Tuesday, April 14, 2009

We're Not Gonna Take It! (Two years later)

It was two years ago today that I first posted this video. I posted it because it was a favorite of mine from the days of my youth (!) and also because I saw it as a comical and exaggerated (or not so exaggerated (!) look at the legalism that goes on in the church today. A while later I posted a pretty cool animated video that someone had made with the Super Mario Brothers performing the song (with Luigi on drums and Mario on lead guitar), but unfortunately the video is no longer available so I won't link to it. :( Too bad - I think someone put a lot of work into it!

Well anyway, out of all this, the song We're Not Gonna Take It has become somewhat of an anthem for those of us who have left behind the chains of legalism and have embraced the freedom that we have in Christ. This is really thanks to my big sister-from-another-mother, Aida! I had actually sought to corrupt her with this song, and you can see some of the effects of that on her blog posts here, here and here. :-D But really, it turns out that it had a liberating effect on my big sis - and I have to say that's even better than my original evil plan! ;)

I also thought it was neat that Steve McVey posted the video (here), and his words on his blog were part of an overall "wake up call" that was going on in my life at the time, giving me a deeper sensitivity toward those who were affected in one way or another by the heavy-handed legalism and condemnation that is being dealt out in the church today. I shared my thoughts on that here.

I'm thinking I may just go ahead and post this video annually. If for no other reason, it's just because I can't get enough of the video! But really, the minute-and-a-half disparaging diatribe at the beginning of the video is (in my mind) a great picture of the disgraceful, condemning preaching that snuffs the life out of the body of Christ, and also because the song itself is a great liberating anthem that can be applied into our free lives in Christ. On top of that, I know that new readers are always coming along and since I think this video speaks volumes, I simply want to continue to share it. Please indulge me, if you will!


Were Not Gonna Take It - Twisted Sister

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6 comments:

  1. Joel--If this is your way of saying that you want to start dressing like Dee Snyder in the video, I want you to know I fully support your "lifestyle choice."

    Just make sure you update your pic on the blog. I think we all want to see it...

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  2. Ha ha, Richard! :) I guess I should be careful what I post. Leonard and Free Spirit keep trying to get me to do the Macarena, and now you're talking about me dressing up like Dee Snyder. ;) Maybe I should do a combination... LOL. Scary thought!

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  3. Hey little brother, I thought you were going to order the makeup for us! Now that our grace community is growing, you may need to order more.

    I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since your plot to corrupt me began. Wow! A lot has happened since then. I still go back occasionally and watch that video. (I still can’t believe that I posted it on my blog!!! How bad is that?) I was disappointed to find out that Luigi and Mario had been silenced. It must have been a plot by some legalists.

    Well, all I can say is:

    We’re not gonna take it.
    NO!!! We ain’t gonna take it.
    We’re not gonna take it anymore.

    Okay! I feel better now.

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  4. Aida,

    Woo hoo! I'm glad you feel better now!

    It is quite the freeing anthem, isn't it. :)

    Truly, truly, I say to you that of all people, you would've been the last one I would've expected to have liked the song. Hehehe! And you're right... I guess I'll have to order a LOT of makeup for our "Twister Sister Grace Community Gathering," time and date yet to be announced.

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  5. Joel, your corrupting plot continues. On The God Journey forum there was a conversation entitled “songs for the Journey.” Members posted songs that were meaningful to them on their journey and guess what song I posted?

    I can’t believe it!! I did it again!!

    If you'd like to see what I posted, here’s the link.

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  6. Aida... that's awesome!!! =D It was interesting that most people posted songs from Christian artists (which is great... I like all those songs mentioned) and then you posted Twisted Sister! I guess the person before you did Guns 'N Roses. (By the way, Richard - who commented earlier on this post - recently posted a pic on his blog that he had taken with a former member of Guns 'N Roses)! Anyway, I'm glad my corruption plan keeps on spreading, and that you're out there spreading the 'good word.' :D

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