KOTH: The Order of the Straight Arrow #3
All Jesus did that day was tell stories--a long storytelling afternoon.
The Order of the Straight Arrow - #3 (rank #14) 2/2/97
Hank and his friends take Bobby's scout troop on a rite of passage journey in the wilderness. The point of "The Order of the Straight Arrow" is for the kids to realize that their parents are ganging up to play jokes on them, and the joke Hank and the guys choose is to put the kids through a series of fake Native American rituals. But Bobby takes the rituals seriously, and things become very serious indeed when, on a "snipe hunt," Bobby accidentally clobbers an endangered whooping crane.
Quotes:
Bill: I'm so depressed, I can't even blink.
Randy: "Wematanye, Texas license plate, wematanye."
Bobby: "Wematanye, it says Texas, wematanye."
Hank: "Will you all shut up?"
Everyone else: "You didn't say Wematanye!"
John Redcorn: The spirit bag is very sacred. You should not make light. Dale: I like how you say everything's sacred. Let's use that!
Analysis:
While there is certainly nothing wrong with having fun & joking around, I've always found that I'm much more vunerable to loose my sense of direction & take things too far just for the sake of silliness. Hank has this happen to him here & it doesn't take things long to escalate way out of control. Under normal circumstances I would think Hank to be very clear-headed & able to make black/white judgment calls, but this episode illustrates what can happen when we loose sight of truth.
5It's this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.
6"Don't be flip with the sacred. Banter and silliness give no honor to God. Don't reduce holy mysteries to slogans. In trying to be relevant, you're only being cute and inviting sacrilege.
When we become flippant with the God of all creation we certainly run the risk of doing Him a grave dishonor. Unfortunately I fear that we are constantly tempted to reduce the holy mystery of His very nature down to slogans & cliches'. Innovation can be as dangerous a mistress as dead tradition & ritual.
25The leaders among you became desperate, like roaring, ravaging lions killing indiscriminately. They grabbed and looted, leaving widows in their wake.
26""Your priests violated my law and desecrated my holy things. They can't tell the difference between sacred and secular. They tell people there's no difference between right and wrong. They're contemptuous of my holy Sabbaths, profaning me by trying to pull me down to their level. 27Your politicians are like wolves prowling and killing and rapaciously taking whatever they want. 28Your preachers cover up for the politicians by pretending to have received visions and special revelations. They say, "This is what GOD, the Master, says . . ." when GOD hasn't said so much as one word. 29Extortion is rife, robbery is epidemic, the poor and needy are abused, outsiders are kicked around at will, with no access to justice.'
30"I looked for someone to stand up for me against all this, to repair the defenses of the city, to take a stand for me and stand in the gap to protect this land so I wouldn't have to destroy it. I couldn't find anyone. Not one.
Will you be the one who dares to stand in the gap during times of desperation? Will you seek the earnest discernment of shades of gray? Will you be able to tell the difference between sacred & secular when the lines blur...can you now?
The Order of the Straight Arrow - #3 (rank #14) 2/2/97
Hank and his friends take Bobby's scout troop on a rite of passage journey in the wilderness. The point of "The Order of the Straight Arrow" is for the kids to realize that their parents are ganging up to play jokes on them, and the joke Hank and the guys choose is to put the kids through a series of fake Native American rituals. But Bobby takes the rituals seriously, and things become very serious indeed when, on a "snipe hunt," Bobby accidentally clobbers an endangered whooping crane.
Quotes:
Bill: I'm so depressed, I can't even blink.
Randy: "Wematanye, Texas license plate, wematanye."
Bobby: "Wematanye, it says Texas, wematanye."
Hank: "Will you all shut up?"
Everyone else: "You didn't say Wematanye!"
John Redcorn: The spirit bag is very sacred. You should not make light. Dale: I like how you say everything's sacred. Let's use that!
Analysis:
While there is certainly nothing wrong with having fun & joking around, I've always found that I'm much more vunerable to loose my sense of direction & take things too far just for the sake of silliness. Hank has this happen to him here & it doesn't take things long to escalate way out of control. Under normal circumstances I would think Hank to be very clear-headed & able to make black/white judgment calls, but this episode illustrates what can happen when we loose sight of truth.
5It's this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.
6"Don't be flip with the sacred. Banter and silliness give no honor to God. Don't reduce holy mysteries to slogans. In trying to be relevant, you're only being cute and inviting sacrilege.
When we become flippant with the God of all creation we certainly run the risk of doing Him a grave dishonor. Unfortunately I fear that we are constantly tempted to reduce the holy mystery of His very nature down to slogans & cliches'. Innovation can be as dangerous a mistress as dead tradition & ritual.
25The leaders among you became desperate, like roaring, ravaging lions killing indiscriminately. They grabbed and looted, leaving widows in their wake.
26""Your priests violated my law and desecrated my holy things. They can't tell the difference between sacred and secular. They tell people there's no difference between right and wrong. They're contemptuous of my holy Sabbaths, profaning me by trying to pull me down to their level. 27Your politicians are like wolves prowling and killing and rapaciously taking whatever they want. 28Your preachers cover up for the politicians by pretending to have received visions and special revelations. They say, "This is what GOD, the Master, says . . ." when GOD hasn't said so much as one word. 29Extortion is rife, robbery is epidemic, the poor and needy are abused, outsiders are kicked around at will, with no access to justice.'
30"I looked for someone to stand up for me against all this, to repair the defenses of the city, to take a stand for me and stand in the gap to protect this land so I wouldn't have to destroy it. I couldn't find anyone. Not one.
Will you be the one who dares to stand in the gap during times of desperation? Will you seek the earnest discernment of shades of gray? Will you be able to tell the difference between sacred & secular when the lines blur...can you now?
posted by lee at 6:24 AM
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