{"id":45667,"date":"2013-07-03T15:31:21","date_gmt":"2013-07-03T15:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/?p=45667"},"modified":"2017-03-02T20:57:32","modified_gmt":"2017-03-02T20:57:32","slug":"hail-satan-the-scud-missile-that-is-amazing-grace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2013\/07\/03\/hail-satan-the-scud-missile-that-is-amazing-grace\/","title":{"rendered":"“Hail Satan?” The Scud Missile that is “Amazing Grace” – UPDATED"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Saw a lot of fluttery twitter reaction to this<\/a><\/strong> last night (twitter is a bastion for fluttery reaction, as fits tweets and bird logos) with people freaking out. Facebook is more staid, marginally. <\/p>\n

Deacon Greg calls it a must see<\/a>. Is it? Like Ed Morrissey at Hot Air, I was first skeptical<\/a>. <\/p>\n

When people assured me it was true<\/strong>, I didn\u2019t have to see it last night to go to bed understanding why I had felt compelled to write this, before turning in.<\/a><\/p>\n

That Strange God \u2014 the idol that is the idea of I<\/a> \u2014 has the full force of the press, the United States Government and a lot of mindless, deluded<\/a> sloganeering drones, who have no notion that they are no further enlightened<\/a> than Eve; that they are standing in Eden, before a slithering hisser of lies, who introduces death to their hearts and souls<\/a> with a single promise, \u201cconsume it and be like gods\u2026\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You get a gang of already pumped up, hysterical<\/strong> (and in some cases terribly, terribly young) idolators fully indoctrinated to the creed and the church of the Idol-of-I, and start singing \u201cAmazing Grace\u201d you\u2019re striking at a jugular vein of the idol and the hysterics \u2014 having nothing to fall back on but the empty creed of self-worship, which contains no grace at all \u2014 have no depth in their recourse. All they have left in their bag of tricks is shock and chaos. <\/a><\/p>\n

Last night they fell back on \u201cshock.\u201d Chaos will come later, and believe me, a mindless, stupidly spiteful chanting of \u201chail satan\u201d won\u2019t be the half of it.<\/p>\n

They know not what they do, though \u2014 very likely those who are not being paid to be useful idiots for The Party<\/a> are members of The Church of What\u2019s Happening Now, who can\u2019t resist an urge to participate in this week\u2019s \u201cbe-in\u201d. You know they understand almost nothing about anything when they\u2019re bringing little kids to a protest (against abortion at six months) and having them hold up wire hangers. I personally think it would be a mistake to over-react to this chant. Undoubtedly, some will. Some Christians and Republicans will try to exploit the moment for political gain \u2014 they\u2019ll hyperventilate and get dramatic and push their face into a tv camera and look so deranged that people watching or reading will say, \u201cwell, it was a stupid, spiteful chant, but I don\u2019t blame them for it\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Which is why I rather concur with this guy on Twitter:<\/p>\n

\n

Wow, the \"hail Satan\" thing is such a troll. Make fun of it or ignore it. No good can come of making a big deal out of it.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Political Math (@politicalmath) July 3, 2013<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Or, as Andrew Klavan says, \u201cSatan Schmatan!\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Da Tech Guy doesn\u2019t quite agree.<\/a><\/p>\n

When the Christians began to sing \u201cAmazing Grace\u201d<\/strong> they had to know it would foment a reaction. The hymn strikes a chord of mystic understanding. It is listed as an \u201cAmerican Folk Melody\u201d but that melody is African \u2014 probably anciently African (sometimes I wonder if it was not the melody hummed by the Hebrew slaves, the soundtrack to the exodus) \u2014 and it seems to touch a sinew of recall and reclamation<\/em> in all of us, in the same way, perhaps, that our cells can hold memory. Think of the first time you ever heard it; you already knew it<\/em>. It is something primal, earthy and familiar to us: it is life, strain, yearning. The cross.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmazing Grace\u201d is a psycho-spiritual weapon. When it is deployed, people cannot be shocked at what weapons others will use in response. <\/p>\n

We are in for a very long, increasingly harsh battle. Keep your powder dry and don\u2019t flip out at these first tactics. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Amazing Grace. I wonder if it was the sound that accompanied the moment when Adam first stood erect and encountered consciousness.<\/p>\n

UPDATE:<\/strong>
\nLots of discussion in the comments section about the melody for \u201cAmazing Grace\u201d originating in the British Isles. I\u2019m aware that this is the accepted understanding. I\u2019ll still hold my position that it is African in origin, as are \u2014 says science \u2014 we all. If people want to trace the tune to the Isles that\u2019s fine by me, but given the (entirely possible) tradition that the Tribe of Dan passed through the British Isles and Ireland before settling north of them, it\u2019s as likely as anything that they brought that melody (and other great \u201cbog-tunes\u201d) with them from Africa! :-) <\/p>\n