends up preggers with VD and an official record as a "sexual delinquent." We thought it might be funny in a 'reefer madness' type of way, but it turns out not to be bad enough for that, and is merely depressing.

[Ecks]

I saw a youtube of Ken Hamm talking once. Wow that was cringeworthy. I can't imagine you would be anything at all like that. But if you ever think about it seriously, talk to me. It would be lots of fun :)

[Josh D]

Nice post, Fred. The Huck Finn reference was well suited to your point.
The conflict of conscience is something I've noticed and felt, but never heard anyone put into words so poignantly. Nicely done.

[mmack]

And little pink triangular headlights for the gays, no?

Actually Ecks, I see it more like a slow moving vehicle triangle done in pink, but you may be on to something.

Have you spent much time on 355 since they put in the extension? I only ask because I'm trying to figure out if the additional feeling of clogged traffic from Lake St. south is a figment of my imagination or not.

Geds, I have not been south of Boughton Road on I-355. When I drive it it's on the weekends. Mrs. mmack drives from Boughton to Ogden Ave. every weekday, and she hasn't noticed any delays. So you'll need to find a Slacktivite who takes the North-South daily to tell you if your theory is solid. I haven't driven I-355 daily since late 2005.

I-9-0: For there is no escape for an oppressed people.

Describes the traffic on the Kennedy Expressway (I-90 through Chicago) perfectly.

[JayDeeJaye]

"...but I still wince when I recall some of our forays into "radical" evangelism. We did "boardwalk evangelism" down the shore....that wasn't something I enjoyed at the time or felt proud about afterward."

For me it was trips to the mall and Russia. I remember our Russia trip leader telling me I needed to gather the girls together and give my testimony (which was really my history, as evangelicals tend to confuse the two terms). At the end of my story, which is filled with trauma and tragedy which God really is healing me of, one of the girls asked "Why are you telling us all this?"

I honestly did not have an answer. I remember falling back on my evange-speak. It felt incredibly awkward and just plain WRONG. I never "evangelized" like that again.

I guess some people might accuse me of being ashamed of the gospel. The way I see it, if I'm a real true living testimony, I shouldn't need to make a speech about it.

[Geds]

I saw a youtube of Ken Hamm talking once. Wow that was cringeworthy. I can't imagine you would be anything at all like that. But if you ever think about it seriously, talk to me. It would be lots of fun :)

I was talking more about the, "Hey, I wrote this book on this topic with which I have a passing familiarity. That makes me an expert," attitude of a lot of people from that particular part of the thought world.

And, hey, I might just take you up on that. Let's mull it over a bit.

Describes the traffic on the Kennedy Expressway (I-90 through Chicago) perfectly.

Especially if you're trying to take the Kennedy to O'Hare Airport...

[pepperjackcandy]

Okay, here goes:

Rock Steady, Sting
Rockabilly Lullaby, The Backyardigans
Row Your Boat, The Backyardigans
Royal Station 4/16, Melissa Etheridge
如果这都不算爱 (Ru Guo Zhe Dou Bu Suan Ai), 张学友 (Jacky Cheung)

[jamoche]

The way I see it, if I'm a real true living testimony, I shouldn't need to make a speech about it.

How does that quote go? Oh, yes: “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” St. Francis of Assisi

(what would I do without Google?)

[Jeff]

I wonder how they interpret that with the Holiness of the Way in mind?

Obviously, there were too many sinners on it!

======================================

I was going to be a smartass and post my Road to Ruin list, but I don't HAVE any songs in that range!!!!

I don't have I-Tunes on this PC, but there have to be a few "Rope" songs!

[Jeff]

Cali freeways:

I 4:05: Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over all the glory will be a canopy.

A nice way to describe smog, I guess!

I 6:05: "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

I'm trying to figure out where this is. Disneyland isn't on the 605.

I 7:10: Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz

I'm think this refers to Ahoward AHughs -- the Spruce Goose is at the end of the 710.

I 1:10 Hear the word of the LORD,
you rulers of Sodom;
listen to the law of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!

Downtown LA. That WORKS!

I 15 (part): The waters of Nimrim are dried up
and the grass is withered;
the vegetation is gone
and nothing green is left.

They've been to Chula Vista, I see.

[Pseudowolf]

I saw the Phelps video and I need a shower now. *shudder*

Y'know, every time I see these wackos I wonder what the hell their goal is? In they're own song they say stop sinning and then immediately say it's too late to escape "god's" wrath. (I put the word god in quotes there because they do not worship God. They don't even worship a warped view of God. They worship themselves.)

