Chains

When I was a kid I was a fan of He-Man, Masters of the Universe. I had all the figures and the castles. My parents were great about that kind of thing. I use to lie on the floor for hours and have them wrestle each other WWF style. (You should read my post about making a Bible lesson out of anything)

One of the toys came with a video. This wasn’t a reproduction of the cartoons you saw on TV. This thing was low budget and had the production value of a 70’s porno. The theme of the video has always stayed with me, which I guess is something of a tribute.

He-Man’s arch nemesis is Skeletor. Seeing as He-Man is nearly indestructible Skeletor can never quite defeat him. The opening scene of the cartoon shows Skeletor talking to his IQ challenged sidekick Beastman. Skeletor explains to Beastman that he is going to bind He-Man with chains. Beastman correctly points out that He-Man can break any chains. Skeletor corrects him by telling him these are going to be chains of Duty.

I don’t remember many details from this point on but Skeletor obviously tries to put He-Man is some kind of dilemma over conflicting duties. It of course doesn’t work and He-Man is eventually victorious. I love it when the good guy wins.

Chain’s of Duty. It’s an interesting concept.

I was reminded of this little cartoon while watching the new episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8. (Yes, I’m pretty sure my sexuality is in question because of this.) I’m not going to take the time to explain the show, but if you know anything about it, you know these two Parental gems have a set of twins and a set of sextuplets. (That’s the plus 8 part.) They are having marital troubles for a number of reasons but that’s not my point. My point is that the husband is obviously tied to this TV show - and his wife for that matter – by chains of duty. Maybe he signed a contract, maybe he has financial obligations that won’t let him leave, maybe his wife really does keep his balls in a jar on her desk but regardless, this guy is definitely in chains.

I’ve found that many Christians both devout and backslidden live everyday chained down by chains of duty (guilt?). I am no exception. What’s more, Christians react violently to those who have left the faith and who completely throw off the chains of duty. It is as if there is still this expectation that the backslider will still hold relatively close to the old ideas and rules.

I wonder how life would be without chains of duty.

Several years ago one of my former mentors announced to the world that he now preferred penises and that in fact he was never really all that into vaginas. He was a well respected worship pastor and over the years had developed a mentor type relationship with many young people. Needless to say this had repercussions. He was no longer allowed to pastor in our particular denomination, he and his wife divorced, and many people stopped speaking to him. I’m sure his experience has been repeated thousands of time in the church.

Honestly, I can’t quite reconcile what he’s done in my own mind. I’m still pretty much a homophobe. Still, who wants to live their life denying who they are and being miserable? I can certainly understand why he might make that choice. Also, who am I say he can’t put his penis where he wants to?

Sorry, I’m straying from the point just so I can make penis jokes.

What I really want to ask my friend (if you ever read this, I still consider you a dear friend) is, are you really happier? Having thrown off the chains of duty do you really live your life in a more satisfying and fulfilling way? How did you make it through the initial pain your choice caused those around you?

I don’t ask these questions in an accusatory way. These are real questions that may not have easy answers.

My penis loving friend once posted a quote to his MySpace page that went something like this “Abominable no more, now quite authentic.”

I wonder, is my large gay friend really He-Man?