Sinners, Saints and Everyone In Between

In Catholic art Satan, Adam/Eve, Nephilim, fallen angels, Judas Iscariot and other disgraced souls are often displayed in poses and with expressions that suggest isolation, shame and anguish.

Let that marinate. Some more. A little more. Moooooore. Okay. Why did I mention it? Don't cheat. Why is it important? Are you ready?

Sinners are prominently displayed in catholic art.

Not hidden. Not ignored. Not swept under the rug. Not tucked away in a place no one will ever visit. No, the most repulsive characters in the Bible are exquisitely rendered in beautiful and awe-inspiring artwork in churches, in squares, in cemetaries, on official buildings and yes...in museums.

Shame is the national pastime of Catholics. Remembering the liars, the betrayers, the Rebels and the disgraced (and their fates) is important to the development of faith and obedience. Secularly, from a literary point-of-view, these characters are allegory for the folly of pride, arrogance, hatred, disobedience and other vices.

If Americans were half as smart as they think they are, Confederate symbolism would be as well.

These so-called "heroes" of the Confederacy should be displayed like Biblical sinners in Catholic art...heads down-turned, faces showing their guilt, blood on their hands shielding their faces from unseen scornful stares--and the Coup de grace--a plaque that reads:

"Here stands the traitor, slaver, bigot and terrorist Nathan Bedford Forrest who dedicated his life to hatred and the murder of innocents. This statue, erected by We The People of these United States, stands so that future generations may know of his shame and remember the patriots who gave their lives to preserve this Imperfect Union and provide liberty and justice for all. Let no man, woman or child repeat the crimes of Nathan Bedford Forrest."

Boom! Two birds, one stone. Racists get to have their heroes on display and non-racists don't have to see traitors glorified in public places. Confederate symbols would not be insensitive to Black Americans and would grow to be a bitter poison twisting the bowels of people who long for the antebellum days. Not a glorious homage to the rebel spirit, but an allegory to the folly of bigotry. Win-win.

Unfortunately, Americans don't like "win-win..." they like "I win." So, you get what we had here last week: one group of children trying to out shout another group of children and an innocent life lost over...what? Nothing...that's what. Time and time again, America makes this same mistake, believing they can force others to their way of thinking and destroy any enemy set before them.

Unfortunately, ideas cannot be destroyed with cannons or wrecking balls. Not in the American Civil War. Not in World Wars I and II. Not in Korea, Vietnam, China or Russia. Not during the Modern Civil Rights Movement. Not in The Middle East. Not in Africa. Not in Cuba. And, we won't destroy it today by pulverizing monuments to hatred, now that the hatred in some Americans' hearts has reared its ugly head again.

Driving these people underground only ensures they will come back stronger, more virulent and more dangerous than they were to begin. If we have learn ANYTHING from the last CENTURY of ruining Middle Eastern countries is should be this...one...thing:

Destroying the symbols extremists revere does nothing to destroy the extremist's reverence for extremism; it only serves as validation that his or her extremist beliefs are righteous and just.


I have often repeated the phrase: "we must be intolerant or intolerable things." However, the ONLY way to destroy an evil ideology is to replace it with one that is pure and good. Therefore, we must abandon our almost pathological desire to be right, to win and bend others to our will. We must be willing to be cursed, be spat upon, turn the other cheek and truly embrace our brothers and sisters. We must be willing to weather the storm of racist tirades, conservative indifference and  liberal tantrums. To get rid of the most intolerable evil, we must tolerate those possessed by it.

The road to the mind is through the heart. Where the heart leads, the soul follows. Traveling that road is an impossible journey for a vindictive, self-righteous and me-centric society, who only has a hammer and sees every problem as a nail. If we are going to change the minds of others--and eradicate the disease that is rotting away the soul of this once great nation--we must start by first changing our own.



P.S.: No Catholics were harmed in the making of this blog. Agree or disagree with the wars they fought, please show some love to those that answered the call and fulfilled their oaths to the Constitution with honor and bravery. Instead of continuing to revile each other, stop your congressional representatives from sending them to fight another immoral and unjust war. Don't screw it up this time, America. We may not get another chance.

In Malcolm's Own Words

File Under:  Hearing is Believing

When someone else has already said something you need to say better than you could ever say it, it is often better to sit back and let that person talk.  Therefore, for this post I am going to let Brother Malcolm speak.

Every endeavor must be rooted in love.  Our differences are only skin-deep.  Inside we all are the same and want the same things.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness -- this is every human being's birthright.  No one can take this away.

A righteous person cannot rest in the face of tyranny because righteousness and oppression cannot coexist.

True progress will never happen so long as some of us deny the past and others of us use it to keep us divided.  We must own up to our mistakes and forgive, but never forget.

Economic, social, and spiritual poverty is a symptom, not the disease itself.

It is all right to think differently, to feel differently, and to believe differently.  The battle is not over ideas, we are not fighting for the supremacy of one idea or another.  We are fighting over the survival of us all.

We have to put the common interest ahead of our our own because we cannot win that struggle as a disjointed people.

Just as we will go nowhere as a people divided so too will we go nowhere with our eyes and ears closed, head in the sand, refusing to acknowledge the reality of our times.

We cannot suckle at the teat of the media for what to think, or corporations for scraps, or the government for our liberties.  We must create the society in which we want to live.

The time for passivity is gone.  Our country and our world is on the precipice of a calamitous fall that cannot be recovered from.  Inaction means certain doom.  We have no choice but to enlist in this fight.  The alternative is too costly to consider, and every moment we lose brings us closer to that horrible reality.

