Beatnik and Christianity (part 2)

[Music] Christianity and the beat [Music] Nick I don't know I don't care it doesn't make any difference Jack kowak the man who gave beatnick their name used these three phrases to briefly sum up the beat philosophy well you're probably asking yourself is this is this guy a beatnick and the answer is no I'm not a beatnick I'm a Christian full of questions about the beatnick movement I mean lately it's been boom time for the Beats publicity and magazines newspapers on television until I finally begin asking myself questions questions like what is a beatnick what do they stand for is it a religious or an anti-religious movement as a Christian should I be for him or again him you've probably asked yourself some of these same questions well I got so curious about this subject that I had to find some answers to these questions and to find answers I read some of the beatnik literature until it got so vulgar I couldn't take it anymore I read what had been written about them I talked firsthand with some of the clan even talked to a sociologist on the subject okay so what is a beat well there are many views and theories existing as to exactly what is a beatnick let's look at a couple of them now some people think of a beatnik as physical beatness I mean being physically tired you know a fellow works all day he comes in from the field and he says man I'm beat well if this Theory isn't true and it isn't how in the world do you explain the tire grotesque nonchalant positions that these people assume another theory has it that if you dress like a beat Nick you are a beat Nick now we've all seen pictures of these characters uh most of the time their hair is never combed or else they wear a beret beards are common sweatshirts are worn quite often any kind of old garve is fine the girls have long stringy hair but assuming the cloes in the pose of a beatnick does not make me one actually the clothes in the physical posture of a beatnick are a result of a group of ideas or as the psychologist would say a complex of attitudes the beat neck believes that man faces autal existence now I mean things are really black this is true for several reasons one of the most important is that man never gets to know himself I as an individual never get to know who I am or what I'm really like the beatnik says that we never get to know ourselves because we're always trying to be somebody else we want to be well adjusted we want to be popular we want to have a large circle of friends and of course we want to belong to the best bridge club in town and to do all these things we adjust ourselves to be the way we think other people want us to be well so far that probably sounds like so much double talk but it's just another way of saying that we're all a bunch of conformers there are people who try to explain away our problems with words they put down in words who we are what we're doing here our purpose in life others come up with slogans like one world to day for tomorrow and science is a wonderful thing now these are supposed to give us hope and courage for the future but the beatnik says he rejects all this he says these are false structures that man has devised which instead of saving him acts as one huge whir pool dragging him down down to destruction down to one great big hbomb blast [Music] Kaboom American culture then reflects the life the beatnik wants to reject it's it's the life that he wants to turn his back to the life of a square a life that he feels is getting no nobody nowhere a life of Conformity where everybody wants to be the man in the gray flannel suit with a nice home in the suburbs a station wagon TV 30 or4 kids and lots and lots of security well this is the life the beatnik wants to reject he says uh don't give me all that jazz man we've been living in that baloney for centuries and we're we saw now than we ever were I'm interested in now and me well that briefly outlines what a beatnick believes or doesn't believe it also pretty much tells you what a square is to a high school student a square is a person who doesn't dig rock and roll music to a beatnick a square is you and me the masses the average man the conformist now you're probably asking yourself does a beat Nick get to know himself I mean does he get to know himself any better than we're supposed to know ourselves he says he does in fact he's worked out quite a system for getting to know himself you've heard the expression kicks well experiencing kicks is the way a beatnick gets to know himself what are kicks well kicks are any kind of uh strange unusual direct experience the crazier the experience uh the better chance to beat has of understanding himself as an individual and knowing who he is now these crazy experiences are kicks and kicks can range anywhere from driving a car 75 M an hour in a 25m speed zone to taking dope to sexual promiscuity any way of uh grasping reality in other words you can't talk about life you've got to experience it well uh this briefly gives us a clue as to the thinking that goes on in a beat Nick's mind it answers the questions as to why he dresses differently tells us why he never Combs his hair why obscene language is smart of course a beatnik never plans on having a family because having a family would tie you to a system and being tied to a system is a trap suited only to a square the Beat Movement then is an outcry against today's culture and I think they've got some pretty justifiable claims the trouble with a beat Nick is that once he tells you all the faults of our culture he shrugs his shoulders and then ambles off looking for more kicks now I think there's plenty of things wrong with life in the 20th century but the beatnicks aren't offering any solutions to the problem Christianity is it's kind of interesting to compare some of the ideas and theories of the Christian and the beatnick for instance the beatnick doesn't believe in God as a superior being I mean a God in heaven ruling over us all they just um don't buy this the only God they believe in is the possibility of finding a God within themselves well another point a beatnick studies to find uh studies himself to find reality whatever that is he's always looking for more kicks to better understand himself a Christian on the other hand walks with God and asks God's guidance in knowing himself and understanding life and the everyday problems of living we know we'll never understand everything while we remain on this Earth but someday he will give us the whole scoop give us answers as to why this or that happened and when that day comes it's going to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle everything will make sense one thing's for certain kicks aren't the answer you don't dive head first into sin and come out knowing who the real you is if anything you destroy everything you're looking for the beatnik has a good point with this bit on Conformity I definitely believe that following the crowd doing everything they do is wrong I believe in non-conformity but the Christians type of non-conformity not the beatniks now um that may sound a little bit odd but anybody who has come to the point where they realize that they're a sinner without hope who ask God to come into their lives and cleanse them of this sin anybody who wants Christ to be their savior anyone who lives a Christian Life this person is a non-conformist but this so-called nonconformity is the secret to Christianity one of the main premises the beaten stands on is that mankind faces a feudal existence a life is some kind of a balancing act on the verge of toppling to the ground now here again the Christian looks at things in an entirely different light we say we have a future but more than just a future we have an eternal future now this hinges on one thing and of course that thing is you you have to say yes I want this future God has given us some wonderful promises to hang on to promises that give us an assurance of this eternal future in John 3:16 for instance we read for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life a little further on in John 5:24 we read this in the Bible verily verily I say unto you he that hears my word and believes on him that sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from Death To Life now compare this with I don't know I don't care and it doesn't make any difference I'll tell you frankly this summation of the beat philosophy leaves me just a little bit cold well in summing this up it's my feeling that if being tied to a system God's system makes me a square then I'm glad I'm a square being tied Shackled and bound to God is the only way to experience true freedom of spirit and mind and I hope that you have experienced that freedom [Music]