Anthony McIntyre's Blog, page 1136

Grow A Set

Grow a set! That’s the blunt message to Protestant denominations and fellowships following the mainstream Irish Presbyterian Church’s decision that people in same-sex relationships cannot become full members. Controversial commentator, Dr John Coulter, throws down the gauntlet to other Protestant Churches in his Fearless Flying Column today.



Liberals and theological wets within Irish Presbyterianism are sabre rattling over the threat of a mass exodus from Northern Ireland’s largest Protestant denomination after the General Assembly emphasised its policy that people in same-sex relationships cannot be full members, and also that baptism will be denied to the children of same-sex parents or couples.

It’s all very well indulging in a Church of Scotland-style ‘walk out’ publicity stunt as witnessed at the General Assembly, but where will these liberals go? If they want to remain loosely as Presbyterians, there’s only one home – the fringe Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church, commonly known as the Unitarians. It is the most liberal of the Presbyterian denominations in Ireland to the point where it recognises same-sex ‘marriages’.

Numbers and theologically influence-wise, the Unitarian church has the power of a dead fly and cannot be compared to the numerical clout of Protestantism’s ‘Big Three’ in Northern Ireland – mainstream Presbyterianism, the Church of Ireland, and even mainstream Irish Methodism.

Individual families drifting into the Non Subscribing Presbyterian Church does not constitute a mass exodus. It would need several thousand communicant members of mainstream Irish Presbyterianism to defect to have such an impact.

The other strands of Presbyterianism in Northern Ireland, namely the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Reformed Presbyterian Church (also known as the Covenanters) and the Free Presbyterian Church (the latter founded by the late Rev Ian Paisley in 1951) are theologically firmly behind the Biblical definition of marriage that it is between a man and woman.

Elements within the Anglican Communion – namely the Church of Ireland – want to see that Church redefine its current definition on same-sex marriage, but so far the evangelicals within the Church of Ireland hold the balance of power. The same is true for mainstream Methodism in Northern Ireland. Fundamentalist off-shoots of Methodism in Northern Ireland, namely the Independent Methodist Church and Free Methodist Church, would also hold to the Biblical traditional view of heterosexual marriage.

The Pan Secularist Front (PSF) of liberals, ‘Christian’ wets, ecumenists, atheists, agnostics, communists, humanists and anyone else who feels like putting the boot into Biblical teaching are clearly marshalling their public relations campaigns for a massive onslaught to get more liberal abortion laws and same-sex marriage introduced into Northern Ireland.

Other Protestant denominations cannot sit on the theological sidelines and leave the Irish Presbyterian Church to fight this battle on its own. We need clear Biblically-based guidance from the other denominations, such as the Baptists, Elim Pentecostalists, Brethren (both Plymouth and Exclusive), Church of God, Church of the Nazarene, Congregationists, Vineyard Church as well as the dozens of smaller independent churches, meeting houses and fellowships dotted across Northern Ireland.

We also need some of the larger independent churches, such as Whitewell Taberbacle in north Belfast and Green Pastures in Ballymena to show their theological card publicly on abortion and same-sex marriage.

Similarly, traditional organisations, such as the Faith Mission and the Christian Workers’ Union, which hold many Sunday evening events, will have to step up to the mark and declare their hand.

Dismissing the debate as simply ‘one for the politicians’ is not an option. It’s ‘put up where you stand’ time! Or is it really a case that on the issues of more liberal abortion laws and same-sex marriage, the pro-choice and LGBT lobbies are so vocal and well organised, traditional Bible-believing Christians are too scared to speak out for fear of receiving a barrage of abuse from social media trolls?

Increasingly, many ‘born again’ Christians will privately express their total opposition to more liberal abortion laws and same-sex marriage within the safety of church walls or prayer meetings, but will never dare to speak out for the Faith in public.

Should we evangelical ‘born again’ Christians be more like Daniel when confronted with the lions’ den, or have we become a church of Peters who denied Christ three times? Mainstream Irish Presbyterianism cannot be allowed to face the increasing wrath of the Pan Secularist Front on its own.

If the PSF has its way, the wearing of Christian badges will soon be branded as an offensive act and Christians will be banned from wearing symbols of their faith, such as crosses, fish badges, and badges which carry traditional messages like ‘Jesus Saves’ or ‘Jesus Lives’.

Will we see eventually the creation in Northern Ireland of the sermon police, who tour places of worship listening to the sermons of preachers and anyone who says anything deemed offensive is prosecuted?

