TigerXero
02-12-2007, 10:38 PM
Here's a response to a poem for my AP English IV class.
The poem is When a prophet... by Stephen Crane
When he prophet, a complacent fat man,
Arrive at the mountain-top
He cried: "Woe to my knowledge!
I intended to see good white lands
And bad black lands -
But the scene is gray."
Here's my response.
I love the amazingly simple message of this poem at a first glance. It says that the difference between right and wrong, even for a prophet, a man of religious stature, is not clear nor as simple as one might think it should be, even after dedicated study. The prophet says, "Woe to my knowledge!" because he is dismayed to see a lot of gray issues, not black or white ones, when he looks at the world.
A great comparison to this is when, say, a child such as myself who has been raised as a conservative Christian comes face to face with all the issues of the world. Despite being [allegedly] taught what is right and what is wrong according to the Bible, when we move outside of our protective niche, we find a lot of the world does not agree with what "we" say. We see evil and goodness, but then we also must come to terms with what we believe, and what is true.
When the prophet says he sees a gray scene, he might not just be talking about the world around him. There is a lot of disagreement among what the Bible teaches us to do and be, among Christians as a whole. For a gay Christian, this situation is further compounded with disagreement among individuals upon whether you will be condemned to hell or not for who you are, and this sure can't be good for one's psychological health. Indeed, when one's conservative beliefs and genuine feeling conflict, one does find himself crying at the top of a mountain. The scene is gray.
My teacher added on to the end of my analysis this: "Which is why, my dear, I no longer attend church. I can't subject myself to the enormous hypocrisy I see there. My God loves everyone, no matter what his/her persuasion/beliefs/color/creed! You're stronger than I am!"
I, personally, love how even in a public school system in a predominately conservative county, I'm still able to find security and rest with teachers at school. A voice for me to cry out to, in a sense.
The poem is When a prophet... by Stephen Crane
When he prophet, a complacent fat man,
Arrive at the mountain-top
He cried: "Woe to my knowledge!
I intended to see good white lands
And bad black lands -
But the scene is gray."
Here's my response.
I love the amazingly simple message of this poem at a first glance. It says that the difference between right and wrong, even for a prophet, a man of religious stature, is not clear nor as simple as one might think it should be, even after dedicated study. The prophet says, "Woe to my knowledge!" because he is dismayed to see a lot of gray issues, not black or white ones, when he looks at the world.
A great comparison to this is when, say, a child such as myself who has been raised as a conservative Christian comes face to face with all the issues of the world. Despite being [allegedly] taught what is right and what is wrong according to the Bible, when we move outside of our protective niche, we find a lot of the world does not agree with what "we" say. We see evil and goodness, but then we also must come to terms with what we believe, and what is true.
When the prophet says he sees a gray scene, he might not just be talking about the world around him. There is a lot of disagreement among what the Bible teaches us to do and be, among Christians as a whole. For a gay Christian, this situation is further compounded with disagreement among individuals upon whether you will be condemned to hell or not for who you are, and this sure can't be good for one's psychological health. Indeed, when one's conservative beliefs and genuine feeling conflict, one does find himself crying at the top of a mountain. The scene is gray.
My teacher added on to the end of my analysis this: "Which is why, my dear, I no longer attend church. I can't subject myself to the enormous hypocrisy I see there. My God loves everyone, no matter what his/her persuasion/beliefs/color/creed! You're stronger than I am!"
I, personally, love how even in a public school system in a predominately conservative county, I'm still able to find security and rest with teachers at school. A voice for me to cry out to, in a sense.