DEATH TO THE WORLD
Originally published in Issue 2. Written by Monk Martyrius Hope, 1994
(About "Death to the World" here)

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In the world today we are taught to love our neighbors. Through this “unconditional” love and acceptance we are to attain a peaceful existence. The only problem is that we are not actually taught to love with our hearts, but we are taught a more contrived form of love, one based solely on outward interaction and acceptance. This is enforced and regulated form of love, is not a path towards true love, but one which only strips the soul dry of all depth and life.
The acceptance taught in today’s society does not treat any culture fairly, but reduces it to a packaged philosophy that can be analyzed and set aside. This “intellectual” way of approaching a culture from its outward practices solely, only serves one true purpose (whether intentional or unintentional), and that is to destroy belief in the culture, and consequently all reasons for practicing the culture.
The true message in acceptance is to “accept all cultures but embrace none.” This view is said to be the means for bringing about “world peace”, but when world peace is brought about by making us devoid of depth, is it really worth it? We would be living in a world where we could accept all outward differences, but only because we would be clones on the inside. Our souls would be all alike, completely empty and ignored. Is this teaching truly promoting diversity, or only destroying it?
We see the product of this around us every day in the cultureless society of America, where the only motivations for most are money, self glorification, and other temporary pleasures that help distract from the painful realization that we are (despite the physical attempts to prove otherwise) unhappy inside. This is the society I fled when I looked to the punks for an answer, and this is the “society” I destroyed in my heart when I looked to Jesus Christ and found the answer. In Christ I found out that I didn’t have to live like that. I no longer had to hide the pain, or even complain about it, for I now had a direct means to do away with it.
To open up one’s soul to God is a difficult thing for most to do, because the “anti-culture” taught today and because of the T.V. Evangelists, who in their attempts to become rich distort the image of Christianity received by most. We must reject what we have received from these false sources, and only then can we find God and ourselves. Through love of the Creator we will find in our hearts true love of all His creation, and then (although we will be rejected by the world) we will accept all people, nations, and cultures with peace in our souls and truth in our hearts.”