Cafetorium

This song made me think of First Priority (high school Christian organization - not sure if everyone had those or just southern schools) and the general legalism or other impersonal manner of most of the members of the organization (from my own experience, anyway). The Southern US is rife with legalistic "Christians" who are more concerned with marking off a proverbial checklist allegedly from On High - that is, more concerned with winning converts than with saving or helping people. More concerned with quantity than with quality. Very sad.

That's my general interpretation, and I'll now reference the specific images I recognise in relation to it:

"The crucifix cut from Styrofoam swung flung over your shoulder raining golden glitter from the glue-gun border"

• Styrofoam is lightweight and easy to carry; it seems to me the bearer of such a cross is more concerned with show than with anything else - the image and not the act from the heart of bearing a cross.

"sulfur water" and "moist, dead air"

• mean, to me, stagnant hearts and minds, closed to change or "uncomfortable" Truth; and dead to the Love Christians are actually SUPPOSED to have toward everyone, but depressingly seldom do.

"VHS"

• Hadn't thought about this, but it calls to mind the idea of someone being lazy enough to depend upon nothing but a sermon or something on VHS - unable or unwilling to come up with something from their own mind or heart, unwilling to make an honest effort. "Let's watch this orientation video so you can understand Christianity" kind of shit, you know?

Finally, the line "baptised in the beads of your own sweat" makes me think of my belief that pomp and traditional symbolic rituals (and the like) of most self-professed Christians are not necessary for salvation. Many times I've heard the question, "What if you share the Gospel with someone and they believe, but there's no way to baptise them at hand, and they die before they get the chance to be baptised? do they still go to Heaven?" and

1. Physical baptism in water is only symbolic; it's not necessary for salvation. The belief is that by accepting the Messiah, you ARE baptised; "you HAVE passed over from death to Life".
2. I refer to the apostle Paul, who writes in Romans of Gentiles who are "a law unto themselves" - that is, even though they haven't heard the Law, they keep the Law they know - they know what they believe they ought to do, and they DO it. They know they ought to be kind and loving and honourable to others, and they ARE, to the best of their ability. Additionally, he writes of being forgiven due to ignorance (i.e. Ignorance of the Law IS an excuse, contrary to what you hear some police say). So, to me, "be baptised in the beads of your own sweat" means something along the lines of "If you need symbolism to believe you're saved, find some (you need water for baptism? You're sweating it!) - but you don't need it, because you're saved already." Or something like that.

Anyway, thanks for bearing with me.

And please understand that one swallow doesn't make a summer, and one asshole shouldn't damn a faith. There are a lot of asshole "Christians" out there, and if anyone is offended by them, I apologise profusely and genuinely - they're not supposed to do that.