The same ‘time to stand up and be counted’ attitude will also eventually affect those political parties which operate a conscience vote on issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage.

The Ulster Unionist Party is one such example. Unlike, the DUP which has a clear political stance on such matters, where does the UUP stand on abortion and same-sex marriage? There are politicians within the UUP who support different views, so will the real UUP please stand up?

With the abortion and same-sex marriage debates about to shift into top gear in the coming days, will we witness not just a realignment amongst Christians, but also in political Unionism with the Alliance and UUP wets in one corner, and evangelical Christians in the UUP and DUP in the other?

The majority within Irish Presbyterianism have firmly nailed their colours to the theological mast over same-sex marriage. The real dilemma for ‘born again’, fundamentalist, evangelical, and conservative Christians will come at next year’s local government elections in Northern Ireland – should they vote for candidates or parties which are pro-choice and pro-same-sex marriage?

One thing is certain – there will be a chain reaction as a result of the Presbyterian General Assembly’s votes – other denominations, churches and political parties will have to come off the fence and declare their hands.


Dr John Coulter has been a journalist working in Northern Ireland since 1978. As well as being a former weekly newspaper editor, he has served as Religious Affairs Correspondent of the News Letter and is a past Director of Operations for Christian Communication Network television. He currently also writes political analysis articles for national newspaper titles. He is author of the ebook, An Saise Glas’: The Road to National Republicanism, available on Amazon Kindle.
Follow Dr John Coulter on Twitter. @JohnAHCoulter

Fuck Trump - Memorial Day 2018

Fuck Trump

Anthony McIntyre admires The Nib for taking a stand in support of a censored political cartoonist. 

The action of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette pulsates with an echo from 2006 when political Islam launched a campaign involving considerable violence, the purpose of which was to suppress political images by Danish cartoonists. The purpose of the cartoons was part of an exercise in exploring fear: why people were afraid to draw images depicting Mohammad, Islam's prophet of choice. The then editor of Charlie Hebdo was to the fore in challenging that nefarious campaign of censorship by political Islam. The staff of Charlie Hebdo, including a later editor were subsequently massacred by religious fascists in Paris. Charlie Hebdo had a well established reputation for producing cartoons often acerbic, that specialised in mocking religion and holding a mirror up to clerical power.

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette in similar vein as political Islam is seeking to protect the image of US president Donald J Trump, he of J is for genius renown.

It has taken to suppressing the work of former Pulitzer finalist Rob Rogers on the grounds that it is too critical of Trump. In three months alone, nineteen cartoons or ideas for cartoons were spiked.

The Pensive Quill is not going to take up the Skibereen Eagle role of "keeping an eye" on Trump. But it will make its own contribution to opposing those who try to suffocate artistic expression and satire.

Over the next ten days in place of its usual A Morning Thought,  the suppressed cartoons will feature in TPQ as an act of appreciation for both the censored cartoonist and The Nib for providing breathing space for art that some powerful forces want smothered.

When Robert De Niro took to the podium to say one thing, Fuck Trump, he started a trend. While he did not elaborate to the almost Niemoller point of saying fuck Trump before he fucks you, there is no reason to feel he meant to convey something else. . 


Trump will not only fuck you but will fuck every progressive value society has nurtured and drag it back to some form of biblical immorality, within which every unspeakable cruelty will have its day and say while you will be silenced:

I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13 to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained the government for his purposes.

Even when the writing on the wall is not what everyone wants to read, the right to write and draw on the wall remains of critical importance to society. It is not some trivial pastime to be occasionally indulged by officialdom, but a vital intellectual function that fuels both reason and imagination, without which, any status quo remains unquestioned. If we cannot reason it we deprive ourselves of imagining how it might be made better. Creative license is not something to be trumped by Trump or his Omega Man backers, writing their own script to suit a world where rights exist for Ourselves Alone.
In the spirit of the freedom to think, inquire, write, draw, reason, imagine, TPQ shall feature the censored cartoons.

Anthony McIntyre blogs @ The Pensive Quill.
Follow Anthony McIntyre on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre      

French "Laîcité" Is More Than A Secularism

From Atheist Republic a piece by Philippe Bruno on the French concept of "Laîcité".

For quite a large part of our secularist friends of the Anglo-Saxon world, we French are regularly seen as awful oppressors of religions, mainly Islam.

Well, nothing can be more false.

