The author of the piece Michael linked to described his friend’s eyewitness account of two hardcore punks brutally beating an “emo kid” without cause. The author then writes:

Can Christianity reach this awesome sub-culture?

Awesome? Awesome? Scusi, but I’d rather be tied to a chair, locked in a completely dark room with that praise ditty “Our God is an awesome God, He etc. etc. etc.” running on continuous loop at 120 decibels for 72 hours straight before I EVER want to hear or read the word ‘awesome’ used again the way it is in the sentence above.

Roll eyes. Centering breath. Happy place. It continues…

Not without a new brand of leaders. Most Christian men today are too soft, passive, and fearful to have any credibility with this growing movement. American Christianity often produces the kind of men that ‘the hardcore’ detests. Hardcore needs to be embraced, not condemned by the church.

Granting the author’s point about reaching difficult people and his article’s focus on that, I found it difficult to sympathize with the awesome, wounded thugs who beat up people. Call me judgmental, or “too soft, passive and fearful” if that fits, but I was caring a lot more about the well-being of the “emo kid” and what the eyewitness was going to do to help him—that whole Samaritan thing ya know?—than I was about a sermon about embracing hardcore (whatever that means). As the official spokesman for the church, however, I will agree to the author’s request that my client will not condemn hardcore culture. We’ll ignore it instead.

Here’s the real problem: Jesus cares about hardcore culture, it’s Christians who don’t.

Like the t-shirt says, Jesus loves you…but then again he loves everybody. The author can chalk me up as one of those “christians” who doesn’t care about hardcore culture. Nope, sure don’t. I care nothing for its practices, products and institutions.

These white dudes are pissed-off and dying. “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick”—Jesus. Who will go?

I dunno…Joel Osteen? He’s pretty good about getting rid of negativity and all that happy stuff. Sounds like a perfect match for our hardcore neighbors. Cry me a river for hardcore, over angry punks who express themselves by living in a permanent tantrum with the occasional violent outburst? Nah. I’d go visit them in the hospital, though.

I see that the author, Anthony Bradley, is on the faculty of my denomination’s flagship seminary. Interesting that he is an Assistant Professor, is referred to as “Professor” in his bio, but doesn’t yet have a Ph.D. Okay, I admit it: this entire post is motivated by bitterness and professional envy.