A Song In My Heart: Good Love Gone Bad

File Under: Hearing Is Believing

In honor of Valentine's Day being tomorrow I will be giving homage to love via song - Bane style.  Today is a toast to one night stands, inappropriate love affairs, stalking, sexual innuendo, and settling for second best - tunes that one way or another became some of the most popular love songs ever, that really should never have been at all.  This is not a list of the worst love songs ever, because they each rocked in their own way, but definitely this could be a list of the most inappropriate love songs of all time.

I'm crazy for your love.  Literally.

Stephen Stills summarizes the free love movement
Today it would go something like this: "Hey, your husband is on an oil rig?  Well, my wife is in Afghanistan.  Let's do it!"

"Love The One You're With" by Stephen Stills from Stephen Stills released 1971 on Atlantic

A.K.A. "If You Don't Know That You Should Leave"
In the best thing off Bon Jovi's baffling turn as country music musicians, Jon Bon Jovi asks an old flame, "We both know this is a bad idea but seeing as we're already drunk, do you want to have sex?"

"(You Want To) Make A Memory" by Bon Jovi from Lost Highway released 2010 on Lost Highway

Bad Lieutenant
We are just going to pretend he left her shivering in the rain.  Yup...

"Don't Stand So Close To Me" by The Police from Zenyatta Mondatta released 1980 on A&M

The Innuendo Song
This is supposed to be a sweet, innocent song about lifelong love, but we all know what he is talking about.  Wink, wink.

"Can't Fight This Feeling" by R.E.O Speedwagon from Wheels Are Turnin' released 19845 on Epic

"I'll be stalking you.  Whore."
This song screams: play this at your wedding.

"Every Breath You Take" by The Police from Synchronicity released 1983 on A&M

Isn't being a sleaze sex-ay?
"Shhh, keep it down; my wife and kids are trying sleep."  As many times as I had to hear this painful track in 2006-7, listening to it again enough times to find a HQ, commercial free version without stupid pictures was by far the most painful part of this whole exercise.  These are the things I do for you, my faithful followers, because I love you so much.  Now join me in my misery and click on the video.

"Lips Of An Angel" by Hinder from Extreme Behavior release 2006 on Universal Republic

The Murder-Suicide Song
It doesn't sound so bad with catchy lyrics and a nice beat.  The Human League should also write:  "Don't You Like Poverty," "Totalitarianism is Fun," "Who Needs The Second Amendment Anyway?" and "No Means Yes."

"Don't You Want Me" by The Human League from Dare released 1981 on Virgin

Friends with benefits and a crying clause
Not sure if I am in love with you or not, but I am definitely super horny right now.  MAJOR CAVEAT:  If you leave the door open, the whole damn deal is off in the future.

"Your Love" by The Outfield from Play Deep released 1985 on Columbia

Somebody call Chris Hansen.
The title says it all.  Pedo-Bear!

"Young Girl" by Gary Puckett & The Union Gap from Young Girl released 1968 on Columbia

P.S.: Did anyone else notice that The Union Gap does not have a brass or string section?

You got someplace better to be?
The original ode to one-time nocturnal amorous indiscretion by the balladeer with the most epic beard in rock'n'roll history.

"We've Got Tonight" by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band from Stranger In Town released 1978 on Capitol

Fantasize about your best guy friend having sex...
Nothing creepy about that, it should make a catchy pop song.  Every man needs an anthem, Rick Springfield wrote one for "that guy."  Promptly the next year the first ever Man Council of the Brotherhood of Men was convened to codify Man Law and the subsequent ratification of the Bro Code in the years to come.

"Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield from Working Class Dog released 1981 on RCA

Flesh and blood partners are so analog.
How we all came to be here today.  The song that foreshadowed internet porn, internet dating, and chat room sex.

"Computer Love" by Zapp & Roger from The New Zapp IV U released 1985 on Warner Bros.

The Ultimate Valentine's Day Gift of All Time

'Til death do us part, and here is how much I mean it.

There you have my list of some of the most inappropriate songs about love ever.  Did I miss some?  Let me know on the Facebook group page, The Office of R. Conrad Bane and be sure to follow me on Twitter: @RConradBane.  I leave you with a bonus tune, not exactly a love song you associate with this holiday per se but probably one of the cutest, most endearing, and most inappropriate songs ever: Deano's version of The Date Rape Song.

"Baby, It's cold Outside" by Dean Martin from A Winter Romance released 1959 on Capitol

Fear Not

File Under: Hearing is Believing

I want to dedicate today’s blog to those of us in the struggle who may be down, who may be struggling a little harder, who feel isolated, and who might feel they cannot continue the fight. Life is by no means easy, the world we live in is by no means fair, and the Universe is not always clear or gentle with its reason and purpose. Our suffering is for a purpose whether that purpose is clear or obfuscated. Moreover, by discovering that purpose we can learn, grow, and achieve. In the same manner that steel becomes forged through intense heat, a blade becomes sharp through grinding, sand becomes a pearl and carbon a diamond through pressure, so also do we as humans become wiser, stronger individuals through our failures and hardships. Remember that no matter how desperate the situation appears, no matter how unbearable the trial may seem, or how long you believe the journey will be – there is always hope. You are stronger than you think, wiser than you know, more courageous than you believe, and you are not alone. Fear not, you will conquer this too if only you do not give up because above all – you are loved.

Because I love you so much, I put something extra special together for you. This is my first YouTube video so leave some comments to tell me what you think. The video is set to "You Are Loved" by Josh Groban, off his 2006 album Awake.