In fact, this perception is largely due to presupposed views of our critics but also and mainly to a misunderstanding and misknowledge of historical and social specificities which gave the “laîcité à la française” (secularism of the French) its specific form.

If freedom of conscience and belief were originally part of the American constitution of 1787, that was not the case in France. The USA has been, since the origin, mainly a reunion of religious communities. Because of their diverging views about the interpretations of the holy texts, conflicts were inevitable. The founding fathers took the precaution to include freedom of cult and practice (or not) in the first law text of the USA in order to guarantee that no particular group could impose it’s divine law to others.

The French situation is very different and to fully understand the spirit of the 1905 law of separation of church and state, you must to put it back in its historical context. France’s social structure has been shaped by 1500 years of royalty, whose temporal legitimacy is consubstantial to spirit of authority since 496, the date on which king Clovis chose to be baptised Christian.

From that moment, wars for conquests and power chased one another, but there is religious unicity : apart from the Jews, everybody is Christian, and Catholic. France is called “fille ainée de l’église” (elder daughter of the church). Between 1309 and 1418 the popes were settled in Avignon. The Vatican ordered the slaughtering of some sectorian community or to burn a handful of heretics as a warning from time to time, but there has been, properly speaking, no religious war in the realm of France during almost a thousand years, that is, until the Lutheran Reform.

Luther was excommunicated in 1521. From then on, things started to go wrong, mainly for the “huguenots”. They were persecuted by royal power, under the cheers of Rome. After 1562, religious wars ravaged France; they would go on until April 1598, when the Nantes Edict was promulgated by Henry IV. (Historical estimations of direct casualties are difficult but 150,000 is an accepted figure generally. Notice though that during that period, the kingdom lost around 8% of its population, so, one million casualties.) Unfortunately, the edict was revoked by Louis XIV in October 1685, provoking a massive exodus of 300,000 protestants, initiating a financial crisis that would be the 1789 revolution’s prelude.

In this picture, one must not forget the Jews, who, during the entire Middle-age and Renaissance period, underwent pogroms and persecutions of all sorts along with day-to-day vexations fueled by popular and cultural anti-semitism justified by the accusation of being the “chosen people” thrown out by the catholic church.

As for Muslims, they are, since Charles Martel defeated them in Poitiers in 732, designated as enemy of Christianity and thus enemies of France. Crusades would only confirm this reputation. To make it short, it’s not a good thing to be a religious minority in the realm of « doulce France » (old french expression for sweet france).

Then, the Revolution happened, causing a “before and after 1789” situation.

First came the Declaration of Human and Citizen Rights of the 26 of August 1789, in which the first Article states that “men are born free and stay equals in right” then proclaims in Article number ten freedom of conscience : “no one can be bothered for his opinions, even religious, provided that they don’t trouble public order.” Nevertheless, revolutionary France, despite the reforms imposed, remains profoundly Catholic. The civil constitution of the clergy, then the separation attempts, led to a creeping tension of beliefs so intense that Napoleon had to implement an authoritarian solution. This would be the objective and the partial result found with the Concordat regime. The papacy concede that Catholicism is no longer a state religion, but only “the religion of the majority of French people”. Cults become public services. In a conciliation spirit, concessions were granted; for example, bishops are authorised to monitor religious teaching in schools.

One has to keep in mind that the secularist revendication grew mainly because Roman Catholic Church imposed and tried, at any cost, to preserve a power that was regulating all aspects of civil society, political, economical and mostly intellectual life. One must never forget that the church fiercely fought against any emancipation attempt from it’s magisterium, in the science field for example. Another example is going from the heliocentric system model to the impression of the Bible in common (vulgate) language. About Galileo’s trial: it’s only in 1992, by the voice of Jean-Paul II, that the church recognised and stated that it was unfair. … In fact, the church was a totalitarian power. In France this power imposed itself during more than a thousand years, except during the French Revolution period.

The alliance between the throne and the altar made religious contestation inevitable as long as the political one grew along and conversely. That’s why 18th century philosophers, moved by the spirit of “les lumières” (the lights) fought against the two forms, royal and religious, of absolutism. The claim for freedom of thought and the appeal to reason had radicalised the movement. It will meet its goal with the writing of the “Human and Citizen Rights Declaration” on the 26 of August 1789, mainly through its tenth article. During the 19th century, the progressive formation of the republican idea, anchored on revolutionary liberties, social progress and freeing of the minds from all forms of obscurantism pedestal, brought the last touch to this evolution. …

Separation of church and state could have become the symbol of an essential step, if it hadn’t been, since, put in question and constantly attacked from all those who remains convinced that humanity is incapable to take responsibility for all the consequences of freedom of thought.