[Mabus]

Pseudowolf: Judging by analogy...I believe they consider it their duty to proclaim God's wrath, even though they are certain it will have no effect. The alternative would be to damn themselves along with everyone else.

The hypothetically best response to such a god, as best I can reason it out, is to raise one's middle finger and allow him to drop you into hell. It's not as if you can trust him to do anything else anyway, so you may as well keep your integrity.

A repulsive video in the extreme...though I must confess that gore is more likely to make me physically ill.

[pepperjackcandy]

I 4:05: Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over all the glory will be a canopy.

A nice way to describe smog, I guess!

Hee!

Who was it that said that I-95 isn't interesting? Here's Isaiah 9:5

Every warrior's boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.

Are the Pentagon or Arlington National Cemetery anywhere near I-95?

What would be the U.S. Route system? Exodus, Leviticus, or Titus?

[cjmr]

Are the Pentagon or Arlington National Cemetery anywhere near I-95?

They're both off the I-395 spur, several miles from I-95 proper, which is on the Maryland side of the river at that point.

[Squee]

Pseudowolf- I think I may have figured it out. They have confused the Christian God with Cthulhu and are hoping that by proclaiming the damnation of humanity they will have the fortune of being eaten last.

[Cat]

I'm just finishing up a term paper on Cthulhu, and I'd rather him. He might be the embodiment of Puritan repressed sexuality, but he doesn't practice it himself.

Anonymous at 9:15 December 21, the minister's wife actually did go to my mother that night and say she didn't think she was a very good parent for letting me listen to metal. I left that part out because my mom didn't tell me until years afterward, so it didn't really play a role in the snapping bit.

[ollie]

You know, those who call I-35 a "holy road" might have a point. I've been stuck in traffic and yelled JEEEEsus H Christ! many a time. :)

[LL]

I said this when this story appeared on Fark and will repeat here: there are two large porno stores right on I-35, very visible. One is about 40 miles N of Dallas, the other is right on the border between OK and TX (on the TX side). And besides the pervs, idiots travel I-35 all the time. As anyone who drives it regularly will tell you.

RE "eventually come to realize that what God wants is not necessarily the same as what God's alleged spokesmen say it is, and thus they may wind up rejecting only the advice of the spokesmen, and not rejecting God entirely. But many won't make that distinction."

Just to remind, this may describe some people who claim to be atheists, but it doesn't describe all of us. True, observing how very un-Christlike most followers of Christ are certainly isn't a ringing endorsement of the creed, but I'm not a disillusioned former RTC. I never was an RTC. I actually do feel bad for the sincere who are led astray by fakers and charlatans. I don't think they're stupid. I think they're naive and too trusting. It is too bad that many people see naivete and trust as things to be used rather than protected.

[Randy Owens]

Squee:

They have confused the Christian God with Cthulhu and are hoping that by proclaiming the damnation of humanity they will have the fortune of being eaten last.

Wait, correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the fortunate ones get eaten by Cthulhu first? Come to think of it, it's rather like the Rapture and Tribulation that way, isn't it?...

[Chico]

Fred: But their conscience will also be telling them that this seems not just awkward or intimidating, but wrong. "Be bold and courageous for God," the youth minister will tell them, but they're not balking out of fear, they're hesitating out of guilt. That will, in turn, provoke another crisis of conscience as they wonder what's wrong with them that makes them feel like right is wrong.

WWJD?

[Squee]

Randy- I was a bit confused by that myself. The Cthulhu chick tract does say that they will have the fortune of being eaten first, but other sites have said they will have the fortune of being eaten last. I have never read any Lovecraft myself, so I really can't say.

[Ecks]

I actually do feel bad for the sincere who are led astray by fakers and charlatans. I don't think they're stupid. I think they're naive and too trusting.

I'm sure that this description is sometimes true, but it seems a lot of the posters who talk about it here grew up with the fundys, and were therefore naive and trusting by virtue of being infants, and trying to do what mommy says is the right thing.

There's a big church in Edmond, Okla., just north of Oklahoma City, on east side of I-35, that has a humongous big white cross, spotlighted, so nobody misses seeing it. The former pastor at that church, Richard Hogue, fell in a scandal about 25 years ago. He famously once said, "I can always sell Jesus." And BTW, he has a new church here in OKC. Some people never learn.

I-35 might *appear* to be holy, but be sure to look behind the curtain before you cast your lot.