Considering the only people who will probably read this blog willingly or even advertently are friends or family (Hi Mom!), this statement is blatantly untrue.
But, what would you expect from a site which claims to be neither right nor safe?
Actually, you might expect posts about indulgences, diatribes comparing the Pontiff to the Antichrist, and a category called “Things of Which I Refuse to Recant”, but only if you were paying attention the day they talked about the Reformation in European History.
Martin Luther, the Father of the Reformation, is called before the Diet of Worms to answer for his charges in the 95 Theses condemning indulgences and other abuses of the Catholic Church. The Diet demands that he repudiate his writings, and in what has become one of the most famous speeches of the Reformation, Luther calmly but forcefully replies:
I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God. Amen.
That quote, along with Luther’s courage in the face of such overwhelming pressure to abandon his beliefs, has long inspired me, and it often on my mind as I wrestle with questions of morality and integrity. And often, when I return to the quote and the story that surrounds it, I do so in song.
I am always in awe at the power of music and verse to capture thoughts and feelings that prose just can’t, and in his song “Nobody Loves Me” Derek Webb weaves the story of the Reformation, Luther’s quote before the Diet of Worms, and our ultimate dependence on our Creator into a anthem that’s clever, captivating, and quite catchy.
Nobody Loves Me
By: Derek Webb
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I can always tell a liar
And I always know a thief
I know I’m like my family
Because brother I’m the chiefI’m a dangerous crusader
Because I need to tell the truth
So I’m turning over tables
In my own living room
Then I might nail indictments up
On every door in town
‘Cause its not right or safe to let your conscience down
So I don’t care if …
Nobody loves me, nobody loves me
Nobody loves me but you
The truth is never sexy
So it’s not an easy sell
You can dress her like the culture
But she’ll shock ‘em just as well
She don’t need an apology for being who she is
And she don’t need your help making enemies
So I don’t care if …
Chorus 2x
So I’ll do whatever it takes to squeeze us into this wedding gown
I’ll say words that rattle your nerves
Words like sin and faith alone, now
Chorus 2x