If, in the history of our country, all of the great battles for liberty and justice were carrying the requirements of secularism, all the reaction periods have seen, by opposition, the comeback of religious domination. The Vichy dictatorship during Second World War was the last example of it.

This explains why the French are so attached to the neutrality of civil servants: the function surpasses the individual. The republican law prevails over the divine one. The person in uniform is primarily a citizen, who must put away his personal philosophical or spiritual convictions, to serve everybody thru the laws of the Republic. That’s precisely why he’s not allowed, in the performance of his duty, to sport any symbol of his convictions. But this is also true for people who take benefit of some public services, such as school. This neutrality is also asked to the students who are required to put away their beliefs in order to benefit from public instruction, whose original mission is the emancipation of the individual through knowledge and the use of reason.

In this context, one can understand the problems that arises when religious claims try to subtract the student from teachings that contradicts dogmas or beliefs, such as creationism. The “laïcité à la Française” before anything else, protects the freedom of conscience of the individual and refuses to acknowledge any special right to any community, even if only to allow the person to extract oneself from their socio-cultural environment of birth if they wish to do so. …

In fact, for most French people, religious affiliation is not, by far, the main defining trait of a person’s character. It’s a private subject and so, as you wouldn’t ask what is its favourite sexual practice to a person that you just met, it is considered rude to ask anyone about his religion. That is, because the usual response would be : “I don’t believe in god” and the end of the conversation, probably.

Unless you’re in a proselytising dynamic and you persist in your questioning, behaviour that would surely move you from the “rude” box, to the “pain in the ass” one. This is also why, in public life, ostentatious signs or claims of religiosity, such as the Islamic veil, (but not only) are generally perceived negatively.

Renaissance, Reformation, Revolution, Republic: those different steps in the formation of the secularist ideal contributed to give a special place to the French citizen of the XX the century, within Europe but also throughout the world, and the conviction of a responsibility : to protect this very particular model founded on the absolute respect of freedom of conscience of the individual.





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A Morning Thought (57)

I Have Overcome!

Marty Flynn feels totally vindicated by the IPSO inquiry into his claim that he had been smeared in a Belfast Telegraph article. Why do people tell lies Granda? This was a question posed by one of my grandchildren in the wake of lies and false allegations made against me in the press a few months ago. My grandchild had heard snippets of a discussion in our home about the incident and was upset. I explained the situation to the child as best as I could and reassured the child that I would deal with this matter; that it is wrong to tell lies on any person. I also explained that telling the truth was always the best thing to do, even if some people didn’t like to hear it, as was the case in this situation.
You may recall an article I published in The Pensive Quill a few months ago entitled ‘trolling the facts’. If not, the article was based on a number of false claims made about me by Derry based ‘victims campaigner’ Helen Deery in an article published in the Belfast Telegraph on 14 February 2018. This article received a lot of attention as you would expect, with people quick to believe the content as provided by Helen Deery and accepted by the journalist without question. Whilst I wasn’t named in the article my identity was made known by ‘human rights campaigner’ Kate Nash prior to the articles publication in a communication which can only be described as malicious.





To clarify, Helen Deery’s dash to the press followed a heated exchange between Helen and I on social media after this year’s Bloody Sunday March. This occurred when I called on Helen as a Bloody Sunday March Committee member for accountability over this year’s poster, committee membership and finances. This exchange later descended into name calling and the hurling of insults both ways, which is not uncommon behaviour for Helen or myself. Following this I was blocked from Helen’s facebook page and then to my disbelief, became the subject of scurrilous claims published in the Belfast Telegraph. 

Since that time I have been on a mission to clear my name. I personally would have been content to leave my efforts at the article in The Pensive Quill which provided me with the opportunity to set the record straight, but decided to pursue the matter for my wife and Grandchild’s sake. My wife, who suffers from a litany of health issues from the time she spent in Armagh Gaol as a POW, was concerned that Helen Deery’s claims left us vulnerable to attack as a family. What further concerned my wife was the dissemination of this Fake News on social media by Kate Nash who not only knew the information to be false but as with Helen knows my wife and I personally. See previous article for more information on this.

I attempted to resolve the issue through the Belfast Telegraph and with the Journalist who penned the article. Unfortunately this did not prove fruitful. The attitude of the journalist was shocking and the Belfast Telegraph chose to ignore me.

My next move was to contact the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) and register a complaint. IPSO is an independent body which regulates the press. Over the past few months I have provided IPSO with a full dossier of information to disprove the lies peddled by Helen Deery. As part of this lengthy process there was an engagement with the paper’s legal representatives.

Although resolute in my position a telling moment was when ISPO through their mediation process asked a legal representative if Helen Derry had any evidence to substantiate her claim that I had been ‘Trolling her since her brothers inquest’ to which the reply was a simple ’no’.





In the poster above you will see a small sample of the abuse levelled at me following the publication of the article in the Belfast Telegraph. As you will see this abuse included not only attacks on me but threats against me. So here are the facts as accepted now by the Belfast Telegraph: 



The article published was misleading, which is the legally sound way of saying it was full of lies. The ‘misleading’ elements include:

·         The myth that I had been trolling Helen Deery when this was nothing more than a two way spat on social media at the end of which Helen decided to use her victim status to sell it as something more sinister in the press in a bid to silence my call for accountability from the Bloody Sunday March Committee she is part of.
·         The claim that Helen had never spoken to me. A claim concocted to fit in with the public perception of what a troll is when Helen Deery and Kate Nash know my wife and I personally and have done since 2015 when we supported them in highlighting the legacy elements of the Stormont House Agreement.

I am now calling on those who thought it acceptable to hurl abuse at me online when this article was published to publicly retract and apologise for their comments. I am also publicly calling on the Bloody Sunday March Committee to dismiss Helen Deery and Kate Nash with immediate effect. If they do not do this I can only infer that this is acceptance of this reprehensible and dangerous behaviour and that it is representative of the position of the March Committee. This with committee members having publicly supported Helen when the article was published. These members include those currently involved in Stormont funded projects aimed at promoting inclusivity, human rights, justice & peace.

From a Belfast perspective there is an insidious undercurrent permeating through certain things in Derry. This has been clear for a few years now. With this undercurrent the same names appear time and time again with the odd sock puppet from Tyrone thrown in for good measure. These people who seem to have nothing positive to offer are famous for their levelling of baseless allegations online, spouting off about ‘agents of influence’ and attempting to blacken names and reputations via their various online kangaroo courts during which there is never a shred of evidence produced, just accusation, insinuation and innuendo (sound familiar?). I faced this rough justice for asking a couple of questions. Others, including friends, and have faced much worse.
It’s time for the people of Derry to face this cancer down. We’ve faced down the British Empire and everything it threw at us, so why bow down now to venomous charlatans masquerading as something they most definitely are not?

In closing, as I learned over the past few months, there are ways to take the press to task when required. The process is lengthy and can be infuriating, with the burden of proof placed upon you as the complainant. But when you have honesty on your side it can be done. Just look at me - I have overcome!

Marty Flynn is a Belfast republican who has actively campaigned for prisoners' rights.

A Morning Thought (56)

Radio Free Eireann Broadcasting 16 June 2018

Martin Galvin with details of this weekend's broadcast from Radio Free Eireann. Radio Free Eireann will broadcast today, Saturday 16 June.

Are handshakes with English royals a way forward or a step back for Republicans and freedom for all Ireland?

Author, political commentator and Republican ex-prisoner Matt Treacy will give his analysis as well as a behind the scenes look at this week's Sinn Fein Ard Fheis, and moves towards possible coalition in the next Irish government.

WBAI Radio host Malachi McCourt will join us to preview a special live WBAI event co-starring RFE's own John McDonagh.

John McDonagh and Martin Galvin co- host.

Radio Free Eireann is heard Saturdays at 12 Noon New York time on wbai 99.5 FM and wbai.org.

It can be heard at wbai.org in Ireland from 5pm to 6pm or anytime after the program concludes on wbai.org/archives.

Get In The Van

Christopher Owens reviews a book by the inimitable Henry Rollins.

Half articulated thoughts, dubious decision making and an overall sense of melodrama prevails throughout most of them. So it's refreshing to see that Henry Rollins is exactly the same when it comes to his scribbled musings.

***
Get In the Van is a collection of journals by Rollins, going through his time in legendary US hardcore band, Black Flag. Spanning the years 1981-1986, it inadvertently captures how the hardcore scene, and America itself, slowly evolved into a parody of itself thanks to the onset of Reaganomics.

For those of you unfamiliar with the band, it is not an exaggeration to say that Black Flag helped shape the face of American alternative/independent music through their constant touring (often playing 200 shows a year), unusual venues (basements, gay bars, vet halls) and their own label SST Records (releasing seminal LP's by bands like Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, Minutemen, Husker Du and Saint Vitus). Despite never hitting the Billboard charts, the band were able to sell copious amounts of records to keep them on the road and funding the next LP.
While their peers were steeped in rock n roll history (X) or politically scathing (Dead Kennedys), Black Flag were a rage. An uncontrolled, primal rage that hated cops, authority, society and itself. Working their way through so many members (with only guitarist Greg Ginn as the one constant), their back catalogue stands tall.
***
Told directly, we follow Rollins as he evolves from being the manager of an ice cream store in Washington D.C, to becoming the fourth singer of Black Flag, to the end of the band in 1986. In between, there's constant touring, ruminations on the self and humanity, and various morbid thoughts and observations, such as this:

How much are you supposed to take before you just napalm the place? Fat, fucked up hippies with their butt faced women...Made me feel like a million bucks...It's real strange to me that you can get out of the truck and be in New York and get out of the same truck and put your feet down in California. I can look at the truck and see crud that has been there for over a month and remember the place where we picked it up. I know no one else thinks of stupid shit like this besides me. 43 days. 40 shows.

As you can guess, Rollins does not come across well here, seeming more like a petulant teenager at times than a thoughtful front man whose discipline and work ethic have steered him all his life. Having said that, considering he had to face an endless barrage of moronic punkers trying to set him on fire, throwing beer bottles at him or asking him to spit on them because "that's a compliment coming from..." him, one might be inclined to be of a similar mindset after a while.
What is important to bear in mind is that, in the 1980's (especially in Reagan America), punk was not a scene for casuals or posers. It was a fucked up scene for fucked up people. It wasn't just suburban teenagers with edgy haircuts and skateboards. It was hustlers, fuckups and untreated psychopaths, junkies, hookers and other people you crossed the street to avoid.
People fucked over by Reaganomics, left behind by the Carter administration and who had witnessed the 60's dream of utopia descend into chaos and violence. Is it any wonder that notions of "right" and "wrong" were so fluid in their minds (hence Rollins being assaulted on a nightly basis)?
Of course, with Rollins being in the middle of it, this isn't fully reflected upon. But the subtext is telling.
***
By the last tour in 1986, the band were alienated from the scene (which had become more openly meat headed and violent), punk rock (the last few records saw experimentations with jazz, spoken word and heavy metal) and even themselves (Ginn and Rollins were not on speaking terms). Having paved the road for other bands to drive on and claim the glory, Black Flag had become both a symbol of an earlier time and also an inscrutable organism that changed style from record to record.
Although Rollins is firmly in the eye of the storm and unable to see the bigger picture, his writings from this period reflect this alienation from everything and everyone:

I used to try and be polite but now I see where that got me. If I say nothing, it gets me the same reaction...I will hate the fact that any asshole who wants to fuck with me will. If I stand up for myself, I'll be given boatloads of shit by the band and the audience...My ship will sail into the sun and burn. No abortions on the lake of fire, no promises in the company of alone.

Of course, 1986 also saw the infamous Tax "Reform Act from the Reagan administration. With the rich paying less and the poor paying more, it's no surprise to see a correlation between this and an increase of violence in the hardcore scene. Sure, it wouldn't have been fun to be in the centre of, but it's no surprise.
***
For a view of America through a tour bus, you can't go wrong with Get In the Van. Unglamorous, completely DIY and truly down in the dirt of the world, Rollins captures a side of society that we see on the news every day, but are keen to avoid. Fate would bring him even closer to this world, but that's another story.


Rollins continues to write and follow his own path (who can forget his interview with Willie Frazer for an American documentary on this country) but, for many, he will always be the drill instructor for Generation X. 
And Get in the Van is a document of this time. Read it, and blast the 'Loose Nut' LP at the same time. Take matters into your own hand and do what you want with your life.

Henry Rollins, 1994, Get In the Van: On the Road with Black Flag, 2.13.61 Publications, ISBN-13: 978-1880985762

➽ Christopher Owens reviews for Metal Ireland and finds time to study the history and inherent contradictions of Ireland.Follow Christopher Owens on Twitter @MrOwens212

A Morning Thought (55)